[galarneau]

I bought a 15" PowerBook 1.5 right here in the MacNN forums, and have been plagued with kernel panics since I got it a week ago.

I erased the hard drive and reinstalled everything. No luck.
I ran a extended hardware test. Everything passes.

I just had another panic 5 minutes ago. If anyone has any idea what the culprit might be, I'd appreciate it. The only thing I see is some mention of the Radeon 9700 driver, so could it be that my hardware is borked?

Anyway, here's the contents of the log:

Code:
*********

Thu Mar 31 22:37:41 2005

Unresolved kernel trap(cpu 0): 0x300 - Data access DAR=0x000000000000003C PC=0x000000000063B160
Latest crash info for cpu 0:
   Exception state (sv=0x2A92CA00)
      PC=0x0063B160; MSR=0x00009030; DAR=0x0000003C; DSISR=0x40000000; LR=0x0063967C; R1=0x175FBBD0; XCP=0x0000000C (0x300 - Data access)
      Backtrace:
         0x01E4DA78 0x00627D28 0x00627354 0x00627028 0x00280668 0x0007B638 0x00021668 0x0001BCE8 
         0x0001C0F0 0x000942B8 0x59000000 
      Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):
         com.apple.ATIRadeon9700(3.4.2)@0x617000
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(1.4)@0x395000
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.3.4)@0x5ba000
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(1.3.4)@0x5d9000
Proceeding back via exception chain:
   Exception state (sv=0x2A92CA00)
      previously dumped as "Latest" state. skipping...
   Exception state (sv=0x2B207780)
      PC=0x900074C8; MSR=0x0200F030; DAR=0x0091CC78; DSISR=0x40000000; LR=0x90007018; R1=0xBFFED2D0; XCP=0x00000030 (0xC00 - System call)

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 7.8.0:
Wed Dec 22 14:26:17 PST 2004; root:xnu/xnu-517.11.1.obj~1/RELEASE_PPC


panic(cpu 0): 0x300 - Data access
Latest stack backtrace for cpu 0:
      Backtrace:
         0x000835F8 0x00083ADC 0x0001EDA4 0x00090BD8 0x00093FCC 
Proceeding back via exception chain:
   Exception state (sv=0x2A92CA00)
      PC=0x0063B160; MSR=0x00009030; DAR=0x0000003C; DSISR=0x40000000; LR=0x0063967C; R1=0x175FBBD0; XCP=0x0000000C (0x300 - Data access)
      Backtrace:
         0x01E4DA78 0x00627D28 0x00627354 0x00627028 0x00280668 0x0007B638 0x00021668 0x0001BCE8 
         0x0001C0F0 0x000942B8 0x59000000 
      Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):
         com.apple.ATIRadeon9700(3.4.2)@0x617000
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(1.4)@0x395000
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.3.4)@0x5ba000
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(1.3.4)@0x5d9000
   Exception state (sv=0x2B207780)
      PC=0x900074C8; MSR=0x0200F030; DAR=0x0091CC78; DSISR=0x40000000; LR=0x90007018; R1=0xBFFED2D0; XCP=0x00000030 (0xC00 - System call)

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 7.8.0:
Wed Dec 22 14:26:17 PST 2004; root:xnu/xnu-517.11.1.obj~1/RELEASE_PPC

*********

[TheIceMan]

See Resolving Kernel Panics FAQ. It includes step-by-step instructions for identifying and resolving some of the most common causes of kernel panics.

Kernel panics are often caused by one or more of the following issues.


* Defective or incompatible RAM are the most frequent causes of kernel panics. Despite being a highly-reliable product, RAM can fail. Modern operating systems, like Mac OS X, are sensitive to RAM. Purchase additional RAM from either Apple or third parties who guarantee their RAM is compatible with Mac OS X, offer a liberal exchange policy, and provide a lifetime warranty should the RAM become defective or a later version of Mac OS X introduce incompatibilities.
* Incompatible, obsolete, or corrupted kernel extensions. If a third-party kernel extension or one of its dependencies is incompatible or obsolete with respect to the version of Mac OS X you are using, kernel panics may occur when the kernel executes such extensions. Likewise, if a kernel extension or one of its dependencies is corrupted, such as the result of hard disk corruption, kernel panics are likely to occur when the kernel attempts to load or execute such.
* Incompatible, obsolete, or corrupted drivers. Similar to kernel extensions, drivers for third-party hardware which are incompatible with the version of Mac OS X you are using, or which have become corrupted, will cause in kernel panics.
* Hard disk corruption, including bad sectors, directory corruption, and other hard-disk ills.
* Incorrect permissions on System-related files or folders.
* Insufficient RAM and available hard disk space.
* Improperly installed hardware or software.
* Defective hardware or software. Hardware failures, including a defective CPU, or programming errors can result in kernel panics.
Incompatible hardware. While rare, this is generally the result of a third-party hardware vendor�s product failing to properly respond to the kernel or a kernel extension in an expected way. (from the www.thexlab.com site)

Also, get kpdecode to decode kernel panic logs.

[Ω]

This is where I would be looking/googling:

Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):
com.apple.ATIRadeon9700(3.4.2)@0x617000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(1.4)@0x395000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.3.4)@0x5ba000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(1.3.4)@0x5d9000

[Ω]

Are you running anything in particular when it happens?

[galarneau]

Not really. It happened most using Roxio Popcorn, but happens at other times as well.

[galarneau]

Well, looks like it might have been a lose Airport card. I reseated it, and haven't had a kernel panic in days...

... though I don't know why the crash log would mention the Radeon9700 driver if it was an Airport card causing the panic.

Anyway, it's working ok now. I'll give it a bit more time until I declare it cured.

Might be a helpful tip if anyone searches the forum in the future... reseat the Airport card if your machine is kernel panicking.

[bighead]

I believe the AirPort Extreme card is a mini-PCI, and should the PCI/AGP bus have some sort of issue, it may not show up properly in the crash log (or what actually ended the system uptime was the video card not liking what was happening on the bus.)

This is just a shot in the dark, though, and should be taken with a grain of salt.

[galarneau]

I've been running this PowerBook hard for the last 2 weeks, and still no kernel panics.

Must have been a lose airport card.