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Don Pickett · Oct 9, 2009, 12:55 AM

I have been having a seemingly unrelated series of issues with my single 1.8 GHz G5, none of which I have been able to resolve. They include:
1) The machine will not sleep by itself;
2) Safari crashes on some javascript-heavy pages;
3) Memory errors showing up in the console;
4) Seemingly high temperatures (129° F on a 58° day);
5) Other console errors.

To fix these problems I have tried:
1) Running the hardware diagnostic CD, which said everything was fine;
2) Removing RAM and rebooting;
3) Resetting the SMU;
4) Doing an archive and install;
5) Doing a clean install on a brand new drive.

The memory errors in the console are:
10/9/09 12:44:55 AM EarthDesk Core[153] EarthDesk Core(153,0xf024b000) malloc: *** mmap(size=3388997632) failed (error code=12)
*** error: can't allocate region
*** set a breakpoint in malloc_error_break to debug
10/9/09 12:44:55 AM [0x0-0x19019].com.xericdesign.earthdesk.core[153] EarthDesk Core(153,0xf024b000) malloc: *** mmap(size=3388997632) failed (error code=12)
10/9/09 12:44:55 AM [0x0-0x19019].com.xericdesign.earthdesk.core[153] *** error: can't allocate region
10/9/09 12:44:55 AM [0x0-0x19019].com.xericdesign.earthdesk.core[153] *** set a breakpoint in malloc_error_break to debug

The mmap size is about the size of the amount of RAM in the machine, 3 GB. I have sent the error messages to Xeric (the makers of Earthdesk). They don't know what's causing it, and haven't seen this error from anyone else.

There are also other errors showing in the Console:
10/8/09 5:48:22 PM kernel Sound assertion "kIOAudioDeviceActive != getPowerState()" failed in "AppleOnboardAudio/AppleOnboardAudio.cpp" at line 6940 goto handler
10/8/09 9:00:07 PM kernel Sound assertion "kIOAudioDeviceActive != getPowerState()" failed in "AppleOnboardAudio/AppleOnboardAudio.cpp" at line 6940 goto handler
10/8/09 9:23:37 PM kernel Sound assertion "0xFFFFFFFF == mMatchingIndex" failed in "AppleOnboardAudio/AppleOnboardAudio.cpp" at line 153 goto Exit
10/8/09 11:04:28 PM kernel Sound assertion "0xFFFFFFFF == mMatchingIndex" failed in "AppleOnboardAudio/AppleOnboardAudio.cpp" at line 153 goto Exit

I don't know what's happening to my machine, but I am starting to worry it has developed a hardware fault somewhere which will only get worse.

reader50 · Oct 9, 2009, 04:03 AM

1) Will the machine sleep if booted from an earlier operating system version? Say, the version it shipped with? You can test this easily by booting from the install DVD. Then try to sleep. Your G5 most likely shipped with 10.4.x discs. If it does sleep OK under earlier OS versions, then Apple slipped up somewhere in the model testing.

2) Regarding your previous report on this system. Have the iTunes pauses gone away, and if so, after which step that you tried? Also, your Safari report last time concerned Flash content crashes, now javascript. Did the behavior change, or did you narrow the cause down further?

3) The memory allocation error. Assuming it is still isolated to EarthDesk, I'm going to assume it's an app-specific problem. Is there an alternative application you could use in EarthDesk's place for a month? It seems the developer cannot isolate the problem, so the next step would be substitution. If it is the app, using an alternate will eliminate the errors. If it is something else, switching apps will attribute the errors to something else. Maybe whatever is causing it - such as the System Preferences app which encloses preference panes.

4) The high temperature. Yours is an air-cooled system with variable fan speeds. So long as the CPU temperature is in an OK range, the fans get adjusted down to the lowest acceptable speed - priority to low noise rather than lower CPU temp. That temp is not very high, I wouldn't worry about it.

5) I don't recognize those audio errors. Someone else will have to comment.

Don Pickett · Oct 9, 2009, 09:51 PM

Originally Posted by reader50

1) Will the machine sleep if booted from an earlier operating system version? Say, the version it shipped with? You can test this easily by booting from the install DVD. Then try to sleep. Your G5 most likely shipped with 10.4.x discs. If it does sleep OK under earlier OS versions, then Apple slipped up somewhere in the model testing.

Can't test this. Booted from the 10.4 DVD, but there's no way to set sleep time, either through a pref pane or from the Terminal.

2) Regarding your previous report on this system. Have the iTunes pauses gone away, and if so, after which step that you tried? Also, your Safari report last time concerned Flash content crashes, now javascript. Did the behavior change, or did you narrow the cause down further?

The iTunes problem still persists. I just tried it on the new drive, with a fresh install of 10.5.8, and the problem occurred there as well. Play song, hit pause, hit play and the entire GUI, except for the mouse, freezes for 10 seconds.

The Safari problems went away when the website in question changed their forum software, but I don't think that really solved the problem.

