freezing eMac

Hi,

I bought my Emac around Sept '04 and it has a serial number in the range of the Emacs with problems., G843.......

I've always had crashes in Safari or Safari just getting hung up but I was always able to force quit if needed. Starting this weekend my computer started to freeze more and more frequently...i had some similar problems as a few other people where the mouse continued to move around but none of the other buttons affected anything and I would have to shut off the computer. This seemed to occur more and more frequently....I am no longer under warranty...! I read about people's problems here and called Apple, I was told that since I didn't have the video problems and could still turn my computer on that it 'sounded' more like a software problem and was told it wouldn't be fixed unless it started to display some of the other problems...but I could lug it into apple if I wanted and get them to look at it...seriously I can't lift this thing!
Anyways I have no idea about the inner workings of computers or software, hardware etc. I did try to put in the install disc to do the hardware test and I could never get the screen to run it even after several attempts holding down the option key at the chime...or until the chime...I got different info. from the Apple guy on how to do this.

Anyways, lately it's been fine and I haven't opened it up to look for the bulging or the ooze but I really feel it's only a matter of time before it starts again..

Can anyone explain about the kernels....I did go into my logs and read this (please people try to explain as if to a small child because I don't understand this stuff but can follow any directions if they are simple and clear!)


From my network log.....do these error messages mean anything?
2007-05-28 14:36:17 -0700
2007-05-28 14:36:18.227 loginwindow[209] FSResolveAliasWithMountFlags returned err = -43
DebugAssert: Third Party Client: ((__null) != m_lock && 0 == (*__error())) Can't create semaphore lock [line 60, file /Volumes/Development/HP/Mac-Software/mac-software/core/HPEventHandler/Sources/H PTMNotificationManager.cpp]
2007-05-28 23:53:37.085 Safari[396] GIF decompressor: Attempt to skip 13 byte(s) past end of data at offset 0xaa6
2007-05-30 09:45:20.614 Safari[799] GIF decompressor: GIF image ran out of compressed data at offset 0x21
2007-05-30 09:45:50.503 Safari[799] GIF decompressor: GIF image ran out of compressed data at offset 0x21
2007-05-30 09:45:58.488 Safari[799] GIF decompressor: GIF image ran out of compressed data at offset 0x21
2007-05-30 09:46:18.092 Safari[799] GIF decompressor: GIF image ran out of compressed data at offset 0x21
2007-05-30 09:46:24.768 Safari[799] GIF decompressor: GIF image ran out of compressed data at offset 0x21
2007-05-30 09:46:33.899 Safari[799] GIF decompressor: GIF image ran out of compressed data at offset 0x21
2007-05-30 09:46:49.924 Safari[799] GIF decompressor: GIF image ran out of compressed data at offset 0x21
2007-05-30 09:47:11.847 Safari[799] GIF decompressor: GIF image ran out of compressed data at offset 0x21
2007-05-30 09:47:31.610 Safari[799] GIF decompressor: GIF image ran out of compressed data at offset 0x21
2007-05-30 09:48:18.736 Safari[799] GIF decompressor: GIF image ran out of compressed data at offset 0x21
2007-05-30 09:49:32.142 Safari[799] GIF decompressor: GIF image ran out of compressed data at offset 0x21
2007-05-30 09:49:42.892 Safari[799] GIF decompressor: GIF image ran out of compressed data at offset 0x21
2007-05-30 09:50:08.579 Safari[799] GIF decompressor: GIF image ran out of compressed data at offset 0x21
2007-05-30 09:50:14.823 Safari[799] GIF decompressor: GIF image ran out of compressed data at offset 0x21
2007-05-30 09:50:51.257 Safari[799] GIF decompressor: GIF image ran out of compressed data at offset 0x21
2007-05-30 09:50:54.374 Safari[799] GIF decompressor: GIF image ran out of compressed data at offset 0x21
2007-05-30 09:50:56.597 Safari[799] GIF decompressor: GIF image ran out of compressed data at offset 0x21
2007-05-30 09:50:58.166 Safari[799] GIF decompressor: GIF image ran out of compressed data at offset 0x21
2007-05-30 09:51:06.083 Safari[799] GIF decompressor: GIF image ran out of compressed data at offset 0x21
yylex: ERROR.
yylex: ERROR.
yylex: ERROR.
yylex: ERROR.
yylex: ERROR.
2007-05-30 14:15:00.278 Safari[850] Unknown GIF label (0x00)
2007-05-30 14:15:29.774 Safari[850] Unknown GIF label (0x00)
2007-05-30 14:17:34.008 Safari[850] Unknown GIF label (0x00)
2007-05-30 14:18:33.188 Safari[850] Unknown GIF label (0x00)
2007-05-30 14:18:42.726 Safari[850] Unknown GIF label (0x00)


