Santa Rosa MBPro 2.4 - starts, but then only kernel panics

Question

Trying to solve this problem, appeared suddenly, now every time I start up the MBPro, I get a kernel panic and the Restart Your Mac message. Appears 10-20 seconds after the little wheel starts spinning under the Apple.
Anyway, I couldn't get any farther, even though I tried different RAM, put in a new hard disk, tried 3 different operating systems. Re. the OS, both Tiger and Snow Leopard seemed to work a little bit, i.e., maybe a half hour or so. Then the kernel panics started again at boot. Now I can't even install an OS. Current OS is Snow Leo, which I installed from an external hard disk.
Anyway, I checked with Apple Hardware Test. I booted from the Apple Hardware Test (original disks were 10.4, don't think that should matter if I have 10.6 installed now, right?). I did the Extended Testing, which took just under an hour, including 25-30 minutes just for the memory test. But everything checked out, including memory.
The suggestion the test provided was "if the test results determine that a hardware problem does not exist, consult the manual or Help system that came with your computer for further troubleshooting".
Obviously can't use Help, as I can't boot the computer.
The manual is pretty concise too, not much help there.
Could this be a software problem? If so, what? I've had the kernel panics with 3 different OS.
What about Airport? I've found a couple threads where people report "airport-enduced kernel panics in Santa Rosa Macbook Pros". Pretty specific.
They referred to a kext in the Airport software causing the kernel panics, maybe a kext specifically for Atheros.
My problem is, I wouldn't be able to go in an remove the kext, as I can't boot the computer.
Does this sound plausible? If so, would it help at all to remove the Airport card? i.e., if there's a conflict between it and the kext? I could always use a USB key for wifi, if that helped solve the problem.
I could try to boot in Firewire disk mode and remove the kext.
Any suggestions?

Answer 1

moonshot61 wrote:
N.B. interesting to note that the last time I ran AHT this same memory module checked out okay.
RAM has so many circuits, and millions of varying combinations of what's being used at one time, that it is far from uncommon for bad RAM not to be detected, especially by testing software available to most end-users.
I have swapped the 1 RAM bank that was installed with another, and am now running AHT in Extended mode, with Looping enabled.
Good plan.
Does that code seem to show a MEMORY problem?
Yes.
Have there been any problems with the memory SLOTS on the Macbook Pro?
Yes. There have been at least some problems with every part of every electronic/mechanical device ever made, and MBPs are no exception.
ie., like with the Powerbook G4s a few years ago.
I have not seen anywhere near that number of incidents posted here.
I think the RAM tested out okay on another Mac, but I've done so many tests and changes recently that I can't remember. I've got a few 1GB RAM banks for the MBPro and will try those one by one.
Not to state the obvious, but you need to do this in an organized manner, otherwise your results will not be valid (you may test the same module in the same memory bank or not test one at all, in which case you'd be wasting your time). You've got the right idea for testing, but you're going to need to label things/and or organize the results. And sometimes two RAM modules work fine independently, but don't play well together, so stick with the one-module-at-a-time approach until you find one that works over a period of time and with all the apps you normally use. After that you can get into combinations and see what works and/or what doesn't.
Message was edited by: tjk