Mac Mini, Kernel Panics (Type 14=page fault), and Thermal Issues?

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Mac Mini, Kernel Panics (Type 14=page fault), and Thermal Issues?

I have an "early 2006" Mac Mini and have been plagued with Kernel Panics. They are almost exclusively of the (CPU X, Type 14=page fault) variety. This can happen spontaneously while the machine is idle and on screen saver. It also happens while playing music in iTunes and Coverflow.

I use my Mac Mini attached to my AVR as a Jukebox, accessing my music on an external (USB connected) LaCie "Big Disk" - 500G. The machine is configured with 2G of RAM that was factory installed when I bought it. I have been to the Apple store once and had the CPU board replaced with no major improvement. The only improvements that I have seen have come after moving the device to improve air flow - leading me to think that this is thermal related. Problems haven't gone away, just the frequency of occurance has improved.

Any suggestions or similar experiences. Thanks.

Mac Mini, Mac OS X (10.4.10), Early 2006 model with 2G RAM factory installed

Posted on Sep 1, 2007 8:57 AM

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Answer 1

AndyO

Level 6

17,064 points

Sep 4, 2007 3:55 AM in response to scottx

I would be highly surprised if the problem is related to heat - while it's possible, heat issues typically generate a range of errors and fault conditions (not least protective shutdown) rather than kernel panics. Additionally, the notation you identify as a 'page fault' would not indicate heat so much as memory or drive.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106227 gives some broad information on what a kernel panic is, and a good place to start in troubleshooting them is http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/kernelpanics.html while http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn2002/tn2063.html and http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/osx/2006/09/18/kernel-panics-explained/ may prove useful also.

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Answer 2

scottx Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 23, 2009 3:58 PM in response to scottx

I finally got the Apple Store to replace the memory and the problem cleared up. The heating up issue was probably related to out of spec DRAM. Things have been work well since.

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