At my wit's end: G3 Kernel Panic on start

After swapping out my original cd-rom for a combo drive, I get a kernel panic on start-up. Putting the old cd-rom back in didn't fix the problem. I tried running the Apple Diagnostic CD and the Restore Software CDs (in both the combo and the cd-rom), and the CD spins but doesn't startup off the CD and goes straight into the kernel panic screen.

I know kernel panic is often associated with bad memory. I took out the memory from under the keyboard, and on start up I get a flashing folder with a question mark, instead of the kernel panic.
I had just loaded OSX Tiger before, which was working fine even though I don't have the 256 mb of memory (I have 128mb). Is it possible the RAM got fried?
It seems that a lot of kernel panics are intermittent, but I have yet to turn the ibook on without getting the kernel panic. I am willing to shell out for a new harddrive and memory, but I am scared that there might be a bigger problem at bay.

As you use Tiger more and more, it probably's using more memory as you use more and more programs. It will trip up with only 128Mb.

You definitely need 256Mb, preferably 384.

But why isn't it letting me load up off a cd. I can't even install the original version of OSX that came with the ibook. The cableing that connects the optical drive also connects the harddrive. Is it possible that the cable is damaged and letting the cdrom spin but not read the cd.. and in turn has caused the kernel panic by not being able to read the harddrive.
The cable looks fine, but I really wouldn't know what to look for either.

This is definitely a hardware problem, I believe.

Make sure you haven't loosened anything that was connected to the motherboard by playing around in there. Make sure RAM is firmly seated. Check to see if any solder or connectors are now broken because of the optical drive swapping.

I had a tech guy at my work take a look at the thing. He said he thought it was harddrive failure. However, when he plugged it into one of the macs at work, we could find the harddrive. Does this mean it isn't a harddrive problem? He said he would try some diagnostic tests tomorrow. I still have a sneaking suspision that it's the cabling. I tried looking for loose connects and broken soldering. I unpluged/repluged the cables to the harddrive and the optical drive which didn't change anything.

The fact that you can see the hard drive on another machine is good, do you mean target mode over FireWire? If so, you can run Disk Utility or Disk Warrior and see if it is healthy. If you pop in a DVD while it is in target mode you should be able to see it on the other Mac as well. That would suggest that the cabling is OK.
Agree with the above, 128 megs of ram is a no go, squeeze a 512 in there!

Yeah! Ran the Disk Utility through target mode this morning. Fixed some minor errors with disc formatting. Everything is working fine, except of course for the combo drive. Anyway of diagnosing that? When I put in a cd it makes a loud hum for half a second, like it wants to load, but then nothing.

just a thought, do I need to install a driver for the combo drive, or is it plugnplay?

acros1 said:

just a thought, do I need to install a driver for the combo drive, or is it plugnplay?

Click to expand...

It shouldn't need a driver, however... what kind of DVD player is it?
Glad the hard drive is feeling better!

It's a sony CD-RW CRX82 Model No. CRX82OE

oh and I just realized that I am unable to open the cd drive via the F12 button.

That model should run just fine without any drivers. The F12 thing is an issue...
Does it show up in System Profiler?

I'm not exactly sure where to look in system profiler. Under Disc Burning it says "No burning device was found. If you are using an external device please make sure that it is connected and powered properly."

Under software->Perference Panes is says the CDs & DVDs Version 1.4 is visible.

I couldn't find any other mention of optical drivers.

Hmm.. I just found this.

Hello, I'm an Apple Authorized tech, I was authorized in 1992, and have been doing it ever since. I have a pretty thorough knowledge of Apple hardware/Software, especially on the older macs. Please feel free to ask me any questions you might have, especially if you are trying to fix an old mac, or just set one up. I love the older Macs (the new ones are pretty good too =), and I know it is easier to find answers for the newer Apple stuff.

As far as installing the CD-ROM, as the above poster brushed on; the master/slave setting is probably what is keeping the drive from working (provided you know the drive is good). The G3 iBook only has one ATA bus, the HD is set to Master, and the optical drives are set as slave from the factory, MOST of the slot-load drives are set to Master, as most of the machines they go in use a dual ATA bus (HD Master on Bus 0, and Optical drive Master on Bus 1; i.e. the Powerbook G4s, Mac Minis, ect...). On some drives there is a small master/slave switch that you can use, on others it is a bit more involved, if you post the make/model of the drive I can let you know how to change it if it does not have a switch.

Also, the same goes for using optical drives from the iBooks on other Macs. In my old pismo I have a combo drive from an iBook that I had to set to master. Set as slave (iBook default) it will always hang up a Pismo coming out of sleep if a CD/DVD is present in the drive. Once set to master, works wonderfully =). The opposite is usually not true when you attempt to install a optical drive set to Master as a slave on the bus, it will do what your drive is doing; not show up in the System Profiler, makes the right noises upon being delivered power, takes dics but doesn't mount, ect...

Hopefully, you have a Master/Slave switch, which would only take 15 minutes or so to correct, and you can be up & running =). Have a good weekend, let me know if I can help with the Master/Slave setting if you don't have a switch.

I'm most interested in the text in the red print, but I can't tell if the author is saying to set the optical drive to master or slave in this instance.

Yup. Master and slave. Your hard drive is set as the master, your Combo needs to be set as the slave. Lucky you! You get to pull the whole thing apart again! I don't think it is going to have a switch, I think it uses pins. If you still have the instructions that will help, the drive may even have the correct positions marked on it. Google up <CD-RW CRX82 master slave> I bet it is there! Good luck, I think you have it figured out!

well that was short lived. After removing the jumpers from the cable and plugging the harddrive in as a slave (since the optical drive can is hard-set as a master), the ibook now won't power up at all.
I put the harddrive back as it was, except without the jumpers. The little things broke apart and were impossible to recover.
Do you think this is related or have I messed up something else? I don't think it's the actual power button, as all the wires and pins seem to still be intact. I've tried resetting the PRAM and PMU.


*Ok nevermind, now it's started again. I think I will give is a rest before trying to set the HD to slave again.

I've posted this in the ibook section, but I'm posting it here as
I haven't got any responses

I'm trying to upgrade my dual USB G3 ibook's cd-rom. I bought a combo sony CRX820E, but couldn't get the drive to load any CD. It makes a noise and starts to spin, but suddenly stops.
After some research, I found that a lot of combo drives are hardset to master, which conflicts with the ibook's HDD which is set to master from the manufacturer. However, when I went to change the jumpers on the HDD it appeared to already be set to slave.
Since I'm not very apt at reading these sorts of things I've attached a diagram of both the HDD and the cable settings.



The bottom image represents the currents settings on the cable where the harddrive inserts. The red dots indicate the holes in the cable which have been blocked off. So the two right side pins of the HDD (A & B) are not inserted into the cable connector part, they sit on the outside.
Can anyone tell me is this setup as a slave or master?
(system profiler says 0, so I guess it's reading it as master)