Intel Mac freezing and screen going black

Question

Hi,
Has this been happening to anyone else? My Intel Mac was freezing up a lot a month or so ago. It mostly happened while I was using Motion 2, but also while using Firefox or when it was asleep.
I did a clean install of Tiger and only updated to 10.4.9 (I thought the newest OS update may have caused the problem.)
It has froze a few times since then, but not as often. Just now I was working in Photoshop and the Finder and the screen just went black like it was asleep, but would not wake up. I finally did a hard reboot using the power button.
(When it was freezing up about a month ago, usually the screen would freeze up or I would get the spinning beach ball of death.)
After I rebooted the error report alert came up and here is the report:
panic(cpu 2 caller 0x00191931): pmapflushtlbs() timeout pmap=0x4b1700 cpustosignal=0x2
Backtrace, Format - Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)
0x515d3b58 : 0x128d08 (0x3cb134 0x515d3b7c 0x131de5 0x0)
0x515d3b98 : 0x191931 (0x3ce38c 0x4b1700 0x2 0x190ad5)
0x515d3c08 : 0x193c6b (0xfebf5e30 0xfebf5e48 0x0 0x19a876)
0x515d3c58 : 0x16535c (0x4b1700 0x7ebc6000 0x0 0x7ebc9000)
0x515d3d48 : 0x165b10 (0x7ebc9000 0x0 0x1 0x0)
0x515d3d88 : 0x162e1f (0x1c95f3c 0x7ebc6000 0x0 0x7ebc9000)
0x515d3db8 : 0x15c259 (0x1c95f3c 0x7ebc6000 0x281c 0x0)
0x515d3df8 : 0x160c62 (0x1120de00 0x0 0x1545c908 0x73000)
0x515d3f48 : 0x1a450e (0x10ac2830 0x373000 0x0 0x3)
0x515d3fc8 : 0x19acd4 (0x105a6a80 0x0 0x10 0x0) No mapping exists for frame pointer
Backtrace terminated-invalid frame pointer 0xb01014b8
Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 8.9.1: Thu Feb 22 20:55:00 PST 2007; root:xnu-792.18.15~1/RELEASE_I386
Model: MacPro1,1, BootROM MP11.005C.B08, 4 processors, Dual-Core Intel Xeon, 2.66 GHz, 12 GB
Graphics: ATI Radeon X1900 XT, ATY,RadeonX1900, PCIe, 512 MB
Memory Module: DIMM Riser A/DIMM 1, 2 GB, DDR2 FB-DIMM, 667 MHz
Memory Module: DIMM Riser A/DIMM 2, 2 GB, DDR2 FB-DIMM, 667 MHz
Memory Module: DIMM Riser B/DIMM 1, 2 GB, DDR2 FB-DIMM, 667 MHz
Memory Module: DIMM Riser B/DIMM 2, 2 GB, DDR2 FB-DIMM, 667 MHz
Memory Module: DIMM Riser A/DIMM 3, 1 GB, DDR2 FB-DIMM, 667 MHz
Memory Module: DIMM Riser A/DIMM 4, 1 GB, DDR2 FB-DIMM, 667 MHz
Memory Module: DIMM Riser B/DIMM 3, 1 GB, DDR2 FB-DIMM, 667 MHz
Memory Module: DIMM Riser B/DIMM 4, 1 GB, DDR2 FB-DIMM, 667 MHz
Network Service: Built-in Ethernet 1, Ethernet, en0
PCI Card: ATY,RadeonX1900, Display, Slot-1
Serial ATA Device: Hitachi HDS725050KLA360, 465.76 GB
Parallel ATA Device: SONY DVD RW DW-D150A
USB Device: Hub, Up to 480 Mb/sec, 500 mA
USB Device: Apple Cinema HD Display, Apple Computer, Inc., Up to 12 Mb/sec, 500 mA
USB Device: EPSON Scanner, EPSON, Up to 480 Mb/sec, 500 mA
USB Device: Hub in Apple Pro Keyboard, Mitsumi Electric, Up to 12 Mb/sec, 500 mA
USB Device: Apple Optical USB Mouse, Mitsumi Electric, Up to 1.5 Mb/sec, 100 mA
USB Device: Apple Pro Keyboard, Mitsumi Electric, Up to 12 Mb/sec, 250 mA
FireWire Device: built-in_hub, unknown_value, Unknown
FireWire Device: LaCie 1394 CDRW drive LUN 0, LaCie Group SA, Up to 400 Mb/sec
FireWire Device: unknown_device, unknown_value, Unknown
Any advice or suggestions? Call Apple Care again?
Thanks!

Answer 1

This is how I would approach it:
_Initial troubleshooting_ (you've probably done this already – sometimes it is easier to fix the problem without finding the root cause)
- +Disk Utility+. Boot from the Mac OS® X install CD. After the language selection screen, when the main screen comes up, wait until the menu bar at the top of the screen populates. Then select Disk Utility from the menu. More information is available:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301170
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
- Reset NVRAM/PRAM. See:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238
_Further troubleshooting_: the following may assist in isolating the cause of the kernel panic.
+If the problem still occurs primarily in only one program+ (such as Motion 2), then uninstall that program.
+If it seems the problem is random now+: did you install any new hardware recently? If yes, then remove that hardware and see if the problem still occurs.
+In System Preferences+, under Sharing, make sure that file sharing, Windows sharing, web sharing, remote login, etc. are turned off.
+Hardware diagnostics+: on some Macs, you can run an Apple® Hardware Test by holding down the '''d''' button while booting the computer from the Mac® OS X install CD. You may see a blue screen with a small icon in the middle. After about 2 minutes, instructions will appear; please follow the on-screen instructions for running an "extended" test. If the Apple Hardware Test finds a problem, then take the computer to the Genius Bar® at the local Apple store, or call AppleCare® again; maybe with the 12GB of RAM you have, some of might be bad. Also, when you visit the Genius Bar or call Apple Care, have a printout of the above (your post) available; additionally, you may wish to write down the kernel panic message again so the support staff or you yourself can compare the 2 error screens and see how they are similar or different. Anyway I strongly suspect a hardware problem but it could be almost anything.
+Open up your favorite antivirus program+ and scan the entire hard drive just to make sure, if you have not already done so.
If all else fails and you need to reformat (you should probably go to the Apple Store to rule out any hardware problems before doing this), then choose the "zero all data" option under "security options" in the Disk Utility program. This erases the entire disk, not just the directory structure.
In conclusion I think you are right about calling AppleCare again but I hope these steps are useful (if they are not a recapitulation of what you already know).