I maintain about a dozen Macs running OS X and I've had maybe ten kernel panics total in two years. A couple of them were one-time events that never happened again. And the others were a series that happened on two different computers (one of them my G4 Powerbook) over a period of a week or two. In all cases they "went away" after either running Disk Utility, repairing permissions or updating to a newer version of OS X.
When I was maintaining these same machines running System 9, the number of crashes (situations in which a reboot was the only way out) was in the hundreds, if not thousands, over a period of three or four years. You will probably never know what caused the kernel panic. The only time I'd really worry about it is if it keeps happening -- in which case you've probably got something going on with hardware and need to take it the good folks at MacTown. I don't think there is such a thing as an absolutely crashproof computer. Like all machines, they will occasionally fail and all you can do is take reasonable precautions, like backing up regularly and occasionally running disk utilities. As a 20-year heavy computer user, I find Mac OS X -- to date anyway -- by far the most stable system I've encountered. And to answer Marta's question about permanent damage, I don't think so. A kernel panic is more like a moment of extreme forgetfulness than a stroke or heart attack. Dan > Marta, > I'm not sure about all of the rest of your questions but I can > answer > "...what does this panic....remind you of..." > > It reminds me of a PC! That's where the phrase "blue screen of > death" is > used routinely. I hope Apple isn't satisfied with a system that > proceeds > down this path. One of the strongest reasons to buy a Mac is > because of its > stability. > > Greg > > > On 5/11/05 8:00 PM, "Marta Edie" <martaedie at mac.com> wrote: > > >> Soince you are talking kernel panic., I had one of those not long ago >> after making a disk image and then while trying to play it , it >> did me >> the same thing, blue screen of death. I followed the instructions and >> things went ok. then I tried that disk image again, the same thing. I >> still have not solved this disk image mystery, but how serious is a >> kernel panic, what kind of things will bring this about? What if you >> cannot start the machine again, why all those different languages, >> what >> does this panic tell you, remind you of, tries to convey? Is it >> like >> a heart attack or a stroke, meaning it may or may not leave permanent >> damage, and if it does damage,how does one know? >> Marta >> The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in >> higher >> esteem those who think alike than those who think differently. >> -Friedrich >> Nietzsche, philosopher >> On May 11, 2005, at 19:22, Dan Crutcher wrote: >> >> >>> You've just experienced a "kernel panic." >>> >>> Sometimes if you just follow those instructions ... hold down the >>> power button for several seconds to shut down your computer ... and >>> then start it up again, the problem will go away. >>> >>> If not, run Disk Utility, repair permissions, etc. >>> >>> >>>> Help! Now I'm having a problem. When I try to shut my computer >>>> down, >>>> it >>>> begins the shutdown sequence, I get the deep blue screen that I >>>> always get >>>> and then a darker (navy blue) square (not a normal window) pops up >>>> in the >>>> middle of the screen and it says; >>>> >>>> "You need to restart your computer. Hold the power button down for >>>> several >>>> seconds or press the restart button." >>>> >>>> The window then what looks like the same message in several >>>> languages >>>> underneath it. >>>> >>>> I'm running Tiger...... >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> | The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will >>>> | be May 24. The LCS Web page is <http://www.kymac.org>. >>>> | List posting address: <mailto:macgroup at erdos.math.louisville.edu> >>>> | List Web page: <http://erdos.math.louisville.edu/macgroup> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> | The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will >>> | be May 24. The LCS Web page is <http://www.kymac.org>. >>> | List posting address: <mailto:macgroup at erdos.math.louisville.edu> >>> | List Web page: <http://erdos.math.louisville.edu/macgroup> >>> >> >> >> >> | The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will >> | be May 24. The LCS Web page is <http://www.kymac.org>. >> | List posting address: <mailto:macgroup at erdos.math.louisville.edu> >> | List Web page: <http://erdos.math.louisville.edu/macgroup> >> >> >> > > > > | The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will > | be May 24. The LCS Web page is <http://www.kymac.org>. > | List posting address: <mailto:macgroup at erdos.math.louisville.edu> > | List Web page: <http://erdos.math.louisville.edu/macgroup> > > | The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will | be May 24. The LCS Web page is <http://www.kymac.org>. | List posting address: <mailto:macgroup at erdos.math.louisville.edu> | List Web page: <http://erdos.math.louisville.edu/macgroup>