3) The memory allocation error. Assuming it is still isolated to EarthDesk, I'm going to assume it's an app-specific problem. Is there an alternative application you could use in EarthDesk's place for a month? It seems the developer cannot isolate the problem, so the next step would be substitution. If it is the app, using an alternate will eliminate the errors. If it is something else, switching apps will attribute the errors to something else. Maybe whatever is causing it - such as the System Preferences app which encloses preference panes.

I don't know if there's an alternate. But I have been in contact with the programmer, and I am the only person out of the entire user base having this problem.

reader50 · Oct 9, 2009, 10:55 PM

The keyboard shortcut for Sleep is Option-Command-Eject. Briefly pressing the power button may work too. If you have a keyboard with a power button on it, pressing that button will bring up a dialog with several options, including Sleep. The Apple menu often includes a Sleep command as well.

About iTunes, do you have a monstrously huge library? Like in the GB range, perhaps bigger than installed RAM? If your HD is spun down, the system may pause until the HD spins up. Repeating the procedure while the HD is spun up should eliminate the pause though.

btw, while trying to trigger sleep. Do not accidentally use Control-Option-Command-Eject. That combination = Reboot without further dialogs. Found that out while looking for the Sleep combination.

reader50 · Oct 9, 2009, 11:09 PM

A new thought. From your reply about Sleep, it sounds like you only trigger it via inactivity. Have you tried triggering Sleep manually? If it works when done manually in your normal OS install, then some other setting may be preventing it from obeying the sleep delay specified in Energy Saver.

Don Pickett · Oct 9, 2009, 11:52 PM

Originally Posted by reader50

A new thought. From your reply about Sleep, it sounds like you only trigger it via inactivity. Have you tried triggering Sleep manually? If it works when done manually in your normal OS install, then some other setting may be preventing it from obeying the sleep delay specified in Energy Saver.

I can get the machine to sleep. It won't sleep on its own, however. A brand new install of 10.5.8 on that new drive exhibited the same thing: no sleeping unless I make it sleep.

Tomacorno · Oct 10, 2009, 12:00 AM

My G5 started having many weird errors that did not seem to have a pattern before it died. Turned out to be bulging and leaking capacitors. This happened recently and I am going to try to replace them but taking that look might save you some troubleshooting.

reader50 · Oct 10, 2009, 12:02 AM

The machine thinks something is active, something that disables sleep. User input does that, so does playing a movie or DVD. Check your running applications (and login items) for something that keeps running in the background.

You can track down the problem using Activity Monitor. Set a short sleep delay, like 1-2 minutes. Then kill mystery processes one-by-one. Until you hit the magic one that allows sleep after it's gone.

Don Pickett · Oct 10, 2009, 01:58 AM

Originally Posted by reader50

The machine thinks something is active, something that disables sleep. User input does that, so does playing a movie or DVD. Check your running applications (and login items) for something that keeps running in the background.

You can track down the problem using Activity Monitor. Set a short sleep delay, like 1-2 minutes. Then kill mystery processes one-by-one. Until you hit the magic one that allows sleep after it's gone.

Tried it on the newly installed system: nothing in it except for Apple's stuff. Still wouldn't sleep.

Don Pickett · Oct 10, 2009, 01:59 AM

Originally Posted by Tomacorno

My G5 started having many weird errors that did not seem to have a pattern before it died. Turned out to be bulging and leaking capacitors. This happened recently and I am going to try to replace them but taking that look might save you some troubleshooting.

Hmm. What exactly would I be looking for? I don't even know what a capacitor looks like.

reader50 · Oct 10, 2009, 02:20 AM

Capacitor Plague on wikipedia. It didn't affect the PowerMacs too much, though there is a repair program for the power supplies.

Failure to sleep on a completely clean system is very suspicious. Especially if you hadn't imported any user accounts. Some USB devices and PCI cards can disable sleep. Got any 3rd party hardware?

Don Pickett · Oct 10, 2009, 01:02 PM

Originally Posted by reader50

Capacitor Plague on wikipedia. It didn't affect the PowerMacs too much, though there is a repair program for the power supplies.

Failure to sleep on a completely clean system is very suspicious. Especially if you hadn't imported any user accounts. Some USB devices and PCI cards can disable sleep. Got any 3rd party hardware?

There's a FW800 external drive plugged in, but that shouldn't stop it from sleeping.

Big Mac · Oct 11, 2009, 03:28 AM

That definitely could be a factor.

Don Pickett · Oct 11, 2009, 01:30 PM

Originally Posted by Big Mac

That definitely could be a factor.

IIRC the lack of sleeping began long before I had the external drive, but I will test things out this week.

Don Pickett · Oct 11, 2009, 04:05 PM

Out of curiosity I just pulled 1 GB of RAM from the machine, leaving it with 2 GB. I then restarted and got the same malloc error above. The program is attempting to allocate 3.15 GB when there's only 2 GB in the machine.