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Jupeman · Feb 28, 2005, 08:22 PM

I have been using Macs since 1986 and OS X since 10.0. I have never had a kernel panic on any of my machines (currently running three Macs in the family).

My sister has two Macs, never a kernel panic.

My parents have three Macs, never a kernel panic.

I have a friend with a Powerbook, never a kernel panic.

Then there is another friend. He was a die hard Microsoft guy and a big Mac basher. Then slowly but surely, via the iPod halo effect, he came around. When it was time to replace his Dell he went big: Dual 2.5 with 30" ACD. Within two days it kernel panicked. Now three months later is has died and will not start up. He is a very fragile Mac user and this experience has soured him completely. The first thing the Apple tech on the phone and at the Genius bar (two different guys) asked him was, "are you going to buy the extended warranty?" Crappy attitude if you ask me.

So, in an attempt to gather some data and try to bring this Windows convert back from the brink, let me know how many KP's you've had (I realize they are often driven by bad RAM, etc) and any other issues you might have had with your 2.5 or other Powermacs.

Apfhex · 11:13 PM

Maybe a couple KP's a year. None recent enough that I can remember when the last one was. I've installed RAM personally in 3 different Macs running OS X (a B&W tower, my TiBook, and a new iMac G5) with no problems. Even in my college's Mac labs (plenty of Windows users, and total newbies) don't recall seeing any panics. Seems that some people are lucky and some aren't when it comes to this.

I have had my 'Books hard drive die (only time I've seen one die, in any computer), and the Combo drive doesn't work so great anymore (but it was never that great in this model of PB's anyway).

MrForgetable · Feb 28, 2005, 11:25 PM

None, bulletproof.
I will go knock on some wood now!

Randman · Mar 1, 2005, 12:31 AM

Kernals, no. Maybe once or twice since OSX was first released.

Now, my by PB17 has had to go into the shop for repairs. The LCD had some problems so it was replaced. And when in the shop, the techs found some problems with the hard drive (a Toshiba) and replaced it with a new Hitachi.

SSharon · Mar 1, 2005, 01:08 AM

I had KP's on demand in the earlier days of 10.2 and the horrible samba networking. I haven't had a KP on my MDD in over a year and a half and I have never had one on my ibook (70 days uptime).

Tyler McAdams · Mar 1, 2005, 01:47 AM

I can probably count on having one every month or so while I'm steady using my mac. But I use the hell out of my machines so I see it as ok to have one once a month or so.

Ruahrc · Mar 1, 2005, 06:02 AM

I've had 2 in the 5 months I've owned my PB. One was within the first week of getting my mac, and was a random or unexpected one. The other was just recently and I knew it was going to happen (I was installing the new two-finger scroller driver and I thought it had successfully loaded the driver but apparently not so it crashed). Pretty good I'd say. I've been happy so far.

Then again constant crashing was not a problem I ever had with Windows and it was definitely not the only reason I switched. XP has been (and still is) very good IMO in terms of stability.

Ruahrc

Appleman · Mar 1, 2005, 07:04 AM

Some on my PowerMac Dual 2.0 GHz, 512 MB RAM (really needs upgrade!), Mac OS X 10.3.8 (all updates).
Last happened after coming out of sleep....

P.S. I don't understand answer #2 in the poll.

omar96 · Mar 1, 2005, 01:35 PM

I've had exactly 1 KP in my OS X life, and it was due to a bad stick of RAM, which was a 3rd party DIMM in the first place.

TheIceMan · Mar 1, 2005, 03:08 PM

I've been on the Mac since 2002. Until late 2004-early 2005, I had ZERO KP's. But then I started having them, maybe 4 in the span of 3 months. I started freaking out. So I did some research and tried to fix the problem. I think what was causing it was a 3rd party software/haxie that was not updated. Or maybe it was the time I yanked the USB plug that attached my digital camera to my Powerbook (while the camera was still on!) That pretty much KP instantly.

Since updating my softwares/haxies, and not unplugging USB things while it's on...I have not had any problems.

Krusty · Mar 1, 2005, 08:32 PM

Zero KP's on my current machine (bought with 10.3 installed). I had a handful around 2001-2002 (10.1) timeframe after an external CD burner blew up my firewire ports on an older machine.

Gavin · Mar 2, 2005, 02:43 AM

I've had 4 total. 2 were in the beta, and one was one of those 'do this to make it panic' tricks in 10.1. Never had one in 10.3

Those were all on my desktop. My iBook has never has one.

