> > Topic: B&W G3 freezes > <http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list/t/b3aea5152984383b>
>>> Hello >>> >>> I'd appreciate any suggestions re almost daily freezes. Only occurs 1-2x >>> per day, but that's enough! >>> >>> I run my office on a B&W G3 450mhz, 512mb RAM, rev 2 (IDE controller chip >>> ends in "402"), OS 9.2.2; 30GB maxtor on drive 0 (startup drive), and 20GB >>> drive on drive 1, another in the zip slot. >>> >>> I've tried just having a 2nd HD in the zip slot, and not using IDE1, but get >>> freezes anyway. I've seen it reported that rev 2 machines don't have the IDE >>> drive issues of the rev 1 machines, but I'm wondering if this is true. >>> >>> Generally I'm running Filemaker Pro 5.5, Architext (an orphaned legacy >>> hypertext app), iTunes or SoundApp, and WriteNow (yes I love my legacy >>> apps). >>> >>> Switching to different HD's didn't make a difference. >>> >>> I *think* the problem is Filemaker when it writes database updates to the >>> HD, although I have not yet been successful in finding any >>> documentation of this issue. >>> >>> Freezes occur usually while entering text into a FMPro field, but can also >>> occur while entering text in WriteNow. FMPro saves changes to disk >>> periodically, and could be writing to the HD while WriteNow is the >>> foreground. I do alot of pasting between WriteNow and FileMaker. After a >>> freeze, the filemaker file that was being worked on is occasionally >>> corrupted, although (so far) completely recoverable by FMPro's recovery >>> utility - except for the last entry. >>> >>> Once the Mac is frozen, the keyboard and mouse are totally unresponsive, >>> except to do a restart, and not always that either. >>> >>> It could be unrelated, but I've got 2 keyboards and 2 trackballs on the >>> ADB chain, and probably a longer run of cable than is recommended >>> (computer is the other side of an office wall, with monitors and >>> keyboards/trackballs on either side. >>> >>> I usually run iTunes 2.06 in the background as well. I tried switching to >>> SoundApp (small and very stable), but the freezes still occur. I moved the >>> mp3's to one of the backup HD's to see if this would help. It didn't. >>> >>> Thanks, >>> >>> Barry Levine >> >> > >> [email protected] Sep 07 06:40PM -0700 ^ <#digest_top> >> >> The -402 chips are fixed. No IDE problems. >> The HD bus operates in UDMA/33 mode. >> The Optical bus operates in multiword-DMA mode. >> The Zip slot for HDs can give some problems, in rare cases. > >> Alexander Gomes <[email protected]> Sep 07 08:40PM -0500 ^ >> <#digest_top> >> >> If you haven't, have you tried changing the IDE cable? First thing that >> should be tried. Regardless if you've tried both master and slave, try a new >> cable. That's a fix I'll have to try. > >> Charles Lenington <[email protected]> Sep 07 09:50PM -0500 ^ >> <#digest_top> >> >> How full is the boot drive? It is reccommended that you have 10% +/- >> free space on boot drive. Although there is no reccomendation for any >> other drives that I'm aware of I try to keep 5% available on secondary >> drives. It's easy to push free space on smaller drives. Only using about 12gigs on a 30GB drive. >> >> Does the freeze happen if only 1 program is running? I haven't seen that happen that I can recall. That said, my wetware isn't as great as it used to be. >> Have you tried only 1 ea on ADB chain for testing? >> >> You could make a 3-4" hole on both side of the wall (down low, out of >> sight). Save dry wall for future replacement. >> (smile) That's what I've done, so I could have the computer in one room, and an extra monitor and keyboard in an adjacent room. The round cutout is in a desk drawer. I'll have to try doing some data entry with just a single keyboard & trackball. I haven't looked closely enough into the ADB end of this problem. >> [email protected] Sep 07 07:54PM -0700 ^ <#digest_top> >> >>> If you haven't, have you tried changing the IDE cable? First thing that >>> should be tried. Regardless if you've tried both master and slave, try a >>> new cable. >> >> Good point. >> >> The old 40-pin/40-wire IDE cables had #28 AWG stranded wire conductors >> which were pretty much immune to breaking. >> >> The new 40-pin/80-wire UATA cables have #30 AWG solid conductors which are >> quite prone to fracturing, thereby causing intermittents or opens. >> > >> Wayne Stewart <[email protected]> Sep 07 11:06PM -0700 ^ <#digest_top> >> >> Usually when I get freezes it ends up being a faulty RAM strip. Have >> you tested the RAM or tried swapping out strips? >> Will try that. I think I have a RAM testing utility somewhere (actually, I think Techtool has that feature). > >> Charles Lenington <[email protected]> Sep 08 06:25AM -0500 ^ >> <#digest_top> >> >> Another thought: Make sure case fan(s) is clean and working. And maybe >> replace heat paste on processor. Fan's ok. Never took off the processor to check the heat sink paste, worth doing. * * * These are all good suggestions that I haven't tried yet, and will have to work thru. I'm also thinking that maybe there's some kind of conflict between WriteNow and FileMaker, since I can't recall freezing other than when using these 2. If memory serves. WriteNow goes back to the first Macs, and the last iteration runs on only 384K of memory. (There was a time when people knew how to code succinctly.) Barry -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list
