Kern Protection Failure

[drtbk4ever]

Hey Gang,

iMac 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
1GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
10.4.11

I have recently started getting EXC_BAD_ACCESS and Kern Protection Failures while playing my Call of Duty 2 game.

It started as an intermittent problem a week or so ago, now it happens every time.

I have googled the problem, searched on line here, but all those problems seem to be related to Safari or printers.

I don't think there have been any software updates and I haven't added any new hardware. I tried unplugging the USB to my printer from the computer, still a problem.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Log file attached.

View attachment log report.doc

 

[chscag]

It looks like it crashed at "Thread 0" according to the log report you attached. And, it may have something to do with the graphics processor. I can't tell from reading through the log, but it could be due to overheating or the graphics card itself.

If it doesn't happen with any other apps or games you're running, it's likely being caused by COD 2 working the GPU. Your machine is fairly old and could be overheating (the GPU) when running COD 2. Do you have any software installed that monitors temperatures? Such as iStat Menus?

 

[drtbk4ever]

Thanks for the reply.

I don't have any software that monitors temps, and it appears iStat is only for 10.5 and mine is .4.

I know we had some renovations going on over the last 6 months and there was tons of dust around. Do you think that can contribute to the problem?

 

[drtbk4ever]

I also just ran the Hardware Test disk and it says there is no trouble detected with the hardware.

 

[chscag]

It's probably being caused then by some overheating of the GPU. And yes, an accumulation of dust and dirt can clog the fans in your iMac or the top vent. However, opening up an iMac to clean it out is a fairly difficult task and involves removing the entire front panel display.

You can get an idea of what's involved by looking at some step by step instructions for changing out an iMac hard drive at iFixit: The free repair manual.

 

[drtbk4ever]

Thanks chscag, you are right, opening up the iMac is a daunting task.

I blew into the top vent and tried again, this time with "Temperature monitor" running to see what happens to the temps, I got maybe 5 minutes of game time then it crashed again.

CPU/graphic and Power temps shot up while in game. I have attached pdf of the temperatures graph.

Is this kind of temperature increase normal and/or within acceptable ranges?

View attachment Temperature Sensors.pdf

 

[chscag]

Those temperatures seem high for an iMac. If you were on a MacBook Pro they would be within acceptable range but an iMac runs much cooler than the average Mac notebook computer. I'm on a new iMac (mid 2011) and the CPU temp stays around 33 degrees C. The GPU around 44 degrees C.

Normally if the CPU temperature goes out of range the machine will shut down. The GPU getting too hot will cause freeze ups.

Download the iStat Pro widget from here and let's see what it says. This widget will work from Tiger on up and it's free.

 

[drtbk4ever]

Sounds good chscag,

I've installed the widget. Is there a way to get a graphical depiction of the temperatures from the widget?

I will record some temps tomorrow as the iMac comes out of sleep mode, normal operating, and after it kicks me out of Cod2.

Thanks again for you help.

 

[drtbk4ever]

Here are the temps and fan speed from the widget shortly after the game quit on me again.

Temp (all in Celsius)
HD - 46
CPU - 41
Ambient - 23
GPU - 53
GPU Diode - 63
GPU Heatsink - 53
HD Bay - 46
Optical Drive - 37

Fan speed
Optical Drive - 599 rpm
CPU Fan - 998 rpm
HD Fan - 1299 rpm

So any ideas?

Thanks.

 

[chscag]

Actually, all those temperatures and fan speeds seem normal. They're not much different from my new iMac. Will get back to you after I do a bit of research.

 

[chscag]

Just did some searching through the Apple community forums for the same symptoms as you're getting. It seems most of the opinions there is that it's caused by a hardware error - anything from overheating to a bad hard drive. Not very helpful. Since you ran the AHT and it doesn't show any errors, it's probably not the hard drive.

You can't run COD 2 in safe mode or I would suggest doing that. Drivers do not load in safe mode so the game will not run. What is strange is that when you posted the graphs (PDF) the temps were high, however, iStat Pro temps are near normal. ??

Let's try to test the memory in your machine. Download MemTest for Mac from here (it's free) and run the extended test. Let's see if maybe a memory module is flaky.

 

[drtbk4ever]

OK ran the Memtest. All tests passed. I can attach the output if you wish but it was all OK's.

One question, a month or so ago, I installed two pieces of software:
1) to remove the start up Bell. I think it is called startupsoundpref
2) macscan to scan for tracking cookies

Should I remove these and see if things improve?

 

[chscag]

I can't speak for MacScan as I'm not familiar with the program, however, I have the Startup Sound Preference panel installed on both of my machines and it has never given me a problem.

Open your Activity Monitor application from Utilities and look to see how much CPU usage is being taken up by MacScan. (I just went to their web site and had a look at what it's supposed to do.) Yes, I would definitely remove it as you really do not need to run a program like that anyway.

Use the uninstaller that came with MacScan if one was provided. Let's see if it makes a difference. We're rapidly running out of ideas of what could be causing the problem you're having - but hang in. Maybe someone else can chime in here and put forth some ideas.

 

[drtbk4ever]

Hi chscag,

I really appreciate you helping me out here.

However, I removed MacScan and still have the same issue. Where is the "bang head against brick wall" smilie?

Any other ideas?

Would I have any luck calling Apple's helpdesk? My protection plan has expired so not sure what it would cost but I am open to doing that.

 

[chscag]

It will cost too much to have Apple telephone support try to resolve it. Besides, I'm fairly certain they'll come back with what you already tried.

Give the Apple Support Forums a try. They have a lot more traffic on there then we do and some real sharp folks hang out there. When you post the problem, give a history of what you've done already and the results.

Here's the LINK.

Let us know how it turns out.

 

[drtbk4ever]

Thanks chscag,

I'll give those forums a try. I'll report back.

 

[drtbk4ever]

Hey Chscag,

i posted in those forums and didn't get even get one reply. So I removed all traces of COD2 and reinstalled the game.

And I have had an entire evening of gaming with no issues. So the conflict, whatever it was, must have been in the Cod2 mods or something.

So thanks again for all your help.

 

[chscag]

Thanks for posting back and letting us know. Strange that it had to be reinstalled, but as long as it's working that's all that counts. Have fun and visit often.