I used to spend 30 minutes a day rebooting back in the OS 8 days. F&%$KN Netscape.

meelk · Mar 2, 2005, 10:03 AM

This thread is hilarious to me, because as a windows user, I havent had a BSOD since windows 98. MY usage trail has been 95>98>2000>XP. XP is rock solid. I see one guy here saying he thinks 1 kernel panic a month is ok, and other people talking about their machines in the shop etc etc. Really funny

Tyler McAdams · Mar 2, 2005, 10:12 AM

Originally posted by meelk:
This thread is hilarious to me, because as a windows user, I havent had a BSOD since windows 98. MY usage trail has been 95>98>2000>XP. XP is rock solid. I see one guy here saying he thinks 1 kernel panic a month is ok, and other people talking about their machines in the shop etc etc. Really funny

I use both XP and OS X. And I use the living hell out of my machines...

OS X has been actually more stable than my XP Box... that would completely reset itself any time I double clicked on Quake 3. Which was tracked down to shitty chip-set driver support on Microsoft/AMD's side... how do i know? Quake 3 on linux plays just fine on the same box. So this idea that XP is somehow more stable than a well supported OS X machine does not float and just is not very scientific either.

chris v · Mar 2, 2005, 10:15 AM

I'm typing this on a 3-year-old machine that has been up continuously for just over 113 days. I beat on this thing five days a week, usually Photoshop, Transmit, Address Book, Mail, iChat, Safari, iCal, Illustrator, and Terminal open all day. Often all of the above plus iTunes, InDesign, GoLive, and other various utilities and GUI enhancers (Toast, DragThing, Fruit Menu, etc.)

On nights and weekends, it's running one distributed client or another. The CPUs are always under 100% load at all times. It hasn't panicked in nearly a year.

My Powerbook has panicked thrice in a year, (always when waking from sleep--once was due to an open/close/open/close/open rapid-sequence with the lid because the latch wouldn't catch) and my G5 at home has panicked twice since August, and not at all in the last three months.

In short, your friend's machine is an anomaly, and it should get sorted out. Has he run the Hardware Test CD?

meelk · Mar 2, 2005, 11:54 AM

Originally posted by Tyler McAdams:
I use both XP and OS X. And I use the living hell out of my machines...

OS X has been actually more stable than my XP Box... that would completely reset itself any time I double clicked on Quake 3. Which was tracked down to shitty chip-set driver support on Microsoft/AMD's side... how do i know? Quake 3 on linux plays just fine on the same box. So this idea that XP is somehow more stable than a well supported OS X machine does not float and just is not very scientific either.

This from the guy who gets a kernel panic every month.

Millennium · Mar 2, 2005, 12:03 PM

There are two times when my Macs have had frequent kernel panics. One involved my dual-G5 and a bug in certain old versions of Azureus, but that bug has been fixed. The other involved some kind of motherboard issue on my Ti/400; replacing the motherboard has fixed the problem.

Twilly Spree · Mar 2, 2005, 12:04 PM

I've used OS X since 10.1 on 2 machines and I've seen kernel panic less than 5 times.

omar96 · Mar 2, 2005, 12:09 PM

Originally posted by meelk:
This thread is hilarious to me, because as a windows user, I havent had a BSOD since windows 98. MY usage trail has been 95>98>2000>XP. XP is rock solid. I see one guy here saying he thinks 1 kernel panic a month is ok, and other people talking about their machines in the shop etc etc. Really funny

For every one of you there are 5 or 6 people that have semi-frequent problems. Windows XP and OS X have both been very stable for me, but I'm not a retard that's putting sub-par hardware in my machines, either. Look at what's fixed the KP's in this thread...replacing hardware. If you buy good hardware you'll give yourself a shield against OS issues, no matter the OS. It's not bulletproof, as even the best vendors and manufacturers can have issues, but it's playing the odds. I'd rather spend hte extra money for teh Corsair name when it comes to RAM, or Seagate for hard drives, or Pioneer/Plextor/Sony for optical and so on...

Twilly Spree · Mar 2, 2005, 12:11 PM

Originally posted by meelk:
This thread is hilarious to me, because as a windows user, I havent had a BSOD since windows 98. MY usage trail has been 95>98>2000>XP. XP is rock solid. I see one guy here saying he thinks 1 kernel panic a month is ok, and other people talking about their machines in the shop etc etc. Really funny

Hello troll

Tyler McAdams · Mar 2, 2005, 12:44 PM

Originally posted by meelk:
This from the guy who gets a kernel panic every month.

