KernelPanic
Latest
Users unhappy with no Apple response to NVIDIA GeForce GT 130 kernel panic issue
There's nothing more frustrating to a computer user than to have a software-related problem exist for more than a year without it getting fixed by the manufacturer. In this case the users are owners of early 2009 iMacs using the NVIDIA GeForce GT 130 video card. These Macs have had a problem with kernel panics that are traced back that video card ever since late versions of Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6) hit the street, but are most prevalent with machines running Lion and Mountain Lion. Apparently Apple isn't too concerned with the issue, since the support community thread discussing it is now up to 14 pages long, with almost 200 replies. That thread was started by user David Portela almost a year ago, and a number of users have now spoken up about the issue. The issue can be traced to a new kernel extension that was released during the lifetime of Snow Leopard and has not been fixed. Many users note that the issue disappears when they are running versions of Windows on their iMacs via Boot Camp, so the Windows drivers apparently work on Apple hardware better than the Mac drivers do. If any iMac owners are seeing a similar problem and are tired of the sudden crashes and reboots, we suggest posting on the support community thread to add some more fuel to the fire. For now, the suggestion from Apple support personnel that owners upgrade to a newer Mac is unacceptable. A TUAW hat tip to Andrea M. for pointing this out
Chrome 20 browser released: exclusive 64-bit Linux Flash, fewer MacBook crashes
If your new MacBook is having kernel panics, or you're forced to run a 32-bit browser in Linux because you need Flash, Google's brought relief with version 20 of Chrome. While acting sheepish about "yet another release," the Chrome Blog said "hundreds of bugs" were fixed, including a MacBook resource leak issue which was temporarily patched by disabling some GPU features. Also, Linux users will finally get full 64-bit support for Flash with Adobe's PPAPI "Pepper" version, but since it was made exclusively for Chrome, Penguin users will be stuck with that browser if they want the feature. To get it, check the source after the br... oh, right, background update. Nevermind.
Thunderbolt Software Update 1.2 reportedly causing boot failures
Whoa. Thunderbolt must be extremely upset about having to share the spotlight with USB 3.0 on the new Mac models introduced yesterday, as Thunderbolt Software Update 1.2 (also released yesterday) is now causing boot failures. The issue was reported by TidBITS publisher Adam Engst this morning, who said that people are reporting "strange boot-related problems" such as kernel panics, lockups at the gray boot screen, "unexpected error" messages and other issues. It's a pretty serious problem -- the Macs are unusable after the update. Adam reports that the best fix at this point is to reinstall Lion. That's quite easy with Lion, although time consuming. Users need to boot into Recovery Mode during restart by holding down Command-R. Once booted, they can select "Reinstall Mac OS X". If you don't have a Recovery HD volume, then Lion Internet Recovery will take over and allow you to download a new Recovery HD image to boot from. Once Lion is reinstalled, do not reinstall Thunderbolt Software Update 1.2 unless you're a masochist and like to reinstall operating systems. If you have a Thunderbolt-equipped Mac and have not run the update yet, avoid it like the plague. It's only required for the new Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter anyway.
Dear Aunt TUAW: My Mac had a kernel panic. Now what?
