Eternal Resting PowerBook

Hello all.

I had a kernel panic a while back and had gotten some advice from this forum to help alleviate the problem mind you the laptop is under 2 years old. Here is the story:

I was watching a streaming video online, and got the giant power button logo saying I must restart my computer in a handful of different languages. I had never seen this happen before so I was quite shocked to see that box, but followed its orders.

Upon the restart I got the dialogue box saying Mac OS X unexpectedly quit, and thought to myself...that cannot be good! I was able to open safari and browse for about a minute, but then it quit without giving me the dialogue box that comes up when a app unexpectedly quits. So I continued to try and get safari to work, but at that point it would only staty open for about 10 seconds as did the rest of my apps like ical and the likes.

I contacted apple support as well and they suggested that I do an archive and install because 9 times out of 10 it is a software issue and not hardware, which lifted my spirits. He also mentioned that in the unlikely event that it is a hardware issue since I am out of warranty apple can fix the problem for a flat fee of $350. I proceeded to do the archive and install and it worked for under a week and I got that same restart box and sank on the inside, hehehe. So I then did an erase and install thinking that maybe the preferences from the orignal issue could still be hiding somewhere within my system, again it worked for a few days and then got that same restart box, but now it just goes to a black screen with text.

Now any ideas on what the possible issue is with this? I have contacted a repair shop that seems reputable to me and they said they would need to do a $75 diagnostic to test the hardware and software, then moving onto any physical repairs that may need to be done at $75/hr plus cost of parts. Now I am curious what I may be looking at here price wise, is it most likely just bad RAM, harddrive, or logic board? Is it even worth throwing down all this dough?

Sorry for the lengthy post, just wanted to give all u cats the details so you could answer any questions to the best of your ability.

Thanks again!!

Respect.
P_F

did you reset the pram?

I had exactly the same thing happen on my iMac G5, While ripping a DVD. It was a bad ram stick, diagnosed it through using the hardware test DVD.

Not sure about your powerbook specs (are both ram slots used?), if you don't have the hardware test DVD. just take out one ram stick at a time and restart the computer.

uber.

No I have not tried that, but will give it a shot if I can even boot it up.

tat.
That is what I was hoping, pertaing to the small amount of money and labor needed to fix that problem. I will have to try pulling each on out and see if that is the problem. Now I would think that the whole gig of RAM is on one stick, meaning I should be able to buy two 1Gig sticks and give her a little boost. However I'm not sure how much the powerbook can handle.

So...How much RAM can I put into her without screwing it up?

Thanks for the responses.

Respect,
P_F

Professor_Fresh said:

uber.

No I have not tried that, but will give it a shot if I can even boot it up.

Click to expand...

It doesn't need to boot to reset the PRAM. Press and hold Command-Option-P+R as soon as the screen turns gray when you turn the power on. Wait until you hear the chime 3 times before releasing.

tat.
That is what I was hoping, pertaing to the small amount of money and labor needed to fix that problem. I will have to try pulling each on out and see if that is the problem. Now I would think that the whole gig of RAM is on one stick, meaning I should be able to buy two 1Gig sticks and give her a little boost. However I'm not sure how much the powerbook can handle.

Click to expand...

The procedure for running the Apple Hardware Test is a little bit different for Intel Macs, the only information I can find for Powerbooks is here:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86611

Hopefully this pertains to your model. That will tell you if you have a RAM problem.

So...How much RAM can I put into her without screwing it up?

Thanks for the responses.

Respect,
P_F

Click to expand...

It can take 2GB, according to Crucial, again, I'm not exactly clear on which model you have based on your specs listed (15 or 17?)

cwa.

Righteous, so I'm gonna be trying this stuff when I get back to the pad. Trying to reset the PRAM, then I will do the hardware test from my OS DVD. I didn't know that was on that disc so thanks for the info. As well as the link u provided for the step by step, big up to ya.

I had went to crucial after posting and discovered that I could put 2 gigs into my powerbook, however I don't know if mine is a DDR2.

Respect,
P_F

Professor_Fresh said:

cwa.

Righteous, so I'm gonna be trying this stuff when I get back to the pad. Trying to reset the PRAM, then I will do the hardware test from my OS DVD. I didn't know that was on that disc so thanks for the info. As well as the link u provided for the step by step, big up to ya.