Lol... what do think I care weather you believe me or not? I don't get checks from Apple... The only thing that makes one OS more stable than another is the amount of development and work put in to it.

videian28 · Mar 2, 2005, 01:17 PM

Originally posted by Millennium:
There are two times when my Macs have had frequent kernel panics. One involved my dual-G5 and a bug in certain old versions of Azureus, but that bug has been fixed. The other involved some kind of motherboard issue on my Ti/400; replacing the motherboard has fixed the problem.

same exact problem here...has azureus been fixed?

other than that KP noted above, since 2001 and 4 macs later I have had one other KP, caused by a 2 year old goin crazy on the keyboard

Millennium · Mar 2, 2005, 02:00 PM

Originally posted by videian28:
same exact problem here...has azureus been fixed?

The bugs that were causing me to crash were fixed several months ago, so it may be worth trying again.

zzarg · Mar 3, 2005, 12:11 AM

I have my machine go off into beachball hell a couple of times a day.
the grey screen of "you must reset your machine. press the power button and tough luck" windows has appeared maybe half a dozen times in 2 years
I compare that the to fabled Blue Screen of Death which I've not seen since installing WinXP Pro on my Vaio and home desktop

zzarg · Mar 3, 2005, 12:19 AM

Originally posted by Twilly Spree:
Hello troll

why is trolling pointing out what others have already posted as acceptable ?
since when is pointing out that OSX isn't 100% stable and perfect in every way trolling ?

My WinXP experiences are similar.... on two machines I've not had a DSoD since upgrading, whereas in the same time period I've had problems with OSX (beachball frenzy and being told I need to hit power)

OSX is without a doubt an excellent OS, but it does have it's own set of flaws and omissions... if the community as a whole discourages honest feedback then why does Apple have an incentive to do more than add marketing driven features and not fix the niggly little bugs that will eventually drive people from the platform ?

In my experience I was seduced to OSX because of it's elegance - my WinXP experience was reliable, robust and surprisingly virus and spyware free (possibly as an educated user, possibly because of robust prophylactic measures on browsing and email, perhaps simply because I'm lucky).... OSX has been a great experience but sadly it's still a way away from being perfect - I won't list the little niggles here as it's OT but lets not start imagining any beachball frenzies or kernel panics are acceptable... if I loose data or working time because my computer has frozen or fallen over for any reason (OSX or WinXP) it's unacceptable

Randman · Mar 3, 2005, 12:25 AM

Almost every post of yours has something knocking OSX and Macs and droning on about the robustness of Windows and PCs. That's called trolling.

zzarg · Mar 3, 2005, 01:08 AM

Originally posted by Randman:
Almost every post of yours has something knocking OSX and Macs and droning on about the robustness of Windows and PCs. That's called trolling.

I presume you have actually gone through every post (not just the last couple) to come up with that conclusion ?

It strikes me that there are one or two (thankfully a tiny minority) folks here who are really 'delicate' about any comment about the platform that doesn't follow the mantra of "WinTel sucks, Apple is great"

I don't mind the odd troll comment pointed in my direction (heck, I'm sure there are some very nice trolls out there) but seeing as I'm a paid up OSX using, PowerBook (and iPod 4G and Shuffle) owning Apple fan who spends enough time trying to convince others to switch it does kinda stick in the craw that I'm NOT allowed to make an observation (factual, not just for effect) without it getting rammed down my throat.

Even the ThinkSecret and AppleInsider forums are not this narrow minded. In fact there is more critical discussion on the Apple discussion forums (as long as you really mind your language !) Think I'll just stick to reading the news articles here.

Appleman · Mar 3, 2005, 01:25 AM

Originally posted by zzarg:
I presume you have actually gone through every post (not just the last couple) to come up with that conclusion ?

It strikes me that there are one or two (thankfully a tiny minority) folks here who are really 'delicate' about any comment about the platform that doesn't follow the mantra of "WinTel sucks, Apple is great"

I don't mind the odd troll comment pointed in my direction (heck, I'm sure there are some very nice trolls out there) but seeing as I'm a paid up OSX using, PowerBook (and iPod 4G and Shuffle) owning Apple fan who spends enough time trying to convince others to switch it does kinda stick in the craw that I'm NOT allowed to make an observation (factual, not just for effect) without it getting rammed down my throat.

