Ok guys, I am a tech working for a mom and pop type computer shop. Unfortunately I am mostly a Windows guy and do not know a whole lot about Mac's. But I had a customer bring a Mac desktop into the shop the other day which was displaying constant kernel panics. I have held down D on startup and ran the extended test. The information showed that all tests passed, but it only took 5 minutes or so, is that normal? I have also ran Memtest and the RAM checks out ok, plus I have checked the RAM one module at a time with the same result.
A guy came in not long ago who is a Mac guy and said it was the video card but could not resolve our issue, so we took the video card out and placed it in a Windows environment and did not have any issues with it. Could it be the firmware? Unfortunately I cannot boot to the original install disk to run any diagnostics. I put in the disk and hold down C and it spins, makes noise, and acts like it wants to boot up but I eventually get the same kernel panic that I started with.
I am not familiar with the Mac OS but judging from my own research and the look of the kernel panic screen it is at least 10.3 or less. I have the HD yanked out and am currently viewing it using Ubuntu Live so I can grab the kernel panic logs for you. Here is a copy of everything in the panic.log I really appreciate all the help, if you need more info let me know. The default test runs in a few minutes. That's not good enough as most problems, especially with RAM are not detected until much later. Run the test in extended mode, looped. Vgn-fz180e driver for mac. Ctrl-L to get loop on, run extended for a few hours minimum (more in depth howto for that in howto&faq part of the board).
The panics above have a reference to the graphics (kernel). Which per se could be software or hardware. So further digging needed. Which exact Mac model is it?
Mac Mini, iMac, Mac Pro.? Exact model number or fist 5 digits of the serial number (with the model of Mac) would also help. The kernel version seems to resolve to 10.4.10 (or.11?).
Unless the customer has bought a newer OS (10.5 or 10.6) we'll have to stick to 10.4.x for now. Is there any more information on when the panics occurred? Were they doing something particular? Gaming, browsing, idle, sleep, wake from sleep, when it's been running for hours.?
If booting to an install disc (of the same Mac OR of a later version of Mac OS X retail disc) did it also panic there or was it just hanging while waiting? (Were those discs you tried it with 10.5 or 10.6 retail discs, black in color?) Did you try safe mode? Holding down shift from startup until you see login screen (will take longer to boot). Not sure of the exact model but the Serial number is G86441HKUPZ. I am guessing it is a Mac Pro, pretty good sized tower, dull silver in color. As far as I know the guy was using it like he always had (browsing the web, gaming, email) and it just started this kernel panic.
When booting from Disk 1 of 2 that came with the tower it acts like it wants to boot and even, most of the time, spins the disk but after about 5 minutes it will go to the Kernel panic screen asking me to turn off the computer. Unfortunately it does not say what version the disks are but they are a light gray in color. I did try safe mode and single user mode and the end result is very similar to when I attempt to boot to the disk, it acts like it wants to go but after 5 minutes or so I get the kernel panic screen again. I have also cleared the PRAM and the NVRAM (I think that is what they were called) and that did not help either.
I will unplug the drive and place it back in the desktop and run the looped test that you spoke of. I assume: hold down D to get to the test and ctrl+L while clicking on test? Thanks for the fast response, all your patience, and your time. Com.apple.NVDAResman(4.5.6)@0x691000 dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.2)@0x5a9000 dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.4.8)@0x667000 dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(1.4.8)@0x682000 com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(1.4.8)@0x682000 dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.2)@0x5a9000 dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.4.8)@0x667000 com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.4.8)@0x667000 dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.2)@0x5a9000Quite likely the graphics card.
When you tested it in a Windows environment (which I assume means placing the card into a computer with Windows loaded), did you 'stress' the computer to the point where it would tax the graphics card a bit? The graphics card may not fail until it reaches a certain temperature, and running a graphics-intensive program in a loop may help the card to reach that temperature.
Perhaps the Mac is more sensitive to the card than the Windows box is, which may explain why it failed in the Mac but worked reliably in a Windows computer. If you can get your hands on another graphics card (which must be Mac-specific - you can't use any old off-the-shelf, Windows graphics card in a Mac) and test with that, it would certainly narrow down the possibilities.
The crash log does have all fingers pointing toward a failure of the graphics card, though. Is the heatsink properly fitted, fans turn effortlessly, etc? ElDiablo - We did stress the card, but not for an extended period of time. Maybe 35 - 45 minutes.
That includes gaming, browsing the web, and using some of the graphics tests found in the NVDIA software. Unfortunately we have not been able to get our hands on a different Mac specific card for testing, thats why we reversed the process and put the Mac card into the Windows machine. The heat sink feels firm, and it does not have a fan on it.
One of my co-workers looked up a replacement and said it would be around $400+ which seems ridiculous for a 7300GT. Djackmac - It is a 7300 GT. I have not checked for blown or swolen caps, but I will be sure and do that this morning when I go in. I hope it is something that simple. Thanks for everyones input, patience, and time. Ok guys check it out.
Kernel Support Vector Machine Linear
With the video card in the machine and the ethernet chord plugged in. According to the DHCP table it was not pulling an IP address. Took out the card, left the network cable plugged in, booted it up, checked the DHCP table and was able to match the MAC address to an IP that was pingable and also ran tracert just to see. Both came back with positive results. So it does look like the video card, which we tested further and have determined that there is a short in the card but are not able to pin point it so far. Although it still runs in a Windows machine, very strange.
Anyway, we ordered a 7300GT from ebay and its on the way from New York. I will keep posting as updates come along.
Kernel Support Vector Machine Tutorial
Thank you all for your time and patience, this is a good community of friendly helpful folks. Thanks again.