[Cybersparrow]

I just got my hands on a 12" 1.2GHz iBook G4. If I put it to sleep, either by selecting the menu item or closing the lid, and then wake it again, it freezes completely and I have to press Ctrl-Cmd-power button to restart the computer. The odd thing is that it doesn't freeze up right away; I can still click on things and interact with the computer for a few seconds before I get the SBOD. Another odd thing is that the AirPort status item in the menu bar disappears completely, though the space isn't closed up. Removing the AirPort Express card didn't help. I verified the disk through Disk Utility and ran the hardware test; both indicated no problems. Anything else I should try? I'm including a panic log.

Sat Oct 11 03:16:33 2008
panic(cpu 0 caller 0x00043F18): "zalloc: \"threads\" (207756 elements) retry fail 3"@/SourceCache/xnu/xnu-1228.7.58/osfmk/kern/zalloc.c:770
Latest stack backtrace for cpu 0:
Backtrace:
0x0009B518 0x0009BEBC 0x00029DD8 0x00043F18 0x0003D084 0x0003D448 0x0003D4E0 0x00332604
0x00BF6C98 0x00BF7E04 0x00BF7EE8 0x00BED554 0x00BF50F8 0x00BF7540 0x00BF73E4 0x0003F94C
0x000B0654
Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):
com.apple.iokit.IOATABlockStorage(2.0.4)@0xbea000->0xbfcfff
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOATAFamily(1.7.3f1)@0x8d8000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOStorageFamily(1.5.2)@0x7b3000
Proceeding back via exception chain:
Exception state (sv=0x33142a00)
PC=0x00000000; MSR=0x0000D030; DAR=0x00000000; DSISR=0x00000000; LR=0x00000000; R1=0x00000000; XCP=0x00000000 (Unknown)

BSD process name corresponding to current thread: kernel_task

Mac OS version:
9F33

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 9.5.0: Wed Sep 3 11:31:44 PDT 2008; root:xnu-1228.7.58~1/RELEASE_PPC
System model name: PowerBook6,5

[seanc]

It specifically mentions the storage controllers, sounds like the hard disk may be failing. Download and install SMART reporter and see what it says.

[Cybersparrow]

SMARTReporter came back green and the log shows no problems. I also reset the PMU and the problem still occurred. Am I missing anything else that may help?

[amazing]

You could setup another plain-vanilla admin account and see if that has the same problem.

Do you have an external firewire drive that you could boot from, to see if the problem persists?

If the iBook works OK with either of the above, then it's probably time for a system reinstall. You could try an archive-and-install, or you could nuke the whole thing.

And if it is the HD (eventually), it's still very much worth installing a new HD. You can get a 250 GB for about $90 nowadays.

[Cybersparrow]

The problem still occurs even from a new user account and also when booted from an external drive. A reinstall is a pretty drastic option, but I may give it a shot given that I've probably tried everything else. I could also just never let it sleep and hope that never gets too annoying. Is there anything else I could try?

[seanc]

If it's hanging with the same error when you're booting from an external drive, it still sounds like the internal HDD may be causing a problem. If it's not the HDD then it could be the logic board.

[Cybersparrow]

Good news. I don't know how, but reinstalling fixed the problem. I kinda wish I knew what went wrong just in case it comes back, but for now I'll be happy that it works. Thanks for the help, everyone.