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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Desktops > Power Mac G4 (FW800)-freezes often

Power Mac G4 (FW800)-freezes often
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Northeastern292
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Location: Brushton, New York (middle of nowhere)
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Nov 27, 2008, 08:00 PM
 
I recently purchased a Power Mac G4 (FW800) on eBay for $160, minus a hard drive and stock video card, along with a hard drive cage.

Since I opened the box it came in late Saturday night, the lovely machine has constantly stalled, crashed, and for a while, I received kernel panics left and right-in fact, I had one today, but it was the text version (unlike the visual kernel panic, which is the kernel panic seen in OS X 10.2+, and I have 10.4.11 running on this machine).

Often, if I multitask, import music on iTunes, or do intense activity, it freezes.

To solve the problem, I have done multiple memory tests, have performed disk checks (verified disk permissions and have verified the disk itself, and have done repairs on the disk), have swapped RAM for more stable ram (I was getting a RAM error for a while with some generic RAM).

I would hate to sell the machine for parts, but if worse comes to worse, that may be the route I may go under. Is there anything I could do to avoid having to go that route? From the inside, all of the motherboard capacitors look fine, but I haven't checked the graphics card yet, but I doubt that's the culprit. I want to see if I could push my luck with Apple sending the AHT for the Power Mac, since I can't find any on eBay, but I'm working with a vintage Mac here, and this is New York, so my luck may be out.

Interesting, I installed iStat, and it has been giving me misleading readings. It says my CPU is at over 1000ºC, when I know through Temperature Monitor that the CPU is around 100º-110ºF and rarely goes above 115ºF.

There are some things I haven't tried yet:

1) Buying actual 2.5v RAM. That may hopefully be the key.
2) Removing the USB card I put in, along with my Broadcom-equipped Belkin Wi-Fi card I put in.
3) Calling Apple and begging them to send me a copy of the AHT for the Power Mac, and with that, hopefully, a copy of the system software.

Any suggestions? Comments? If need be, I'll post the system/crash logs for you hardware junkies.

System stats:
Power Mac G4 (FW800)
1.0GHz PowerPC G4 on a 133MHz bus
1GB PC2100 DDR SDRAM (originally had some PC3200 in the machine).
120GB Seagate HD
Stock Phillips CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo
Pioneer DVD-111D (the nice DVD burner I cannibalized off my beautiful homebuilt Wine-doze PC)
Belkin 54g 802.11g Wi-Fi card
Masscool XWT-MTU25 USB 2.0 card
The Mac Collection:

Power Mac G4 Sawtooth at 450MHz, Power Mac G4 Gigabit Ethernet at 400MHz, three Power Mac FW800's at 1.0GHz, MacBook Pro at 2.0GHz, my late father's G3 iMac at 350MHz, an iMac at 500MHz, a PowerBook G4 (12-inch VGA) and a PowerBook 170
     
Cold Warrior
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Nov 27, 2008, 08:05 PM
 
I had a powermac from years ago that I'd also bought second-hand. It would hang and freeze until I pulled the PCI SCSI card. After that it worked like a champ.

I'd pull the USB card first and see if that helps.
     
Northeastern292  (op)
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Nov 27, 2008, 08:07 PM
 
Originally Posted by Cold Warrior View Post
I had a powermac from years ago that I'd also bought second-hand. It would hang and freeze until I pulled the PCI SCSI card. After that it worked like a champ.