Even the ThinkSecret and AppleInsider forums are not this narrow minded. In fact there is more critical discussion on the Apple discussion forums (as long as you really mind your language !) Think I'll just stick to reading the news articles here.

Hm, I would say experience is experience, so if you experienced kernel panics in OS X then you did so. After all the thread asks for it, isn't it. And although I do not know the rules out of my head, I think it isn't forbidden to be negative about Apple or Mac OS X. A kernel panic IS very annoying after all. So is a BSOD.

zzarg · Mar 3, 2005, 02:07 AM

Appleman: thanks ! a voice of reason

Given the thread is asking about experiences it's a bit harsh to then bag people who suffer the symptom !
It's like asking who gets migraines... and when someone says "I do" telling them that they're delusional !

I like my Mac. I'd like it even more if it was rock solid and perfect in every way !

Appleman · Mar 3, 2005, 02:13 AM

Originally posted by zzarg:
Appleman: thanks ! a voice of reason
Given the thread is asking about experiences it's a bit harsh to then bag people who suffer the symptom !
It's like asking who gets migraines... and when someone says "I do" telling them that they're delusional !

I like my Mac. I'd like it even more if it was rock solid and perfect in every way !

No thanks, just common sense I guess

Randman · Mar 3, 2005, 02:15 AM

While far from scientific, I think the numbers in this poll say something.

TETENAL · Mar 3, 2005, 02:37 AM

Regular kernel panics are a sign of a hardware defect (often RAM).

zzarg · Mar 3, 2005, 02:39 AM

Originally posted by Randman:
While far from scientific, I think the numbers in this poll say something.

either that, or the people experiencing the problem can't get their machine to stay stable long enough to wander around the forums to post (or they've given up and tried Linux !)

If there was 0% problems apart from me... I'd say it was me... but with 49% experiencing the problem at least once indicates there is an issue.... stats can always be twisted to suit the argument

Twilly Spree · Mar 3, 2005, 04:30 AM

Originally posted by zzarg:
Appleman: thanks ! a voice of reason
Given the thread is asking about experiences it's a bit harsh to then bag people who suffer the symptom !
It's like asking who gets migraines... and when someone says "I do" telling them that they're delusional !

I like my Mac. I'd like it even more if it was rock solid and perfect in every way !

Ah I did not call YOU a troll.. unless you are also using the handle meelk on these boards.

That one is a troll for sure. You may or may not be. I'm gonna say you're not. Old Twilly's gut instinct says so. User meelk most certainly is a troll OTOH.

Where is TNproud2b when you need him!

(Sunrise is a beautiful thing BTW

)

zzarg · Mar 3, 2005, 04:47 AM

Originally posted by Twilly Spree:
Ah I did not call YOU a troll.. unless you are also using the handle meelk on these boards.

That one is a troll for sure. You may or may not be. I'm gonna say you're not. Old Twilly's gut instinct says so. User meelk most certainly is a troll OTOH.

Where is TNproud2b when you need him!

(Sunrise is a beautiful thing BTW )

Chuckle... I'm certainly not meelk in any way.... though I have similar experiences of WinXP being very stable. Thanks for the vote of confidence that I'm not a billy goat gruff baiter... it's more credit than some here have given me

chris v · Mar 3, 2005, 08:45 AM

Originally posted by zzarg:
I have my machine go off into beachball hell a couple of times a day.
the grey screen of "you must reset your machine. press the power button and tough luck" windows has appeared maybe half a dozen times in 2 years
I compare that the to fabled Blue Screen of Death which I've not seen since installing WinXP Pro on my Vaio and home desktop

When you say "beachball hell" do you mean permenant, time to hard-restart beachball hell, or just wait 30 secs and it clears up kind of beachball hell?

Neither are normal, and you should be able to clear this up with some investigative troubleshooting. 2 things come to mind: Font cache and recent servers cache.

My machines only beachball on me when I do something stupid like shut down another machine while I've got its drive mounted, and the Finder times out trying to find it. (scenario: bring laptop to work, mount laptop drive on work tower. Put laptop in bag to go home, try to use finder on tower-- tower can no longer see laptop drive, since it's off the network, and I have to wait it out for a minute or two.)

Tyler McAdams · Mar 3, 2005, 12:27 PM

I should probably add that I've reinstalled XP so many times I actually have my 25 digit serial number memorized.

futurehead · Mar 3, 2005, 01:03 PM

I have a kernal panic almost every single day with OS X. Every single one is down to my @�&^ing Speedtouch USB modem. All I have to do is wake from sleep and try to connect to the internet, and I get a panic almost every other time.

