What is SMC and RTC?

[Feras645]

I have a Mac pro, and inside there are 2 test buttons, one says SMC another says RTC, can some one please tell what they are? and what does there lights indicate?

I ask cos (as you guessed) my Mac freezes when ever I give it hard tasks at ones, so I tried every thing till I came across these 2 buttons which I have no idea what they are, please help, my computers life rest in your hands.

Note: I get Red light on the SMC and Yellow on the RTC.

thank you for taking the time to read this thread.

 

[Feras645]

Help please

I really need help here guys.

 

[Sherman Homan]

The SMC is the System Management Controller. Resetting the SMC can resolve some computer issues such as not starting up, not displaying video, sleep issues, fan noise issues, and so forth. But probably not with the issues you are having. It can't hurt, though.
The Real Time Clock (RTC) is a chip on the logic board that controls the date and time functions of the computer. If the computer is experiencing a booting issue, resetting the RTC may resolve it. Again, doesn't sound like your problem.
If this problem is happening under the demands of a lot of tasks, it could be a failing memory chip. Do you have the hardware test disk that came with your Mac?

 

[Feras645]

Thats another problem I don't have the CD so I cant test my memory! any suggestions?

Many thanks for your reply

 

[Sherman Homan]

My favorite work out for funky ram chips:
http://www.memtestosx.org/
Have you run Disk Utility, Verify Disk to see if any hard drive problems come up?

 

[Feras645]

Thanks a lot Sherman, I'll try them out.

 

[Feras645]

The SMC is the System Management Controller. Resetting the SMC can resolve some computer issues such as not starting up, not displaying video, sleep issues, fan noise issues, and so forth. But probably not with the issues you are having. It can't hurt, though.
The Real Time Clock (RTC) is a chip on the logic board that controls the date and time functions of the computer. If the computer is experiencing a booting issue, resetting the RTC may resolve it. Again, doesn't sound like your problem.
If this problem is happening under the demands of a lot of tasks, it could be a failing memory chip. Do you have the hardware test disk that came with your Mac?

I found the CD, and did the Hardware test, the result was "No Trouble Found" Test time 4 min 51 sec.

SO do the question is, could an over heated Graphic Card cos the computer to freeze?

I know I ask too much question but you are the only one who is helping me, and the tech support in Kuwait sucks big time.

 

[Sherman Homan]

You found the Hardware Test disk, right? Pop it in, restart holding the "c" key down, it will boot to the Test window. Select the Extended test, let it run. You may want to run it several times. It is not as exhausting as MemTest, if it turns out to be ram problem... Good luck!