"Restart Computer" Message Frequently During Startup

Durandal

Registered
Lately I've had an issue with my eMac (Mac OS 10.3.9) because it seems to go a shade of grey and tell me in several languages that I need to restart my computer. It almost always does this at the grey Apple logo startup screen, but occasionally it'll happen after I get to the login screen.

I can't imagine why this happens, but it does a good percentage of the time and has been for some time now. Trying to figure out why it did it, I checked the Console in the Utilities folder and under the "panic.log" log file, it has this message for every instance the computer told me to restart:

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Fri Jul 29 11:47:24 2005


panic(cpu 0): Uncorrectable machine check: pc = 000000001F8DF490, msr = 0000000000149030, dsisr = 40000000, dar = 0000000000284048
AsyncSrc = 0000000000000000, CoreFIR = 0000000000000000
L2FIR = 0000000000000000, BusFir = 0000000000000000

Latest stack backtrace for cpu 0:
Backtrace:
0x00083498 0x0008397C 0x0001EDA4 0x0009160C 0x000908F8 0x0009402C
Proceeding back via exception chain:
Exception state (sv=0x1CC4B000)
PC=0x1F8DF490; MSR=0x00149030; DAR=0x00284048; DSISR=0x40000000; LR=0x1F8F3F08; R1=0x0CA03D30; XCP=0x00000008 (0x200 - Machine check)
Backtrace:
0x001A2094 0x1F8F3F08 0x00267FCC 0x00266EAC 0x00266E10
Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):
com.apple.iokit.AppleAirPort2(400.17)@0x1f8b5000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(1.4)@0x1ccf0000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily(1.4.0)@0x1f77f000
Exception state (sv=0x1CC51C80)
PC=0x00000000; MSR=0x0000D030; DAR=0x00000000; DSISR=0x00000000; LR=0x00000000; R1=0x00000000; XCP=0x00000000 (Unknown)

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 7.9.0:
Wed Mar 30 20:11:17 PST 2005; root:xnu/xnu-517.12.7.obj~1/RELEASE_PPC



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Needless to say this doesn't make a good deal of sense to me, but I can't help but notice that the words 'AirPort' and 'Networking' are included.
I currently have an AirPort Extreme base station from which I recieve my internet connection. Perhaps this matters? I can't be sure. Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
I'm not too familiar with 10.3.9 but from the look of the panic.log contents there could well be a problem with AirPort or the network setup. In the first instance I would disconnect any external devices (including the Airport base station) and start/restart the machine a few times, then try plugging things in again after it boots-up successfully to see what's going on.

You might also need a firmware or driver update if there is a conflict between the equipment and the OS - do you have any more details you can tell us about the AirPort equipment? You could also look at the System Profiler (which should be accessible from the 'About This Mac' menu or at least in the Applications or Utilities folder) to find out the AirPort driver versions, etc.

HTH,

dodginess
 
Kernel panics are due (most of the time) to hardware errors. Did you install the airport card in the emac yourself? It may have become loose (could explain why it works sometimes, but not other times). Hopefully it is just loose and not broken in itself (then you would get a panic consitently during boot-up at the same point).
 
Ok, here's my System Profile for "AirPort" under Network

AirPort:

Interface: en1
Type: AirPort
IP Address: 10.0.1.5
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Broadcast Address: 10.0.1.255
Router Address: 10.0.1.1
DNS Servers: 10.0.1.1
Domain: mad.wi.charter.com
Ethernet Address: 00:0d:93:82:81:db


Also there is my Wireless Card..

AirPort Card Information:

Wireless Card Type: AirPort Extreme
Wireless Card Locale: USA
Wireless Card Firmware Version: 400.17 (3.90.34.0.p11)
Current Wireless Network: Coss Network
Wireless Channel: 11

My AirPort base station is V5.6 just updated a little while ago though the problem was happening before and after the update.

As for trying to start with the AirPort disconnected, is that possible without unplugging the AirPort itself? It's wireless after all and I think my computer logs into the network automatically.

Hope some of this helps.
 
Well believe it or not, I was able to push the card into the slot a little further, and it seemed to snap into place a little better... So that could very well explain it. Regardless of whether or not it will solve my problem, I swear I'm getting a better signal from the base station now. I think my internet's faster :):)
 
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