[booskaboo]

I'm a BIG supporter of apple and everything mac. I'm in the film industry and most of us use macs, and those that don't, i have convinced most 2 switch. BUT NOW I'M TROUBLED!
Besides the fact that it took 2 months for my g5 to ship after ordering (that took a few calls to get it), and, almost missing a promotion that made this afordable, I immediately started having problems.

-From it freezing during imovie, or idvd (after hours of work)
-To, finally re-installing the entire os (after intalling all my other software). still froze up
-After insatlling os again, it froze on me for the first operation I tried (yeah, something really complicated like "adjusting the dock magnification size" (.ooooh, tough proccessing)
-To having it freeze while trying to run apple hardware test disk,
-To calling multiple times with my apple support (of course only during MY work hours)
-To Dropping it off for service (was told 2-3 days and it took 5)
-To Picking it up + having faith in my MAC PEEPS, only to have it CRASH AGAIN AFTER 30 MIN OF SIMPLE IMOVIE use.

NOW I"M MAD

1 of the crashes is the screen going black as if asleep, and won't let me wake it up. Then, the fans start to spin as if my computer is going to launch off into outer space.
So.. here I sit, 9:45 pm, the time that I USE my computer the most, with NO SUPPORT, NO WAY TO EASILY CONTACT APPLE.

My Question? Well, Does anyone know what the CORP. email address is for apple. I need to deal with this by getting someones attention, not by waiting till tomorrow morning, to sit on hold, pressing button 1, then 3, then 2 then wait, them have some tech person say... "ok, what we need to do is re-install your os..." or "After selecting restart, hold doen the "whatever" and "whatever" keys while the computer restarts"

Someone PLEASE HELP TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO NEXT, so I can get some real help.
Thanks ( I still love these computers, but, I'm slipping away fast due this)

I hope my computer won't crash before I can post this

[sideus]

Your situation is not uncommon for all computer companies. Not just Apple. You could take you post, replace "Mac" with "Dell" and I've seen this story many times.

Sounds like faulty ram. Where did you take it for service? I'd take it to an Apple Store if you haven't already.

Alittle OT here; What I find interesting is you state you are in the film industry, yet you rely on iMovie for video work? iMovie is great and all, but for serious work I'd think Final Cut Pro would be the norm.

[reader50]

When you picked it up after 5 days of service, what did they find out? Also, if you can run the Hardware Test CD now, what are the results?

We need to know your system specifications. G5 model, OS version. RAM amount and type (also if any is 3rd party), hard drive(s), video card, other PCI cards, unusual USB and Firewire devices. Do you work in an unusually hot environment, are you plugged into an unfiltered power socket, do the overhead lights flicker now and then? All of these are environmental variables that can cause crashy behavior. One Mac owner's crash problem in London traced to the electric Underground (subway) running near his basement. The electric currents were more than his computer case could filter out. Moving the system to the 2nd floor solved the problem.

The big fan speedup while the system is unresponsive indicates that the OS has crashed. This can be caused by software issues, but is almost always hardware related.

[booskaboo]

" I'd take it to an Apple Store if you haven't already."

I did take it to an apple store, they were t he ones who said all was ok. But they are not.

"What I find interesting is you state you are in the film industry, yet you rely on iMovie for video work? iMovie is great and all, but for serious work I'd think Final Cut Pro would be the norm."

Thanks, but I do use final cut pro, but, this time around, I didn't want to take the time re-installing all my software just to have it crash again. All I was doing was transfering in some fottage, and naming those seperate clips when it froze up...

oh well...

uh, were there any other suggestions you might have?

[Phil Quinney]

Hey booskaboo,

sideus's advice would be the way to go: boot your machine from the Apple Hardware Test CD and run it through the extended test. Crashes like this (when your machine is doing something which uses a lot of RAM such as iMovie) are more often than not attributable to dodgy RAM. In fact I was in the Apple Store in Seattle where the genius had just diagnosed one G5 with a bad stick of RAM.

If the test runs through fine the first time give it one more go - sometime these problems pop up very infrequently when using the Hardware Test. If there is a fault an error will be shown, possibly with an error ID. Note this down because it will be your key to getting further with Apple.

If your own Hardware Test shows nothing ask your Apple Store to run their Hardware Test CD - I believe they have a much more extensive test set on their CD's which may show up a problem when your test cd doesn't.

Finally, whilst it is tempting to get very mad with someone, please don't. I've been in your situation many times - in fact my three week old powerbook has been replaced once, and had the cd drive replaced as well. I was as kind and courteous to the people I spoke to and they did everything possible to help me.

I hope this helps you a bit.

Phil.

[sideus]

Originally posted by booskaboo:
" I'd take it to an Apple Store if you haven't already."

I did take it to an apple store, they were t he ones who said all was ok. But they are not.

