Powerbook Kernel Panics ...

[Kwyjibo]

Alright,

So starting last night around midnight my 1.3 year old powerbook (15" 1.5ghz 512mb installed, 512 upgrade samsung ram) started freezing up ... about 15 minutes after it was restarted. Well this morning it keeps kernel panicing. My first reaction was to run cocktail and onyx to clear all the caches and they do disk repairs and permission repairs. The panics persist. I uninstall the samsung ram, they panics persist.

Right now I plan on finding my or a tiger disk and hopefully the hardware tests to run but I don't know where those disks are. I will also officially repair the disk and permissions. But this seems really weird, most KP's I have read about lead right back to the ram, and I've already eliminated that factor. Any ideas

 

[IJ Reilly]

Bad RAM is the leading cause, but other hardware issues are often the culprit. If you've got an external Firewire drive, you might consider cloning your entire internal drive and booting off the external. If this works, you can pretty much rule out the motherboard and focus your attention on the drive itself.

The hardware test CD is useful if it finds something, but not definitive if it doesn't. I also would not assume that your internal RAM is good. Any RAM can go bad.

 

[Kwyjibo]

Bad RAM is the leading cause, but other hardware issues are often the culprit. If you've got an external Firewire drive, you might consider cloning your entire internal drive and booting off the external. If this works, you can pretty much rule out the motherboard and focus your attention on the drive itself.

The hardware test CD is useful if it finds something, but not definitive if it doesn't. I also would not assume that your internal RAM is good. Any RAM can go bad.

I have been having problems with my firewire devices over the past six months ... My Eyetv is no longer recognized and my firewire hard drive is not either ... but it recognizes the drive via USB. The real problem is that I don't know where or if I have my system discs or hardware discs.

 

[IJ Reilly]

I have been having problems with my firewire devices over the past six months ... My Eyetv is no longer recognized and my firewire hard drive is not either ... but it recognizes the drive via USB. The real problem is that I don't know where or if I have my system discs or hardware discs.

This sounds like your first sign of hardware trouble. Others may suggest a reinstall of OSX, but based on the symptoms you describe, I doubt very much if it would help. I think you're going to need service from Apple.

 

[Kwyjibo]

This sounds like your first sign of hardware trouble. Others may suggest a reinstall of OSX, but based on the symptoms you describe, I doubt very much if it would help. I think you're going to need service from Apple.

I've repaired permissions and installed applecares tech tool pro to try and check the hardware. I am fearful that its hardware because i don't have a good backup. I"m gonna keep trying for now, but i'm also not going to be typing any of my projects on it.

 

[IJ Reilly]

I've repaired permissions and installed applecares tech tool pro to try and check the hardware. I am fearful that its hardware because i don't have a good backup. I"m gonna keep trying for now, but i'm also not going to be typing any of my projects on it.

Good luck. Post the results.

On the bright side, if you have AppleCare, at least the service won't be costly.

 

[Kwyjibo]

I do have applecare thats why I'm not too worried about the repair cost. I cross my fingers right now, but original ram + PR reset + permissions + disk repair and the computer has been on for an hour.

EDIT- Spoke too soon,

Theres something besides a standard KP where it shows some black text on the screen for a few minutes then goes to an unresponsive black screen. Called Applecare, they told me to try a new user account , delete all login items, and then reinstall. So right now i'm doing everything oh so carefully to back up. I didn't miss these days.

 

[Kwyjibo]

Here's the report apple wants to send to itself ... if anyone could interpret that for me that would be super!

Unresolved kernel trap(cpu 0): 0x300 - Data access DAR=0x000000000BC5DD48 PC=0x000000000005FC90
Latest crash info for cpu 0:
   Exception state (sv=0x2E696A00)
      PC=0x0005FC90; MSR=0x00009030; DAR=0x0BC5DD48; DSISR=0x40000000; LR=0x0005DD44; R1=0x0D0FBC70; XCP=0x0000000C (0x300 - Data access)
      Backtrace:
0x0174E100 0x00062260 0x00062920 0x000A87DC 0x000ABD00 
Proceeding back via exception chain:
   Exception state (sv=0x2E696A00)
      previously dumped as "Latest" state. skipping...
   Exception state (sv=0x20EF5280)
      PC=0xFFFF8AC0; MSR=0x0200D030; DAR=0x04441007; DSISR=0x40000000; LR=0x903CDDB0; R1=0xBFFFBFC0; XCP=0x0000000C (0x300 - Data access)

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 8.6.0: Tue Mar  7 16:58:48 PST 2006; root:xnu-792.6.70.obj~1/RELEASE_PPC
panic(cpu 0 caller 0xFFFF0003): 0x300 - Data access
Latest stack backtrace for cpu 0:
      Backtrace:
         0x00095718 0x00095C30 0x0002683C 0x000A8384 0x000ABD00 
Proceeding back via exception chain:
   Exception state (sv=0x2E696A00)
      PC=0x0005FC90; MSR=0x00009030; DAR=0x0BC5DD48; DSISR=0x40000000; LR=0x0005DD44; R1=0x0D0FBC70; XCP=0x0000000C (0x300 - Data access)
      Backtrace:
0x0174E100 0x00062260 0x00062920 0x000A87DC 0x000ABD00 
   Exception state (sv=0x20EF5280)
      PC=0xFFFF8AC0; MSR=0x0200D030; DAR=0x04441007; DSISR=0x40000000; LR=0x903CDDB0; R1=0xBFFFBFC0; XCP=0x0000000C (0x300 - Data access)

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 8.6.0: Tue Mar  7 16:58:48 PST 2006; root:xnu-792.6.70.obj~1/RELEASE_PPC
Model: PowerBook5,6, BootROM 4.9.1f1, 1 processors, PowerPC G4  (1.2), 1.5 GHz, 512 MB
Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon 9700, ATY,RV360M11, AGP, 64 MB
Memory Module: SODIMM0/J25LOWER, 512 MB, DDR SDRAM, PC2700U-25330
AirPort: AirPort Extreme, 404.2 (3.90.34.0.p16)
Modem: Jump, , V.92, Version 1.0, 
Bluetooth: Version 1.7.3f4, 2 service, 0 devices, 1 incoming serial ports
Network Service: AirPort, AirPort, en1
PCI Card: TXN,PCIXXXX-00, cardbus, PC Card
Parallel ATA Device: MATSHITADVD-R   UJ-835E, 655.8 MB
Parallel ATA Device: FUJITSU MHT2080AH, 74.53 GB
USB Device: Bluetooth HCI, , Up to 12 Mb/sec, 500 mA
USB Device: Apple Internal Keyboard/Trackpad, Apple Computer, Up to 12 Mb/sec, 500 mA