Oh dear, not the best news Alastair, The PowerBook G4 (15-inch 1.67/1.5GHz Memory Slot Repair Extension Program ended on July 24, 2008 :-(
<http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2164> I feel it is time for you to put the PowerBook ‘out to pasture’ and upgrade to a MacBook Pro, unless you can do as Carlo has suggested below. Cheers, Ronni On 11/11/2011, at 11:18 AM, cm wrote: > That's a pity, Alastair. As you say it is harder to fix the slot than the > DIMM. I have no corresponding model here to look at, but your DIMM slot is > likely connected to the mother board and may require that the mother board be > swapped out. A less painful alternative may be to find out the maximum memory > that you can load up the remaining slots with and just live without the > fourth slot. It's possible that by increasing the size of DIMM in the > remaining good slots, you may end up with even more memory than you have now. > > Cheers, > Carlo > > Sent from my iPad > > On 11/11/2011, at 11:10, alas.i...@iinet.net.au wrote: > >> Hi Ronni and Carlo >> >> It's not the dimms it's the slots! Both modules test fine in the >> bottom slot and throw a bunch of failures in the top one. I'm >> thinking it's a lot less easy to fix a slot than replace a dimm?? >> >> thanks >> alastair >> >> >> On 10/11/2011, at 12:20 PM, Ronda Brown wrote: >> >>> Sorry Alastair, >>> >>> I hit send before I realised I had not included the link for >>> Memtest, where you can download the ‘User Guide’ etc: >>> <http://www.memtestosx.org/joomla/index.php> >>> >>> On 10/11/2011, at 12:14 PM, Ronda Brown wrote: >>> >>>> Hi Alastair, >>>> >>>> If you are now experiencing Kernel Panics and because you also >>>> mentioned you had run Memtest and it reported many errors, that >>>> your RAM (Memory) ‘could’ be the problem. This is not conclusive >>>> as there are other things that can cause Kernel Panics. >>>> If you have run memtest before I imagine you have already read all >>>> the documentation regarding running memtest. >>>> >>>> When you ran Memtest, did you run it in ‘Single-User Mode’? >>>> >>>> In this mode, nearly all of the installed ram can be tested >>>> whereas under the full OS, a considerable portion of memory is >>>> tied up by OS X processes and the Quartz window manager. >>>> Running memtest in single-user mode maximizes the effectiveness of >>>> the memory test. >>>> >>>> To boot into single-user mode, hold down the "Command" and "S" >>>> keys during startup. You will be automatically logged in as the >>>> user root with a minimal command line environment. The login >>>> directory for the root account is "/" which is the top-level >>>> directory of the boot volume. >>>> >>>> Assuming that the memtest folder resides in your Applications >>>> folder, a typical invocation of memtest would be the following: >>>> >>>>> /Applications/memtest/memtest all 3 -L <RETURN> ( <RETURN> >>>>> means press the Return key) >>>> >>>> This would run three passes of the test suite, testing all >>>> available free memory. The "-L" switch instructs memtest to save >>>> the transcript of the run to a file named "memtest.log" within the >>>> working directory from which you invoked memtest (also known as >>>> the current working directory). >>>> >>>> Under the full OS, launching a terminal window sets the working >>>> directory to /Users/login_name where login_name is the account >>>> name you logged in with. >>>> Note that when running in single-user mode, you are automatically >>>> logged in as the "root" user so the default current working >>>> directory is /private/var/root. >>>> >>>> The main thing to remember is that the memtest.log file is always >>>> saved in the current working directory which is the same thing as >>>> the login directory unless the user manually changes to a >>>> different working directory. >>>> >>>> Alternatively, you can cd into the memtest folder and run the >>>> program using the command >>>> >>>>> ./memtest all 3 -L <RETURN> (Don't forget the period before >>>>> the forward slash!) >>>> >>>> Best to run at least 3 to 5 passes to obtain the best test >>>> coverage of marginal or intermittently failing DIMMs. >>>> >>>> To test less than all of the available free memory, replace the >>>> all option with the number of megabytes to test (e.g. 10, 100, >>>> 512, etc). The number entered is assumed to be in MB. For example, >>>> the command, >>>> >>>>> /Applications/memtest/memtest 1150 3 -L <RETURN> >>>> >>>> will test 1150 MB of the installed memory assuming this much is >>>> available for testing. >>>> >>>> TIPS FOR ISOLATING DEFECTIVE DIMMS >>>> >>>> Memtest currently does not have the ability to isolate which DIMM >>>> or DIMMs are marginal or defective when the test results report a >>>> failure. This feature is planned for a future release. For now, >>>> the best way to isolate the offending DIMM(s) is to use a binary >>>> search methodology. This is an algorithm which is popular in many >>>> sorting routines and can lead to the discovery of a defective DIMM >>>> in a minimal number of swap/test sequences. >>>> >>>> When memtest reports one or more failures, the first step in >>>> isolating the offending DIMMs is to remove half of them and then >>>> rerun memtest. If there are no failures, then the suspect DIMMs >>>> are the ones that were removed. If failures are still reported, >>>> then one or more of the still-installed DIMMs are bad. >>>> >>>> If the failures are in the still-installed DIMMs, again remove >>>> half of them and retest. If the failure