I'd pull the USB card first and see if that helps.
I'll give that one a shot definitely, but I had the problem before the card as well.
The Mac Collection:

Power Mac G4 Sawtooth at 450MHz, Power Mac G4 Gigabit Ethernet at 400MHz, three Power Mac FW800's at 1.0GHz, MacBook Pro at 2.0GHz, my late father's G3 iMac at 350MHz, an iMac at 500MHz, a PowerBook G4 (12-inch VGA) and a PowerBook 170
     
Northeastern292  (op)
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Nov 27, 2008, 08:45 PM
 
Originally Posted by Northeastern292 View Post
I'll give that one a shot definitely, but I had the problem before the card as well.
Strike One! I removed the card from the computer, checked out some Newegg reviews, and voila-the card is simply not Mac compatible. So it looks like this card's going RMA, and I'll pick up something that is firmly Mac-compatible.
The Mac Collection:

Power Mac G4 Sawtooth at 450MHz, Power Mac G4 Gigabit Ethernet at 400MHz, three Power Mac FW800's at 1.0GHz, MacBook Pro at 2.0GHz, my late father's G3 iMac at 350MHz, an iMac at 500MHz, a PowerBook G4 (12-inch VGA) and a PowerBook 170
     
Northeastern292  (op)
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Nov 27, 2008, 10:20 PM
 
Card was strike one, but it still freezes when I import CDs in iTunes.
The Mac Collection:

Power Mac G4 Sawtooth at 450MHz, Power Mac G4 Gigabit Ethernet at 400MHz, three Power Mac FW800's at 1.0GHz, MacBook Pro at 2.0GHz, my late father's G3 iMac at 350MHz, an iMac at 500MHz, a PowerBook G4 (12-inch VGA) and a PowerBook 170
     
Northeastern292  (op)
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Nov 27, 2008, 11:53 PM
 
My biggest letdown of the day:

Thu Nov 27 22:42:50 2008
panic(cpu 0 caller 0x00260820): fg: being freed with bad fg_count (32548120)
Latest stack backtrace for cpu 0:
Backtrace:
0x000954F8 0x00095A10 0x00026898 0x00260820 0x0025E95C 0x0025E730 0x002ABDB8 0x000ABD30
0x00000000
Proceeding back via exception chain:
Exception state (sv=0x3C240780)
PC=0x90014BEC; MSR=0x0200D030; DAR=0x00424000; DSISR=0x42000000; LR=0x907C9088; R1=0xF007C240; XCP=0x00000030 (0xC00 - System call)

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 8.11.0: Wed Oct 10 18:26:00 PDT 2007; root:xnu-792.24.17~1/RELEASE_PPC

My first kernel panic in two days...if it's a motherboard issue, I would be as happy as I don't know what...but how would I test to see if it's a motherboard problem?
( Last edited by Northeastern292; Nov 27, 2008 at 11:55 PM. Reason: Format/Addition to clarify)
The Mac Collection:

Power Mac G4 Sawtooth at 450MHz, Power Mac G4 Gigabit Ethernet at 400MHz, three Power Mac FW800's at 1.0GHz, MacBook Pro at 2.0GHz, my late father's G3 iMac at 350MHz, an iMac at 500MHz, a PowerBook G4 (12-inch VGA) and a PowerBook 170
     
Northeastern292  (op)
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Nov 27, 2008, 11:56 PM
 
And another from Tuesday:

Tue Nov 25 20:21:06 2008


Unresolved kernel trap(cpu 0): 0x600 - Alignment DAR=0x0000000002DDCC3D PC=0x00000000000A43C0
Latest crash info for cpu 0:
Exception state (sv=0x2DAF7280)
PC=0x000A43C0; MSR=0x00009030; DAR=0x02DDCC3D; DSISR=0x000000A0; LR=0x0001DEAC; R1=0x17773C10; XCP=0x00000018 (0x600 - Alignment)
Backtrace:
0x0001DE68 0x0001F47C 0x00024224 0x0002407C 0x00049878 0x00029234
0x000233F8 0x000ABEAC 0x3B2F6B65
Proceeding back via exception chain:
Exception state (sv=0x2DAF7280)
previously dumped as "Latest" state. skipping...
Exception state (sv=0x2DEEF780)
PC=0x9000B348; MSR=0x0000F030; DAR=0xA0B8C068; DSISR=0x0A000000; LR=0x9000B29C; R1=0xBFFFC630; XCP=0x00000030 (0xC00 - System call)

