No Serial Number Found and Kernel Panicing

Joined
Feb 3, 2007
Messages
23
Reaction score
2
Points
3
So,

I have 2 questions I am hoping you great Mac Users can help me with.

1. What would cause a Mac to not have a serial number

2. can anyone recommend good tools/utilities that will help me find the source of a constant kernel panic problem. perhaps something to help decipher KP logs.

Back Story:

I recently got a PowerMac Dual 1.25 G4 MDD FW800 from the IT guy in my department. He was going to retire it and throw it away so I took it instead. The stated reason for pitching this gem was "it is unfixable"

He said that this machine had been a problem for a very long time and had constant Kernel Panics. He said he "replaced everything except the Motherboard"

Now you should know that this guy is a dunce and I would not be surprised if he never really tried to fix her at all. He is not exactly a friend to the Mac side of life.

So I don't really know what has been done to this machine so far but I am going to start from scratch and see what I can do. Hope I give this baby a new lease on life.

It does in fact KP very often and usually with little to no heavy lifting. usually just in finder.

Thanks everyone!
 

dtravis7


Retired Staff
Joined
Jan 4, 2005
Messages
30,133
Reaction score
703
Points
113
Location
Modesto, Ca.
Your Mac's Specs
MacMini M-1 MacOS Monterey, iMac 2010 27"Quad I7 , MBPLate2011, iPad Pro10.5", iPhoneSE
Did you get the OS install CD/DVD? What version of OSX is it?

Kernel Panics are often caused by bad RAM. It could be something wrong with the OS also.

That machine should be very stable.
 
OP
Sheehan
Joined
Feb 3, 2007
Messages
23
Reaction score
2
Points
3
More Info I should have included:

The current OS is 10.4.8.
I started testing the machine booting from my external which has a clean copy of 10.4.8 for situation such as these. Under these conditions the KPs still happened.
I then Dupped that clean version to the bootdrive of the PM using Drive Genius after shredding both the internal drives. Still get the panics. (this is the current status of the OS)

I realize RAM is high suspect. I have RAM coming to rule it out. The clean version of OS should rule out an OS problem.

I have recorded all panic logs if anyone is interested
 

dtravis7


Retired Staff
Joined
Jan 4, 2005
Messages
30,133
Reaction score
703
Points
113
Location
Modesto, Ca.
Your Mac's Specs
MacMini M-1 MacOS Monterey, iMac 2010 27"Quad I7 , MBPLate2011, iPad Pro10.5", iPhoneSE
Sure, post the logs.
 
Joined
Mar 9, 2004
Messages
9,065
Reaction score
331
Points
83
Location
Munich
Your Mac's Specs
Aluminium Macbook 2.4 Ghz 4GB RAM, SSD 24" Samsung Display, iPhone 4, iPad 2
Normally a Mac doesn't have a serial number if the logic board has been swapped.

I realize that you said that's what he hadn't swapped but I can't think of any other reason...
 
OP
Sheehan
Joined
Feb 3, 2007
Messages
23
Reaction score
2
Points
3
Interesting about hte Logic Board... I'll look more into that.

Thanks

The current Log file can be found at <Here>
 
Joined
Apr 20, 2006
Messages
2,255
Reaction score
47
Points
48
Your Mac's Specs
Al iMac 20" 2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo
Have you tried the wipe button on the actual motherboard? It's a small black button that's in different places on various motherboards. Hunt around for it and press it down for 2 seconds. Then power up.
 
OP
Sheehan
Joined
Feb 3, 2007
Messages
23
Reaction score
2
Points
3
Alexis,

do you mean the PMU reset button. If you do then yes. I have reset PMU via button and battery removal.

I continue to plug at it.

I have come to the point where I am trying to eliminate hardware devices. I am going to strip the computer dowh to its necessities and work back from there.

Fingers Crossed
 

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