Thanks all for the info and advice. Much appreciated. The ram does have a lifetime guarantee. I have to leave it our for a few days to determine if its the culprit. The quirks of my iBook are so random, its not like I can pop the ram out and know immediately. I am still going to prepare myself for either having to return the machine to the retailer or sending it to Apple. It'll be File Back-up Thursday tomorrow night!
Okay, took out the ram and am going to monitor my computer for a few days and see what happens.
The slowness of my computer is killing me now. Ram is soooooooooo damn essential. Dropping 512 off of your ram is a killer. I don't dare open more than 2 apps at once.
I know I've been ranting in here a lot, but here is an update:
Left computer alone for a while and the display went to sleep while running 3 apps. Tried to wake it up and it took about 4 minutes to wake up. When it did, no apps running. I got about 2 minutes of a blank grey screen followed by a minute or more of a blank blue screen, then by my desktop being frozen for a minute. Safari froze and then crashed on me shortly after that.
I have not heard back from the gentleman at the store I bought this from. Chances are, he may have the day off, so I'm being patient.
So far, this is not looking good. I'm curious to see if it awakes from sleep tomorrow morning.
Ahem... reinstalled OSX. Ran fine. Changed a few preferences, but nothing to worry about. I got them fixed. Ran it without the ram in. Shut down fine, started up fast and woke up from sleep fine.
Today, put the ram in. Same as above. Behaved well. No problems.
But then I tird to wake it from a sleep... kernel panic. Now I'm confused.
Everything is so random (at least to me). I don't know what to do.
i'd recommend running it w/o that RAM chip for 5 days at least. then run it w/the ram chip in for 5 days. keep track of when it crashed and what was going on.
i'd recommend running it w/o that RAM chip for 5 days at least. then run it w/the ram chip in for 5 days. keep track of when it crashed and what was going on.
ram problems are a nightmare to track down.
Noted. Will do. I had a feeling that nailing down a ram malfunction might be more difficult than a 36 hour test.
It'll make for a slow computer over the weekend. Oh well, I needed to get out anyway.
Update: Its the ram, not my computer. I'm sending it back under warranty (the ram that is). I'll try one more stick from them and if it messes up my computer, I'll demand a refund and get quality ram elsewhere.
Wowzers. What a nightmare. At least I have an idea of what to look for if the second stick of ram goes bad.
My computer has been running perfectly normal, except a bit slower. I don't dare open Photoshop or Illustrator on 128 ram... zzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
Guess what? The ram has been out of the machine for over a week and my problems have returned. Not only are apps crashing left and right again, now my computer is very, very slow. The hard drive spins for what seems like minutes opening everything from Mail, iPhoto, Safari, IE, etc... It sometimes takes the dock 5 seconds to pop up. The spinning beach ball of doom has been a constant reminder of how slow this thing is. I am calling the store I bought it from tomorrow to see what I can do. This is highly unacceptable.
Guess what? The ram has been out of the machine for over a week and my problems have returned. Not only are apps crashing left and right again, now my computer is very, very slow. The hard drive spins for what seems like minutes opening everything from Mail, iPhoto, Safari, IE, etc... It sometimes takes the dock 5 seconds to pop up. The spinning beach ball of doom has been a constant reminder of how slow this thing is. I am calling the store I bought it from tomorrow to see what I can do. This is highly unacceptable.
How is that done again? I'm willing to try anyhting right now.
Startup from OS X disc (hold C key on keyboard during startup with disc in).
Once first installer screen comes up, go to App (Installer) Menu and select Disk Utility.
When it opens, select your OS X drive partition, and click the First Aid tab.
Under First Aid, select Repair Permissions.
--------------------
This MIGHT fix some leftover corruption on your OS X installation. If not, I'd reformat the drive (use OS 9 disc to startup since Drive Setup allows you to Zero Data when formatting) and start completely fresh, before giving up.
This is a new one. I take a pic and attempt to load it on my computer. At the time, my computer is running Safari (one window), iTunes (ripping a disc at 1.5x... smokin') and thats it. I hook up the camera to an open USB and... A BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH! Aarrgh! It stays blue for 30 seconds, goes back to my desktop picture with no apps running. Yep, killed the apps running and even the camera wasn't showing up as hooked up. I've uploaded from this camera numerous times. The hard drive spins and spins opening the apps up. iPhoto takes up to a minute to start up with no other apps running. Then while dragging a photo into it, I get the whirling beach ball of death. That takes another minute.
This bunk computer shit is getting old.
This is after a complete reformat by the way. I am once again calling Apple and the store I bought it from. This is utterly ridiculous.
#4 operating system (gone bad (mostly because of #1))
#5 mac just f**ked up (apple service tech: "i don't know! change the logic board!")
85% software
15% hardware
and when customers come to me it's allways: "the hardware! i think it's the main board or something".
sorry. but i had a terrible day!
Trust me, I've made mistakes with other computers, but when you buy a new computer and have to do a dozen different "fixes" on it, reformat twice, etc, its highly disappointing. I have installed a miinimum of freeware/shareware. I have installed legit (not pirated) graphics programs on my computer. I don't mess around with parts of the computer I don't understand. I fail to see how this could be "my fault". This computer has been iffy since day one. I have a friend that is a Mac tech and he has been evaluating the info I've been giving him. He seems to think its a bad drive. We'll find out soon enough.