Does anyone know how to fix this (other than spending more money on a ethernet hub)? I am learning to live with it, but it is really annoying.

On the other hand my two work macs must have only crashed about 3 times in total (and I have used X solidly since public beta days!!).

Rich

CatOne · Mar 3, 2005, 03:26 PM

Originally posted by futurehead:
I have a kernal panic almost every single day with OS X. Every single one is down to my @�&^ing Speedtouch USB modem. All I have to do is wake from sleep and try to connect to the internet, and I get a panic almost every other time.

Does anyone know how to fix this (other than spending more money on a ethernet hub)? I am learning to live with it, but it is really annoying.

On the other hand my two work macs must have only crashed about 3 times in total (and I have used X solidly since public beta days!!).

Rich

How old is your machine? USB Modem? WTF?

Tyler McAdams · Mar 3, 2005, 04:55 PM

Originally posted by futurehead:
I have a kernal panic almost every single day with OS X. Every single one is down to my @�&^ing Speedtouch USB modem. All I have to do is wake from sleep and try to connect to the internet, and I get a panic almost every other time.

Does anyone know how to fix this (other than spending more money on a ethernet hub)? I am learning to live with it, but it is really annoying.

On the other hand my two work macs must have only crashed about 3 times in total (and I have used X solidly since public beta days!!).

Rich

This is out of your hands and is in the hands of the programers that support the driver for your modem. How do you fix it? You call them up and bitch... see if there is anything about this issue already reported or in the support docs. See if there is a new driver also.

D'Espice · Mar 3, 2005, 07:23 PM

So far, I've had one single kernel panic - the very first day I got my iBook after running Software Update. That was pretty much it, other than that everything's perfect.
The only problems I've had were caused by my own stupidity - spilled some soda over my keyboard and had trouble with it until I disassembled and cleand it. But other than that

I also have to say that NT-based Windows (that means NT, 2000 and XP) are very stable. Have been running that on several computers and never had any trouble. As long as there's no hardware trouble, Windows is just as stable. 9x/ME was pretty much crap but 2000/XP is fine.

Fonzie · Mar 4, 2005, 06:27 AM

I've had one since I started using OS X. And that was back with the 10.2 releases, can't remember which one. I hope I never see one again. I take good care of my Mac so it should not happen again. Here's to hoping.

chrisford · Mar 4, 2005, 07:59 AM

Originally posted by futurehead:
I have a kernal panic almost every single day with OS X. Every single one is down to my @�&^ing Speedtouch USB modem. All I have to do is wake from sleep and try to connect to the internet, and I get a panic almost every other time. (Snip!)

Hi Futurehead.

I know I'm contradicting your initial request ('that doesn't cost money!') but...

I had an Alcatel USB modem from BT for a few months. I ended up swallowing the cost and getting myself a little wireless router. It was a little over �50 (ummm... $90? Ish?) and was well worth the investment. I could never get that Alcatel to work and it's now sitting under a pile of crap in a cupboard. Every now and again I kick it.

One thing to try: If you're with BT (or similar supplier) call them up and tell them that you need an Ethernet modem. They don't tend to like it, but a couple of people I know have had free upgrades. Always worth a punt!

Chris

Ozzpot · Mar 4, 2005, 08:59 AM

I used to have them pretty frequently on my old G3 iMac (about 1 or 2 a day!) running Jaguar. I finally traced the problem to an Alcatel USB DSL Modem. Got rid of that and the problem went away. Then I bought some RAM which made them come back. Could rarely get into OSX without a KP.

I have had my iBook G4 for about 15 months now and have only had one KP, and I don't know what caused it, but it hasn't recurred. I know a heck of a lot more about OSX now than I did back then and keep it well maintained, which I think helps. I also think Panther is far more stable than Jaguar KP-wise.

futurehead · Mar 4, 2005, 01:27 PM

Originally posted by chrisford:
Hi Futurehead.

I know I'm contradicting your initial request ('that doesn't cost money!') but...

I had an Alcatel USB modem from BT for a few months. I ended up swallowing the cost and getting myself a little wireless router. It was a little over �50 (ummm... $90? Ish?) and was well worth the investment. I could never get that Alcatel to work and it's now sitting under a pile of crap in a cupboard. Every now and again I kick it.

