G4 Powerbook about to be Applesauce...

ksteiger

ksteiger

Well-known member
I hate to admit this, but after trying to stabilize my NEW 17" G4 powerbook running theLATEST version of OS X and the LATEST (non-universal) FCStudio for THREE MONTHS with no success or support from Apple, I picked that sucker up and got within miliseconds of smashing it on the floor late (very late) last night. I have posted with this issue before.

I have reformatted, reinstalled, gotten Apple "certifed" memory ( I now have $200 woth of useless "non-certified" memory that I can not return...) Used "non-journaled" formatting. I am using a Seagate 300 Gb ext FW800 drive, but this problem (Mostly freezes and "Mac OS X unexpectedly quit" messages) occurs while the laptop is stand alone in Safari, iphoto, Garage Band etc. When using the FW800 drive for media and FCP project files I get tons of stalls and dropped frames, as well as the crashes/freezes/errors even after rendering. (This also occurs in a DV project also so its not just bandwidth)

I asked Apple to test it. They had it for 2 days and did loop tests and shoved it out the door as OK. The FCP support people wouldn't even SPEAK to me without buying an extra support package.

I posted on LAFCPUG. They were of some help. (Although I got one condesending response from a guy who assumed I did not have the technical abillity to open a can of tuna fish)

Can anyone tell me how to find out EXACTLY how to set up this system so I can eliminate the powerbook as the problem? Maybe I have bad OS X install discs.

I will pay someone in the LA area if they can find the solution to this problem.

BTW...As I contemplated hurling Steve Jobs' pride and joy, I looked over at the HVX200 sitting there on it's tripod, very still, just angled toward me as if to say, "Don't even THINK about it" And why would I? That is one of the finest most rewarding pieces of electronic gear I have ever owned...Now if it's little cell mate would just cooprate.

Thank you


:bath:
"...hey, there's a laptop at the bottom of the tub. How did THAT get here?"
 
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Here's what I would try:

Buy Disk Warrior and run diagnostics on your system drive. If you cannot find a problem, then go to the next step:

Disconnect all external drives and start with your OS X distribution disk. Boot with that disk and totally reformat your hard drive. Then immediately go to Apple's site and download the 10.4.6 combo updater. Run that updater. I recommend never using the incremental updater, but always using the Combo. Never run a system update with a firewire drive attached.

Then, reinstall your FCP Studio. Next, using software update, you can safely download the updates for FCP studio.

See if you can run just using your internal drive.

Next, reconnect your firewire drive. If you are using any kind of DV deck, by the way, I would never put a deck and a drive on the same bus. Get a firewire cardbus for your PC slot on the PB.

If you are working fine after a total reformat/reinstall and freeze with the drive, then the problem is with your firewire drive. It could be a logic board issue with your FW port (but Apple seems to have ruled that out). It could also be a bad firewire cable, a defective firewire enclosure or even a bad drive mechanism. I have seen a number of firewire enclosures go south and even a fair number of defective cables.

I am willing to bet the problem is your OS which needs reinstallation.

Let us know what happens. Don't break your Powerbook as your insurance company would then only make you attend anger management classes.

Ned Soltz
 
I have an Apple G4 15" (one year old) and it runs super great.
I had a G4 12" and it was buggy with FCP but it turns out that I had a bad hard drive.
The whole thing crashed and i lost a project hours before it was due for a competition.
But the hardrive was replaced and then the 12" was just ducky too.

If you're computer is doing this while not running FCP or connected to other drives (or anything esle) and the hardware has been tested, then it has to be the system software? doesn't that sound right?
my only suggestion is to make sure that you have the latest latest version
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosx1046forppc.html
which just came out yesterday
you may have already upgarded to 10.4.6, which I did and magic bullet wouldn't work ... and then everyone freaked and apple came out with this version of 10.4.6 within a couple of days and now it works.
so even if you have updated in the last week to 10.4.6 there's a new one, if you already have this version it won't let you install it so you might as well try it
beyond that all i could suggest is
1) repairing disk permissions
2)trashing sytem prefs for FCP
3 and then beyond that doing a clean install of your system softwarre
good luck
 
How about that non certified ram. Take the chip out you bought and try and see if you get any problems. Obviousely what you are going through is not a common problem. If it's not the ram then reinstall one program at a time play with it, see that it works, then install another and so on. I know it sounds like a pain but there is something, if its not a logic board or hardware problem , that is causing this and only going about it methodically can expose it.
You should also check out the apple boards or other mac forums and see if similar models with similar configurations have the same problem.
I had a similar problem when I reinstalled all my programs under Panther and the lastest update os 10.3.9. It seems itunes was the culprit and the way I found out was going to other mac forums where people had a similar problem and a solution which by the way was to leave itunes on the desktop and not in the applications folder. It can be as simple as that.
 
he's got cerified ram in there now ... but good call -- yes take out any additional and see how it works and then try, maybe the certified ram is poo poo.

to solve my MB problem I googled with the specfific error phrases I was getting in quotes and it took me to Creative Cow where people were bitching about their MB not working and someone posted the above link to the new "version" of the 10.4.6, which software update on the laptop was not telling me about.
 
There's one other thing just to check... do you have a lot of free space on your system drive? I have and use many Mac laptops and desktops without problems, EXCEPT they all get unstable if ever by mistake I let free space on the system disk get too low. Make sure it never goes below 3 or 4 GB for best effect. Unix does a LOT with temporary files, and if it runs out of room for them, bad things happen.
 
Thank you all. I will try installing from the 10.4.6 combo updater on their website and avoid my disc entirely for installing. After reformatting. Non-journaled formating is prefered I have been told.
This place is a great well of knowledge and assistance.
Thanks again.
 
Ullanta is right on that, make sure your above %15 of your total internal HD.

I bought a 15 PowerBook recently and it was all bugged out, froze up and was not playing nice with FCP. Returned it and got a 17 which works great.

Also may try a friends external drive. I have had bad externals in the past that was the cause of my problems.

You really have to trim down and start from the ground up.
 
Yes. I always make sure I have pleanty of space on the drives. I have been editing audio on Protools for 10 years (at first MAC system 7, now PC on XP) and video for Premiere for 7 years. I know all too well to not go above about 80% usage. And constant defragging. I am a tech in the audio world and have built PCs for about 10 years. I have always been able to troubleshoot all of my own problems with a little help from the internet. I am, frankly, surprised at the level of difficulty I am having here. Thats why I always assumed that if the world is having a happy HVX/G4 17" powerbook/FCP Studio experience, I must be faced with a basic hardware issue. (Especially after formatting and reinstalling twice. Thats one build from the factory, then two more by me...to no avail.)

Thanks a lot.
I always feel like I owe somebody a beer after being helped out here.:beer:
 
Well, sounds like a bad machine, then. How frequent are the crashes? How reliable are they? If they're frequent and reliable, I'd say go to an Apple store, make 'em watch it and try and fix it over and over until they do something better...
 
Agree here... this is most likely an issue either with the logic board or the "Apple certified ram." If a reinstallation of the OS didn't fix your problem, we're talking hardware.

Ned
 
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