Any chance this is NOT a hardware problem?

I have a PowerBook (17", 1 gHz, 10.4.7) which has started having Kernal Panics and having the screen suddenly going black, requiring a forced restart to get back on. The PB is not shutting down (the num locks and cap lock keys still light) and the drive is still spinning.
In addition I am getting an occasional Kernal Panic. The one in which a report was written says,
Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):
com.apple.GeForce(4.1.8)@0x2fb84000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(1.7)@0x280cc000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.4.1)@0x31f6c000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(1.4.1)@0x31f90000
dependency: com.apple.NVDAResman(4.1.8)@0x31fa6000
Which to me indicates a graphics board problem. I am also having some screen redraw problems which seems to back this up. Running the Apple Hardware Test (long version) gives me all passes.
Is their any possibility this could be a software problem?
TIA,
Bill

Just a little insight, that might help.
More often than not the Kernel Panic's are caused by bad or incompatible Ram. (Not Always) but most of the time.
Running Hardware test, will not always show an issue with bad ram.
The first thing I would try is Repair Permissions, here is Gullivers Link on System maintence.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=607640&#607640
Next Dr. Smoke also has an excellent site that covers Kernel Panic's and how to work through finding the issue.
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/maintainingmacosx.html
Cheers Don

Similar Messages

Hi There, my itunes no longer opens. It quits unexpectedly for some reason when I try to login. I have tried updating my itunes and this has not solved the problem. Any help would be appreciated, thanks

Hi There,
My itunes quits unexpectedly when I try to login. I cannot even open the application, not sure why this is happening. Have upgraded my itunes and this has not solved the problem either. If anyone can help me out, that would be appreciated. Thanks

Hello balisurfergal,
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
For more information, take a look at:
Mac OS X 10.6: If an application quits unexpectedly
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH7044
iTunes 10 for Mac: May quit unexpectedly on launch
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3494
Have a nice day,
Mario

I downloaded OS Mountain Lion 10.8... and when I was getting ready to install I get "This disk has S.M.A.R.T. errors. This disk has a hardware problem that can't be repaired. I have read some of the same comments below. Why?

I was trying to install OS X Mountain Lion 10.8... and I got an error saying, "This disk has S.M.A.R.T. errors. This disk has a hardware problem that can't be repaired. I saw several other questions below of people having the same or similar problems. Does this mean that my hard drive is about to crash? I plan to head to the place I purchased and have it checked out. I backed up my data a couple of days ago. Any comments?

Yes, S.M.A.R.T. is a built-in diagnostic on the hard drive, and it is reporting a problem that may cause it to fail.
You can see the same status in Disk Utility, and possibly get more info. Run Disk Utility and select the DRIVE in the sidebar. Be sure to select the DRIVE and not the volume indented below it. At the bottom of the window, there is a field for S.M.A.R.T. Status. If there is no problem, it should say Verified.
You can also do a Get Info on the drive (File -> Get Info) in Disk Utility, and the Info window provides more detailed information (toward the bottom) about what is being checked.

Drive fails SMART status-"this drive has a hardware problem"

I recently did a major update of software and applications to my MacPro. (it's the first model of 8 core that came out). When I do a major update like this, I make a clone using Carbon Copy Cloner of the system drive to an external drive so I have a backup until I verify everything is good on the updated internal. I have 4 hard internal drives and have been having no trouble from them. However I noticed in Disk utility that one of the non-system drives is displayed in red and gives a warning that reads, "This drive has a hardware problem and can't be repaired. Backup the data and replace the drive". It also shows the SMART status as "failing". So I have everything copied to another drive.
I'll gladly replace the drive. However here's my confusion: when booting from the system cloned to the external drive, this same drive shows as being perfectly fine in Disk Utility. Both system drives have OSX 10.6.6. the only difference is newer applications on the internal system drive that reports failure (mostly audio related applications: Pro Tools, Reason, Roxio Toast).
So does anyone have any thoughts? I've read some other threads and they just report the failure and say to change the drive. I've not seen anyone else have one system that reports failure and another that doesn't.

