HELP!!! Comp. unexpectedly shuts down

[lezer23]

Recently, (after 10.4.3) I will be doing simple tasks on my fairly new PB, and a gray screen will comp saying "you must restart your computer now" in five lanuages. It really pisses me off because Apple was supposed to be the machine that doesnt break, and I take good care of my computer. Does someone know what this could be caused by, and possible how to fix it?
Thank you guys so much!

 

[Laser47]

Its called a kernel panic, equivelent to the Windows Blue screen of death. Everything should be fine after you restart your computer.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

What you're describing is a kernel panic. They can and do happen every once in a while, but repeated occurrences would point to an underlying problem. One of the chief culprits is bad RAM – have you installed any extra in your machine? If so, you could try removing it and see if that stops the problem – and if it does, get your RAM replaced.

 

[lezer23]

But it doesn't

I wish that was the quick fix but it still happens after I restart, and I cant believe my mac is doing this because i bought a mac because my windows laptop was doing the bluescreen. I cant believe this! It is less than 3 months old!

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Like Laser said, if this is a one time thing then just reboot and all should be fine, but if it occurs often then there's something severly wrong either with some software you're using or, even worse, your hardware.

Now is a good time to back up your data!

One thing: Are you, by any chance, running a torrent application as one of those "simple tasks"? Torrent apps are a known source for Kernel Panics.

 

[lezer23]

What you're describing is a kernel panic. They can and do happen every once in a while, but repeated occurrences would point to an underlying problem. One of the chief culprits is bad RAM – have you installed any extra in your machine? If so, you could try removing it and see if that stops the problem – and if it does, get your RAM replaced.

I bought my mac in the apple store, and they upgraded it 1GB, but I dont think that the apple store would install bad RAM?!?

 

[lezer23]

Like Laser said, if this is a one time thing then just reboot and all should be fine, but if it occurs often then there's something severly wrong either with some software you're using or, even worse, your hardware.

Now is a good time to back up your data!

One thing: Are you, by any chance, running a torrent application as one of those "simple tasks"? Torrent apps are a known source for Kernel Panics.

I do not run Torrent apps

 

[lezer23]

One thing that is odd, though, is that it had never happened to me at school while often at home. Could it be something with my network?

 

[Jaffa Cake]

I bought my mac in the apple store, and they upgraded it 1GB, but I dont think that the apple store would install bad RAM?!?

In that case it might be worthwhile taking it back to the Apple Store and get them to take a look at it, and get them to replace your RAM.

Occasionally bad sticks can make it through quality control, and I think too that good sticks can go iffy from time to time...

 

[lezer23]

In that case it might be worthwhile taking it back to the Apple Store and get them to take a look at it, and get them to replace your RAM.

Occasionally bad sticks can make it through quality control, and I think too that good sticks can go iffy from time to time...

I just talked with apple, they reset my PRAM and NVRAM

would that help?

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Hmm... I've just done a quick search on kernel panics and this thread mentions that the 10.4.3 update seems to be showing up problems in slightly suspect RAM. You mention in your opening post that you've recently updated your OS – did you experience any problems prior to the update?

 

[lezer23]

Hmm... I've just done a quick search on kernel panics and this thread mentions that the 10.4.3 update seems to be showing up problems in slightly suspect RAM. You mention in your opening post that you've recently updated your OS – did you experience any problems prior to the update?

No I did not, and should I post some of the panic info in panic.log?
Thanks so much jaffa

 

[Laser47]

Try running the apple hardware test. Its on the first install dvd just hold option when you turn you PB on and choose hardware test on the screen. Run the extended test. If it doesnt pass take it to an apple store or call them. If your machine passes it might be software.

 

[Sun Baked]

One thing that is odd, though, is that it had never happened to me at school while often at home. Could it be something with my network?

Could be something with the a/c power outlet you are using.

If it is a noisy, over-/under-volt, etc. it will cause you hardware problems -- like kernal panics.

These are usually the problems that are location related when you are running on a/c power.

However, if it also happens while running on battery power connected to the network -- could be the network itself, or something coming over the network.

 

[lezer23]

Could be something with the a/c power outlet you are using.

If it is a noisy, over-/under-volt, etc. it will cause you hardware problems -- like kernal panics.

These are usually the problems that are location related when you are running on a/c power.

However, if it also happens while running on battery power connected to the network -- could be the network itself, or something coming over the network.

come to think of it... it has never happened on battery....

 

[HiRez]

Since Jaffa said he wasn't experiencing problems before the 10.4.3 update, I'd suspect that, assuming his RAM is ok and first I would try disconnecting all external cables and devices to see if the problem still happens.

After that, I would do a backup to an external disk and then try an Archive and Install from your OS X DVD (which should allow you to retain all your documents and settings). After that is possible you'd need to do a clean install but I'd try the Archive method first and run the updates (make sure you repair permissions after upgrading).

