Should I be worried about kernel panics?

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Should I be worried about kernel panics?

I have a G5 quad that I use as a file server and to do some intense computing (about half the time I am using 100% of the cpus.) I have it on all the time, but about once a week it will have a kernel panic and I need to reboot it (it starts up fine after a kernel panic.) Should I be worried about the LCS? It uses the original LCS it think, and it is the one with two pumps. I have only had this mac for a couple years, and I haven't always used it this way. It would still kernel panic when I used it as a desktop, but not nearly as often, maybe once a month. I just this week reinstalled and fully updated OS X Leopard, so I don't think I need to reinstall. Thoughts?

PowerMac, Mac OS X (10.5.8), 2.5GHz G5 Quad, Quadro FX 4500

Posted on Jul 21, 2013 11:31 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 21, 2013 2:18 PM in response to GoodOldMac

Personally, I think that any kernel panic is a cause for concern.

It indicates either hardware problems or directory, drivers or permissions issues.

The kernel panic FAQ is divided by the order of most common occurrences of kernel panics:

• Directory
• Drivers
• Permissions
• RAM

1. A directory failure or user accidentally moving .kext files that should be left alone. The directory may fail, due to an accident caused by Norton Utilities or Systemworks, which may at random corrupt a directory even when trying to repair it. Norton Anti-Virus will not do this, but Norton Disk Doctor and Norton Speed Disk have a history of doing this. [emphasis mine]

Norton is NASTY stuff in OS X. Stay away from anything with the Norton name if you're on any version of OS X, especially do NOT let anything with the Norton name (like Norton Anti Virus, File Saver) ever reside on your computer.

NAV (Norton Anti Virus) can lead to permanent file damage. Files damaged by NAV are not recoverable. NAV can also prevent many PostScript files from parsing, even if not damaged permanently.

Disk Doctor and Speed Disk are known to cause the kind of directory damage that can lead to kernel panics.

http://www.macmaps.com/kernelpanic.html

Another excellent reason to steer clear from all things Norton!

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Answer 2

GoodOldMac Author

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Jul 21, 2013 5:38 PM in response to Ramón G Castañeda

I don't have any anti-virus on my computer. I'm pretty smart about what apps I download, and which sites I visit. A friend of mine said that I may be having problems because I regularly compile new software, and that may be messing up older software or something. I doubt it is Any of the first three things on yourt list. It Could possiby be the ram, as it is all pretty old, and there is some ram that is clocked faster than the bus speed. I am mostly afraid of it being a slow leak in my liquid cooling system, I just want to see what more people think before I spend a day disassembling it.

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Answer 3

Jul 21, 2013 9:27 PM in response to GoodOldMac

Yup, I should have deleted the Norton caveat from the boilerplate text.

The entire text of my post #1 shoul be just this:

Personally, I think that any kernel panic is a cause for concern.

It indicates either hardware problems or directory, drivers or permissions issues.

The kernel panic FAQ is divided by the order of most common occurrences of kernel panics:

• Directory
• Drivers
• Permissions
• RAM

1. A directory failure or user accidentally moving .kext files that should be left alone.

That canned response had been prepared to reply to posters in another non-Apple forum where a bunch of recent Windows_to_Mac switchers post.

The rest of the verbiage addressing Norton (deleted now in this post) does not apply to long-time Mac users at all. Sorry. 😊

I wouldn't discound bad or corrupted drivers and permissions, nor accidental directory damage, though.

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