One thing to try: If you're with BT (or similar supplier) call them up and tell them that you need an Ethernet modem. They don't tend to like it, but a couple of people I know have had free upgrades. Always worth a punt!

Chris

Thanks for the tip. I'm with pipex in the U.K. 50 quid for not having to reboot every other day is actually starting to sound quite attractive! What was the make of the router you got? Was it easy to set up? My desktop does not have airport. Would I be able to connect that up to the wireless hub via ethernet and then run my powerbook over wireless? I'm a bit of a novice at this broadband mallarky!

Futurehead

chrisford · Mar 4, 2005, 05:02 PM

Originally posted by futurehead:
Thanks for the tip. I'm with pipex in the U.K. 50 quid for not having to reboot every other day is actually starting to sound quite attractive! What was the make of the router you got? Was it easy to set up? My desktop does not have airport. Would I be able to connect that up to the wireless hub via ethernet and then run my powerbook over wireless? I'm a bit of a novice at this broadband mallarky!

Futurehead

Hey Futurehead -

I got a dLink 604 (I think it was). I think this model been updated now, but it's basically their 4 ethernet ports, 802.11g wireless and a built in ADSL modem. It was easyish to set up - not as 'plug-and-play' as you'd like. I ended up fiddling with settings until it worked, but there is a support number you can call who'll walk you through the settings. I understand this support is pretty good as well.

I ended up picking one up from a PC World-type shop in a fit of pissyness when the Alcatel caused OSX to crash again. They're probably cheaper online nowadays.

If your desktop has no wireless you can just run some ethernet cable from it directly to the dLink. Then, as you say, you can run your Powerbook wirelessly with no problems at all.

I'm a total novice at networking as well, so if I can get it working, I'm sure you can. If not, these forums are pretty good for advice (albeit occasionally tetchy advice!). Good luck anyway - �50 for no KPs is well worth it I think!

discotronic · Mar 4, 2005, 06:24 PM

I have had a kernel panic because of bad ram and because of a bad software install on my iPod. Easy fix for both. The machine was always able to recover after a reboot. On my Windows machines when I have had a BSOD the machines never recovered. I always had to do a reinstall. In my experience a kernel panic is nothing compared to a BSOD.

rjenkinson · Mar 4, 2005, 07:29 PM

-r.

malvolio · Mar 6, 2005, 02:21 AM

Been using OS X since the release 0f 10.0, almost 4 years ago. In that time I have had 6 kernel panics. None were in 10.3.x.

Andrew Stephens · 02:55 AM

Originally posted by chrisford:
Hey Futurehead -

I got a dLink 604 (I think it was). I think this model been updated now, but it's basically their 4 ethernet ports, 802.11g wireless and a built in ADSL modem. It was easyish to set up - not as 'plug-and-play' as you'd like. I ended up fiddling with settings until it worked, but there is a support number you can call who'll walk you through the settings. I understand this support is pretty good as well.

I ended up picking one up from a PC World-type shop in a fit of pissyness when the Alcatel caused OSX to crash again. They're probably cheaper online nowadays.

If your desktop has no wireless you can just run some ethernet cable from it directly to the dLink. Then, as you say, you can run your Powerbook wirelessly with no problems at all.

I'm a total novice at networking as well, so if I can get it working, I'm sure you can. If not, these forums are pretty good for advice (albeit occasionally tetchy advice!). Good luck anyway - �50 for no KPs is well worth it I think!

Hell yes, get a router ASAP! Those BT USB monsters are awful. They drivers have always been bad and always will be! The only downside is that every time we have to phone BT support they go through the same old dirge. "Well, we don't support your nice reliable router, only our box of biscuit crumbs USB tat. You'll have to reinstall the original modem before i can help you."!!!

anyway, back on thread

KP in normal use, about 1 a month, on all the Macs in the studio (5), with BT drivers installed about 2 a day.

Beachball restarts, maybe every other day or so.

Restarts due to degraded system performance, every day or so

We also have a Dell PC for accounts and web testing. 18 month uptime, no crashes, no slowdowns. Cack to use but totally solid.

I think this shows the diffrence that light and heavy use makes to a system. My wifes pb, light solo use, no KP at all, ever. Dell light use, fine
Studio Macs, flat out every day, multiple apps switching back and forth, fonts on and off, network flat out etc etc. It always seems to be that they crash while you are trying to apply a filter to a 200Mb Photoshop file, upload a new web site, write a CD, render a CG image in the background and copy 1gig of data to the server, while sending an e-mail!