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Millennium · Jan 18, 2004, 11:35 PM

My Ti/400 has recently started crashing at almost-random points. It seems to happen mostly when the machine is moved. Whether the movement is sudden or jerky does not appear to have any effect, nor does the number or type of peripherals which are plugged in. Sometimes I get the KP screen, while other times the mouse pointer disappears and the whole machine locks up. From what I can tell, it happens even if the machine is asleep; in this case, the machine refuses to wake up. I don't think it's heat-related, though this is a possibility.

These crashes do not seem to occur at all unless the machine is somehow moved. I've been able to cause it once or twice just by attempting to close the lid, but usually I can only cause a crash by physically moving the computer.

I've cracked open the Ti's case several times already, to see if anything was loose; I haven't been able to find anything wrong.

The computer is running Mac OS X 10.2.8, but it seems to me as though this has to be somehow hardware-related rather than software. Is anyone else experiencing anything like this?

Mastrap · Jan 19, 2004, 03:33 AM

Have you got an airport card installed? If yes then that might well be the culprit. I had the same problem when my 12" first arrived, a quick re-seating of the card solved the issue.

Podolsky · Jan 19, 2004, 01:38 PM

My 17" 1.33 did this a few times too when I had a known bad 3rd party (not) ram. Once, I was walking around my library trying to find an airport sweetspot and crash. The other time I was doing the same at home. Since replacing the bad ram this and several other anomolies have never returned.

Jonesy · Jan 19, 2004, 06:29 PM

I have had the same experience. I have the same TiBook 400. It will happen for a while and then settle down. I can't see any pattern to it. Hasn't done it for a while. Hope yours calms down.

Mine feels like it's nearing time for a new one anyway...

Millennium · Jan 19, 2004, 07:07 PM

Originally posted by Mastrap:
Have you got an airport card installed? If yes then that might well be the culprit. I had the same problem when my 12" first arrived, a quick re-seating of the card solved the issue.

I've already taken out and re-seated the card. Same goes for the RAM, which had been installed by MacConnection when I first bought the machine.

This started around December 20th or so, by the way, just to give a timeframe for this. The machine had been running fine before then.

tobster · Jan 19, 2004, 10:28 PM

Same thing is happening to me. Started a few months ago. Happens when the machine is being moved around and I can't see any pattern to it.

Machine: PowerBook 667 DVI, 512 ram (2x256), 30 gb, upgraded combo drive (happened before the upgrade too) and airport card. Mac OS X 10.3.2 (but happened in 10.2.x too).

No solution from me though

Brgds,

Tobbi

parsec_kadets · Jan 20, 2004, 01:50 PM

This has been a topic in the Apple discussion boards in the past (sorry, I don't have a link). There is an issue with the first generation TiBooks where something comes loose on the motherboard with age. As a result, the computer will crash whenever it is moved. With this issue, if you don't touch it at all it will never crash. However, if you bump it in the slightest (in the most severe cases anyway) it crashes instantly. Sadly, the only solution I've heard of is to replace the motherboard. If you have AppleCare for your computer, send it to Apple for repair. If you don't, you can still send it to Apple but it will cost you. I would call Apple and ask them how much it will cost, and then weigh the cost of repair it against that of just buying a new laptop. Do look in the Apple discussion forums for a better description of the problem though, so you can be sure this is what you have.

Phat Bastard · 04:31 PM

This exact same phenomenon was occuring to me when I had the same version Powerbook. It was two issues:

Firstly, the factory-installed battery was loose, so whenever I moved the PB the connector on the battery would shift out, therefore the computer would lose power. I fixed this by getting Apple to replace the battery. This was a known issue with the first generation Titaniums.

Secondly, this same problem started occuring some time later (about two years after purchasing the computer). If I moved the laptop at all, battery power or AC only, the machine would stall. A concurrent problem I was experiencing was the "sleep coma"--when I put the laptop to sleep by closing the lid, when I opened the lid again the display would remain black. Anyway, these problems were fixed by replacing the logic board. I actually had to replace the logic board TWICE before I got a working one.

Like parsec_kadets said, this was a huge problem to many users and there was a lot of discussion here and on the Apple discussion boards. A ton of logic boards would simply die out all at around the same time after purchase (about two years after purchase). The only solution anyone had was to replace the logic board.

Once I got a working logic board, I quickly sold the computer since I didn't know how long it was going to last!

MountainMac · Jan 20, 2004, 11:18 PM

Slightly off-topic but...

...if you do end up upgrading and wanting to sell your Ti400, consider parting it out on eBay or here in the marketplace. I think they're going for around $500 in whole on eBay, while I parted out my Ti400 and got a total of around $700.

MM

Millennium · Jan 21, 2004, 11:01 PM

Here is the trace for the last kernel panic. All of the last few seem to have been basically identical to this one. From what little I can read of this, it looks like it may be the failed-motherboard issue, but I really hope that's not the case.

As an aside, this one actually came from an old-style kernel panic (or "system failure" as it called it), rather than the new-style multilingual dialog box.

----------

Wed Jan 21 21:52:49 2004

Unresolved kernel trap(cpu 0): 0x200 - Machine check DAR=0x0b85bb98 PC=0x0003df38
Latest crash info for cpu 0:
Exception state (sv=0x16B43500)
PC=0x0003DF38; MSR=0x00041030; DAR=0x0B85BB98; DSISR=0x40000000; LR=0x0003DF08; R1=0x0B85BD10; XCP=0x00000008 (0x200 - Machine check)
Backtrace:
0x00098FE0 0x001D6EC0 0x001868A0 0x0003EAD4 0x0003E9DC
Proceeding back via exception chain:
Exception state (sv=0x16B43500)
previously dumped as "Latest" state. skipping...
Exception state (sv=0x10CA1C80)
PC=0x00000000; MSR=0x0000D030; DAR=0x00000000; DSISR=0x00000000; LR=0x00000000; R1=0x00000000; XCP=0x00000000 (Unknown)

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 6.8:
Wed Sep 10 15:20:55 PDT 2003; root:xnu/xnu-344.49.obj~2/RELEASE_PPC

panic(cpu 0): 0x200 - Machine check
Latest stack backtrace for cpu 0:
Backtrace:
0x000857F4 0x00085C24 0x000287B4 0x0008F6A8 0x000927B8
Proceeding back via exception chain:
Exception state (sv=0x16B43500)
PC=0x0003DF38; MSR=0x00041030; DAR=0x0B85BB98; DSISR=0x40000000; LR=0x0003DF08; R1=0x0B85BD10; XCP=0x00000008 (0x200 - Machine check)
Backtrace:
0x00098FE0 0x001D6EC0 0x001868A0 0x0003EAD4 0x0003E9DC
Exception state (sv=0x10CA1C80)
PC=0x00000000; MSR=0x0000D030; DAR=0x00000000; DSISR=0x00000000; LR=0x00000000; R1=0x00000000; XCP=0x00000000 (Unknown)

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 6.8:
Wed Sep 10 15:20:55 PDT 2003; root:xnu/xnu-344.49.obj~2/RELEASE_PPC

Phat Bastard · Jan 22, 2004, 06:34 PM

I can't read those things so I can't help you out man! Sorry.