I had went to crucial after posting and discovered that I could put 2 gigs into my powerbook, however I don't know if mine is a DDR2.

Respect,
P_F

Click to expand...

If it's around 2 years old, I can't imagine it wouldn't be DDR2...

word.
I'll make sure I choose that option when ordering the RAM from crucial.com if that is the cause of my problems.

Respect.

Professor_Fresh said:

word.
I'll make sure I choose that option when ordering the RAM from crucial.com if that is the cause of my problems.

Respect.

Click to expand...

What does it say for memory when you go into Apple menu => About this Mac?

I reset the PRAM and ran a Hardware test last night. I don't know if the PRAM event fixed my issue, but the hardware test came back saying that everything passed. I'm gonna give it another shot today. When I looked at the memory in the hardware test it said it was DDR2 so I think we're good. I may just order a new 2GB kit from crucial.com. I can't think of anything else that can be wrong with it since I already did and erase and install, and my hardware test showed up negative.

Suggestions?

P_F

Professor_Fresh said:

I reset the PRAM and ran a Hardware test last night. I don't know if the PRAM event fixed my issue, but the hardware test came back saying that everything passed. I'm gonna give it another shot today. When I looked at the memory in the hardware test it said it was DDR2 so I think we're good. I may just order a new 2GB kit from crucial.com. I can't think of anything else that can be wrong with it since I already did and erase and install, and my hardware test showed up negative.

Suggestions?

P_F

Click to expand...

Maybe the PRAM reset did the trick? I've read elsewhere that a PRAM reset is a good thing after making major software changes to a Mac. Not sure how true that is, but seeing as how the hardware passed and you've got a clean install of the OS, I'm not sure what else to suggest.

Yeah, ran the hardware test again today, and everything passed. It seems that my system has a kernel panic and crashes only when I'm on the web. I don't think it has happened any other time other than when using safari. Someone suggested maybe getting an updat of Safari, so I may try that.

I have Onyx and was looking in cleaning section, and I have the option to delete the kernel cache, however I'm unsure if that is a safe move.

I'm at a lost for words.

P_F

Professor_Fresh said:

uber.

Now I would think that the whole gig of RAM is on one stick, meaning I should be able to buy two 1Gig sticks and give her a little boost. However I'm not sure how much the powerbook can handle.

So...How much RAM can I put into her without screwing it up?

Thanks for the responses.

Respect,
P_F

Click to expand...

Hey Professor,

If you already have a 1 gig ram stick installed. You only need to get 1x1 gig ram stick. But the hardware test would have told you what was in the two ram slots.

Tat.

I have 2 512Mb sticks. So I took out one of the sticks, and it seems to me that apps are opening faster than they use to. I'm beginning to think that it was a bad stick that the hardware test couldn't identify, I'm not sure.

Nonetheless I think I will throw down the $60 to get the 2GB kit.

It's funny how the stick we pulled out seems to be the culprit. Luck of the draw? I hope so.

Anymore input anyone wants to give is more than welcome.

Respect.
P_F

You will certainly notice the difference with 2 gigs ram. Sometimes the hardware test might not pick up a duff ram stick until it really plays up, like with my one.

I hope that is the case.

Keepin' my fingers crossed.

Thanks for all the help, big up to ya.

Respect.
P_F

Professor_Fresh said:

Tat.

I have 2 512Mb sticks. So I took out one of the sticks, and it seems to me that apps are opening faster than they use to. I'm beginning to think that it was a bad stick that the hardware test couldn't identify, I'm not sure.

Nonetheless I think I will throw down the $60 to get the 2GB kit.

Click to expand...

Good move. Not sure if it's supported on the G4, but on Intel machines, matched modules will allow the machine to run in dual channel mode, which can yield performance benefits.

It's funny how the stick we pulled out seems to be the culprit. Luck of the draw? I hope so.

Anymore input anyone wants to give is more than welcome.

Respect.
P_F

Click to expand...

Bad memory can be VERY difficult to nail down, even with quick tests. That's why I always steer people away from cheap, generic memory. Go with Crucial and you get lifetime guaranteed, high quality memory from a company that will be around to honor the warranty (they have great customer service too).

Good luck - if it helps, IMO I think you're on the right track.