Quote:
"Freezing:
This is almost always a hardware problem. There is no known software mechanism in OS X that allows a freeze. One thing you can do to verify a freeze (vs. a bad mouse or other USB device): turn on the blinking separator for the menubar clock. This way, if your mouse stops moving, but the clock is still blinking, then you know that your computer is still running. Check into USB devices.
Most often, a computer freeze is either the logic board or the processor. If your machine is under warranty, bring it in for service. Otherwise, the only way to know for certain what is going on is to swap parts. The most difficult part of narrowing down freezes is the fact that you don't get software errors--the software just stops.
First: re-seat the processor and make sure all screws are present, and verify the condition still exists. Next, remove all expansion cards except for the video card, as you will need that to run the machine. Also, remove any unnecessary hard drives, optical drives, external equipment, etc... See if you can still make the machine freeze. If not, add parts back one at a time to see what the culprit is. However, if the machine does still freeze, check the RAM. If you can swap it with known-good RAM, do. Also, check the video card. If you can use a different video card, do. If you can use a PCI video card instead of AGP, do. Repeat the freeze-check process (which is up to you--dependent on your machine).
Once you are only left with the processor and logic board, you will have to swap parts to see which is causing the problem. If you have a dual processor G5, this is easy. Otherwise, you have to be able to get an extra processor module. On the G4s, you will need to reapply heatsink grease. On the G5s, you should NOT separate the heatsink from the processor. On the G5, you can run with just one processor. Do this to see if either of the processors causes the problem. Note that there has to be a processor in the top socket."
"Freezing:
This is almost always a hardware problem. There is no known software mechanism in OS X that allows a freeze. One thing you can do to verify a freeze (vs. a bad mouse or other USB device): turn on the blinking separator for the menubar clock. This way, if your mouse stops moving, but the clock is still blinking, then you know that your computer is still running. Check into USB devices.
Most often, a computer freeze is either the logic board or the processor. If your machine is under warranty, bring it in for service. Otherwise, the only way to know for certain what is going on is to swap parts. The most difficult part of narrowing down freezes is the fact that you don't get software errors--the software just stops.
First: re-seat the processor and make sure all screws are present, and verify the condition still exists. Next, remove all expansion cards except for the video card, as you will need that to run the machine. Also, remove any unnecessary hard drives, optical drives, external equipment, etc... See if you can still make the machine freeze. If not, add parts back one at a time to see what the culprit is. However, if the machine does still freeze, check the RAM. If you can swap it with known-good RAM, do. Also, check the video card. If you can use a different video card, do. If you can use a PCI video card instead of AGP, do. Repeat the freeze-check process (which is up to you--dependent on your machine).
Once you are only left with the processor and logic board, you will have to swap parts to see which is causing the problem. If you have a dual processor G5, this is easy. Otherwise, you have to be able to get an extra processor module. On the G4s, you will need to reapply heatsink grease. On the G5s, you should NOT separate the heatsink from the processor. On the G5, you can run with just one processor. Do this to see if either of the processors causes the problem. Note that there has to be a processor in the top socket."
