Random Lock ups? |
December, 02, 2002 5:41 AM |
cschmidt |
Well, my PM7300 is running fair on 10.2.2, but I have random lock ups from time to time that force me to re-boot. Most of the times I re-check the permissions and fix them and a few times I've had to do the FSCK -y to clean things up. But all in all, when it's running it does alright. So let me break things down This is my original Work PM7300. It was upgraded to a G4 400 Sonnet board about 4 years ago. The 384MB Ram have been in the machine longer than that. I think that I may be having some problems with the ram.....My problem is like a HD lock up...it's still spinnng, so it didn't go to sleep. I have all the System SW stuff switched off so nothing gos to screen saver or Power saver. I am happy enough with System 10 that I want to keep this machine running on it. My main concern is loss of work (Photoshop, Word Excel...) if it locks up during those times. So.. my plan is to update the Sonnet board to a G4-800, and replace ALL of the Ram with OWC 128's. On the Ram side should I go with the EDO or the non-edo? I'll be getting at least 4. Anything else I should look into? Chris P.S. I do have a new Radeon 7000 installed. |
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RE: Random Lock ups? |
December, 03, 2002 12:42 PM |
earlyd416 |
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Try running the "memtest" program as described in the earlier posting on crashes. (Look for a thread with a huge number of replys.) If your computer just freezes, it's one of 2 things: first, bad memory module, and/or, second, bad cache management utility. I had both with my 8600 with a Powerlogix G4/450. I ran the "memtest" program to find the bad memory modules then uninstalled my Powerlogix s/w and used Ryan's L2 Cashe Enabler s/w. I'm running w/o any problems. If you computer crashes, not freezes, then you have other problems which can be found by performing the other tips in this and other threads on this forum. Good Hunting! --Dwight |
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RE: Random Lock ups? (Still!) |
December, 03, 2002 7:52 AM |
cschmidt |
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Following Nick's recommendation I tried the Powerlogix util and the L2 Cache config. This seemed to work for a bit. I could not SLOW down the cache below 2:1, and there are options for 2.5:1 and 3:1. For about 2 light hours all seemed well. The after calling up another program (iTunes) the machine stopped and the twirling icon came on. This is the only fault I get, that is the twirling pinwheel affair. I look at what crash logs I can find and I can't find any current ones. I am really thinking that it has to be my Ram......I think I'll be ordering in a few |
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RE: Random Lock ups? |
December, 02, 2002 12:49 PM |
cschmidt |
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Thanks for the reply Nick... The lock up occur at ramdom intervals. It can be just sitting there doing nothing and will crash. I try and keep my machine in top working order so I keep things like IE Cache cleaned out. The crashes may have been happening in 9.1 and 9.2 but I've been concentrating on the OS 10 side of the house to learn as much as I can. I've had a Ball trying to getthis thing up and running this way. One reason that I am thinking of the new Processor card is I have another PM 7300 I can drop the G4-400 board in.....The 400 didn't cost me anything so I realy don't have alot invested in the machine yet. Maybe tonight I will try the Powerlogix/L2Cache config set-up and try that... Thanks! |
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RE: Random Lock ups? |
December, 02, 2002 11:23 AM |
nick.ashton |
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My only observation is that using faster CPU's tends to make systems more unstable rather than less. So if you already have problems at 400MHz it's unlikely to get better by going to an 800MHz CPU. When you say you get random lock-ups, how often does this occur? Every few minutes/hours/days? If it's every few days, how often do you normally reboot? Every day / when it crashes / when required by sw updates. Are the lock-ups when the system just freezes without a kernel panic or application crash dump being generated. If yes, then either RAM or the cache are the likely problem. Apart from L2CacheConfig and the Sonnet 's X-Tuneup you could try PowerLogix Cache Control. Everyone seems to report a different success/ failure rate with these utilities so only trying them out will tell which is best for you. With PowerLogix it's easy enough to run your cache at a lower rate than normal to see if this improves stability. L2 cache config would work except that the OS9 utility to get the settings isn't 9.2.2 compatible. However, the cache setting reported by the PowerLogix program will work with L2CacheConfig so you only have to edit a text file to try it. If your machine accepts EDO RAM but only uses it in FPM mode then you might as well stick with FPM. The EDO will give no performance benefit and could lead to problems. I can't remember off the top of my head if the 7300 fully utilises EDO or not. You could try removing the Radeon and running with built-in video to see if this affects system stability. Basically what I'm saying is that you have at least four factors which might be contributing to your system instability, CPU, RAM, Cache and Video. To get a meaningful result you need to try varying these one at a time. I'd suggest doing the things you can do for zero cost first. That is Run with on-board video (remove the Radeon while you do this) Try different cache control software and run cache at a reduced clock speed.< br> Spend a few bucks on some new RAM and use this to swap out your older chips. Spend lots of bucks on a G4-800 only if you are pretty sure that it will work. |
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RE: Random Lock ups? |
December, 02, 2002 7:07 AM |
cschmidt |
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I decided to go with Sonnet Tune Up because that was a successfull load. I had already upgraded past 9.1 to 9.2 and I didn't think that L2cacheconfig would work. I do have the time, and inclination to try Xpostfact 2.2.5b, and L2 Cache on my second drive......The only question would be.....If and when I upgrade to the G4-800 board will I need something different for the L2chache? |
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RE: Random Lock ups? |
December, 02, 2002 7:02 AM |
powderhaus |
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What cache enabler do you use? Using the wrong one can creat craches. There is L2cacheconfig, Pwerlogix cache control and sonnets tune up. |