"What I find interesting is you state you are in the film industry, yet you rely on iMovie for video work? iMovie is great and all, but for serious work I'd think Final Cut Pro would be the norm."

Thanks, but I do use final cut pro, but, this time around, I didn't want to take the time re-installing all my software just to have it crash again. All I was doing was transfering in some fottage, and naming those seperate clips when it froze up...

oh well...

uh, were there any other suggestions you might have?

Not at this point no. I was waiting for you to respond to reader50, but you didn't. Until you follow his advice there isn't much we can do.

[booskaboo]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by reader50:
"When you picked it up after 5 days of service, what did they find out?"
-They said they had to "reseat" all the components, and then thought that would have fixed it.
"Also, if you can run the Hardware Test CD now, what are the results?"
-Now the results show nothing, that's alot better than having it freez up on me.


All other info
Duel 1.8 g5, with 1 gig ram(ddr sdram), invideia (sp?) 9800 graphics card, 250 internal hd, os version 10.3.4. airport extreme card installed. This is one of the brand new machines, new architechture inside and all. all items were installed by/from mac, I have not done a thing to this machine.
Not an unusually hot environment (my house) no flickering of lights, etc. As far as unfiltered power socket, I have no idea. I hope yoyr not going to tell me that the onlu way to run a machine like this is to have to change things about my electical system at my home. c'mon, this machine is meant to be used by all kinds of people, ya know?

I currently own a g4 powerbook, and it has had no problems (except slight screen flicker in bottom right) since I've owned it.

I'd love to hear any other suggestions, and thanks

[booskaboo]

"Originally posted by Phil Quinney:Hey booskaboo, sideus's advice would be the way to go: boot your machine from the Apple Hardware Test CD and run it through the extended test.
If the test runs through fine the first time give it one more go "

I will try again, but I have run the test many times, both before and after dropping it off to have work done on it. This last time, it didn't find anything wrong, so, I will try and check it again. Maybe even ask Apple for the SUPER extended test might be another solution.

The problem though is that with almost any other item I've ever purchased in this world, (especially when spending this kind of money) I've had better luck with how others have handled any problems. Usually places say "just bring it back and we'll give you a new one" or "we're sorry this is causing you so much trouble, we'll send a tech out to YOU to find out what's wrong".

I'm really not an idiot (although my typo's and spelling may say the opposite) but, I've done everything I can from my end, and, with how heavy this g5 is to lug around, and the wait times to see a genius, and tech support only being open from hours 6am to 6pm (very hard for a father with a new born baby and demanding job), things shouldn't take this much work from my end for the 5000+ that I spent, ya know?

"Finally, whilst it is tempting to get very mad with someone, please don't .."
I am very, very nice everytime I talk with anyone at apple. I worked retail back in the day, and I know this is not their fault. My frustration and anger is really to be fealt by someone in a controlled way that will finally do something about this.

C'mon Phil, ya gotta agree that it shouldn't require this much work.
If you bought a brand new BMW and had to keep making repairs yourself, running tests on it yourself, and barely got to drive it around the block after "owning" it a paying for it, I think you too would be very frustrated.
I look fwd to anyones continued help
THANKS

[reader50]

So far as I know, all Macs are given a basic test before they leave the factory. They are booted up and must pass a diagnostic of some sort.

Reseating means to unplug the various components inside (like the RAM, hard drive connectors, CPUs, Airport card, motherboard power supply connector), and plug them back in again. The theory is that vibration during shipping may have loosened a connector or two enough that one or more pins is no longer making good contact all the time.

The fact that the system became more stable afterwards suggests this was at least part of the problem. It might be useful to shut down, then reseat the RAM sticks yourself again. Also, make sure the power cord is plugged all the way into the back of your G5. I had to troubleshoot an iMac once, it suffered from random freezes. Turned out the power cord was pushed into the unit a little, but not enough to fully seat. Nudge the iMac and it would freeze. Plug the power cord in fully and that iMac has been fine ever since.

By a hot environment, I meant running the system in a room with an air temperature of 90º F (32º C) or higher. According to Apple's specifications, a G5 system is rated to operate in temperatures of 50º - 95º F (10º - 35º C).

Flickering of the overhead lights would indicate either that heavy machinery is operating on the same power system, or that there is a loose connection somewhere. Both conditions would give your lights (and your G5) irregular power, resulting in possible crashes. A filtered power socket means either a surge suppressor (to absorb voltage spikes and thus extend the life of your power supply) or a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) which has batteries built in and generates clean power on demand - even during a blackout.

A surge suppressor is recommended for any expensive electronic equipment, but is not needed for normal operation. If your power were bad enough to cause regular crashes, a surge suppressor would not be able to solve the problem; also, other electric devices in your home would be failing too frequently. And you'd almost certainly notice the lights flickering.