 

[IJ Reilly]

If a 0.5% chance that it will help is good enough, then go ahead and reinstall OSX. Otherwise, chase down the other 99.5% probability that it's a hardware problem of some kind, most likely RAM. Yes, it is entirely possible to have good RAM go "bad" after an OS update (whether it is actually bad or not, I don't know, but the hardware treats it as such). This happened to me after upgrading from 10.2 to 10.3, with RAM installed by Apple at the factory, so I know from personal experience that it can happen. So make no assumptions based on the origin of the RAM and have it thoroughly tested before taking any desperate measures (of which reinstalling the OSX is a leading example) that aren't likely to solve your problem.

 

[lezer23]

If a 0.5% chance that it will help is good enough, then go ahead and reinstall OSX. Otherwise, chase down the other 99.5% probability that it's a hardware problem of some kind, most likely RAM. Yes, it is entirely possible to have good RAM go "bad" after an OS update (whether it is actually bad or not, I don't know, but the hardware treats it as such). This happened to me after upgrading from 10.2 to 10.3, with RAM installed by Apple at the factory, so I know from personal experience that it can happen. So make no assumptions based on the origin of the RAM and have it thoroughly tested before taking any desperate measures (of which reinstalling the OSX is a leading example) that aren't likely to solve your problem.

I just ran Apple Hardware extended test, and all devices passed. This is really puzzling... I have already taken out every cable (I thought the USB was the problem) except for power and ethernet. Im running out of options here, and I need this comp everyday for school.

BTW, resetting the PRAM and NVRAM didnt help at all.

Thanks for your answers, I really appreiciate it

 

[IJ Reilly]

I just ran Apple Hardware extended test, and all devices passed. This is really puzzling... I have already taken out every cable (I thought the USB was the problem) except for power and ethernet. Im running out of options here, and I need this comp everyday for school.

BTW, resetting the PRAM and NVRAM didnt help at all.

Thanks for your answers, I really appreiciate it

The Hardware Test CD doesn't seem to detect all problems. Apple dealers have a more complete testing suite that will pick up problems not detected by Hardware Test. If the Mac is still covered under warranty, I'd take advantage of it. If not, you can try downloading an application called memtest. It's a bit of a pain to use (should be run in single user mode). Another suggestion is to download AppleJack (can be found on versiontracker) and run the full set of tests and repairs. It's fixed quite a few of my mystery issues.

 

[HiRez]

If a 0.5% chance that it will help is good enough, then go ahead and reinstall OSX.

Oh it's 0.5%? That's great, I was not aware of that statistic, thank you. In my experience it's probably more like 10%-20%, and with him having his KPs right after upgrading, I'd say higher, but whatever. Yes it certainly could be a hardware issue, but reinstalling OS X with Archive option is a lot easier and faster than tracking down hardware problems, for a first step.

 

[janey]

One thing: Are you, by any chance, running a torrent application as one of those "simple tasks"? Torrent apps are a known source for Kernel Panics.

Actually, to be nitpicky, it's only one particular BitTorrent client that does that. Azureus has had that KP bug, but I do believe it got fixed a few versions back.


btw, I had a situation with my iBook where it wouldn't work after upgrading to 10.4.3 - kept kernel panicing before it got a chance to run loginwindow...reinstall usually fixes things - sometimes it's caused by really corrupt installs and such.

 

[ElectricSheep]

No I did not, and should I post some of the panic info in panic.log?

I couldn't hurt.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Oh it's 0.5%? That's great, I was not aware of that statistic, thank you. In my experience it's probably more like 10%-20%, and with him having his KPs right after upgrading, I'd say higher, but whatever. Yes it certainly could be a hardware issue, but reinstalling OS X with Archive option is a lot easier and faster than tracking down hardware problems, for a first step.

I thought I was being generous. In fact I've yet to encounter a single problem that required the reinstallation of OSX, but I was trying to allow that it was possible that it might in some instances actually be necessary, however remotely.

You need only read through similar issues reported here on MR to conclude that the vast, vast majority of kernel panics are hardware issues, and a clear majority of those are RAM-related. Most of the balance are defective motherboards, requiring service from Apple. In any event, a reinstallation of OSX will not fix a hardware problem, so while it might be easier, it also won't help.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Actually, to be nitpicky, it's only one particular BitTorrent client that does that. Azureus has had that KP bug, but I do believe it got fixed a few versions back.

No, not only Azureus. The only KP I've had with my iBook was caused by the official torrent client itself: BitTorrent, back when I was running Panther (also caused numerous complete system freezes). But, it's true, that Azureus is the only one (I've heard) to do this with Tiger...

 

[opusthe2nd]

Its happening to me a bit as well now. I cant point anything to it. I am betting it is the 2nd stick I put it in. I couldnt even get it to boot or boot from the DVD. Finally pulled a stick and it booted. Put the stick back in a days ago and it pooped out just once so far.

Never happened before the 10.4.3.update.