[bigcrabtree]

I'm getting this problem where many of my apps crash... A LOT... Where the Finder is constantly refreshing or seems to be relaunching(when the icons disappear and reappear). I've only noticed these things happening after I installed the new processor. Also sometimes i can't launch some apps. Dreamweaver seems to take forever to launch and sometimes crashes.

Is this due to a heat issue (if it is the processor)?

any ideas?

thanks

[SEkker]

Typically, the cache is the main culprit. Can you reduce the clock speed on the cache on the unit?

Otherwise, it may be your installed OS. Sometimes there are extension conflicts with the upgrade SW (in OS9 and before). I've also upgraded machines only to find that at the higher speeds, defects otherwise invisible to me were now apparent. A fresh install of the OS solved those kinds of problems.

The way to tell the difference between SW and HW problems is to boot your machine up via a system CD and see if the problems persist. If so, it's a HW issue. Just be sure that your CPU card has cache speed enabled.

[bmhome1]

My 900mz Pismo is ultra-stable, as good as before with 400, maybe even better now.

How hot is your Pismo getting? Keyboard hot? Fan coming on a lot? It would have to be very hot running for applications to crash. Are you sure it isn't RAM related or anything else changed at the same time?

[vmarks]

Whenever you change processor cards, it's worth making sure you've really plugged it in well, mounted the RAM well, and replaced the heatsink properly.

If the heatsink isn't working or the ram is bad, or the ram or proc aren't seated well in their connectors, you can have all kinds of wonderful trouble.

[bigcrabtree]

So hot that is made my lap sweat. I'm sure this heat had a bit to do with programs crashing. It got so hot that I actually heard the fan come on! WOW! That is so rare to hear that thing turn on. But everytime it turned on it seemed pointless as the fan is meant to cool off the heatsync. But because the new powerlogix processor no longer requires you to use the stock heatsync, the fan is cooling off nothing... well maybe the modem.

So I tried this. I took the old heat sync and took off the light blue foam insulation thingy, scraped it off with blade and then WD40'd the sticky stuff off. I then took off the black square, which i would guess was the contact point for the old processor. I then cleaned it real good then took some 2000 grit sandpaper and sanded it a bit(the part that would touch the processor) I then put more heat paste and screwed this back onto the new cpu. NOTE that the new cpu does not have the screw holes to screw the heatsync back in place, just the one hole above the modem. So anyway i put that all back in place, with heat shield. It was a tight fit but the keyboard doesn't bulge that much.

The heat seems to be dissipating better. I feel warmth near the A S Z X keys. Right where the old heat sync channels the heat. And not a whole lot of warmth near the processor, R T F G keys. The fan hasn't come on.

I'm going to reinstall the OS and see if that will help with anything. I think it about time i did that anyway just for shits and giggles.

Wish us luck!

[bmhome1]

I've thought about using the original heat pipe after test-fitting it also. Did you add thermal compound also to the heat pipe's top to use the heat shield as heatsink (as PL designed) so you are using both as heat dissipation?

Also, I substituted Arctic Silver's Ceramique (non-conductive ceramic based) compound in my 900 and find temperatures rarely ever exceed 120ºF, and generally stay well below that.

[TheWorldIsFlat]

Originally posted by bmhome1:
My 900mz Pismo is ultra-stable, as good as before with 400, maybe even better now.

How hot is your Pismo getting? Keyboard hot? Fan coming on a lot? It would have to be very hot running for applications to crash. Are you sure it isn't RAM related or anything else changed at the same time?

How does 10.3 run? Do you feel a big difference between 400mhz and 900mhz or does it still feel a little slow because of the graphics card? Did you try to compare with a iBook 900 in general use?

I would love to get an a Pismo and upgrade it but I will wait for 1Ghz+ upgrades.

[d_oob]

Originally posted by bmhome1:
I've thought about using the original heat pipe after test-fitting it also. Did you add thermal compound also to the heat pipe's top to use the heat shield as heatsink (as PL designed) so you are using both as heat dissipation?

Also, I substituted Arctic Silver's Ceramique (non-conductive ceramic based) compound in my 900 and find temperatures rarely ever exceed 120ºF, and generally stay well below that.

I think you are the one i got the idea from... I read on the forums about someone using the original pismo's heatsinc and thought, that should work, and even better - since the heat dissipation would be closer to the fan and the fan would be able to take care of any heat.

But to answer your question, no i didn't use thermal compound on the top of the heatsinc. Where do you get Arctic Silver's stuff? How does that differ from the stuff (powerbookmedic) included with my new CPU?

Here's what i've done so far. I decided to reinstall the OS. In the process of doing so - i've had no luck installing both OS 10.2 or 10.3. I think the CPU just doesn't like it. So i popped the 900mhz cpu out and put the old 400mhz chip back in and tried to reinstall the OS. VOILA!! It worked. Then i plopped the 900mhz cpu back in(with the old set up- copper heatsinc plate with supplied thermal compound) and booted up. So far so good. I haven't upgraded the OS to 10.3.2 (which was the os that had all the crashy happenings) so i don't know if i will get the same results.

I will update soon on how things are working with my whole system back to original running order. But as for difference in speed between 400 and 900... are you kidding? damn! Big difference. Even though the video card is still 8mb i find things SNAPPIER, as noted in previous reviews. starting up is super fast. I'll still have to test the photoshop and video editing side of things but it is noticeably faster.

[d_oob]

I think i've finally solved the problems of my everfaithful pismo. After trying and trying to reinstall OS 10.3 using my upgraded processor (900Mhz Powerlogix) to no sucess - Note: that it seemed that the system was not accepting the new processor for some reason. SO... I started from scratch. Kind of a pain but here's what i did, if this is helpful/useful for anyone, awesome.

1) Took out upgraded CPU and placed old CPU (400MHZ) back in.

2) Zero'd the harddrive (don't know if that was necessary, but couldn't hurt)

3) Reinstalled OS 10.3

4) Put the new processor back in

5) Upgraded to 10.3.2 and reinstalled all programs and brought the pismo back to 'normal'

Now everything is blazing fast, super solid, no crashes, CPU isn't hot anymore and no weird refresh things going on.

lets just hope it stays that was.