Comments
The slowness of my computer is killing me now. Ram is soooooooooo damn essential. Dropping 512 off of your ram is a killer. I don't dare open more than 2 apps at once.
Left computer alone for a while and the display went to sleep while running 3 apps. Tried to wake it up and it took about 4 minutes to wake up. When it did, no apps running. I got about 2 minutes of a blank grey screen followed by a minute or more of a blank blue screen, then by my desktop being frozen for a minute. Safari froze and then crashed on me shortly after that.
I have not heard back from the gentleman at the store I bought this from. Chances are, he may have the day off, so I'm being patient.
So far, this is not looking good. I'm curious to see if it awakes from sleep tomorrow morning.
you install the 10.2.4 update on your machine right before all the weirdness started?
that caused a few problems (understatement of the year) on my laptop.
you could try going and doing an archive install and update it to 10.2.3 instead of 10.2.4.
that's what i just did, it seems to be working so far. fixed quite a few problems i was having with 2.4
Originally posted by alcimedes
yeah, i'd say something is seriously wrong with your machine then, something beyond RAM.
you install the 10.2.4 update on your machine right before all the weirdness started?
that caused a few problems (understatement of the year) on my laptop.
you could try going and doing an archive install and update it to 10.2.3 instead of 10.2.4.
that's what i just did, it seems to be working so far. fixed quite a few problems i was having with 2.4
Hmmm... might have to try that. As for the update screwing me up, I don't know. I think I updated my iBook the day I bought it.
So, boot from disc, install and choose archive install?
Just curious, how long does this take? Hour? Less? More?
Originally posted by alcimedes
took me 45 min. i think.
Thats not bad at all. I may have to try that tonight.
Then I'll watch it and reinstall ram and go from there.
Thanks again for the info.
Today, put the ram in. Same as above. Behaved well. No problems.
But then I tird to wake it from a sleep... kernel panic. Now I'm confused.
Everything is so random (at least to me). I don't know what to do.
ram problems are a nightmare to track down.
Originally posted by alcimedes
i'd recommend running it w/o that RAM chip for 5 days at least. then run it w/the ram chip in for 5 days. keep track of when it crashed and what was going on.
ram problems are a nightmare to track down.
Noted. Will do. I had a feeling that nailing down a ram malfunction might be more difficult than a 36 hour test.
It'll make for a slow computer over the weekend. Oh well, I needed to get out anyway.
Wowzers. What a nightmare. At least I have an idea of what to look for if the second stick of ram goes bad.
My computer has been running perfectly normal, except a bit slower. I don't dare open Photoshop or Illustrator on 128 ram... zzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
Originally posted by trebuchet
Guess what? The ram has been out of the machine for over a week and my problems have returned. Not only are apps crashing left and right again, now my computer is very, very slow. The hard drive spins for what seems like minutes opening everything from Mail, iPhoto, Safari, IE, etc... It sometimes takes the dock 5 seconds to pop up. The spinning beach ball of doom has been a constant reminder of how slow this thing is. I am calling the store I bought it from tomorrow to see what I can do. This is highly unacceptable.
Have you tried repairing permissions recently ?
Originally posted by FormerLurker
Have you tried repairing permissions recently ?
How is that done again? I'm willing to try anyhting right now.
Originally posted by trebuchet
How is that done again? I'm willing to try anyhting right now.
Startup from OS X disc (hold C key on keyboard during startup with disc in).
Once first installer screen comes up, go to App (Installer) Menu and select Disk Utility.
When it opens, select your OS X drive partition, and click the First Aid tab.
Under First Aid, select Repair Permissions.
--------------------
This MIGHT fix some leftover corruption on your OS X installation. If not, I'd reformat the drive (use OS 9 disc to startup since Drive Setup allows you to Zero Data when formatting) and start completely fresh, before giving up.
This bunk computer shit is getting old.
This is after a complete reformat by the way. I am once again calling Apple and the store I bought it from. This is utterly ridiculous.
#1 user (doing things they shouldn't)
#2 applications (gone bad or not working properly (mostly because of #1))
#3 ram
#4 operating system (gone bad (mostly because of #1))
#5 mac just f**ked up (apple service tech: "i don't know! change the logic board!")
85% software
15% hardware
and when customers come to me it's allways: "the hardware! i think it's the main board or something".
sorry. but i had a terrible day!
Originally posted by peve
the problems i get to fix all day long have the following causes:
#1 user (doing things they shouldn't)
#2 applications (gone bad or not working properly (mostly because of #1))
#3 ram
#4 operating system (gone bad (mostly because of #1))
#5 mac just f**ked up (apple service tech: "i don't know! change the logic board!")
85% software
15% hardware
and when customers come to me it's allways: "the hardware! i think it's the main board or something".
sorry. but i had a terrible day!
Trust me, I've made mistakes with other computers, but when you buy a new computer and have to do a dozen different "fixes" on it, reformat twice, etc, its highly disappointing. I have installed a miinimum of freeware/shareware. I have installed legit (not pirated) graphics programs on my computer. I don't mess around with parts of the computer I don't understand. I fail to see how this could be "my fault". This computer has been iffy since day one. I have a friend that is a Mac tech and he has been evaluating the info I've been giving him. He seems to think its a bad drive. We'll find out soon enough.