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General discussion

black box message and freeze

Oct 10, 2006 10:29AM PDT

I have a Mac with the following specs.
Machine Name: Power Mac G5
Machine Model: PowerMac7,3
CPU Type: PowerPC G5 (3.0)
Number Of CPUs: 2
CPU Speed: 1.8 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 1.5 GB
Bus Speed: 900 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 5.1.8f7
I bought this G5 new several years ago.

Ever since I bought it it has periodically seemed to freeze up for no reason (in no particular program both on and off the internet) and display a black box that says in English something like "You need to shut down your computer." with several suggestions as to how and then follows it with what I assume is the same message in 4 or 5 other languages.

or

just freezes with whatever is on the screen and the little multicolored wheel starts spinning

or

the screen grays and the background turns black and it says in gray print SOMETHING LIKE "System Failure: cpu1: code: 008808007 (corrupt skip lists) OR PMAP
Followed by lots of other letters, numbers and words and ending with Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 8.7.0: and date : root:xnu-792.6.76.obj-1/RELEASE_PPC

Sometimes when I reboot it starts to come back up and then stops with a black rectangular box on the screen. But most of the time it reboots and all is well.

Through this time I have upgraded the OS to 10.4.7, and recently replaced the hard drive and added memory. My Mac still continues to do its freeze thing. In fact it is getting more and more frequent. When this happens the fan revs up and becomes very loud.

I would appreciate any suggestions you might have as to what might be causing this and how I might correct it.

CCS

Discussion is locked

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Got a nasty feeling that
Oct 10, 2006 11:10AM PDT

one of the processors is not doing it's thing correctly.

If you have warranty coverage for this machine, call Apple and have them start the paper trial. If not.........

Sometimes adding extra memory or a different drive causes this problem but you say that it has been present since you got the machine.

The fans usually start going into overdrive when they sense, through the built in sensors, that heat is building up but, they also kick into overdrive when one of the sensors fails.

The multi-lingual box is usually the result of a Kernel panic, not always seen, and you are correct, the message is the same in all the languages.

Have you tried an Archive and Install? It's a cure for a lot of what ails the machine and all your data is saved.
Before that though, try resetting the PRAM and NVRAM.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238 refers

P

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I've done most of those things
Oct 10, 2006 11:46AM PDT

1st there is no warranty coverage. Sad
It was going on before any additions. Sad
What is Kernel panic?
I have done the PRAM and NVRAM things. No luck Sad
I completely erased and restored the drive (2 volumes).
Had my data saved on my trusty since the G5 is not trustworthy G4 Happy
Not nearly as bad now yet - but still happening periodically

Sounds like a processer, huh?
What will that cost me?

Thank you so much for answering my email about the sitx.txt. It worked just fine when I removed the .txt from the
end.
That was my first attempt to get an answer from a forum ever. I really
wanted to start a new discussion instead of just emailing you but had not figured out how to do it yet. (Have now!)
CCS

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No G5 Processor upgrades
Oct 10, 2006 9:54PM PDT

from any of the usual vendors.

The PM G5 has a sophisticated cooling system that is calibrated to the supplied processor. Moving up would change the dynamics of the cooling system.

For whatever reason, I could not find any G5 processor replacements on line. It was a quick search though.

I'm sure Apple would sell you one but I would hate to see the bill

P