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So, My iMac is crashing.

Discussion in 'Technology' started by senna21, May 5, 2009.

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  1. senna21

    senna21 F1 Rookie

    Jul 2, 2004
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    Charles W
    #1 senna21, May 5, 2009
    I've got a 24" iMac and a few weeks ago began freezing up. I'd be listening to music or watching a movie or show online and the screen would just go black and it'd lock up. Then upon rebooting it I'd get a "OS X Kernel" fault message that'd be sent to Apple.

    Well, it got so bad that it almost wouldn’t boot up again. So, I "nuked it from orbit" and reloaded the entire operating system, with the total rewrite of the hard drive option. "It's the only way to be sure," right?

    Apparently not. After about three days of trouble free operation it locked up on my last night. Three times. Before I cart it back (it's still under a one year warrantee) I'd like to try to sort it out again myself.

    So have any of you guys run into something like this? And where would be a good place (Mac forum) to go to ask for further information?

    As always your time and answers are much appreciated.
     
  2. WJHMH

    WJHMH Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #2 WJHMH, May 5, 2009
  3. Fast_ian

    Fast_ian Two Time F1 World Champ

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    #3 Fast_ian, May 5, 2009
    The PC fanboys are watching :D
    ........
    Cool!
    Nope
    We'll get back to that.

    It sounds like you've got a H/W failure - My initial guess is bad memory, but we need more data:

    - Please run the disk utility (Applications -> Utilities) -> Select your boot drive and "repair permissions". [The forums always tell you to start there.....]
    - Assuming you get thru' that, you then want to run a memory checker - A quick Google turned up: http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/15837
    - Report back......

    Good luck,
    Cheers,
    Ian
     
  4. 1_can_dream

    1_can_dream F1 Veteran

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    #4 1_can_dream, May 5, 2009
    Can't you just fix it with a few drops of Steve Jobs' tears?
     
  5. SilverF20C

    SilverF20C Formula 3

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    #5 SilverF20C, May 5, 2009
    Last edited: May 5, 2009
    Is that a bead of sweat on your brow after recommending Macs in the other thread? j/k :D I actually laughed and thought of your earlier post in Uro's thread when I read this before you posted. :D

    All kidding aside though, to the OP, the girlfriend had the same issue with her Macbook and she says it happened after she installed Adobe's Creative Suite. She took it to an Apple retailer twice since the first attempt yielded nothing but the second time of reinstalling it seemed to have fixed that issue. The other issue she had is that her Safari and Firefox browsers would freeze/hang. Apparently, that issue may have something to do with the latest versions of Adobe Flash. She still hasn't gotten that one resolved yet so she may go back to an older version. I'd try the previously suggested forums too since you've already tried an OS reinstall.
     
  6. Fast_ian

    Fast_ian Two Time F1 World Champ

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    #6 Fast_ian, May 5, 2009
    Hell, yeah! :D
    +1 ;)

    If he were on a PC, we'd be recommending anti-stuff right now!

    We'll get 'er fixed! [I do think it's bad RAM though......]

    Cheers,
    Ian
     
  7. SilverF20C

    SilverF20C Formula 3

    Jun 22, 2004
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    #7 SilverF20C, May 5, 2009
    :D Aint that the truth! Interesting about the RAM. Will check with the GF and see if they looked into that. Her issue with the kernel problem & blackouts only happened after the Adobe install but anything's possible.
     
  8. Etcetera

    Etcetera Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #8 Etcetera, May 5, 2009
    One could build the most secure and stable OS in the world, and Adobe would waddle along and ruin it with flash...worst bit of software ever, next to their pdf reader.
     
  9. senna21

    senna21 F1 Rookie

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    #9 senna21, May 5, 2009
    Thanks guys! I'll try getting on it again tonight when I get home and hopefully I'll be able to get it sorted.

    I'm hoping its' a software fault an not a hardware issue.
     
  10. Fast_ian

    Fast_ian Two Time F1 World Champ

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    #10 Fast_ian, May 5, 2009
    +1

    Have you recently installed a new version of Flash? Adobe anything?......
     
  11. senna21

    senna21 F1 Rookie

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    #11 senna21, May 5, 2009
    I had prior to reinstalling the OS. Since then I don't think so but I did do the automatic software updates that popped up soon after. I'm not sure if Flash was on that list.
     
  12. Fast_ian

    Fast_ian Two Time F1 World Champ

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    #12 Fast_ian, May 6, 2009
    Shouldn't be. However, I suspect your "format the drive" before reinstall actually didn't (!) - I rebuilt my Mac (after ~5 years btw) not so long ago and was surprised to find 3rd party applications (that I figured had been removed by the "format") still in the applications directory - I figured that saved me having to restore from backup and moved on...... [But, it sure appeared to have not done the full format as I was expecting - WTF?]

    Have you had a chance to run the memory diagnostic I posted a link to? Alternatively, can you get it into an Apple store? - They use "Techtool Pro" as their preferred diagnostic tool and will check it out for you - I'm more and more convinced it's a H/W failure - Probably intermittent RAM.

    Good luck!
    Cheers,
    Ian
     
  13. ScuderiaShield

    ScuderiaShield Karting

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    #13 ScuderiaShield, May 6, 2009
    Why bother messing with it? Put that thing into the box and take it down to the Genius Bar and let them sort it out.
     
  14. rcraig

    rcraig F1 Rookie

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    #14 rcraig, May 6, 2009
    Before you haul it around do the simple things like repairing permissions and resetting PRAM--- Reboot. On Start-up Hold down option command -p-r- keys until you hear the second big startup chime.
     

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