Kernel panics on Mountain Lion are normal?

Just as an update of my own experience, I had been getting multiple kernel panics on a 12,2 iMac 27" (mid 2011 model) which was given to me as a replacement for a previous model that had multiple issues while still under AppleCare. In order to accurately replace my original computer, Apple upgraded the RAM in this replacement machine with 8 gig of their Samsung sticks. I then added another 8 gb of Crucial RAM to the new machine. It came with Lion installed, so I upgraded to Mountain Lion immediately, and had multiple kernel panics every day, with no pattern, they could happen under almost any conditions. I finally tried experimenting with the RAM, removing the Samsung supplied by Apple and placing the Crucial RAM in the primary spots. Three days later, no kernel panics since and the computer is perfectly stable under Mountain Lion. I understand that this won't apply to all cases, and that in my case it could have been as simple as faulty RAM, but multiple AHT's and Rember tests showed no problem with any hardware, and it makes me wonder if Mountain Lion might be particularly fussy about the way it interacts with RAM. Others with more knowledge may be able to shed some light on this possibility.

Whenever a machine experiences multiple kernel panics, faulty RAM is one of the primary suspects. The fact that the hardware tests are unable to uncover the problem is unfortunate, but perhaps inevitable - failures may be intermittent, and hard to catch.

I think we shouldn't mix up the main cause of kernel panics. It really depends on what kind of panics you are receiving. With faulty ram, you get all sorts of random panic causes.

In this thread we are talking about a specific panic in com.apple.NVDAResman/com.apple.GeForce, which all seem to be related to the Nvidia drivers when using a special configuration (multi- graphics cards and/or multi monitor config).

Fair point, but to put my case into perspective it should be noted that amongst the dozens of kernel panic crash logs I have, the vast majority include the following Kernel Extensions in the backtrace;

appleiokit.IOPCIFamily

appleiokit.IONDRVSupport

appleiokit.IOGraphicsFamily

appleiokit.IOSurface

appleiokit.IOAcceleratorFamily

These factors, at least, are in common with the OP and many others in this thread, albeit without the Nvidia or multiple graphics card/monitor situation.

Mine seem to be NVDA related, but I'm not using multi-graphics/multi monitor, so I suspect there's some other fault with the driver.

I ended up taking my iMac (27" i7 20gbram) into the local Apple Store for repairs, and after a few days of testing they concluded that the original 2x2gb Apple ram was defective, so they replaced it and that SEEMS to have solved the problem. I migrated all my data from my time machine HD and have had no crashes for a week now, so that seems to have been the solution.

I have also experienced a Kernel Panic error since upgrading 10.8. I discovered that the error om my MAC occurs when it gets too hot. For example, I can sit at my wooden desk all day and have no problems. But if I sit with a lap support of hardened plastic to rest my MAC on, then eventually it just suddenly restarts and give me the kernel error. I'm using an SSD HDD in my 2010 MAC with 8 GB RAM. Maybe this is what you can expect when it gets too hot and it is simply a safety feature, but still ... MT Lion has been given me some headaches that Lion never did. Anyway, I just thought I'd relate my experience here.

Philip

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3938355?start=0&tstart=0 Is for imac users with Nivada Geforce GT130 graphic cards having screen freeze or kernal panics since upgrade from OS X leopard

Well, the "repair" by my local Apple Store in Byron Bay improved things, but I have had two kernel panic crashes since getting the iMac back from them 2 weeks ago, and I have had 2 instances of freeze on startup with 3 tones in sequence.

This means the ram is the most likely suspect, so I am systematically pulling the ram modules out at a time and testing the results myself so my computer doesn't have to sit in the shop for a week while they do it. If I can isolate a module (or two?) that are causing the crashes I will at least know what the problem is before I run the computer back in for warranty repair.

I will update this post when I know more.

My experience is roughly parallel to yours. Constant crashes after upgrading to Mountain Lion. Apple store replaced the two factory 2GB ram sticks and I was disappointed to still have Kernel panics, albeit less often.

I decided to pull the 2x2GB sticks out, rearrange the 2x8 BG sticks into separate bays, figuring that maybe more airflow, or maybe something like less ram to confuse Mountain Lion might help.

2 weeks and no crashes or weirdness to date. I hope this is the end of my problems.

Carl I actually posted this solution a while back. Apple to me to do exactly that but the issue is I have to run 4 monitors for my work But if your only running dual monitors you should only need one card anyway

After installing the newest drivers directly from NVidia, I hoped that the problem goes away.

Unfortunately, same panic today (last one was 2012-12-02).

Note: Panic only occurs after wake up from sleep and working for a while.

panic(cpu 0 caller 0xffffff8016451c07): "IOGMD: not wired for the IODMACommand"@/SourceCache/xnu/xnu-2050.18.24/iokit/Kernel/IOMemoryDescriptor.c pp:1424

...

Kernel Extensions in backtrace:

com.apple.NVDAResman(3.0.4)[BC567F28-823E-3FB4-A726-F13C4041C44D]@0xffffff7f967 25000->0xffffff7f96a33fff

dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.7.2)[B1B77B26-7984-302F-BA8E-544DD3D75E73]@0xffff ff7f96693000

dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(2.3.5)[86DDB71C-A73A-3EBE-AC44-0BC9A38B9A44]@0xff ffff7f96711000

dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(2.3.5)[803496D0-ADAD-3ADB-B071-8A0A197DA53D]@0 xffffff7f966ce000

com.apple.GeForce(8.0.1)[90A7ED58-4F3E-38B4-8596-EB1D65EA1B85]@0xffffff7f97c020 00->0xffffff7f97cc5fff

dependency: com.apple.NVDAResman(3.0.4)[BC567F28-823E-3FB4-A726-F13C4041C44D]@0xffffff7f967 25000

dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(2.3.5)[86DDB71C-A73A-3EBE-AC44-0BC9A38B9A44]@0xff ffff7f96711000

dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.7.2)[B1B77B26-7984-302F-BA8E-544DD3D75E73]@0xffff ff7f96693000

dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(2.3.5)[803496D0-ADAD-3ADB-B071-8A0A197DA53D]@0 xffffff7f966ce000

com.apple.iokit.IOSurface(86.0.3)[578CEAAD-1465-3B29-B34F-09586288ED88]@0xfffff f7f978e8000->0xffffff7f978f9fff

Has anyone tried ditching Nvidia and using multiple Ati cards instead? I'm desperate for a solution and days away from ditching my Mac platform (very reluctantly) for Windows as I need to get work done across multiple monitors and cant take the productivity hit from rebooting every few hours anymore.

Josh- I realize that this discussion has become focused on NVidia causing kernel panics, but the discussion title is broader than that, so from my own experience of regular kernel panics on a new iMac , maybe my experiences will be of some benefit. In my case ( read my previous entries ) the problem has almost certainly been related to Ram, whether faulty or overcrowded, I don't know, but I have stopped having any kernel panic crashes since removing 2 of my ram chips. I removed the original 2x2Gb chips, and left 2x8gb chips in separate bays and that immediately made my iMac usable again. THat said, however, I am still getting 3 beep warning signals on occasion when the machine wakes from sleep. I can live with this and I can still try other ram configurations to see if I do have faulty ram as the 3 beeps are meant to indicate.

Try pulling ram in various combinations and see if that doesn't help. It sure helped me.