Is this a kernel panic?

[Kan-O-Z]

I have been using my new MBP for about 3 days now. It has completely locked up on me twice already. The computer completely froze and I could not do anything. Another thing that I noticed is the fan slowly started getting louder and louder. I had to resort to holding the power button down to turn it off.

The first time it happened, I believe I was just doing Safari and iPhoto. The second time it happened, I had it connected to an external display with lid closed. I opened the lid and it completely locked up again and the fan started getting louder and louder.

Is this a kernel panic? Is this a hardware or software problem? If this is hardware related then I should probably return/exchange my MBP. Please let me know what you think.

By the way, I also have the airport sometimes being intermittent but it doesn't happen that often. I also have the Samsung screen and notice a very very slight yellow on the bottom.

This is my first mac and I was hoping things would turn out better. Aside from these problems, it really is a nice machine. I guess I just want it to not have issues (at least not when it's new).

Kan-O-Z

 

[mgargan1]

did you get this symbol?


Sounds like you're having problems, but i don't think it's a "kernel panic", unless you see this.

 

[G4DP]

Nope

A Kernal panic is a small black screen in the middle of your monitor, with for or five different languages, all of which tell you to restart you machine.

So you have not yet had one.

You'll know when you have one.

Beaten to it!

 

[Kan-O-Z]

So what I am experiencing is just a normal lockup? I didn't think that my brand new mac should be locking up like that since they are known to be pretty stable. Do you think I have something to worry about?

By the way, when the mac locks up is there anything that can be done besides holding down the power? Is it normal for the fan to start speeding up and getting louder and louder during a lock up?

PS - I just switched from a PC and kept telling my wife that macs are much more stable...and what do you know, it locks up right in front of us.

Kan-O-Z

 

[IJ Reilly]

It's not normal, and it's probably not locked up. You should try force quitting applications which have become unresponsive, cmd-opt-escape brings up the dialog box. It can also be selected from the Apple menu, if it's not the Finder which has become unresponsive. If the situation isn't rectified by finding and force-quitting an unresponsive application, then we need to look to other possible causes. But try that first.

 

[queshy]

nope that wasn't a KP.

 

[Toknee]

I am failry new to the problems that arise with Mac's myself, having been a PC geek for the longest time.

I too switched to Mac from PC's, always liked OSX, but had to use PC's for work, and the Intel Mac's allowed me to use 1 machine for both.

When you say the fan starts ramping up, this sounds like the temp on your MBP is rising. When you are using your mac, do you have the vents at the rear covered? Some lock ups occur when the system starts to overheat.

Did you get all the latest updates? There might be a hardware update that you are missing.

Download temperature monitor, and see what temps you are running at.

This really sounds like a heat related lock up.

 

[mgargan1]

So what I am experiencing is just a normal lockup? I didn't think that my brand new mac should be locking up like that since they are known to be pretty stable. Do you think I have something to worry about?

By the way, when the mac locks up is there anything that can be done besides holding down the power? Is it normal for the fan to start speeding up and getting louder and louder during a lock up?

PS - I just switched from a PC and kept telling my wife that macs are much more stable...and what do you know, it locks up right in front of us.

Kan-O-Z

Are you anywhere near an apple store? And if not an apple store, are you close to an authorized reseller? They may be able to help you out.

As far as what can be done when it is freezing, powering it off is the only thing you can do.

Did you add 3rd party RAM? Which 3rd party apps are you running, and do you have any peripherals connected?

 

[Kan-O-Z]

I don't think it's a heat issue...at least not being cause by me. I had the MBP on a stand when this happened. The fans started ramping up immediately when the lockup happened. Its almost like something the lockup caused the MBP to go into some default state with the fans fully on or something.

I did not try the cmd-opt-escape but when I say the MBP was locked up, it was completely locked. The trackpad/mouse pointer and all keys were locked and unresponsive.

I just need to decide whether I should try to exchange it soon. I would hate to wait again for two weeks though for delivery.

Kan-O-Z

 

[IJ Reilly]

I'd try running the Activity Monitor. You can set it to show CPU use on the Dock. If the CPU is being pegging while the system become unresponsive, I'd look at the activity window for the culprit. If not, you're probably got a hardware issue, probably with RAM. Also, I'd like to know if the situation is resolved if you walk away from the Mac for a while.