02-03-2005, 05:09 PM

I recently bought a powermac G4, it is a 400mhz agp graphics model, i upgraded it to 768ram from 256. it has a 10gb hdd that OSX is on, and a 80gb hdd for just extra crap, everything has been fine, but now for no reason it freezes out of no-where. and it is not always the same, sometimes i will be using it for like 2 hours then it will lock up, and sometimes it will lock up as soon as it turns on and i try to open a program from the dock.

As of right now, all i am using it for is web surfing, chatting and storing some photos, not like i am trying to run final cut and combustion at the same time, lol.

Anyone have any ideas as to what might be making these lock ups happen?

02-03-2005, 05:47 PM

Originally Posted by GotMac?

I recently bought a powermac G4, it is a 400mhz agp graphics model, i upgraded it to 768ram from 256. it has a 10gb hdd that OSX is on, and a 80gb hdd for just extra crap, everything has been fine, but now for no reason it freezes out of no-where. and it is not always the same, sometimes i will be using it for like 2 hours then it will lock up, and sometimes it will lock up as soon as it turns on and i try to open a program from the dock.

As of right now, all i am using it for is web surfing, chatting and storing some photos, not like i am trying to run final cut and combustion at the same time, lol.

Anyone have any ideas as to what might be making these lock ups happen?

I've not had this problem with a Mac yet (as I've only been using Macs for about a week and a half) but I have had that problem on some of my self built PCs in the past. My guess is that it is your newly added RAM. Bad RAM, or RAM that your Mac just may be picky with will often cause that 'lock-up' problem. Try removing the new RAM for a few days and see if it continues to lock-up. My guess is that it won't. If it doesn't, you know you need to find a different kind of replacement RAM. Godd luck.

-Chris

02-03-2005, 09:44 PM

Thats what i was thinking, but the specs of the ram match the mac, 256 sdram 100mhz, but it might be bad i guess, was taken out of a working machine, but u never know, i will test that out and let you know if that was the case.

02-03-2005, 10:25 PM

ok well i took out all the ram, except for what it came with, and still no change, as soon as my cursor hits the dock now it freezes, could it be the HDD going bad? or if it is trying to pull info from a bad sector, i dunno whats going on, but it keeps making me go back to use my pc when i don't want to.

02-03-2005, 11:32 PM

Have you tried repair permissions? (finder > apps > Util > Disk U > choose volume> Mac HD>repair permission)

02-03-2005, 11:33 PM

Originally Posted by GotMac?

ok well i took out all the ram, except for what it came with, and still no change, as soon as my cursor hits the dock now it freezes, could it be the HDD going bad? or if it is trying to pull info from a bad sector, i dunno whats going on, but it keeps making me go back to use my pc when i don't want to.

Now I'm stumped. I guess it's a good I thing I didn't bet money it was the RAM. Every HDD I have ever had go bad on me has made a clicking sound, but I supposed that doesn't have to be the case for it to be bad. If you suspect other hardware run the 'Apple Hardware Test) on the 'Aditional Software and Apple Hardware Test' CD that came with your computer. Insert the disk and restart while holding the C botton on your when the apple emblem appears.

-Chris

02-04-2005, 02:08 AM

Originally Posted by witeshark

Have you tried repair permissions? (finder > apps > Util > Disk U > choose volume> Mac HD>repair permission)

Tried that already ^^ thanks for the shot though, and for ^ i bought it used from someone on ebay, i did not get any discs, and the disc set i have from my iBook does not have that disc your talking about.

the only reason i think it is the hdd is cause on a older Pc i had, i remember i had hit it once, and ever since then the Hdd that was in it would lock up sometimes, or give me trouble, so maybe being shipped it could have messed something up, i am not sure... You think it would cost alot to have a apple store check it out?

02-04-2005, 04:05 AM

Alright, it is happening most when i have a window open, and move the pointer over to the dock to open something else, or when i try amd move the window, i can not figure this out.

02-04-2005, 04:43 AM

Did you try the new RAM in place of the Old? In other words take out the origional RAM and try one of the new sticks? Maybe the old ram has a problem. If it's not that I wonder if something in OSX is messed up. I have never had problems but that does not mean it can never happen. Do you have the OSX Install CD or did the used G4 just come with OSX installed and no CD?

02-05-2005, 03:19 AM

It had OSX on it when it came, but it also had someone else's name on it, so i already reinstalled OSX , but i will try that, put in all the other ram, and take out the original that came with it. i'll keep you informed

02-05-2005, 07:04 AM

Well fellas, i figured it out. it was OSX, i guess when i reinstalled it and updated it, my G4 did not like the updates. i erased, reinstalled again and did NOT update, and now it is running fine, *Knock on wood* only wierd thing is when i put photos into iPhoto they do not show up, but i can live with that as long as it is not freezing. thanks for all your tips and suggestions while i was trying to figure this out.