A UPS is used by people with bad power, people running servers that must be up at all times, and by people with frequent blackouts. They are also run by people who have too much money and must buy more gadgets. If your lights don't flicker and you do not suffer power blackouts, don't bother with a UPS - good ones usually cost over $100. Do pick up a surge suppressor power strip, they can typically be gotten for less than $20.

We needed your system specifications for basic troubleshooting. To reformat the specs for convenience, your system is:

BTO PowerMac G5
Dual 1.8 Rev B
1 GB PC3200 (2 x 512 MB)
(1) 250 GB Serial ATA HD 7200 RPM
Airport Extreme Card
Graphics card, one of the below (I'm not sure from your answer)

• nVidia GeForce 5200
• ATi Radeon 9600 XT
• ATi Radeon 9800 XT
• nVidia GeForce 6800 (unlikely, I don't think they are shipping yet)

OSX 10.3.4

Assuming the graphics card is the ATi Radeon 9800, congratulations. With tax and shipping, your system does indeed come to over US$3,000. Possibly well over, depending on what other items you ordered with it. I'd be more than a little upset too if it didn't work perfectly out of the box. Unfortunately, a modest number of new PowerMac G5 owners seem to be having problems like this. And it's not even a Rev A.

If you do not have any files to speak of on the system, reboot from the install disc and reformat the drive. Use the option to zero all blocks during the format, then reinstall the operating system clean. Run a permissions repair afterwards. You may or may not want to update to 10.3.5 right afterwards, there have been a few reports of sleep problems with that update. My own opinion is that a Mac should be stable with the OS it ships with.

You'll be booted from the optical drive during these operations, if the system freezes during this time, then there has to be a hardware or environmental reason - or your install disk is damaged.

By mentioning that your lights do not flicker, and that you are not running it in unusually hot conditions, you have eliminated most of the environmental factors that could cause a crash. About the only thing left is intense magnetic fields, such as heavy machinery running in the next room. This is kinda rare in a home, so I'll assume that is not an issue here. Constant vibration if you are living right next to a freeway might be able to cause something. Teenagers in the next room with 500 watts of deep bass for their heavy metal addiction might cause problems too, but it would have to be loud enough to wake the dead and vibrate objects on tables.

If the above steps result in a stable system, enjoy it and let us know. We all love to hear the success stories, it helps remind us what troubleshooting geniuses we are.

If the above steps do not solve the problem, then it's time to nag Apple some more. You paid good money for a good computer. If it isn't good yet, then they owe you.

Hopefully other members will suggest further possible answers. I do not have a G5 yet myself, so I've been lucky enough not to experience these problems firsthand.

[booskaboo]

So all listen up, I'm unfortuantely unable to give all the exact details at this time, but an awsome tech person at apple may, I repeat, may have helped me figure out a work around for my mac.

I had them on the phone when they had me do things to see if I could make it crash, and guess what, yep, it froze again while using imovie.

She then had me open my terminal window and had me enter in this long comand to disable soemthing that has to do with my graphics interface...or something (don't worry, when i check back I'll get the specifics again and put them up here)

I'm in a trial period right now to see if this will fix things. she said I probably wouldn't notice any changes to the display quality (I'd better not with my 9800 Nvidia raiden pro)

but only time will tell.
Thanks Jen at apple, your awesome, and I hope to report good news soon enough.

To all who offered suggestions and help, THANKS!
(quick question, what does BTO mean, also, what about Rev B)

THANKS AGAIN
YAY MAC!

BTO PowerMac G5
Dual 1.8 Rev B
1 GB PC3200 (2 x 512 MB)
(1) 250 GB Serial ATA HD 7200 RPM
Airport Extreme Card
ATi Radeon 9800 XT
OSX 10.3.4

[reader50]

BTO = Build To Order (custom configuration). Lately, Apple has often called it "CTO" instead for Configure To Order. It means you didn't get the standard model off the shelf.

Rev B = Revision B. The PowerMac G5 was first introduced in June of 2003, that was the Revision A (Rev A). In June of 2004 they updated it, the lowest model became your dual 1.8 G5 Rev B. Later revisions often have slight modifications to the motherboards and updates to other features, such as faster hard drives.

It sounds like the Apple support tech suspects the graphics card, and gave you a Terminal command to disable some of it's features. A defective or overheating graphics card can indeed cause freezes.

[bradleykavin]

i had the first generation white ibook...i had it untill like 2 months ago..i now know how to fix almost every problem a laptop can have because of having it..i did have applecare..and there was like 6 or 7 times i had to sent it out..do you have applecare..?..if not..it is an investment trust me...your bound to come accross issues with physical problems that would cost a lot of money to fix that applecare will cover..as far as freezing..call apple (which i already know you have) and explain...or just go to the store tell them u had it serviced and its still not wokring..whatever u do..if u get it fixed..have APPLE fix it..not a reseller or something..bring it to an apple store..ive used resellers and they never seem to work..apple always works out..and i have more than one computer (around 20 macs in my dads office that i take care of) goodluck