My New iBook is crashing (Static?)

[tbp]

I got my iBook today, which is my first Mac (you can thank Pear PC for that one). I'm having stability problems with the machine, though, and that's disheartening, so I'm looking for experience/guidance on my problems.

When I got the machine I dutifully installed the 512mb chip I had waiting (It's Corsair, model VS512SDS266) and according to various places people have had that chip working. I also had an iSkin keyboard cover that I put on immediately. (Yes, I was grounded and safe with the memory installation as I am when working near sensitive equipment like that. I've never ever zapped hardware of any kind in my years and years of working with computers)

I booted up the system and started through the Welcome steps. When I got to the product registration screen I discovered that the iSkin seems to be a pain in the butt and I had trouble typing, so I removed the iSkin and then went to hit backspace. The system froze, and I soon saw a kernel panic dialog. At this time the laptop was plugged in and on the desk.

Later on while using the machine, and I'm pretty darn sure the iSkin was gone, I was running System Update and it paniced in the middle of one of the steps. The laptop was plugged in on my lap. After rebooting I discovered my desktop was kind of hosed when logging in so I figured I'd just reinstall.

I ran the diagnostics disk that came with the Applecare box (took forever to boot!) and it checked everything as fine.

So at this point, I took the memory chip OUT and reinstalled OSX. When the Welcome stuff came up I put the iSkin back on and when I got to product registration I had the same problem, so I purposefully ripped the skin off again, touched backspace and BOOM! the system crashed -- and this time it was a hardware crash, not a kernel panic. (on the desk, not plugged in)

So what the heck might be going on here. My guess is static sensitivity? Are the iBooks known to be so static sensitive? If so, it really is unacceptable... there's no way I could make my world static free, and I've never had a problem with any other system. Since the memory chip is the same kind my wife's PC laptop uses, I figure I'd pop it in there and run it through memtest86 for a while just to be certain the chip was fine. But the laptop is still being odd even without the chip, which was my original "hope".

Im apprehensious to go to the Apple store with it being an intermittent problem, as well as I have the Bluetooth module and I know they wouldn't have a replacement stocked. I need this for some work in the field immediately (which is why I got it)

So I'm pretty distraught at the moment. Any experience/help/things to try (since I'm OSX/Mac n00bian) would be insanely appreciated. Thanks!

 

[quiksan]

wow - I'd normally say the ram was the issue, but you ripped that out and it still happened!

hm, well i'd have apple ship you a new one - take it to a local apple store if you've got one,a nd pick their brains - they can ship it or replace it for you I'm sure.

on the upside, this behaviour is not typical at all! I've never heard of that happening before as a matter of fact.

hope you can get it straightened out quickly.
hopefully someone else on here has some more useful information that I...

 

[tbp]

Well, Im testing the RAM on my wife's laptop at the moment, but I'm pretty sure that's not it.

Is it feasable that something isnt grounded in the laptop properly which is making it susceptable to static shocks? I haven't been able to reproduce a crash since the last one on the registration screen, though... but I also have very unscientific ways of creating static ;D

I cant imagine there's a legion of iSkin users who have this problem and don't care so it is growing clear to me that I likely have a boogieman in the hardware and just need to get a replacement worked out. The bummer being the bluetooth module since they dont stock iBooks with BT in my store (or else Id have gotten this last week)

 

[Viro]

Or it could be that the onboard memory module is bad. It can happen, after all it's still RAM.