Kernel Panic Attack Expert Help Needed

quaremquarem
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I am having huge problems with kernal panics an my DP 1 GHz. This machine has never been to stable (never more than a week uptime without a kernel panic), and sometimes a reinstall of OS X will help. These last couple of days have been terrible for stability, that means I have KPs every 5 minutes today.



I wish there was a place to learn to read the panic.log so that I could figure this out myself, but I haven't the slightest clue. So I was hoping that you guys and girls may be able to give me some idea as to the problem with my machine.



Please help, you are my only hope.



<a href="http://homepage.mac.com/quarem/asap.txt"; target="_blank">Apple System Profiler Report</a>

<a href="http://homepage.mac.com/quarem/panic.log"; target="_blank">panic.log</a>
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 39
    spiffsterspiffster Posts: 327member
    Well, we're going to need some more info from you. did you install any drivers for devices lately? That could be the source of the problem.
  • Reply 2 of 39
    quaremquarem Posts: 254member
    No, I can't find a correlation between any new hardware and the rash of KP's. They still do occur when I unplug all the extras from my machine (iPod, Powermate, Scanner (Epson Photo 1250), and my second monitor.



    When I first got the machine, I was having a similar amount of KPs, but they resided. But it has never been crash free for more than a week.



    I just ran the Apple Hardware Test CD and it found nothing wrong. But I don't understand why this thing is so unstable, since this is a less then a month old installation of X (I don't use 9 and it isn't installed).



    I was hoping somebody could read my panic.log and come up with at least some idea as to the problem. Got any other ideas?



    [ 01-31-2003: Message edited by: Quarem ]</p>
  • Reply 3 of 39
    quaremquarem Posts: 254member
    Here is an update from what I did last night.



    First I reset the PRAM, but the KPs keep on coming so I thought of something else.



    I have an iBook that has been rock solid stable, it has uptimes that last the time between OS X updates, so I used the iBook's OS X install to boot my Powermac via firewire, within five minutes the Powermac had kernel paniced.



    I booted back onto the Powermac and re-applied the 10.2.3 update and restarted. It booted but KPed in five minutes. I then booted off my 10.2 CD's to due a reinstall, and it KPed before I could even get the installation to start. This machine has KPed when booting off of the Jaguar CDs so I wasn't that surprised when it happened again.



    Finally I put the Powermac into target disk mode and installed a fresh version of 10.2 onto the Powermac from the iBook. I applied the 10.2.3 update and shut the machine down for the night. I turned it on this morning and have had 3 KPs already.



    So I think this demonstrates either there is a hardware problem, or a hardware software conflict that I can't think of.



    Help.
  • Reply 4 of 39
    rodukroduk Posts: 706member
    I wonder whether it's worth removing the 3 DIMMs and replacing one at a time to see if its a problem with a memory chip. I'm not sure whether you bought them separately and installed them yourself, or whether they came preinstalled with the computer, but it may be worth a try.
  • Reply 5 of 39
    chychchych Posts: 860member
    Looking at your panic.log it may be some sort of sound device is screwing your system. I had a similar issue once with bad m-audio drivers on a non g4 computer (which had to be g4 for this version of drivers) and got the same IOAudio errors.



    Have you installed any extra things that do sound?
  • Reply 6 of 39
    progmacprogmac Posts: 1,850member
    do you have a KVM? a few USB KVMs out there are notorious for causing kernel panics.



    the memory seems the most likely culprit though.
  • Reply 7 of 39
    quaremquarem Posts: 254member
    Yeah I was looking at tha IOAudio stuff in the panic.log as well but I don't have any audio devices so I couldn't figure out what to do with that one.



    I just finished taking out my second HD and optical drive. I also removed all the memory excepy for the 256 MB that came with the computer. So far so good, hopefully it is just the memory because that is easy to replace.



    Thanks for all the help and I'ls keep you all posted.
  • Reply 8 of 39
    defiantdefiant Posts: 4,876member
    -It's always on Cpu 1

    -It has got to do with 'panic(cpu 1): We can't get a mutex interlock lock on mutex_lock

    ' something "mutex"

    -and I would remove your Serial Number from the ASP Report ASAP !
  • Reply 9 of 39
    quaremquarem Posts: 254member
    Thanks, it totally slipped my mind about the S/N, but most people are honest so I'm not that worried about it. It's gone now, but what is the worst thing someone could do with the S/N?



    I checked with my friend's DP 1 GHz and his panics are on CPU 1 as well, so I'm not sure if that means anything.



