I'm writing this from a friend's computer now because my powerbook has gone insane. I have a PB G3 (firewire) / 400 Mhz/ 300Meg+ RAM/ 10 GB HD and Mac OS X.1
I was running under 9 normally and then I went to the startup disk CDEV as usual to switch over to OS X...everything was like normal...but then after the login screen of OS X I got this weird DOS like screen that says:
Unresolved kernel trap(cpu0): 0x300 - Data access DAR=0x13b11000 PC=0x13b096d4
Latest crash info for cpu 0:
(then a whole bunch of things)
Proceeding back via exception chain:
(more stuff)
Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 5.2:
Fri Dec 7 21:39:35 PST 2001; root:xnu/xnu-201.14.obj~1/RELEASE_PPC
Memory access exception (1,0,0)
Waiting for remote debugger connection.
I can't move the mouse hand...and I don't think I can type any commands...I have no idea what is going on because no settings have been changed and I have not hacked anything on this OS except for the Dock (making it transparent) for fear of something like this happening...
Is there any way for me to get this fixed or at least access my files so I don't have to lose everything that was on my HD? I don't have any of the files backed up anywhere and there is some important stuff that I would hate to lose.
Please help! I have no idea what to do right now...
OK...after looking at the apple support site I now realize that this is called a Kernel panic (shows you how much I know about MacOS X and Unix)...however, I'm unsure as to what to do next? do I HAVE to reinstall my system software and wipe everything clear? Or is there a workaround or something?
1st - i would just do a forced restart. it probably won't happena gin right away. also, do site search here for 'kernal'. loads has been written on this subject. then report back what you are thinking is your particular cause and maybe someone will have some more specific answer.
hey, it freaked me out as well when it happened for the 1st time. don't worry. it is almost never fatal and life will go on. for me, it only happened once. for others it happens regularly. howoften you are willing to live with it is up to you.
(say a few "damn linux/unix crap"'s and you will feel better )
Thanks for the reply Ed...I did do a force restart and even did the fsck -y thing until it said my drive was OK...but still get a kernel screen during startup when I try using 10...I managed to backup my files using the OS9 CD as my bootup and right now I'm writing this on my computer running under 9...
I'm at my wits end about this...where do I go from here...do I HAVE to reinstall software? And if so how do I do it under 10?
What really gets me about this is that I haven't changed a thing on my system for over a month! I've been running OS X just fine for months and never seen anything remotely like this either...my RAM is third party but that has never caused any kernel panics before...what a headache, I'm starting to wonder if OS X is really worth this much headache, I'm actually afraid of this OS now...if I wanted to type in command line I'd be using something other than a mac...
like i said , search the site. but the short story is that kernal panics are normally caused by hardware incompatibilities. bad ram and od drives are the most common culprits. swithc out your memory recently? plug in any other drives or peripherals that you didn't have before?
if you haven't changed ram, then perhaps unplugging all your peripherals and pluggin them back in one by one will help you figure it out (rebooting after each addition of course) (and leave the mouse and keyboard - he he)
hmm...I've searched this site and gone through all 140 or so posts about kernels, but can't find one with my same situation...
I haven't installed anything at all (and the memory that I do have installed I installed a loooooong time ago and have never had problems with), and I haven't plugged any external device into my powerbook (except for my zip drive...which I did after I started up under 9 to backup my data after I got the panic several times...
Lots of the posts I saw were people who had panics while they were running programs or doing some sort of action...I get the kernel panic on startup after the OSX loading screen and then my system locks up (with nothing connected or plugged into it)...my only way out of it is to force restart, then startup under my 9 CD and then select the OS 9 system folder as my startup disk and restart under OS 9
and what is really weird is that sometimes the kernel panic just pops up on the screen and then sometimes it scrolls from the bottom...i've even had it continuously scroll from bottom to top...
Is my only recourse a wipe and reinstall? And if so how do I go about doing that under 10? (or at all for that matter...I've never had to do this before) Also, should I install it under a different partition? I see that a lot of people have done it...(how is this done as well?)
your welcome izzy. like i said. i remember what a freak it can be to a long time mac user. if it weren't stabile and fluid once you do get the bugs worked out, i think i would feel just like you are right now. i know i felt that way towards the beginning of my osx experience too.
at this point i will wait for more osx experts to help. i am sure when europe and the east coast wake up, that there will be some real help stop by. you did a good job of describing your mac-chine and your situation. that will speed things up considerably.
relax. take a deep breath. the calvery will be here soon
my only other advice in the meantime is to try a good diagnosis and repair program like diskwarrior or techtool pro. never hurts to be sure your file system and allocation are all the way they should be.
*Izzy gets sick of waiting for cavalry...and gets idea...he boots up using his OS 9 CD and runs disk first aid, repairing any problems...currently he types this post running back under OS X*
Imagine that...OS 9 was my salvation...will teach me to ever discount it again, I wonder if we really have taken a step forward with X besides the eye candy...
Appreciate the explanations testuser...I got it up and running though finally...what an ordeal...I'm actually afraid of my computer now, I never thought that day would come while using a mac I actually have NO IDEA how to troubleshoot anything in this system...let's hope it comes with time...
yeah...I've heard about that Bill Gates one...and i've been able to customize so far without having to touch the terminal (I used Tinker tool to get the double scroll bar and transparent dock to change my dock )...but as time goes by i'm guessing i'll have to delve into the terminal...especially since I wanna change my trash can icon...
...on second thought...after all of this stress...I think i'll leave the trash the way it is and count my blessings that my system still works...
)