Question for Gekko or other Mac users.

[thatmariolover]

My dad's iMac DV (500 mhz, 512 megs of RAM, Mac OS 10.1) has been getting Unresolved Kernel Panics very frequently lately. I've been reading around and it seems to be nick-named the blue screen of death for the Mac. Basically a bunch of text will scroll down the screen (the next time I see it I might post it) and you can do nothing.

Does anybody know about this or what I should do? Wipe the entire system?

[gekko]

The only kernel panic I ever had was when I installed a leaked build of 10.1. It ran twice, then got the kernel panic. But I deserved it, and just went back to using 10.0 retail.

I have never experienced a kernel panic aside from that, and have never heard of anyone getting one, so I'm not much help. I'd search around, but I have a feeling you will need to wipe and reinstall. Maybe boot from the CD and try to install over the OS, but I wouldn't hold out to much hope that it repairs itself.

If you do have to reinstall, try doing an archive and install. That way it will (or should, I've never done it) leave your files untouched, but move your system folder to a new folder and install a fresh system folder. You'll lose all the preferences, but you can start moving that stuff out of the old system folder pretty easily. Since it's more than likely the core system files that have the problem, dragging and dropping the preference folder would probably work just fine.

I'd vote for archive and install. But some Linux users might be able to help you as well. Linux users would also be able to tell you if you're screwed when you get a kernel panic.

[thatmariolover]

Yeah, I restarted my computer and it said that it couldn't find the startup disk, so I booted off of my 10.1 disk and ran some disk repair stuff (Norton and Apple's Disk utility) and it said I had an overlapping file and that it would repair it. So it did, I restarted, had the same problem, retried the programs, got the confirmation message again, rebooted, and now the HD doesn't even run. I get no screen. Nothing. I turn on my computer and all I can hear is the fan and no screen comes up.

Total bomb. I'm going to take it into a shop, get it looked at, if nothing else, I've been looking for an excuse to get a G5.

[Jonbo298]

Total bomb. I'm going to take it into a shop, get it looked at, if nothing else, I've been looking for an excuse to get a G5.

And what a good excuse you've got.*Not Sarcasm*
"Dad, the computer is broke. Let's go get that G5 from Apple."
*Dad*"G5?"
"Yeah Dad, its really fast, and its only $2,000-$4,000!"
*Dad*"ONLY $4,000?! Let's Go!"

[gekko]

$4,000 can get you a damn good G5. Too bad my G4's still got a lot of life, and I have other things I'd rather do with $4,000 right now :(

Anyway, try booting your 10.1 CD and doing an archive and install.

[GameMaster]

If I get a G5, it'll be when the G6 is released. I'm just a kid, I can't afford the fastest Mac, lol. :)