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OS X and crashes?

EGT

EGT

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Sep 4, 2003
1,605
1
hey there

Over this past week my powerbook with os X has crashed at least 3 or 4 times, once or twice when downloading a bit torrent file over ISDN and the other few times with just running the usual programs, Explorer, Itunes, mail etc, nothing out of the ordinary. I know this is defiantly not normal and i was wondering is there anyway of telling what exactly caused the system to crash? I think it crashed anyway; a brownish window comes up saying the computer needs to be restarted with different languages below? It sounds more like my computer is dieing! :(

Any ideas? I certainly haven’t got any

Thanks!
 
Hi Mike

512mb that came with the computer from apple.
 
go to applications/utilities/disk utility. click on your hard drive (it'll be on the left sidebar), and click repair permissions. see if that fixes anything.
 
If repairing your permissions dosn't work, try this tip.

Restart the computer, but hold down Command-S while it is starting. It will display a lot of stuff you won't recognize, but then it will show something like:

Welcome to Darwin!
[computernamehere]%

type "fsck -y -f" but without the quotes

Continue to run that command untill it displays the message:
"Macintosh HD OK!"

Then type reboot. Your mac will start up, but in the normal mode this time.
 
What are you using for BitTorrent? Azeurus is good for a kernel panic every couple days so if you're using that it would explain some of your problems.
 
MikeLaRiviere said:
What does the command "fsck -y -f" mean/do?

Mike LaRiviere
Click to expand...
fsck is short for "File System Check". It performs the same check Disk Utility does. The -y -f after it are switches - here's what they do:
-y: Assume a response of "Yes" to any questions fsck would normally ask the user.
-f: Force a check, even if the file system is marked "clean".
 
Ok I've repaired permissions for now. If that doesn’t work I’ll try your tip Mechcozmo. btw, by normal mode, you just mean as it would start up normally?

horrotaxi, i just downloaded the latest version of bit torrent for Os X, im not familiar with Azeurus. I've deleted bit torrent off the system for now anyway, maybe that'll help?

Thanks v much for the help everyone.
:)
 
If Those Fail..

EGT, if you experience another failure soon after all you've done, here are a few more things to try. Run the Apple Hardware Test which is on one of your system CDs. If this finds no problem, try disconnecting all peripherals. Another option is running Micromat TechTools Pro, if you or a friend/colleague has it. Finally, try removing the extra RAM, and see how the computer works.

If you narrow the problem down to the RAM, Apple will send you a replacement stick for free. Good luck!

Mike LaRiviere
 
Thanks very much, Mike. If the problem keeps happening i'll give it a go.
 
EGT said:
Ok I've repaired permissions for now. If that doesn’t work I’ll try your tip Mechcozmo. btw, by normal mode, you just mean as it would start up normally?

horrotaxi, i just downloaded the latest version of bit torrent for Os X, im not familiar with Azeurus. I've deleted bit torrent off the system for now anyway, maybe that'll help?

Thanks v much for the help everyone.
:)
Click to expand...
As far as normal mode goes, your interpretation is correct - Mechcozmo is referring to a normal startup of Mac OS X.
 
Repairing permissions...

I'm currently on a G4 sawtooth, 400Mhz, running Jaguar. I tried to repair permissions, but the "repair permissions" button is grayed out on my disk utility.... I'm pretty new to the Mac, so I'm wonderign if this is usual, and how to repair permissions when this occurs. Thanks for the help!

Aaron
 
Aaon said:
I'm currently on a G4 sawtooth, 400Mhz, running Jaguar. I tried to repair permissions, but the "repair permissions" button is grayed out on my disk utility.... I'm pretty new to the Mac, so I'm wonderign if this is usual, and how to repair permissions when this occurs. Thanks for the help!

Aaron
Click to expand...
You've probably got the wrong drive selected in Disk Utility, or you have "Ignore ownership on this volume" checked for that disk.
 
Hardware Test CD-ROM doesn't find all bad RAM

Just a note - not all bad RAM shows up in the Hardware Test. I had a bad 512MB RAM Module that always tested OK, but my system crashed almost once a day for ages.

I finally took the RAMM out to test, and ran off 128 MB on my motherboard - it was SLOW, but never crashed. After getting a replacement module, I've never had another crash since.
 
Why on earth are you (still) using Explorer for pete's sake?

It's incredibly slow and doesn't render "modern" websites properly that Safari blasts out (on my rapidly aging G4).

And what is "crashing" actually? The whole computer? Or your software?

The funniest thing I see in my web site referral logs is some wonk using Netscape 3.0.1 to surf into my site and then come back a minute later using WinXP (because Netscape 3.01 is insanely old and my site uses a lot of CSS trickery to look proper).

I always wonder if they are in some computer lab using the poor lone never-upgraded since 1997 Beige G3 Mac (or more likely the iMolar or G3 AIO that Gil Amelio-former CEO of Apple created shortly before Jobs return and the creation of the iMac) at first and then switch the brand new DELL Inspluriion or whatever.
 
Don;t blame him, blame Apple!

Sayer said:
Why on earth are you (still) using Explorer for pete's sake?

It's incredibly slow and doesn't render "modern" websites properly that Safari blasts out (on my rapidly aging G4).
Click to expand...

While I agree that Safari is better and tighter since MS dropped Explorer for Mac, why does OS X 10.3 include a default installation of Explorer? :confused:
 
CalfCanuck said:
While I agree that Safari is better and tighter since MS dropped Explorer for Mac, why does OS X 10.3 include a default installation of Explorer? :confused:
Click to expand...
Because switchers will freak out if they get OS X and there's no IE. Many Windows users probably have no idea that other browsers besides IE even exist (besides maybe Netscape). They might not know what Safari is, and would be confused. Although it'd be good for them to at least try Safari, they'd be more likely to switch to OS X in the first place if they knew there'd be "essential apps" like IE.
 
So Safari is better is it then? I've always just used Exlporer becuase it is there, i've had no problems with it. I've always been meaning to try it but never got around to it, i'll give it a go today.

And by "crashing" i mean the whole computer, i.e. have to restart.

Thanks
 
hmmm You guys were right! It is much better than explorer! The only problem now is getting all my bookmarks from explorer to Safari!

Doh :rolleyes:
 
It is possible that 1) OSX is corrupt, An apple care specialist said that it is possible to become corrupt if you mess with the machine during software updates/installations and i have had to format my machine because of it, i have a g5 and i used to have crashes that were the result of corruption, ever since i have had no problems, 2) it is possible that your HD is going bonkers and you need to invest in a new one 3) it is not the processor if something comes up and tells you to turn the machine off i would say because if it was the processor it would just stop. 4) how old is your machine and memory type and quantity could be determinants 5) i recommend formatting and then seeing if their is any problems


EGT said:
hey there

Over this past week my powerbook with os X has crashed at least 3 or 4 times, once or twice when downloading a bit torrent file over ISDN and the other few times with just running the usual programs, Explorer, Itunes, mail etc, nothing out of the ordinary. I know this is defiantly not normal and i was wondering is there anyway of telling what exactly caused the system to crash? I think it crashed anyway; a brownish window comes up saying the computer needs to be restarted with different languages below? It sounds more like my computer is dieing! :(

Any ideas? I certainly haven’t got any

Thanks!
Click to expand...
 
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