SMART status failed is usually caused by too many suspected Bad Blocks. Some of these blocks may be unjustly accused of being permanently bad.
If you have the liberty to re-initialize the drive, doing so with security options "Zero all data, one pass" will ensure that (if the test completes without error) the drive once more has 100 percent good blocks. The process takes several hours to complete, longer if there are a lot or bona-fide errors.
It is also possible that the drive will produce "initialization Failed", in which case it should be retired if out of warranty, returned for replacement if still in warranty.
A drive that has ever seen a SMART status of Failed may get more Bad Blocks in the next six months. Or maybe this afternoon. If possible, it would be good to reduce your day-to-day use on this drive, such as making it a backup drive rather than using it all day every day for 'live" data.

I have music stored and it wont let me transfer them over all i get is your apple id has been disabled, i have re set my pasword and this has not solved the problem

i had a iphone in 2010, i purchased music which is still stored on my original apple id, but when i try to transfer the music ,and download apps all it says is your apple id has been disabled, i have tried re setting a new pass word but this has not solved the problem can any one help please

Contact itunes support

This drive has a hardware problem that can't be repaired

Hello all! I'm using a late 2009 27" iMac (2.8 GHz, 12 GB Ram). I've been noticing a lot of insanely slow speed lately, mostly in opening new folders or restarting. I ran the Disk Utility and it maked my internal 1TB drive as "This drive has a hardware problem that can't be repaired". Thankfully I have a 2tb backup external that has all my data on it, but now it's time to decide what to do.
1. Try and reformat my hard drive and reinstall the backup
2. Replace the drive with a new internal drive (and look for the best solution... thinking either a hybrid drive, SSD+internal or a 7200 RPM drive)
3. Throw my iMac into the sea.
4. Cry
So basically my question is:
Is my drive dead and should i even try to help it? (I don't qualitfy for the TB repair from Apple and my Applecare is up)
What are the best performance upgrades for an internal. 7200 internal? 7200 Hybrid? both an SSD and an internal drive?
Thank you in advance.

You will have to see what the SMART report is for the drive in Disk Utility. If it says "Verified" then the drive should be OK. All you need do is repartition and reformat the drive. On the other hand if DU reports the drive has an I/O problem then the drive is probably bad.
Initially why not just try this:
Drive Preparation
1. Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
7. Quit DU when formatting has completed. Install Snow Leopard.

My new iPhone 5 has black and white lines on the screen. It's not been damaged. I've tried turning it off but this does not solve the problem? Please help.

My new iPhone 5 has black and white lines on the screen. It's not been damaged. I've tried turning it off but this does not solve the problem? Please help. I can't find my answer on the Internet.

By far the most common problem hardware-wise seems to be scuffs on the aluminium. Yours is the first report of a faulty screen I've seen.
If you use the same Apple ID on both devices it'll sync whatever you want it to - music/apps/photos/messages/etc.
I've just switched from a Galaxy S3 to iPhone 5 (having already owned an iPad for a while) so I'm in a similar position!

HT204053 The SIM card that you currently have installed in this iPhone is from a carrier that is not supported under the activation policy that is currently assigned by the activation server. This is not a hardware issue with the iPhone. Please insert ano

sir have this error so what can i do The SIM card that you currently have installed in this iPhone is from a carrier that is not supported under the activation policy that is currently assigned by the activation server. This is not a hardware issue with the iPhone. Please insert another SIM card from a supported carrier or request that this iPhone be unlocked by your carrier. Please contact Apple for more information.

It looks like the iPhone is locked to a carrier that is not the one you are trying to use.
You need to determine which carrier it is locked to and then contact them to see if they are willing to authorise the unlocking of your iPhone. As ManSinha mentioned, many carriers will only authorised the unlock if requested by the customer who had the contract with them for this iPhone.
Remember that only the carrier who owns the lock on your Iphone can authorise Apple to unlock the iPhone in their servers. You need to contact the carrier or have the previous owner of the iPhone request the unlocking.

HT1937 the SIM card that you currently have installed in this iPhone is form a carrier that is not supported under the activation policy that is currently assigned by the activation server.this is not a hardware issue with the iphon. please insert another

the SIM card that you currently have installed in this iPhone is form a carrier that is not supported under the activation policy that is currently assigned by the activation server.this is not a hardware issue with the iphon. please insert another SIM card from supported carrier or request that this iPhone be unlocked by your carrier.

