Kernal panic - how common?

Joined
Apr 12, 2008
Messages
512
Reaction score
4
Points
18
Hi all,
As the title says, just how common are kernal panics?
OK, so my iMac aint that new:
2007 2.8Ghz Core 2 duo 4GB ram running Snow Leopard 10.6.8

Just had my first panic after 4 years. The curtain descended and I thought, what the heck is going on. The machine was doing absolutely nothing that I could see could warrant this panic. Having said that I do have a theory but as I know nothing about the reasons for these panics, I'll mention my theory later.

I ran all the checks I know of:
repair permissions
verify disc
Apple hardware test (full test)

All these reported that everything was OK.

Should I be concerned?

Neil
 
Joined
Oct 22, 2007
Messages
8,967
Reaction score
287
Points
83
Location
London
Your Mac's Specs
Mac Mini Core i7 2012 | White 2009 MacBook 2 Ghz | 733 Mhz G4 Quicksilver
You will get them every now and again, only if they become very frequent (like more than one a day) should you get concerned.

1 panic in 4 years is a very good run
 
OP
N
Joined
Apr 12, 2008
Messages
512
Reaction score
4
Points
18
Thanks for your interest in my post Louishen.

Are you saying that a daily kernal panic is not unheard of?

I sort of equate the kernal panic with Window's blue screen of death.
 

pigoo3

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
44,210
Reaction score
1,418
Points
113
Location
U.S.
Your Mac's Specs
2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
My 2 cents. Here are what I consider 3 three levels of "annoyances on a Mac" (in decreasing order of occurrence):

- slowdowns/spinning beachballs (98%)
- program quits unexpectedly (1.9%)
- kernel panics (<0.1%)

The percentages aren't based on any sort of data...just my experiences/observations.;)

Also remember that your computer should be running trouble free 99% of the time...so the "annoyances" listed above would only be occurring 1% (or less) of the time...making the <0.1% for kernel panics be VERY infrequent.

Basically kernel panics should almost never occur on a well running and well maintained computer. Here's a kernel panic article that's always a good read::)

Resolving Kernel Panics

- Nick
 
OP
N
Joined
Apr 12, 2008
Messages
512
Reaction score
4
Points
18
I did as suggested and checked the SMART status.
It says verified.
Does that mean OK? Or do I have to run something to get the SMART status to update?
 
OP
N
Joined
Apr 12, 2008
Messages
512
Reaction score
4
Points
18
My thanks to Pigoo3 for the link to resolving kernel panics.

I will have a read and see what happens over time.

Hopefully that will be the end of it.

Neil
 
Joined
Nov 28, 2007
Messages
25,564
Reaction score
486
Points
83
Location
Blue Mountains NSW Australia
Your Mac's Specs
Silver M1 iMac 512/16/8/8 macOS 11.6
Verified means it is okay at the time of testing.
 
Joined
Jul 30, 2009
Messages
7,295
Reaction score
301
Points
83
Location
Wisconsin
Your Mac's Specs
Mac Mini (Late 2014) 2.6GHz Intel Core i5 Memory: 8GB 1600MHz DDR3
I've heard of 'em but I've never seen one in 4-1/2 years of using OSX Leopard.
 
Joined
Apr 17, 2012
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
1
You will get them every now and again, only if they become very frequent (like more than one a day) should you get concerned.

1 panic in 4 years is a very good run

Totally agree with you..
I'm having about 1-2 panic every week, and things are fine
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top