Too Many Kernel Panics, Mac Pro

H

Hidden Gekko

3 Years and 100 Posts 0_o
And they seem to be getting worse. The top line of the error report says 'Uncorrectable fbd (I think that's the one) memory error detected'. The only thing custom about the Mac Pro is a Seagate harddrive, but the panics were happening before I installed it. The only devices I ever hook up are a printer and scanner. I stopped having them plugged in permanently, only plugging them in when needed, but it doesn't seem to have helped. I looked at the RAM to see if it was connected properly, and it is. This error seems to be completely random. It has happened while a screensaver has been running, ejecting an iPod, closing a Safari window, playing a game, working in Photoshop... you get the idea. It seems like it could happen any second. It's starting to get on my nerves. I've been able to run Windows XP without a problem on an Apple machine, while OS 10.4.8 could panic at any given moment.

There's something sad about that.
 
If you can get a picture of the error, do so, then bring it to the nearest Apple Store for a checkup, or call AppleCare. It's under a year old, so they will fix it for free. Kernal panics usually mean bad hardware, so you'll probably need to get it repaired. You can verify it as a hardware issue by re-installing OS X, but they can test that at an Apple Authorized Service Provider without re-installing.
 
Hidden Gekko said:
The top line of the error report says 'Uncorrectable fbd (I think that's the one) memory error detected'.
Click to expand...

That should be an easy one. Your memory chips in the Mac Pro are Fully-Buffered Dimms, or FB-Dimms. This is error-correcting memory, so your memory controller is detecting some memory that is failing. You can test your memory with the Apple Hardware test (on one of your DVDs that came with your MacPro) You will see the Apple Hardware test listed on the label, with simple instructions for booting to that test (insert the disk, reboot, holding the D key.) Run the test, and report failures to Apple, as your memory should need replacing.
If you added memory from a third party, then you might suspect that first.
 
Ah, never knew there was a hardware test on the DVD. I'll try that out. Everything in the Mac Pro is straight from the Apple site except an additional harddrive. I'll see what comes up.
 
Well, the extended test said everything checks out hardware wise, so I guess that's kind of good... better software problem than failed hardware. I'll probably just wait until 10.5 comes out and bare it for now.
 
In System Profiler there is a status for the memory too. This will tell you that the memory is not performing properly as well.

I never knew about the hardware test, good find.
 
The hardware check isn't always right.. my iMac needed a new logic board, but the hardware test CD insisted everything was fine. If you have an external FW drive, you could do a test install of OS X on that..
 
I've repaired the disk, permissions, used Rember to scan the memory, tried running the computer with nothing but a mouse and a keyboard plugged in... and I still got about 2-3 KPs a day at most. I've done some scouting around at other forums, and it seems I'm not alone in Mac Pro panics.

*sigh*

It looks like the only thing left to try is erasing and reinstalling OS X on my second drive and seeing if I still get panics. Even though nothing says so, I think I got crap-tacular RAM that needs to be replaced.
 
I'd say bring it to Apple. If they can't fix it, they'll replace it. You've got a year of coverage from purchase.. better to get it fixed now.
 
Yeah, it looks like I'm going to have to. I just switch both my sticks from the top to bottom array. I actually seemed to of had gotten a small performance boost, so I got hopeful, but still got a panic.

The least I'm going to do is try and identify the bad stick (hopefully they aren't both bad... ugh).

I don't think this is a software issue, because I got a KP the first day I had this machine, and I've gotten them on a fresh-install drive as well.
 
I think I may have isolated the issue thanks to Rember. Tried both 512 sticks. One works well and passes all tests. The other, however, makes performance more sluggish, and when tested in Rember, a Panic occurs when the program is testing 'Solid Bits'. Hopefully, with any luck, that's the problem. I'll be using the 'good' 512 stick by itself for a bit and seeing if the panics go away. So it looks likely that I just need to get this one stick replaced, and it's not something worse.

EDIT : Did 6 loops on the good stick successfully. Hopefully that's the problem, and the end of this. Coulda been worse.
 
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