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 8.11.0: Wed Oct 10 18:26:00 PDT 2007; root:xnu-792.24.17~1/RELEASE_PPC
panic(cpu 0 caller 0xFFFF0006): 0x600 - Alignment
Latest stack backtrace for cpu 0:
Backtrace:
0x000954F8 0x00095A10 0x00026898 0x000A8204 0x000ABB80
Proceeding back via exception chain:
Exception state (sv=0x2DAF7280)
PC=0x000A43C0; MSR=0x00009030; DAR=0x02DDCC3D; DSISR=0x000000A0; LR=0x0001DEAC; R1=0x17773C10; XCP=0x00000018 (0x600 - Alignment)
Backtrace:
0x0001DE68 0x0001F47C 0x00024224 0x0002407C 0x00049878 0x00029234
0x000233F8 0x000ABEAC 0x3B2F6B65
Exception state (sv=0x2DEEF780)
PC=0x9000B348; MSR=0x0000F030; DAR=0xA0B8C068; DSISR=0x0A000000; LR=0x9000B29C; R1=0xBFFFC630; XCP=0x00000030 (0xC00 - System call)

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 8.11.0: Wed Oct 10 18:26:00 PDT 2007; root:xnu-792.24.17~1/RELEASE_PPC
The Mac Collection:

Power Mac G4 Sawtooth at 450MHz, Power Mac G4 Gigabit Ethernet at 400MHz, three Power Mac FW800's at 1.0GHz, MacBook Pro at 2.0GHz, my late father's G3 iMac at 350MHz, an iMac at 500MHz, a PowerBook G4 (12-inch VGA) and a PowerBook 170
     
Northeastern292  (op)
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Dec 15, 2008, 11:03 AM
 
Could it have something to do with a Belkin-aftermarket wireless card? I haven't seen iTunes have any major serious problems, but I'm still not sure if I've actually hit the head on the nail.
The Mac Collection:

Power Mac G4 Sawtooth at 450MHz, Power Mac G4 Gigabit Ethernet at 400MHz, three Power Mac FW800's at 1.0GHz, MacBook Pro at 2.0GHz, my late father's G3 iMac at 350MHz, an iMac at 500MHz, a PowerBook G4 (12-inch VGA) and a PowerBook 170
     
chris v
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Dec 19, 2008, 09:23 AM
 
Originally Posted by Northeastern292 View Post
Could it have something to do with a Belkin-aftermarket wireless card? I haven't seen iTunes have any major serious problems, but I'm still not sure if I've actually hit the head on the nail.
Pull everything after-market out of it, including extra RAM. If it's not a PCI card, it could be RAM or a RAM slot on the motherboard.

If it's just iTunes though, it could be a problem either with software of the DVD drive. Do you have access to another machine you can connect in FW target disk mode, in order to try an iTunes import from its CD/DVD drive?

When a true genius appears in the world you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him. -- Jonathan Swift.
     
Northeastern292  (op)
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Dec 19, 2008, 09:28 AM
 
Originally Posted by chris v View Post
Pull everything after-market out of it, including extra RAM. If it's not a PCI card, it could be RAM or a RAM slot on the motherboard.

If it's just iTunes though, it could be a problem either with software of the DVD drive. Do you have access to another machine you can connect in FW target disk mode, in order to try an iTunes import from its CD/DVD drive?
Well, the machine hasn't been acting up lately, and I've pulled just about everything aftermarket out of it. I'm wondering if it is the DVD drive.

On the otherhand, I'm making a 200 mile roundtrip today to bring it to the Apple Store in Laval (Montreal). It's ironic that I live in a part of the United States where our closest Apple Store is in an international country.
The Mac Collection:

Power Mac G4 Sawtooth at 450MHz, Power Mac G4 Gigabit Ethernet at 400MHz, three Power Mac FW800's at 1.0GHz, MacBook Pro at 2.0GHz, my late father's G3 iMac at 350MHz, an iMac at 500MHz, a PowerBook G4 (12-inch VGA) and a PowerBook 170
     
   
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