Similar issue
here is the description
I have similar message but for me the Verizon guys said they unlocked it and when I actually connected to iTunes using Verizon sim card and then did the restore as new iphone then everything worked well and at the end i saw the message "Congrats, your iphone is now unlocked" and then I did the set up as new iphone for my kid.
Once new apple ID was set up, then I removed the verizon SIM and then inserted prepaid t-mobile sim card and after the phone booted up then I got the same message like above...."not supported"
What do i do now? I think the phone is unlocked right?
Also do I need to insert Verizon SIM card and do restore as NEW and this time do not set up the iphone but change the SIM card and then set up or ?
I am confused and other threads were talking that if you get congrats message then u shd be good to use other SIM cards....please help!!!

HT1414 The Sim card that you currently have installed in this iphone is from a carrier that is not supprotedunder the activation policy that is currently assigned by the activation server. this is not a hardware issue with the iphone. please insert anothe

The Sim card that you currently have installed in this iphone is from a carrier that is not supprotedunder the activation policy that is currently assigned by the activation server. this is not a hardware issue with the iphone. please insert another sim card from a supported carrier or request that this iphone be unlocked by your carrier.please contact apple for more information.

I have similar message but for me the Verizon guys said they unlocked it and when I actually connected to iTunes using Verizon sim card and then did the restore as new iphone then everything worked well and at the end i saw the message "Congrats, your iphone is now unlocked" and then I did the set up as new iphone for my kid.
Once new apple ID was set up, then I removed the verizon SIM and then inserted prepaid t-mobile sim card and after the phone booted up then I got the same message like above...."not supported"
What do i do now? I think the phone is unlocked right?
Also do I need to insert Verizon SIM card and do restore as NEW and this time do not set up the iphone but change the SIM card and then set up or ?
I am confused and other threads were talking that if you get congrats message then u shd be good to use other SIM cards....please help!!!

Why does my OS X 10.6.8 have various applications hang for several minutes, then resume. This is not a startup problem.

I upgraded to Mac OS X 10.6.8 a few weeks ago. It seemed to be running OK, so we upgraded another system also. Now both machine are, from time to time, stalling whatever application is running. Everything stops or runs veeeeeeerrrrrry slowly for several minutes even including bringing other windows to the front. The disk runs almost like it is swapping a lot. Then the system frees up and runs normally for a while. This is not a startup problem. I occurrs on systems that have been running for a day or two or more. It happens on an iMac and on a MacBookPro. Neither of them had this behavior before the 10.6.8 upgrade.

Jocke27 wrote:
What do you mean with corrupt?
Why did you suggest that I created a new profile?
There are cache files and other system files that are created every time a user account is created. Sometimes these are corrupted in the OS and it really has no bearing on the specific application but it can lead to erratic behavior. Creating a new user recreates all these system files and thus it's almost like starting fresh. It's one step shy of re-installation of an OS. So because changing the user fixed the issue, then we have eliminated the fact that the application is causing the error and we know the OS is causing the error.
I can't just go in to that profile when I want to use?
I wouldn't recommend it. This can lead to more problems with the OS down the road with other applications and depending on where the corruption lies it can lead to issues with OS upgrades or even installing new software. The files that are typically most critical to users are stored in the Applications folder or the Documents/Sites/Pictures folders. You can easily drag them over to a new user account. If you have email being backed up for a product like Thunderbird you can also bring over many of the Library items as well.

My phone is being a real pain! Time doesn't work, can't sign into iMessage and only some apps work! It also kicks me off the wifi! This is not my connections problem, it happens everywhere! Apple is terrible! Phone also freezes a lot!

My phone is being a real pain! Time doesn't work, can't sign into iMessage and only some apps work! It also kicks me off the wifi! This is not my connections problem, it happens everywhere! Apple is terrible! Phone also freezes! What should I do!?

Did you try the basics from the manual?
Restart, reset, restore

"This disk has S.M.A.R.T. errors. This disk has a hardware problem that can't be repaired

THis is the error message I get when I try to install lion on a mid-2010 iMac 27". "This disk has S.M.A.R.T. errors. This disk has a hardware problem that can't be repaired. Back up as much of the data as possible and replace the disk"
However, when I run disk utility, it says that the disk is fine. What should I do?
thanks in advance
A.

