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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Kernel Panic at Startup in Tiger on MBP

CaptainValor - Dec 25, 2006 - 2:41 pm

This issue has been bugging me for about a week now with no resolution as of yet. First, here is the problem...

Whenever I attempt to start up Mac OS X 10.4 on my 15" Core Duo MacBook Pro, I get through the regular grey Apple logo spinning wheel portion, and then right as grey-blue background comes up (and just after the cursor is displayed), the system just stops. I don't see the "Mac OS X Starting up" box or any progress indicator, and the hard drive has no activity. Sometimes I see a very faint image of the standard "You need to restart your computer message box", that's how I know this is a Kernel Panic.

Here are the steps I've gone through to try to remedy this...

- I can start up successfully in Safe Mode by holding Shift at startup
- I have used my install disc to run a Disc Repair and no problems were found
- I have booted into Single User mode and run fsck, no problems found
- I have used multiple utilities, such as Tiger Cache Cleaner, to clean my system cache
- I have removed all items from all my StartupItems folders

None of these troubleshooting steps had any effect. At this point I believe the problem is related to the Kernal Extension Cache file that OS X loads at a normal startup, but not during a Safe Mode startup. However, I don't know why TCC is not clearing this cache file or even if it can be cleared. Also, I might have some 3rd party KEXT causing a problem, but since my panic.log file does not show any information for these crashes, I cannot isolate which one.

Help me! Thanks in advance

Cheryl - Dec 26, 2006 - 5:35 pm

Stephen,

Usually a kernel panic is caused by a hardware problem. Do you have a wireless card (airport) installed in the MacBook?

What version of 10.4 do you have? Do you have external speakers attached to the MacBook?

Cheryl

CaptainValor - Dec 26, 2006 - 5:43 pm

I suspected hardware at first as well. However, I have not added any new hardware recently and I have unplugged all external devices from the system. I am running with the stock MacBook Pro Apple hardware only (including the built-in Airport card). My version of Tiger is the latest, 10.4.8.

Cheryl - Dec 26, 2006 - 8:56 pm

Stephen,

There is a known issue with MacBook Pro and Airport WiFi. Just to check this, in the panic log do you have this in the log:

"mbuf address out of range XXXX," where XXXX is a hexadecimal number, such as the following:
panic(cpu 1 caller 0x00351267): mbuf address out of range 0x13a0208

If you do, then I suggest you reinstall the 10.4.8. Use the combo updater from here:
http://www.apple.com/support/downloa...dateintel.html

Before you do the download go to Hard Drive>Library>Receipts and trash the
MacOSXUpdCombo10.4.8Intel.pkg file. (it may say MacOSXUpd10.4.8 )

Once downloaded, installed and you have done a restart, go to the Utilities folder and use Disk Utility to repair permissions.

Have you updated the firmware with the latest firmware? This web site will help to determine if you need to update the firmware:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303880

It could be one of your RAM sticks going through a failure. Your MacBook came with a Hardware Test CD. It could be on the Additional Software CD. Use that to test out the MacBook just to be sure.

Cheryl

CaptainValor - Dec 27, 2006 - 2:46 pm

Thank you, thank you, thank you! That appears to have solved my problem, installing the latest combo update. Apparently all I had was the "10.4.8 Intel Patch." I'm so happy to be up and running at 100% again.

Thank you so much for your help! I will recommend your service to all my friends. Take care!

Cheryl - Dec 27, 2006 - 3:21 pm

Stephen,

I am glad you are up and running smoothly.

Cheryl