How to interpret kernel panic log - OS 10.4.11 - Mirror Door

[MirrorDoorMac]

Hi,


I’m trying to solve a pattern of kernel panics, once every few weeks.


Might anyone be able to interpret the panic.log below, to guess at the cause?


Last October, I began using a G4 Mirror Door Drive:

• Dual 1.25
• 1.5 GB RAM
• 1 internal drive, 80 GB, available free space 21 GB
• 1 partition

• OS 10.4.11

• Last October, I reformatted the Mirror Door Drive using Disk Utility (it had been on the shelf for several years; a local office upgraded their desktops)

I then migrated OS and data files, using Carbon Copy Cloner, from an external clone of my previous G4, a QuickSilver (also 10.4.11)

(The QuickSilver power supply had failed suddenly, but its external backup was current.)

• The MDD has had 5 kernel panics, in March, May, July, August, and September (just yesterday).


Here’s the complete panic.log report for yesterday:

Logs - /Library/logs - panic.log

Sun Sep 4 15:27:18 2022
panic(cpu 0 caller 0x000E83E4): vnode_put(33ba738): iocount < 1
Latest stack backtrace for cpu 0:
Backtrace:
0x000954F8 0x00095A10 0x00026898 0x000E83E4 0x000E8390 0x0010DECC 0x0010E144 0x0010E368
0x000FBA54 0x000E249C 0x000E2030 0x000F51A0 0x000ED4E0 0x000ED898 0x002ABDB8 0x000ABD30
0x463D2231
Proceeding back via exception chain:
Exception state (sv=0x38020C80)
PC=0x90001B2C; MSR=0x0000F030; DAR=0x000FF014; DSISR=0x42000000; LR=0x00005488; R1=0xF007EB30; XCP=0x00000030 (0xC00 - System call)

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 8.11.0: Wed Oct 10 18:26:00 PDT 2007; root:xnu-792.24.17~1/RELEASE_PPC
*********


I compared the panic.logs (in /Library/Logs) for May and yesterday.


Interestingly, many of the codes (0x000...) in the panic.log are the same.


But, the exception state in May was: (sv=0x3EB17500)

And the exception state in September is: (sv=0x38020C80)

_______________________________________________________________________________________


• Can anyone decipher the log above, to suggest a cause?

_______________________________________________________________________________________


– Panics seem to have occurred within 1 to 60 seconds of saving ordinary .rtf word documents ... or clicking to close a document (red button at upper left of document window)

– Panics have occurred while offline, with browser (TenFourFox) closed

• One (of two) FW 400 ports is non-working

• One (of two) USB 2.0 ports is working but has sloppy fit (cable relaxes to one side)

• One (of one) FW 800 port is working and tight


– Aside from the panics, computer is stable

– Fan is a smooth quiet sound, except on the three or four very hottest summer days

– No new software has been added

– No changes made inside the case, except careful dusting, including the front air intakes

– G4 runs from a high-quality, true sine wave UPS

– Keeps correct date/time
But battery is not later than 2012

– No memory leaks
Watching “Activity Monitor,” especially later in the day

– Keyboard (wired Macally) and wired mouse are about 6 years old ... worn, but comfortable


A close reading of historical crashreporter.log (goes back to 2008) shows frequent “crashdump started” events with previous owner, up to this year.


The “crashdump started” have occurred from once every few weeks, to three times daily -- but without triggering a kernel panic.


These crashdumps are hidden (unless one reads the log in real time).

_________________________________________________________________________________________


I’ve been slowly eliminating possible causes, including:

- Disconnected new StarTech USB 2.0 hub

- Synchronized date/time of Brother all-in-one and the desktop
(Brother was showing about 1 minute ahead of desktop time)

- Only turn on Brother all-in-one when needed ... and then don’t shut Brother down til G4 is off
(Turning Brother off while G4 on, was discovered to cause kernel panic every time, in past years, with G4 QuickSilver. Seems to be a flaw in Brother driver)

- Disabled AppleWorks Auto-Save

- Run Maintenance about weekly


All suggestions will be most gratefully appreciated!


Thank you!


Bob

 

[Noisebox]

Preface: I am coming from the Windows world, and am NOT a Mac expert, so take this FWIW.

In my experience with PCs of that age, it's typically one of two things:
(1) RAM is going bad.
AND/OR
(2) Power supply is failing and can no longer provide the wattage needed for the system under load, though it behaves fine while at idle.

Under the PC world, RAM can be tested with a program called MemTest86+, but I don't think there is a version of that for old Macs.
One of he signs of failing RAM under Windows, is Blue Screens of Death (similar to Kernel Panics I think) with different root causes and the crash dumps are all over the place as to the reason. It's a dead giveaway the RAM has failed.

A failing power supply is usually by process of elimination.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Hi,


I’m trying to solve a pattern of kernel panics, once every few weeks.


Might anyone be able to interpret the panic.log below, to guess at the cause?

I very rarely find a panic log to be helpful in diagnosing a kernel panic. However, this article may help with that a bit:

How to recognise and diagnose kernel panics

Recognition, immediate action including capturing the panic log, discovering clues as to cause, further investigations to diagnose and address the cause.

eclecticlight.co

I'd say that about 80% to 90% of the time kernel panics are due to a hardware problem. In order of likelihood, that problem is usually:

- bad third party RAM
- a problematic USB hub
- a peripheral that your Mac doesn't like for some reason (sometimes just a poorly attached cable, or a bad cable, is the problem)

If you have very recently added new software, especially something that alters the system at a low level, such as anti-virus software, or something that changes the look and/or function of the Mac interface, I would suspect that first. Uninstall that software and see if things get better. (This type of software typically requires an uninstaller to completely disable. Just dragging the application, or the application's folder, to the Trash won't disable it.) I'd go so far as to say that if you are running commercial fully interactive anti-virus software that the first thing that you should try is fully uninstalling it.

If that isn't it, I would restart the Mac with the Shift key held down (invoking a Safe Boot, with all kernel extensions disabled) and see if the problem is gone while running in Safe mode. If the problem is gone while in Safe mode, the Kernel Panics are probably due to a software problem. If it persists while in Safe mode, the problem is most likely hardware related.

To test for hardware problems, you can run Apple's Hardware Test/Apple Diagnostics:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202731

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201257

(Hardware Test is for June 2013 and earlier Macs; Apple Diagnostics is for more recent Macs.)
Unfortunately, it's easily possible to have a hardware problem that this utility doesn't identify.

If you suspect a hardware problem, the next thing that I would do is to shut down your Mac, uninstall all peripherals other than the Apple-supplied keyboard and mouse, restart and see if that helps. If it does, you can re-attach one peripheral at a time, restarting each time, until you isolate the offending peripheral.

If that isn't a solution, you should test your RAM with this free utility:

Rember (free)

Kelley Computing

Portland area Mac IT, Onsite and Consulting Services; Software and Scripts for iOS and OS X

www.kelleycomputing.net

If your RAM is okay, you should then test your hard drive:

DriveDX - free demo

DriveDx - the most advanced drive health diagnostics and monitoring utility

DriveDx - the most advanced drive health (S.M.A.R.T.) diagnostics and monitoring utility. Save yourself the data loss and downtime that is associated with unexpected SSD and HDD failures. Don't worry about losing your important data, music, and photographs.

binaryfruit.com

Helpful Web sites:

"Tutorial: Avoiding and eliminating Kernel panics"
https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/tutorial-avoiding-and-eliminating-kernel-panics/

About kernel panics
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT200553

How to troubleshoot a kernel panic
http://www.macworld.com/article/2027201/how-to-troubleshoot-a-kernel-panic.html