Hey peoples,

I've got a 2mth old PB 15" running the lastest OS + updates, also I'm only new to Macs. The PB has 2x512MB RAM supplied by Apple dealer but I installed shortly after purchase.

It crashes every 5-10 mins. I either get a a black screen with scolling white text saying

Exception state (sv=0x29FC6286)
PC= ..... JMSR= ..... DAR=.....

The sv number keeps changing too.

Other times safari or word just crashes and asks me if I'd like to report it. Still other times I get a black window, white text saying "You must now restart your machine by holding down reset button" is several languages.

Here's what I've tried.

I downloaded memtest for OSX and ran it 3 times. Came back all ok. Does this test all 1G of my RAM because when I ran memtest it seemed to lock approx 800mb for testing?

I also created a new user account and probs still persist on that.

I've heard of an Apple Diagnostics disk people get with their Mac. My PB only came with 2 installation disks. Am I missing a disk?

This prob has only been happening for 1 week. I think (not positive) since the last OS patches I downloaded from Apple which was the security update, ipod updates + bluetooth updates.


Are my problems hardware or software related?

Would it be worth nuking the PB and reinstalling the OS + apps from scratch?

Any ideas you guys could throw my way would be greatly appeciated.

cheers Zaq

Also just noticed too that when i go into about this Mac screen there normally is a "more info" button to click to get actual hardware info. This is now greyed out and i can't click it.....not sure what this means or if it's related to my prob.

cheers Zaq

well ... you can try to repair Disk Permissions (HD/Applications/utilities/Disk utility) and choose your HD and click "repair permissions" if it dont work try "repair disk" if not... well you can try other disk maintenance software or reinstall the system.

I'll take a bet that one of the sticks of RAM you have is fubar. Second that the crashes have done horrendous things to the data on your HD.

See if you get the same problems with only 1 stick of memory in there. Test this on each stick.

yep i agree
if you have no sysem profiler then your install is screwed. The easiest way to do that is to have no RAM connected.

I had a similar problem myself recently, although it was with 10.2 on a G4 PM.

http://forums.appletalk.com.au/index...topic=2788&hl= refers.

After trying many different suggestions after a while I took out the entire RAM except for the original install. Fixed completely!
I have since installed original Apple RAM and **touching wood** all is well. Try the RAM if it doesn't work try something else but it pretty easy to rip a couple of sticks out and see how you go.

Thx for the tips.....Being a PC man my best guess was memory but wasn't sure knowing little about Macs.

I've taken out one of the sticks and so far no crashes for 30mins. I'll try this for the day and see how I go. Then I'll put it back in and see if I start crashing again.

So can the program memtest miss faulty RAM even after 3-4 tests?

Also if I don't have a system profiler as AusMac said "its screwed" does this mean I will have to backup + reinstall the OS?

cheers Zaq

OSX like any other unix will behave badly if ram is faulty/bad. IN the many service calls I did for DET machines, ram would have been the most common fault. Apart from the PAV boards in the older imac crt systems

With the stick I took out no crashes for 1.5 days. I put it back in and crashed 3 times in 2 hrs. So its back out and i'm feeling happier.

Have contacted Apple dealer where purchased but no response yet...hope they come to the party.

thx for your help guys....well it shows you memtest still misses faulty memory at times.

cheers Zaq

Memtest will not necessarily show up bad RAM after just a few iterations. The evidence is pretty clear, though. Your RAM stick is bad.
So yeah, reinstalling would be a good way to go. I had to start from scratch when a loaded 80GB partition went south due to bad RAM.

The second stick of RAM i bought for my powerbook I had to reseat in the slot as I was having all sorts of hell going on in the machine. Since then everything has been perfect.