Frequent kernel panics with MPB 2.0 with 2GB RAM

Question

Frequent kernel panics with MPB 2.0 with 2GB RAM

I have been having frequent kernel panics with my MPB. I have 2GB of RAM that came pre-installed from the factory. This seems to happen most often when I am using external firewire drives. Has anyone out there had similar problems?

MacBook Pro 2.0 2GB RAM 120GB HD, Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Posted on Mar 26, 2006 1:54 PM

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Answer 1

Mar 26, 2006 3:06 PM in response to Christopher Boffoli

Maybe you should try repairing your permissions and running cron scripts. if none of this work, then i suggest you do a clean re-install

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Answer 2

Mar 26, 2006 3:23 PM in response to Christopher Boffoli

I have been having frequent kernel panics with my
MPB. I have 2GB of RAM that came pre-installed from
the factory. This seems to happen most often when I
am using external firewire drives. Has anyone out
there had similar problems?

Same problem here. I replaced a 1 GB stick that I suspected was bad and it went away, so far. My issue was it self-booting, not KP's.

William

PS: Carefully try to re-seat your RAM.

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Answer 3

Mar 26, 2006 3:27 PM in response to William Rivas

I would also suggest running the Apple Hardware test, that is included on your installation disk. Check the ram to make sure it's seated properly, and also maybe remove each stick to see if the ram is bad. But I think you answered your own question, saying these happen while you have extenal FW hardware attached. Do the KP's happen when nothing is plugged in to your MBP?

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Answer 4

Mar 26, 2006 3:48 PM in response to Peter K. Grether

I think you might nee to check you ram sometimes the wrong one get put in plus make sure it shows up in About this Mac. The other check to make sure you Fire Wire Drive is working right use the Disc utility and check it out. Mine acted kind of funny until I did couple of restarts and it been fine since I use it to store my iPhotos and iTunes Music on it.
Mike

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Answer 5

Mar 26, 2006 7:48 PM in response to Michael King9

I've done the permission repairs. Also zapped the PRAM. Ran the hardware test off the installer DVD and it immediately came back with an error code (4MEM/1/60000000:) and told me to contact Applecare. I called Applecare and they were not very helpful. The operator I spoke with had no idea what the error code meant. He told me that RAM either works or it doesn't. The PRAM zap was done at his suggestion. Hasn't changed a thing. The kernel panics have only grown more steady over the past couple of weeks. More frustrating are frequent and repeated application crashes (even simple stuff like Safari, Mail, Address Book and Preview). Applecare suggested I do a clean install of the OS. But it sounds like a hardware issue to me. The app crashes are occurring in different accounts on my MPB. I don't want to spent a half-day reinstalling all of my software only to have the issues continue. I'm going to try to re-seat the RAM and then make an appointment at the genius bar to have them take a look at this. It had been running perfectly for the first few weeks.

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Answer 6

Mar 26, 2006 7:57 PM in response to Christopher Boffoli

I've done the permission repairs. Also zapped the
PRAM. Ran the hardware test off the installer DVD
and it immediately came back with an error code
(4MEM/1/60000000:) and told me to contact Applecare.
I called Applecare and they were not very helpful.
The operator I spoke with had no idea what the
error code meant. He told me that RAM either works
or it doesn't. The PRAM zap was done at his
suggestion. Hasn't changed a thing. The kernel
panics have only grown more steady over the past
couple of weeks. More frustrating are frequent and
repeated application crashes (even simple stuff like
Safari, Mail, Address Book and Preview). Applecare
suggested I do a clean install of the OS. But it
sounds like a hardware issue to me. The app crashes
are occurring in different accounts on my MPB. I
don't want to spent a half-day reinstalling all of
my software only to have the issues continue. I'm
going to try to re-seat the RAM and then make an
appointment at the genius bar to have them take a
look at this. It had been running perfectly for the
first few weeks.

If you had an error code during the Hardware Test your MBP has a problem. The 4MEM/1/60000000: maybe linked to bad RAM or not seated correctly. If not seated correctly it will not boot, so it sounds like a bad RAM slot or memory stick.

William

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Answer 7

Mar 26, 2006 8:35 PM in response to Christopher Boffoli

If you are so brave, it may be a smart idea to try to reseat the ram, as suggested earlier. It is not a difficult procedure by any means.

Even if not, I would take it to the nearest Apple store or make sure to call Apple and get this taken care of. You paid more than enough for the laptop, you should get the best in answers and service.

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Answer 8

Mar 26, 2006 10:55 PM in response to Christopher Boffoli

The AppleCare rep sounds like they don't know what they're talking about. There's definitely an "in-between" with RAM where it'll boot and run sometimes and crash other times. Try re-seating, and also you can try memtest86. It's primarily a PC program but it may work on the new Intel Macs. You can find it here: http://www.memtest.org/

Quick Googling also turned up an OS X memtest: http://www.memtestosx.org/

Good luck!

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Answer 9

Mar 26, 2006 11:33 PM in response to Alex Behrens

Thanks to all who contributed their helpful advice. I phoned a neighbor who is an experienced UNIX systems guy. He agreed that RAM can fail partially or intermittently though he also suggested I might try to do the software archive install as Applecare suggested. I do so but the MPB crashed only 33% in. I repeated the process multiple times and then could not boot with the partially installed OS. Thank god for frequent backups to my external drive. Long story short, it was the RAM. I re-seated. Made no difference. Then I removed one stick. Problem persisted. Finally, I removed the other stick and everything worked fine. **** that Samsung RAM. I'm not happy to have to spend all morning tomorrow reinstalling and reconfiguring everything. But hopefully Apple can just send me a replacement stick of RAM and I will not have to be without my MPB. Everything is running perfectly again with no app crashes. That one stick of bad RAM caused so much trouble.

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Answer 10

Mar 27, 2006 7:23 AM in response to Christopher Boffoli

Hi Chris,

That is good news. I always have everything backed up, and it is very simple to re-install. It should go fast for you. Let us know what Apple says about the bad ram.

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Answer 11

Mar 27, 2006 8:20 AM in response to Peter K. Grether

Got back in touch with Applecare this a.m. and they were very helpful and efficient. They are dispatching a replacement stick of RAM immediately and have asked me to return the bad RAM to their engineering department.

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Answer 12

Jun 15, 2006 12:06 AM in response to Christopher Boffoli

After five trouble-free weeks, I suddenly got a kernel panic today.

Ran the hardware test, it gave me error code 4MEM/1/40000000.

Removed the 1G RAM module I'd installed, ran the test again, same error code.

Removed the 1G Apple factory-installed RAM module. Restarted.

Problem solved.

I'll call Applecare tomorrow and have them replace the bad RAM.

BTW, both modules were 1G Micron.

 MacBook Pro 17 | 2.16G | 2G RAM | Seagate 100G 7200 | G5 Dual 2.5 | 2.5G RAM | Mac OS X (10.4.6)

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Answer 13

Dec 28, 2006 6:56 PM in response to audiaudio

I have had the same problem ever since I opened the box with my brand spankin new MBP. Day 1 gave me several KP's (dark curtain, 4 languages), so I repaired permissions, ran tech tool, ran hardware test, and received 4MEM/1/40000000 within 3 seconds. Sent the machine back, Applecare replaced the logic board, sent it back, same issue after 1 day use and 1 night sleep with system left on. Now they have 2 sticks of RAM on the way to me. If the two sticks don't solve the problem, they'll just have to send me a new machine piece by piece until they realize it will be cheaper to just melt this one down and send a whole new one...

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