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TICKET ARCHIVE -> My very first Kernel Panic!?!

radical - Oct 26, 2007 - 3:53 pm

Dear Mr. or Miss Tech Person,

I had my very first kernel panic today. It was quite disturbing to have my Mac suddenly and without reason hijacked. I got the grey screen of death saying that I need to restart my computer. As if my happy Mac suddenly turned evil on me.

Here's the panic.log from my Console:

Fri Oct 26 15:16:47 2007
panic(cpu 0 caller 0x0015F4A0): tcp_unlock: so=25b3c10 usecount=ffffffff

Latest stack backtrace for cpu 0:
Backtrace:
0x00095698 0x00095BB0 0x0002683C 0x0015F4A0 0x00292210 0x0028F1C0 0x00281CA8 0x0025E2D0
0x0025E4D4 0x0025C5CC 0x0025C32C 0x002A9BF4 0x000ABE30 0x01E58720
Proceeding back via exception chain:
Exception state (sv=0x2FE0A780)
PC=0x9001456C; MSR=0x0200F030; DAR=0x0124D000; DSISR=0x42000000; LR=0x907AB52C; R1=0xBFFFED50; XCP=0x00000030 (0xC00 - System call)

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 8.3.0: Mon Oct 3 20:04:04 PDT 2005; root:xnu-792.6.22.obj~2/RELEASE_PPC
*********

Is one of my dual CPU's dying? At the time, I was only using Opera to check Gmail and My Yahoo.

Please help. Thank you.

Stuartpau - Oct 26, 2007 - 11:45 pm

HI, can you give me some more information, for example is your mac working at all and if not, do you get a so called Kernel Panic every time you try to restart,

There are many causes of kernel panics and in a many cases they are eally not serious at all.

There are now so many people creating software to run on different systems, and as tie goes by the software gets more and more advanced.

Consequently all these different Software creators, creat software that can return illogical messages to the Kernel or the heart of your operatig system, that you get these Kernel panics.

You have some cause for concern if you find yourself gettinga repeatable Kerne panic, every time you restart your Mac, on a Standard account. This is an account that has no other software loading than that which is supplied by Apple, abd preferably a non admin account, although t otroubleshoot you will need and admin account.

For safety's sake it would be a good idea if you can, to get all the files that are important to you, backed up if your system alows it.

If you can, please send me the output of your system Profiler in text form, that guaratees I can read it. I would also need to know as much about your OS, for example the exact Version you are using, along with what if any devices you have connected to your mac Etc.

I will await your response

Stuart

radical - Oct 29, 2007 - 5:15 pm

Hi Stuart,

Thanks for your prompt response. I was busy over the weekend so wasn't able to reply.

My Mac hasn't had another kernel panic since then. That was the first and only time so far. I thought kernel panics were rare, so I freaked out, maybe unnecessarily.

I don't know how to output my System Profiler into text, but I can tell you about what I'm running.

I'm using 10.4.3. I'm mostly device-free, except for a Razer Pro mouse I started using two weeks ago. I'm using the latest driver for it; I wonder if that's related. I'm also running Compost and Flip4Mac's WMV plug-in for Quicktime, as far as system add-ons are concerned. That's it for the system. I try to keep it fairly clean, without adding much stuff.

Last year, I had the motherboad replaced because it wouldn't start up. That took two tries, and afterward, my Superdrive has been flakey--sometimes going offline completely. My hard drive has also been making clacking noises recently.

Oh, and my Mac is a refurb that I bought direct from Apple. Don't know if that makes any difference.

radical - Nov 1, 2007 - 3:08 pm

Hi Stuart,

I keep getting these emails saying that you're waiting for a response from me. But I already replied several days ago. Is my response showing up on your end? I see it on the web site.

Stuartpau - Nov 2, 2007 - 9:06 am

I apologise for the email issue, I am afraid my email service has been down for almost a week. Only from certain places (Very strange) but I am afraid it included you.

If your system has not had a kernel panic since you reported it, I would not worry about it, but from the sound of things I would check out that HD, it sounds like it is beginning to go down, and it is far better to get another Drive of the same size and type and clone the one you have to it. That way you wil have an exact copy of your current drive. An application called SuperDuper is great for doing this.
On the other hand you could put in a larger drive and simply rebuild the entire system.

IF you need any help on that just drop me aline (Hope I get it) and I will take you through that process.

My name is Stuart so feel free to use it.

It is the fact that the Mac is a refurb, that has me concerned about the drive, it is anyone's guess just how far Apple goes when refurbishig a system.

Stuart

TechSupport - Nov 5, 2007 - 2:30 pm

We apologize for not being able to resolve the issue you asked of us. It is the absolute worst case scenario for us to do this. In our review of why this happens, it generally is related to either the particular issue being addressed or frequently, incomplete or incorrect information provided. We hope by moving your request to the public forums that you will be able to get a solution without leaving you empty handed.

Your ticket has been closed with our support team. Your request has just been posted to Mac OS X System & Mac Software and is available for your viewing at:

http://macosx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=296206

Again, thank you for using Macosx.com. We hope you will consider using us again in the future.

radical - Nov 5, 2007 - 2:37 pm

I've been worried about the hard drive ever since it started the occasional clacking sound. I plan to buy a larger external drive to backup both of my hard drives (I've got two already filling up both bays in the tower). I'm glad you mentioned SuperDuper because I already have it, and had forgotten about it.

Well, thanks for your help.