# Total crash in Mac--how can it be?! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 18, 2005, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-crash-in-mac-how-can-it-be/304333 "2005-05-18T00:34:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-crash-in-mac-how-can-it-be/304333/1 "2005-05-18T00:34:01Z")
The second time in a week. I return to my iBookG4 after not having used it for an hour or so, and there: Lines of color running up and down the screen, system totally crashed. Pressing the Enter key just makes the screen go blank and the machine dead. Praise Og that a simple power off/power on “cures” it, but I buy Apple for greater reliability, etc., not Windows-style crashes. It’s no fun to have the machine do this. Any idea of what may be causing that, and have you ever seen a similar crash? Thanks for your help. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-crash-in-mac-how-can-it-be/304333/2 "2005-05-18T00:37:19Z")
9 or X? ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-crash-in-mac-how-can-it-be/304333/3 "2005-05-18T00:41:42Z")
Maybe you’re the victim of an [iBook logic board failure?](http://www.apple.com/support/ibook/faq/) ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-crash-in-mac-how-can-it-be/304333/4 "2005-05-18T00:59:06Z")
Huh. I thought that was only an issue for a run of G3 iBooks. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-crash-in-mac-how-can-it-be/304333/5 "2005-05-18T01:00:59Z")
OS X; I got the machine nearly a year ago. Sounds like the logic board, but why would this problem crop up after a year of relatively smooth sailing? (Actually, I had a mother board failure that caused the power to turn off, but that got covered under warantee). In any case, my machine isn’t covered under the repair program. Geez, Apple, what a disappointment. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-crash-in-mac-how-can-it-be/304333/6 "2005-05-18T01:06:32Z")
What’s odd is the symptoms you describe are pretty much exactly what people described when there was that crop of G3 iBooks that would fritz over the infamous mobo defect. I’ve actually seen it because my sister’s iBook had this problem, and I had to tell her to send it back to Apple (my entire family calls me when their computers go kablooey, much to my chagrin). The problem hit my after a few months, so I guess it’s conceivable that it wouldn’t crop up for a year or so. At any rate, if it’s a specific hardware issue like that, maybe they’ll cut you some slack. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-crash-in-mac-how-can-it-be/304333/7 "2005-05-18T02:56:47Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > The second time in a week. I return to my iBookG4 after not having used it for an hour or so, and there: Lines of color running up and down the screen, system totally crashed. > > Pressing the Enter key just makes the screen go blank and the machine dead. > > Praise Og that a simple power off/power on “cures” it, but I buy Apple for greater reliability, etc., not Windows-style crashes. It’s no fun to have the machine do this. > > Any idea of what may be causing that, and have you ever seen a similar crash? Thanks for your help. boot from a CD for a while (days if you can) and see if the problem continues. It sounds like a hardware problem, but sometimes you are pleasantly surprised when it turns out to be software. Boot in safe mode and see if it is stable in that mode. Kind of ties up your machine for a while, but it is pretty hosed as is. In any event, I would back up all my files and reformat the disk. Can’t hurt, might magically cure the problem. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-crash-in-mac-how-can-it-be/304333/8 "2005-05-18T05:35:13Z")
Have you tried the standard computer troubleshooting routine of unplugging everything that you can get and and re-plugging it? In this case, you might only be able to do this with the memory, but it’s worth a shot. ---
**Author:** ![wheelie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b4bc9f/32.png) [@wheelie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheelie)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-crash-in-mac-how-can-it-be/304333/9 "2005-05-18T05:41:25Z")
I’d run Apple Hardware Test, it’s on the system disk that came with the computer. Hold down the ‘C’ key while restarting to boot from CD. You can use Disk Utility from the CD to verify and repair the hard drive too. Ibook manuals are available [here](http://www.apple.com/support/manuals/ibook/). ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-crash-in-mac-how-can-it-be/304333/10 "2005-05-18T06:53:56Z")
Assuming it’s not the logic board, I’d check the RAM (using the aformentioned hardware test). MacOS X is fussy for quality RAM, and borderline memory can cause intermittent problems that are a pain in the tuckus to hunt down. ---
**Author:** ![sewalk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@sewalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sewalk)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-crash-in-mac-how-can-it-be/304333/11 "2005-05-18T07:34:15Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > MacOS X is fussy for quality RAM [nitpick] An operating system cannot be “fussy” about the quality of hardware components. The reason many Macs, particularly portables, are fussy is a design peculularity of the Northbridge section of the mainboard, just as it is the culprit on PC systems with a fussiness about RAM. OS X just happens to be the predominant OS on these later portables that exhibit this behavior. I’d bet a small wager that running a LinuxPPC variant would not fix the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-crash-in-mac-how-can-it-be/304333/12 "2005-05-18T08:04:56Z")
> [@sewalk](#): > > [nitpick] > An operating system cannot be “fussy” about the quality of hardware components. Hmmm, but a given operating system could be less (or more) fault tolerant than another, couldn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![sewalk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@sewalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sewalk)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-crash-in-mac-how-can-it-be/304333/13 "2005-05-18T08:24:12Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Hmmm, but a given operating system could be less (or more) fault tolerant than another, couldn’t it? Good point. I suppose that an OS could decide to blow up in response to things others would consider non-fatal. That might make one somewhat more finicky than another but these types of behaviors are most generally configurable within the OS. In this specific case, I still stand by my original assessment. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-crash-in-mac-how-can-it-be/304333/14 "2005-05-18T14:33:33Z")
If this is the dreaded mobo problem, the OS is irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-crash-in-mac-how-can-it-be/304333/15 "2005-05-18T15:12:01Z")
> [@Loopydude](#): > > At any rate, if it’s a specific hardware issue like that, maybe they’ll cut you some slack. My iBook suffered identical symptoms, but it was too old for the recall to apply. I got cut no slack. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-crash-in-mac-how-can-it-be/304333/16 "2005-05-18T15:32:22Z")
Never crashes while you’re using it? What’s the temperature like where you are? Where are you leaving the laptop? Is there sufficient air flow to cool it? (E.g. you’re not leaving it on your bed or someplace where the cooling vents are getting obstructed?) ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-crash-in-mac-how-can-it-be/304333/17 "2005-05-18T16:06:35Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > My iBook suffered identical symptoms, but it was too old for the recall to apply. I got cut no slack. Hrm. Moral of this story: Buy the extended warrantee. (Though that may not have helped you in your particular predicament).