Grey Screen of Death

[RedHook]

5 times in the last week, and 3 times yesterday, I got the GSoD on my MBP. I'm working quietly, and suddenly I get the grey curtain that slowly descends over my screen, and then the "You need to restart your computer" message appears. My software is up to date, and I've had various programs running each time- sometimes several open, last night was just Safari and iTunes. I was backing up to my FW drive when it crashed last night, and later I was importing video from my FW when it crashed again.

Is this the sign of something awful, or just an inconvenience? I would tend to lean down the inconvenient route, except for the occasional restart when closed and the the difficulties in joining my wireless network. Now I'm thinking that it's dying on me.

Thoughts? Thanks.

 

[bartelby]

5 times in the last week, and 3 times yesterday, I got the GSoD on my MBP. I'm working quietly, and suddenly I get the grey curtain that slowly descends over my screen, and then the "You need to restart your computer" message appears. My software is up to date, and I've had various programs running each time- sometimes several open, last night was just Safari and iTunes. I was backing up to my FW drive when it crashed last night, and later I was importing video from my FW when it crashed again.

Is this the sign of something awful, or just an inconvenience? I would tend to lean down the inconvenient route, except for the occasional restart when closed and the the difficulties in joining my wireless network. Now I'm thinking that it's dying on me.

Thoughts? Thanks.

Bad RAM is the most common cause of a Kernel Panic.

 

[SMM]

5 times in the last week, and 3 times yesterday, I got the GSoD on my MBP. I'm working quietly, and suddenly I get the grey curtain that slowly descends over my screen, and then the "You need to restart your computer" message appears. My software is up to date, and I've had various programs running each time- sometimes several open, last night was just Safari and iTunes. I was backing up to my FW drive when it crashed last night, and later I was importing video from my FW when it crashed again.

Is this the sign of something awful, or just an inconvenience? I would tend to lean down the inconvenient route, except for the occasional restart when closed and the the difficulties in joining my wireless network. Now I'm thinking that it's dying on me.

Thoughts? Thanks.

This is a pretty extreme case. Most people have zero issues. What modifications, or beta software might be contributing to the problem? If none, take it in and have it evaluated and/or repaired. You might have a bad Dimm. Bad memory chips cause problems, mostly fatal (to the machine, not the user).

 

[someguy]

Bad RAM is the most common cause of a Kernel Panic.

Seconded. Occasionally you may have a KP on your machine, but if it is recurring this often, the first thing to check is probably the RAM.

 

[RedHook]

Thanks, everybody. SMM, it's a C2D with 2GB of factory RAM. No mods, no beta. I was backing up last night so that I could install BootCamp this week. Probably better get this figured out before I spend any time doing that, eh?

I've got an Apple Store not too far away. I'll try to take it in early next week to see if the Geniuses can work their elfin magic.

 

[bartelby]

Check the RAM is seated properly. If it's loose or slightly out of place it'll cause Kernel Panics too

 

[holamiamigos]

that used to happen to me all the time... and one day it just stopped