Q: Kernel Panic #2 and another lot of bad RAM???
Okay this is becoming troublesome. A few days ago I posted regarding a previous kernel panic and whether it related to bad RAM.
My question was answered by Illaass and Grant Bennet-Alder, the culprit of my kernel panic was bad ram as Illaass pointed out
The phrase "6 error-reporting banks" in the panic report almost always means bad RAM.
The key is multiple error-reporting banks.
Also the phrase "Machine Check" usually means a hardware problem
I got the replacement RAM this morning and installed it, the system showed as having 12GB for about two hours; then I got ANOTHER Kernel Panic, When I rebooted my machine only showed as having 8GB of RAM again, the two new modules that were installed would not register. – I opened the side of my machine to instept the memory, I was surpised to find the error LED on for one of the DIMMs I had installed only hours before.
So I have three possibilities before me.
1. I have recieved a second faulty module in the modules I replaced, but what is the likelyhood that I would get two 'bad' modules like this.
2. The second of course is that the DIMM slot on the Mac Pro's RAM riser card is 'killing' any module that is installed in it. (I don't know what the likelyhood of this is)
So I contacted the retailer I purchased the memory from, with some basic troubleshooting I was able to identify the faulty module and remove it (and the other 'good' module from my system), with the modules removed my system boots and behaves correctly, with the replacement modules in my system boots (slower than normal) and the new modules do not even register in System Profiler, they show as "empty" slots.
I took my machine to my local Apple Service Provider and asked their advice, they said it is very unlikely that the slot is the issue and I have simply recieved two faulty sticks of memory.
I contacted the retailer again and they will be sending me yet another replacement module, though I don't know what the likelyhood of exactly the same repeating itself over and over.
I also have the details of my second kernel panic which I will attach to this message in a minute, I'm open to all suggestions as to what may have happened.
Mac Pro (Early 2008), Mac OS X (10.6.8)
Posted on Jun 17, 2016 12:21 AM