Disk Utility checks the disk directory that keeps track of all your files. S.M.A.R.T. status checks some hardware stuff and attempts to warn you before the disk just flat-out dies. The directory can still be fine on a failing disk but don't count on it staying that way if you continue to write to the failing disk. Make a miniumun of one copy of your data on the failing drive immediately. Two or more copies would be much better. Having only one reliable copy of your data is very unwise.
You can use Carbon Copy Cloner (donationware) or Super Duper! (free and paid versions) to make a bootable clone of your failing drive to use as one of your copies. In System Preferences > Startup Disk select the clone as your startup drive. You can use the clone for your work until you can get your Mac in to have the hard drive replaced. When you get your Mac back Setup Assistant will be equally happy to restore all of your data from a Time Machine backup or a clone.

I'm getting an Error mesage 148:3 when opening Premiere Pro CS4 it's telling me I have to restart computer. This does not solve the problem however. Working on a PC.

This message came out of the blue. I have made no changes to my computer or Premiere Pro.

I have had a similar problem with my system. I just recently (within a week of this post) built a brand new desktop. I installed Windows 7 64-bit Home and had a clean install, no problems. Using IE downloaded an anti-virus program, and then, because it was the latest version, downloaded and installed Firefox 4.0. As I began to search the internet for other programs to install after about maybe 10-15 minutes my computer crashes. Blank screen (yet monitor was still receiving a signal from computer) and completely frozen (couldn't even change the caps and num lock on keyboard). I thought I perhaps forgot to reboot after an update so I did a manual reboot and it started up fine.
When ever I got on the internet (still using firefox) it would crash after anywhere between 5-15 minutes. Since I've had good experience with FF in the past I thought it must be either the drivers or a hardware problem. So in-between crashes I updated all the drivers. Still had the same problem. Took the computer to a friend who knows more about computers than I do, made sure all the drivers were updated, same problem. We thought that it might be a hardware problem (bad video card, chipset, overheating issues, etc.), but after my friend played around with my computer for a day he found that when he didn't start FF at all it worked fine, even after watching a movie, or going through a playlist on Youtube.
At the time of this posting I'm going to try to uninstall FF 4.0 and download and install FF 3.6.16 which is currently on my laptop and works like a dream. Hopefully that will do the trick, because I love using FF and would hate to have to switch to another browser. Hopefully Mozilla will work out the kinks with FF 4 so I can continue to use it.
I apologize for the lengthy post. Any feedback would be appreciated, but is not necessary. I will try and post back after I try FF 3.16.6.

Yoga 2 Pro Webcam suddenly stopped working....(not a hardware problem!)

Hi everyone,
I've had the yoga 2 pro for about a year now - took a little bit of fiddling to get it working just right (clean OEM win 8.1 install and installing drivers in the right order etc) but I had it working just perfect then....
About a week ago the webcam stopped working during a skype call. I tried reinstalling the drivers etc and messed around for 2 days trying to get it working again. The LED light comes on when it's engaged and it says it's present and working in device manager but I get no picture on skype or any other program.
I reinstalled windows 8.1 from scratch in the hope that this would solve it but same issue.
So I assumed it was a hardware fault and thought stuff it!
But then last night I installed Windows 7 32 bit on VMWare to run some of the older 32 bit programs and the webcam works perfectly within this virtual OS!! So it doesn't seem to be a hardware problem after all.
I've tried everything - installing the bison & Liteon drivers from the Lenovo website, installing the generic win 8 drivers etc but NOTHING WORKS!!
Can you help? I just want to get this thing working again!!
THANKS!

Unfortunately I've reinstalled the driver after uninstalling it from the device manager 10 times. I also formatted and reinstalled, but that didn't fix anything.
The camera works for the camera app + the webcam test online. I've tried rollback on the drivers, and installing earlier versions of skype with no luck.
Very strange, all it does is show the loading sign, and never loads.
This is the desktop version of skype btw. I'm going to try it with the non-dekstop version tonight and see if it works.
EDIT: Is there any other camera source besides 'Lenovo EasyCamera'? Their are two drivers on the drivers page, which one is recommended?

Any chance this is NOT a hardware problem?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for