Powerbook Constantly Freezes

RAM test update: so far so good...

Hi again,

I've been going 4 days now (18 hours of use) without so much as even a whiff of a hickup with the two identical 1 Gig RAM modules.

I spoke to a tech friend - PC guy - re the sensitivity of DDR2. He said that DDR pushes the info at twice the data rate and that DDR2 is using the same silicon to double the speed again. As DDR2 is still comparatively recent, he couldn't speak from experience, but said given the speed of the traffic it was highly likely to be quite sensitive to chip incompatibilities and that these would probably be caused by different settings in an eprom control chip located at the end of each module.

Given my experience it seems that this is the likely cause.

In my case at least it seems that this issue is more than likely caused by the high-speed, highly stressed nature of DDR2 RAM which must have identical architecture accross both slots to function reliably.

Given that, if you also have a faulty module, the issue is further compounded.

My advice if you have this freeze problem is to target the RAM and make sure you have identical modules and that both are OK. This means going to 2 Gig and ensuring that the chips on the modules are the same - even the same brand can use different chips.

Avoid the 1.5 Gig non-Apple RAM configuration. 2 Gigs is worth the extra expense. These machines are nice little performers with the extra space.

I don't think Apple is to blame for this one.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Peter C

This seems to make the most sense to me also. My new RAM does work, so I don't think its malfunctioning, but my computer is also still freezing. Guess I'll have to order another 1 GB of matching RAM and see what happens. I would like to know what rjf1 (above) has as far as RAM goes. Did you order it with 2 GB of RAM or did you add it after-the-fact, and if so are the identical chips?

Alek

15" 1.67 GhZ Powerbook Mac OS X (10.4.4) 1.5 GB of RAM

I am also having the same problem.

I bought a PowerBook G4 15" 1.67GHz from the Refurb Store, and it's awful.

I have used a PowerBook before this, the one I'm using now because the new one refuses to go past the white screen. The Apple doesn't even load when you boot up the computer.

It's disgraceful, does anyone know why they do this? How can Apple have the gall to send out this kind of shoddy crap?

I have 2gigs of ram ordered with the machine from the supplier i don't know what sort it is.
With the advent of the new powerbook (intel) i don't suppose anyone will be bothered now anyway.

Regards to all Robert

Mac OS X (10.4.4)

I have the same problem. My PowerBook was 1 year and 5 months old when it started freezing up randomly - sometimes when I'm running any program, sometimes when I'm not even in the room, sometimes on startup, sometimes on the very first mouse click after startup. This is a full freeze up - no mouse, no Finder, no Kernel Panic message, nada, zip, dead in the water.

I have to force restart in Safe Mode to get past the Blue Screen stallout, and then restart again in normal mode to bring the computer back up. I am then usually able to work for a few hours (or even days) before the next freeze up, although this morning I had to restart 14 times before it would work.

The Apple Genius Bar has replaced the logic board three times, the hard drive, the RAM, and I think the keyboard. They did a clean reinstall of OS X, and have run numerous hardware tests that came up A-OK, but I am still experiencing the random freezes. The RAM is native for this PowerBook and my only non-Apple peripheral is my printer. I get freezes whether the printer is connected or not. I've deleted all non-Apple widgets, and have no hackware installed.

This was an utterly superb machine for 17 months- it never crashed once - but now I can hardly even work some days.

Good luck everyone, I hope somebody figures this thing out! -Karen

RAM TEST UPDATE: OK

Hi all,

it's been 7 days since the two identical 1 Gig modules were installed and the PBook was restarted. There have been numerous sleeps, all the usual apps and not so much as a ghost of a hiccup.

So that's it for me - case closed I guess: Apologies to Apple for the angst directed its way on this one.

Karen, have you tried just one RAM module at a time first in the lower slot and then in the upper? Also have you tried booting from a DVD or an external drive to ensure that your problem's not caused by a faulty preference or extension? Also if you're able, check what is loading on startup in the System Prefs.

All the best,

Peter C

For those with PB crashing for no reason, take a look at the discusison:
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=1316561#1316561
These crashes are not RAM related... I have had RAM, HD, and Motherboard replaced... then whole computer replaced, all to no avail. Apparently turning off NAP can fix some cases. Please post if you are having this freezing issue!