G4 Tower Constantly Crashing....

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Bright_Eyes

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Hello everyone, this will be my first post.

I have a dual G4 tower that keeps crashing. I am running Jag, got about 512 ram and for some reason the computer keeps crashing. I would turn it on and only run Mozilla or Thunder bird and it would freeze the entire system only allowing me to move the mouse nothing more.

The problem has been getting worse and worse and now it is not even letting me log on to the computer. I can say that it has crashed about 15 times.

I was advised from an associate at the local Apple store to set up a guest account to see if perhaps there was something corrupted in my main account causing it to freeze. That did not work for long b/c now I cannot log on to either account b/c it freezes when I choose either log in id. He says that the ram could be corrupted but how would that happen?

I am pretty new to the MAC, i got this tower last Jan., so forgive my ignorance on this issue. This has all happened in the last 4 days, does anyone have any suggestions on how to remedy this situation? Thanks.
 
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Welcome to Mac-Forums!

First try resetting your PRAM. On startup (before the chime) hold down Command+Option+P+R. Continue holding it until the computer chimes 2 or 3 times. Then let go and it will start up normally.

If that doesn't fix the problem, try starting up with your OS X installation CD and running Disk Utility. Repair Disk Permissions. This usually takes 15 - 30 mins
 
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B

Bright_Eyes

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Another problem....

OK, I would try the above suggestion, if I could turn the system on. So, now the computer will not turn on at all. I saw a similar post about this subject but that persons problem was caused by a storm but I do not know what happened to my computer. I did open it up and look over and inspect the ram and everything looks ok. So does anyone have any suggestions on what to do? I am glad that my powerbook G4 still works!
 

rman


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Do you have the diagnostic disk that came with the system. If so run it, hopefully it will tell you something.
 
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If you have panther, mozilla nad thunder bird hard lock OS X.
 
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Bright_Eyes

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No, I am not running panther and I do have the diagnostic disk I believe. But my computer will not turn on, I am writing this on my laptop. If I could run the diagnostic disk I would. I really do not know what to do with this computer. Should I just take it to the Apple store to see if they can fix it?
 
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PowerBook 12" Combo Drive/867 MHz/256 MB RAM/40 GB hard drive/Mac OS X 10.3.5/AirPort Extreme it sux
ah... i only skimmed the post, and saw mozilla and thunderbird... so...
anyway, sure! take it to apple.
 
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Mafan100

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Hey I've been having this same type of problem where my G4 will just stop thinking and only let me move the mouse around. One morning I woke up and tried to turn it on and it wouldn't turn on, I went to the local Retailer and he showed me how to reset the Motherboard which turned it on. There is a little button on the motherboard twoards the front of the case. If it's facing you and you open it it will be to the left of the fan on the edge of the mother board, it's black and says PMU Reset. So it should start up, he said the Logic motherboareds have that glitch. Although my computer is still freezing and I'm going to have to try resetting my Pram and everything, Hopefully it will work. :)
 
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B

Bright_Eyes

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Update..

Well,
My G4 is currently in the hands of Apple. Since I first posted I have taken it in 4 times. The first time I took it in they ran a diagnostic check and all hardware was running fine. I was told it was a software problem. Fine, so I took it home and ran disk utility. It kept crashing, so I first archived and installed, and eventually reinstalled OS X. It was still crashing, so I took it in again. This time they told me that they swapped out the processor. I picked it up and take it home, and it is still freezing with artifacts on the screen. I take it back and drop it off. They call me and tell me its fixed. I go pick it up and this time they changed the video card. I take it home hoping the **** thing would work. Nope, it still freezes. I call them and inquire what else it could be. They tell me to reinstall the OS. I reinstall the OS and it is still crashing/freezing. I am growing pretty agitated by this time. I take it in once again and drop it off. They tell me they will call me when its ready to be picked up. A week goes by so I call and they tell me that its about to be tested and they will call to inform me of the diagnosis. I do not get a call so I call them again. They tell me its about to be tested once again and the technicians just went to lunch and they will call me. No call. So I let a couple days pass again and I call. I finally talk to the technician and they inform me that they have been testing the machine and have not been able to get it to freeze or crash for a couple of days until now. While they were testing the system by transfering massive amounts of data, 40 to 50 gigs at a time and eventually 120 gigs, they got the system to crash. They told me they were replacing the hard drive and ram. After replacing the items they will be doing more testing to see if its finally fixed. I will not get my computer back until some time after the new year.

I am angry that my system has not been fixed yet. Each time I get the computer back from them after they "repaired" it, I was told it was fixed. I am upset because I have paid a large sum of money for a computer that has crashed and froze repeatedly all within under one year of ownership due to faulty hardware with Apple not being able to diagnose the problem. I can say that I never had this much trouble with a PC. My Powerbook holds up fine but we will see when it nears 1 year of ownership. I love Apple, but the trouble with my G4 has me wondering whether or not I will buy another.
 
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J

jerodhusvar

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I understand your being frustrated. I just wonder if you're dealing with an incompetent technician. Is this an Apple store or a tech at CompUSA or somewhere like that? I've found that the techs that some of the stores hire are mainly PC guys who know enough about Macs to get by.

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck in getting this fixed.

Jerod
 
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B

Bright_Eyes

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Another update..

Well,

I have another update as of the other day. They informed that my computer would be replaced with a new one. They have replaced most of the main components and it is still crashing. They cannot figure out the problem. And to answer your question Jerod, it was being worked on at an Apple store. The techs seem to know what they were doing but their solutions never worked. I am hoping that this next one will have no problems. Thanks everyone.
 

rman


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That is good news, hopefully this new one will be problem free.
 
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Kreza

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rman said:
That is good news, hopefully this new one will be problem free.

werid I have never had a problem with mine, although it is a G3, would have though that the G4 would have been the same but better!! weird!
 

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