From my system log




Emac Mac OS X (10.3.9) 1.25 GH

I am experiencing similiar problems with my Emac. I just got one as a gift to my daughter from a friend of mine. It freezes up and I have to hold the start button for 5 sec to turn it off. When I restart it runs fine sometimes, or freezes during start-up. It often freezes when I attempt to do auto software update. I have another emac that is newer with Tiger installed on it. I have noticed the following differences at start-up and preceding the freezes:

At the gray apple screen that appears before the desktop the little turning gear freezes momentarily and the entire display shifts slightly to the left (every time I restart or start the computer). Many timest the computer seems to be working smoothly then just before the computer freezes, I get a pixel distortion right next to the turning gear (usually a few lines of color). Once the dock and another time Safari page came up with distorted image of scatterred pixels, then the computer froze.

I have done a erase and reinstall of the disks that came with it (Mac OS X 10.3) and successfully done the upgrade by downloading 2 upgrades to Panther from the Apple Support site. I also ran a freeware program called "Apple Jack" to try and fix any software issues form single user mode. So I think this is a hardware issue. I intend to bring the computer in to Apple to see if it qualifies for the extended warranty described. What exactly is the problem anyway? The article does not clearly spell it out.

Thanks.

I'm beginning to have a few similar problems with my eMac though not as bad as experienced by some. I have 80Gb hard drive and 768mb memory and run OS X 10.3. I was wondering whether upgrading to 10.4 and increasing the memory to iGb might make a difference.

JulieBulie,

Welcome to the Apple Discussions!

There have been two separate waves of bad capacitors affecting all types of electronics, both traceable to use of a more environmentally friendly binary electrolyte in which part of the formula was missing (in one case due to inept industrial espionage). The bad capacitors typically manifest by bulging and leaking electrolyte, and can cause an array of problems. See if the problematic eMac serial number falls within the range covered by the eMac Repair Extension Program for Video and Power Issues. If it does, contact an Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP) to arrange for repair.

I bought a used eMac about a year ago. Its serial number is in one of the ranges covered by the Extended Repair Warranty.
I don't use it for anything other than internet access and occasional typing using Appleworks.
It freezes often: when accessing mail from the desktop (instead of through msn.ca), when attempting to attach a file to an email (even a small text file), bookmarking a web page. It has recently begun freezing whenever I try to open a folder or launch Appleworks. And it sometimes freezes for no apparent reason.
Sometimes before freezing one of the little dialogue windows partly unrolls and then becomes blurred, or parts of the display "smear".
Restarting is a major pain. Sometimes holding the power button works, sometimes not - have to turn off the power surge bar. Restarting from the keyboard NEVER works.
Does this sound like the problem covered by the Extended Repair Program? Does the fact that I bought the computer used disqualify me? I'm giving very serious thought to just tossing the thing and starting over with a PC.

emac Mac OS X (10.3.4)

Take of the bottom hatch where the ram is. Check for buldging or leaking capacitors, yellow or brown goo (capacitors look like small cylinders).

Do a search in this forum under "capacitors" or "leaking capacitors", some have posted pictures of what bad capactors look like.

The machine should be covered if it matches the serial number ranges for original or second hand owner.

My eMac experienced these problems, the capacitors were leaking brown goo, Apple replaced the logic board and it works fine now.

emac Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Thanks. Will advise of final outcome. Haven't tried looking inside the computer yet, partly because it has been running well since my last post. One very strange thing about this problem is that it seems to occur most often between 7:00 and 9:00 a.m. and less often between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. I'm often on the internet late at night, and rarely experience problems.

Take of the bottom hatch where the ram is. Check for
buldging or leaking capacitors, yellow or brown goo
(capacitors look like small cylinders).

Noticed the same thing also, computer would freeze more often after staring up after being off for a long period of time. Perhaps that was a sign of the bad capacitors.

Try deleting any extension in the library with "ATI" in the file name.

We had three 1.25ghz emacs all crashing constantly (10-15 times a day... low use). After reading the posts about bulging capacitors and seeing that we have them, I replaced one of the computers (bought used- figured they wouldn't be covered).

Then I read a suggestion to delete the files noted above. The other two emacs have been problems free... although I'm sure this is short term due to the capacitors.