are gone, then swap the >>>> installed half for the removed half and retest. Each time a test >>>> is run, either cut the number of installed DIMMs in half (for a >>>> failure) or swap the installed DIMMs for the removed ones (no >>>> failure) until the minimal number of DIMMs are installed (e.g., >>>> one pair in the G5 systems). Once you're down to the minimal >>>> installation, put back in all of the now known good DIMMs and swap >>>> one of the remaining suspects out for the next test. Under normal >>>> circumstances, you should be able to isolate the failing DIMMs in >>>> just a few swap/test cycles. >>>> >>>> There are many other reasons DIMMs can appear to be bad. >>>> Sometimes, a defective DIMM socket is the culprit and simply not >>>> using that socket solves the problem. Problems can also arise from >>>> mixing and matching different brands of DIMMs, especially if they >>>> aren't all rated with the same timing specs. It's even possible >>>> that the motherboard CPU caches may be bad and the fault doesn't >>>> lie with the DIMMs at all. Suspect the CPU caches if the tests >>>> pass in single-user mode but fail in a terminal window under the >>>> full OS. The CPU caches are turned off in single-user mode and are >>>> therefore not part of the memory test, whereas the caches are in >>>> the test path under full OS operation. >>>> >>>> EXITING SINGLE-USER MODE >>>> >>>> To exit single-user mode, type either the reboot command or the >>>> shut command at the unix prompt. The reboot command reboots the >>>> machine into the full operating system and is analogous to >>>> restarting from the Finder. The shut command powers down the >>>> machine and is analogous to shutting down the system from the >>>> Finder. These are the only recommended methods for exiting single- >>>> user mode. >>>> >>>> Carlo might suggest doing something else first. >>>> >>>> Cheers, >>>> Ronni >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On 10/11/2011, at 11:43 AM, alas.i...@iinet.net.au wrote: >>>> >>>>> Hi Ronni and Carlo >>>>> >>>>> Well I did the permission repair from the disc and it found a whole >>>>> paragraph of things to fix which hadn't appeared before, and so far >>>>> no safari quits (though it hasn't been long and I'm not using >>>>> illustrator this morning) >>>>> >>>>> But I've had 2 kernel panics. Don't remember ever having one on the >>>>> PB before. Any further thoughts appreciated >>>>> >>>>> best >>>>> alastair >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On 09/11/2011, at 12:31 PM, cm wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Hi Alastair, >>>>>> >>>>>> (Just saw Ronni's email but this was mostly written so I will send >>>>>> it along) >>>>>> >>>>>> When a problem is really baffling it can sometimes be hardware >>>>>> related but at this stage you can't rule out a software problem. >>>>>> Some serious diagnostics are in order. :-) >>>>>> >>>>>> These tests could be run in order so that if one test comes back >>>>>> positive there is no need to proceed to the next. >>>>>> >>>>>> To check for a software problem: >>>>>> 1) Check your system log for anything unusual. >>>>>> 2) Try to repair permission from the CD so that you do not actually >>>>>> boot into your potentially faulty system. >>>>>> 3) Create a new account and run Safari to see if it is stable. If >>>>>> it is then the problem could be in the user settings of your >>>>>> original account. >>>>>> 4) Get an external drive with a clean install on the external drive >>>>>> see if Safari is stable -- if this works there could be something >>>>>> wrong with your system level settings, but there could also be a >>>>>> hard-drive hardware problem. >>>>>> >>>>>> To check for a hardware problem. The most likely candidates are the >>>>>> hard drive and memory. >>>>>> 1) Clone your current installation to an external drive. Run from >>>>>> the external drive and see if it is stable -- if so the hard drive >>>>>> is likely at fault. >>>>>> 2) If you have spares or know of someone with a similar model >>>>>> computer swap out the memory and give it a try. >>>>>> >>>>>> If you choose to do any of the above please write back and we can >>>>>> give you a hand interpreting the results. >>>>>> >>>>>> Cheers, >>>>>> Carlo >>>>>> >>>>>> On 09/11/2011, at 11:11 , alas.i...@iinet.net.au wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> Hi all >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Been googling this till my fingers bleed and can't fix it. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> G4 powerbook 1.5 10.4.11 Applications keep quitting >>>>>>> unexpectedly - >>>>>>> worst culprits safari and illustrator CS2 - no use switching to >>>>>>> firefox or camino; if safari is doing it, so do they. Sometimes >>>>>>> i can >>>>>>> go all day without quits, others it happens every 2 mins. if i >>>>>>> repair >>>>>>> permissions and restart things are usually ok for a while but >>>>>>> problem >>>>>>> soon returns. tried trashing plists and entire illustrator >>>>>>> folder in >>>>>>> application support, turning off plug-ins in safari, >>>>>>> deactivating all >>>>>>> but system fonts, run onyx and fsck. i'm running out of ideas! >>>>>>> sorry >>>>>>> about one hand typing - small niece on lap. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> your suggestions much appreciated >>>>>>> kind regards >>>>>>> alastair >>>> -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> Settings & Unsubscribe - <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug>