Dear Aunt TUAW, My Mac has been experiencing kernel panics. I managed to grab an error log. Now what? I'm not sure how to use this to figure out what's going wrong... Please help! Your loving nephew, Esteban Dear Esteban, The preponderance of the time, kernel panics are hardware related and not software. Looking at the error log can help you figure out what issue may be causing it. Look for the last loaded and last unloaded kernel extensions as well as the items named in the extension backtrace. They can provide good indication of what's going wrong. For example, you might see the following. Here, the issue seemed to have been with a FireWire Drobo system. last loaded kext at 266503428590760: com.apple.driver.AppleFireWireStorage 3.0.1 (addr 0xffffff7f80920000, size 16384) last unloaded kext at 266064709148465: com.apple.driver.StorageLynx 3.0.1 (addr 0xffffff7f808ce000, size 8192) Or you might see the following trace, which was tied into the local USB system. Notice how the names of each item here gives you a sense of the role. IOKit is responsible for many of your system's device drivers. Names like IOUSBMassStorageClass and AppleUSBComposite tell you that you're probably working with USB issues. Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies): com.apple.iokit.IOUSBMassStorageClass(2.0.4)@0x593bd000->0x593c6fff dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIArchitectureModelFamily(2.0.5)@0x7ba000 dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily(3.1.5)@0x596000 dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOStorageFamily(1.5.5)@0x7d3000 com.apple.driver.AppleUSBComposite(3.0.0)@0x953000->0x956fff dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily(3.1.5)@0x596000 com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily(3.1.5)@0x596000->0x5bdfff Kernel panics aren't limited to hardware. For example, emulators can also cause kernel panics. VirtualBox can be quite nasty this way. If you pinpoint the cause of your issue (emulator or mass storage), you can usually work through the problem yourself. If not, you may want to book an appointment to take your unit to the Genius Bar or to an Apple Authorized Service Provider (ASP). Hope this helps! Hugs, Auntie T, who thanks cousin Josh Carr for his assist on this write-up
Mac OS X kernel panic screensaver - let the pranks begin
What's better than a Dashboard widget that can display a Mac OS X kernel panic? A full-on screensaver that can simulate one, of course! Mark Johns of Doomlaser has built an eerily realistic kernel panic screensaver, right down to the slowly dropping grey shade of despair, that will surely induce panic in the hearts of its victims in the way that only the haunting question of "oh crap, did I save?!" can. For a nice touch of style, it can even pause iTunes to really stop the show.Watch a demo of the screensaver here in this post, or head over to YouTube for the original. Finally, you can snag your own pranktastic copy from Doomlaser.
Widget Watch: Kernel Panic
In the great tradition set forth by the BSOD widget, the Kernel Panic widget offers a panic-inducing performance for the rest of us. Just set it up on your friend's, boss' or worst enemy's Mac and watch their hearts skip a beat as they (hopefully) figure out the gag. Its developer, Powermacguy, over at DashboardWidgets is either a pretty clever guy or (soon to be) on a few Mac user's hit lists.The Kernel Panic widget is free and available from DashboardWidgets.
Powerlogix problems: overheating and kernel panics
If you have upgraded your Mac using my semi-cracky How-To you may have also upgraded your Powerlogix CPU Director software as time went along. Recently I updated to CPU Director 2.3b2, and when the drop down menu in System Preferences > Energy Saver > Options > Processor Performance disappeared, I was worried. My CPU was no longer dynamically changing speed up and down from 1GHz to 2GHz and was staying solidly at 2GHz.I eventually did what my father always told me: "When all else fails, dig the manual out of the garbage." I went to the Trash and grabbed the READ ME FIRST.rtf.The readme for the newest CPU Director includes this pithy statement:Note: DFS and Power Management functions require Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later, and require a PowerLogix 7447A CPU card. If you purchased a PowerLogix 7447A CPU card prior to July 27, 2005 your card requires CPU Compatibility Updater, which will be sent to existing customers. (If you have a PowerLogix 7447A CPU card and the thermal pane does not appear in CPU Director, or Processor Performance does not appear in the Energy Saver System Preference, you need the CPU Director Compatibility Updater.)I dutifully emailed Powerlogix support to ask for the CPU Director Compatibility Updater. They sent me the program, I ran it, and System Preferences > Energy Saver > Options > Processor Performance reappeared. The problem is, since this upgrade my machine systematically overheats when I tell it to choose Processor Performance: Automatic. My G4 has not had problems this bad (and subsequently caused kernel panics) since the update to 10.4.3. The ultimate solution to this problem would be dynamic CPU switching but also failsafe temperature monitoring that allowed CPU Director to force the computer down to the lower speed if overheating becomes imminent. Apparently this exists for some of the Powerlogix CPUs but it sure doesn't show up in my CPU Director software (I have the Powerlogix 7447A).There has been no word yet from Powerlogix about this issue and I'm going to have to step back in CPU Director versions. Hopefully the CPU Director Compatibility Updater won't make my setup incompatible with previous version of CPU Director. If anyone else has had similar issues and/or has a solution, feel free to post in the comments.
