Mac Freezes Too
Monday, May 15th, 2006 | Journal
Tags: apple, powerbook
Within my three-month ownership of 15″ PowerBook G4, I had numerous freezes, and I am talking about a complete system freeze (or crash, whatever you call it). Usually, there is nothing I can do to recover from such freezes, except holding down the power button and force the laptop to shut down, and then restart the machine. Anyway, so far I have no clue what might be the cause of these freezes. I can only think of two things: 1) I have recently boosted the memory of my PowerBook to 2GB using notebook memory sticks from Mushkins. 2) Sometimes my PowerBook gets pretty hot on the bottom. Could these cause my system to freeze? If anyone out there has experience and knowledge on this, please help a Mac newbie out by dropping me some useful comments. Thanks!
May 16, 2006
1:59 am on Tuesday
Isn’t there a disc that come with the mac that has multiple diagnostic tools (including a memory tester) ? I have read about that in a few forums, I’ll look for more info on that.
May 16, 2006
9:05 am on Tuesday
The best solution is to go buy a Mac. What? You already did that? Oh well… that’s odd. I’ve only experienced two or so crashes with mine.
It’s likely that it’s getting to hot to handle all that you’ve got going on with it (you did mention in the past you modified it right?)
I’ve found keeping it off the covers and pillows helps it to run smoothly.
May 16, 2006
11:30 am on Tuesday
That is not normal Mac behavior. I would definitely suspect the RAM. If the RAM is defective, or not the correct RaM for the computer, it can easily cause the symptoms you describe. To test, simply remove the RAM you added, & run the Mac for a while using its original RAM. If symptoms disappear, you have your answer. Buy quality RAM from Data Memory Systems, Crucial, or Transinternational. The Mac will perform best when stuffed with good RAM.
Also, join Apple Support Discussions, and learn how to use the forum. Plenty of great advice is always available. If your Mac is still under warranty, call Apple. Also, a visit to the Genius Bar can be helpful.
May 16, 2006
4:40 pm on Tuesday
I’m not sure but I read somewhere non-Apple memory can sometimes cause problems. Maybe you should look into that. As for heating up, I use these hemispheric things to prop it up at the bottom so that air can circulate. Seems to work!
May 17, 2006
11:40 am on Wednesday
Thanks for everyone’s comment and advice, they are very helpful.
I am suspecting it’s probably the memory that’s causing the problem. As far as for heating up, I used to place my laptop on the sleeve, so in the future I will avoid doing that.
May 18, 2006
3:59 pm on Thursday
Just had another crash few minutes ago, sigh…
I am going to install the original RAM back tonight, and see if the crash persists.
June 01, 2006
12:39 pm on Thursday
Hi, my powerbook froze up for no reason too. I sent it back to Apple, they replace the RAM, then the HD, then the motherboard. and guess what… it was still freezing! So they replaced it with a new PB, and guess what… that freezes too! Freezes are every 2-3 days on average.
This apple discussion link is full of people with the same problem with late model PBs: link
Hope that helps.
Regards
Daniel
June 01, 2006
2:08 pm on Thursday
Thanks daniel for the link and your helpful information. Since my last freeze, I am starting to log all my freezes, and I will definitely keep checking back on the discussion thread you provided. Thank you!
July 01, 2008
8:24 am on Tuesday
Hello, I am Sebastian de Argentina, unfortunately I communicate with you and because I’m committed a big mistake. Since the LCD screen of my Powerbook is broken and could not install the operating, I try with install the system from my other powerpc, since my Quicksilver 733 Mhz (2001), as if it were a Powerbook external FireWire removable disk. But something changed my powerbook, the system of protection by temperature does not work with the original parameters and because of this when my powerbook reaches 40 degrees, The computer frezzing, then I have to reboot the machine and start again. My question was as follows, as I reinstall the original parameters of the bios of my powerbook, as if it just leaves the factory? My Powerbook is the model that comes with a microprocessor 1 Ghz, 256 of ram, 60 GB HD and FW800, I think it is the M8980LL / A. .. here we the link where you can see more clearly that model is … http://support.apple.com/specs/powerbook/PowerBook_G4_15-inch_FW800.html
Thanks and I hope for your help! Sebastian.
July 02, 2008
12:31 am on Wednesday
I am not sure if I can offer you any help since I have upgraded to MacBook Pro already.