    In good news, the machine has been stable since I removed everything, and I'm going to put another 512 DIMM in soon.
  • Reply 10 of 39
    defiantdefiant Posts: 4,876member
    If you haven't registered yet, someone could take your S/N, register it over at apple.com/register and tell the police afterwards that it was stolen. <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />



    Keep that RAM-thing going. It really looks like bad RAM-
  • Reply 11 of 39
    quaremquarem Posts: 254member
    I see, I would have never thought of that unless you had said something. The older I get the more naive I realize I am. So thanks a lot. Luckily I do have the machine registered, so I should be OK.



    I'll put more RAM in soon, as soon as iPhoto is done uploading my prints to Kodak.
  • Reply 12 of 39
    quaremquarem Posts: 254member
    I have had all the RAM (3 DIMMs) back in the machine for the last couple of hours and have yet to experience any problems.



    I'll run the system like this for the next week so that I can thoroghly test the machine to confirm that the RAM is ok. After that I will put the second hard drive back in and see if that is the culprit, and proceed from there.
  • Reply 13 of 39
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    it's your RAM. that's the only thing i've ever seen cause KP's like you're talking about. the problem with bad RAM is that it usually isn't reported as bad RAM, it's something else that's reported as bad.



    in this case, the I/O for another device is trying to write to a sector of RAM that you have, and is hitting a bad spot. it craps out and you get a KP.



    you should start crashing again pretty soon after you put the chips back in. as soon as it tries to read/write off that area of RAM, you're machine is going to crap out.
  • Reply 14 of 39
    quaremquarem Posts: 254member
    [quote]Originally posted by alcimedes:

    <strong>it's your RAM. that's the only thing i've ever seen cause KP's like you're talking about. the problem with bad RAM is that it usually isn't reported as bad RAM, it's something else that's reported as bad.



    in this case, the I/O for another device is trying to write to a sector of RAM that you have, and is hitting a bad spot. it craps out and you get a KP.



    you should start crashing again pretty soon after you put the chips back in. as soon as it tries to read/write off that area of RAM, you're machine is going to crap out.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    You're right. I just had a KP and have removed the last DIMM I put in. I have a feeling that this is the problem DIMM, since I've had it since I first got my machine. It's surprising though since it's Kingston RAM.



    Your explanation about the KPs makes sense, that would explain why the KPs where never consistant. I'll see how stable it is on these 2 DIMMs.



    [ 02-02-2003: Message edited by: Quarem ]</p>
  • Reply 15 of 39
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    if they continue, even after you've swapped out RAM, the only thing left is a problem with the MB. those are the hardest problems to detect because again, the real problem is never reported, you just see signs of it everywhere else. it's also almost impossible to detect until you've ruled out everything else.



    odds are good that your machine will be stable now.
  • Reply 16 of 39
    quaremquarem Posts: 254member
    So if there is a problem with my RAM and Apple Hardware Test didn't pick it up, what is the point of having an Apple Hardware Test shipped with every machine.



    Is it just to pick up on glaring hardware problems?
  • Reply 17 of 39
    jante99jante99 Posts: 539member
    [quote]Originally posted by Quarem:

    <strong>So if there is a problem with my RAM and Apple Hardware Test didn't pick it up, what is the point of having an Apple Hardware Test shipped with every machine.



    Is it just to pick up on glaring hardware problems?</strong><hr></blockquote>





    It's so that Apple tech support can ask: did you run the Apple Hardware Test CD? If you haven't, well that is clearly the problem. The irony being of course that if the hardware of the computer is broken, you probably cannot load a cd.



    Once when the DVD player in my Powerbook broke, the Apple tech support people wanted me to run the test cd, even though the DVD player did not work! it took a little while to explain this. <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" /> <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />



    Since your machine is in warranty, you should have just sent it in for repairs and let Apple deal with the problem or give you a new machine.
  • Reply 18 of 39
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    thing is, there are a few different types of RAM problems you can have. some will cause problems while not being detectable by hardware testers.



    the most common of these is if you get chips that have a slightly different voltage/refresh rate on 'em. individually each chip will work just fine, and will test out ok. however, when the chips are combined into one machine, they'll stop working properly and you'll start getting BSOD's or KP's.
  • Reply 19 of 39
    quaremquarem Posts: 254member
    So does this mean if I put the 512 MB DIMM that I suspect is the problem in by itself that my machine will run flawlessly?



    The reason I just haven't given the machine to Apple is because I still need to use it, and the RAM that is bad is not Apple's so I'm not sure if they would do anythig about it.
  • Reply 20 of 39
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    it might work just fine. i don't know for sure.



    could be the chip is flat-out bad, could just be that there are problems working between the chips.



    give it a shot, but don't work on anything extremely important w/o saving often.



    this is one of those trial and error type fixes.
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