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REALLY unstable osx!

K

komputerwolf

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 27, 2005
3
0
Hi
My Powermac G5 has started to act really strange and unstable. Almost all the programs i use on it (exept itunes for some reason) crashes all the time, and I get the restart your computer in four languages crash, about twice a day. If it was a pc i would think it could use a defrag, but i heard that you don't have to do that on osx. I really have no idea where to start.. i think it's a harddisk problem..

Anybody have surgestions?
 
I would lean toward bad RAM before bad HD for these symptoms. Have you purchased any new RAM recently?
 
It could be a hardware issue (the most common cause of frequent kernel panics), but before I jumped that that conclusion I'd try installing and running AppleJack. It works from single user mode. A great utility.
 
yes, i recently bought new ram. It is about four month ago, and it has worked pretty good untill now..
Is there a osx program for harddisk diagnostics?
 
komputerwolf said:
yes, i recently bought new ram. It is about four month ago, and it has work pretty fine untill now..
Is there a osx program for harddisk diagnostics?
Click to expand...
Take out the RAM and see if you still have a problem - RAM has gone bad after extended periods before.

As far as HD diagnostics, you can run what IJ mentioned, or you can run Disk Utility, which is in the Applications:Utility folder on your Mac. There are others as well, but I don't know many good free ones, but AppleJack sounds pretty nice.
 
komputerwolf said:
yes, i recently bought new ram. It is about four month ago, and it has work pretty fine untill now..
Is there a osx program for harddisk diagnostics?
Click to expand...

Yes, Disk Utility will tell you the SMART status of the disk and can repair non-boot volumes. To scan the boot volume start up in single user mode (cmd-s at start up I think) and type fsck -fy and it should scan the boot disk.
 
Thanks eva01, that's what I thought. :)

However, it doesn't always come up with problems and simply removing the RAM is a foolproof way of testing whether in fact the RAM is the source. It's really not difficult to remove RAM on a Power Mac. Well worth the effort IMO.
 
komputerwolf said:
Hi
My Powermac G5 has started to act really strange and unstable. Almost all the programs i use on it (exept itunes for some reason) crashes all the time, and I get the restart your computer in four languages crash, about twice a day. If it was a pc i would think it could use a defrag, but i heard that you don't have to do that on osx. I really have no idea where to start.. i think it's a harddisk problem..

Anybody have surgestions?
Click to expand...
It could be a hard disk problem, but I don't think so.

Try this first:

Boot to "single user mode" ("command-s" at the boot chime)

You'll get a black screen with white text (you want that to happen)

Release the keys you're holding down and type "fsck -f" exactly as you see it within the quotes.

Hit "Return"

If it returns a repair (other than OK) repeat the fsck command until it returns OK.

Type "reboot" and hit "return".

My guess is you either installed software apps and didn't repair permissions AND restart the computer, installed more than one app and used it without a restart, forced restart, file system not journaled or a combination of.......
:cool:

If that doesn't work, you should consider purchasing DiskWarrior or TechTools Pro and boot from either one and repair your directory structure. :cool:
 
If it turns out to be a RAM problem, simply removing it will not resolve the problem if damage to the directory already occurred.

You may want to remove the suspect RAM (or leave it in if you like), and run Apple Hardware Test from your installer CD/DVD. Run a full test, it takes some time depending on your hardware config.

The hardware test will verify that your hardware is OK or point to a suspect (RAM?).

If it is RAM and happens to be the RAM you installed remove it and rerun the test. If it tests ok....................well! :rolleyes:

Once you resolve the hardware problem, the next thing to do is to resolve the corrupt directory; and you will have a corrupt directory. It is rare that you wouldn't. I've only seen it once.

Hence: My advice; get DiskWarrior if running fsck doesn't fix the problem.
 
yenko said:
Try running it....see what happens! :D
Click to expand...


Yeah, busted. I'm inherently lazy. :eek:

Well, at least eva01 is around to help me and my laziness out. :p



As for removing the RAM not necessarily removing the problem, that is a very good point. However, I reckon removing the RAM is a better bet than using the Hardware Test CD to distinguish the cause all the same. Meh, I suppose it's six of one, half a dozen of the other really.
 
mad jew said:
As for removing the RAM not necessarily removing the problem, that is a very good point. However, I reckon removing the RAM is a better bet than using the Hardware Test CD to distinguish the cause all the same. Meh, I suppose it's six of one, half a dozen of the other really.
Click to expand...
It would depend on how ambitious you are. :eek:

If you suspect the RAM, leave it in and the hardware test should identify it. Emphasis on "should" because I've had bad RAM that tests OK but still caused issues.

I guess the whole point of these discussions should be a proccess of elimination and should occur in "some" logical order so that other steps or the next step (no pun intended) can be taken to isolate the problem. :)

I also agree with removing the suspect RAM, although if it did cause directory damage, that would only treat the immediate problem and everything may appear to function normally.:)

However, I can assure you that there is some corruption in the directory and fsck may not always "repair" the problem. As with all of Apple's Disk Utilities, since before the time a few of this forum's members were born. :D , "Appears to be OK" at the end of a test doesn't always constitute "Really is OK". :eek:
 
yenko said:
I guess the whole point of these discussions should be a proccess of elimination and should occur in "some" logical order so that other steps or the next step (no pun intended) can be taken to isolate the problem. :)
Click to expand...


Definitely the best advice out there. Process of elimination will determine the culprit. :)
 
pant....................pant...................pant..............pant...........gotta sit down................I'm getting too old for this crap :D :D :D
 
Are we helping anyone anymore, or are we just making fun of mad jew.

Suggestion, do what the kind people told you to do. Take the damn RAM out of the Mac. Reason why, is because Macs have always been picky about RAM, and RAM can do bad over time and cause anything and everything to crash. If you take it out and your Mac works just fine, you don't have to look any further, your done, send back your RAM. Otherwise, move on to the utilities.
 
varmit said:
Are we helping anyone anymore, or are we just making fun of mad jew.

Suggestion, do what the kind people told you to do. Take the damn RAM out of the Mac. Reason why, is because Macs have always been picky about RAM, and RAM can do bad over time and cause anything and everything to crash. If you take it out and your Mac works just fine, you don't have to look any further, your done, send back your RAM. Otherwise, move on to the utilities.
Click to expand...

First of all, I'm not making fun of mad jew and how you arrived at that is beyond me. I have a lot of respect for mad jew and his tact/wit. If you think these forums should remain serious and dry, maybe you could start your own and make up the rules.:eek:
I've looked up some of your posts and I must say that it would be difficult not to have respect for the suggestions that you offered others and I can't help but admire that. :cool:

Perhaps you're taking yourself a bit too seriously. :)
 
emw said:
Take out the RAM and see if you still have a problem - RAM has gone bad after extended periods before.

As far as HD diagnostics, you can run what IJ mentioned, or you can run Disk Utility, which is in the Applications:Utility folder on your Mac. There are others as well, but I don't know many good free ones, but AppleJack sounds pretty nice.
Click to expand...

Saved my bacon a few times. Highly recommended. Does far more than Disk Utility, and does it from Single User Mode so the Mac doesn't even need to be able to fully boot to run it.
 
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