[Macpartners] powerbook kernel panics and hard crashes

[nick knouf]

An update and a question...

I believe that I've narrowed the problem to a bad heat sink connection. 
  Whenever the computer crashes suddenly because of heat, I can remove 
the keyboard and find that the heat sink is not in complete contact 
with the CPU (and the large square chip directly to its left, which I 
haven't been able to identify).  In fact, I can hear a sticky sound 
when I press on the heat sink, again indicating the lack of a good 
connection.

My question is this: does anybody have any tips or links to websites 
that describe how to remove the heat sink?  Because my conjecture is 
that if I can remove the heat sink and place the correct amount of heat 
sink paste on the chips, and provide the proper connection, I might be 
able to fix this problem.

Thanks for your help,

nick


On Jan 7, 2005, at 3:52 PM, nick knouf wrote:

> Hi there,
>
> I have a problem that I fear is going to be major hardware 
> related...but I wanted to check with people here first.
>
> I have a powerbook (800Mhz, 1GB of RAM, OS X.3.7) that I can 
> consistently get to either kernel panic or hard crash (meaning: 
> complete system lockup where either the mouse doesn't move, or the 
> mouse doesn't do anything; I can't get force quit to come up at all) 
> by doing a lot of computation, e.g., compiling packages with fink.
>
> Obviously, this is quite annoying.
>
> The things I've tried:
>
> 1.  Shutting off all additions (like quicksilver, etc.): no effect
> 2.  Swapping out memory (two sticks) and swapping their memory 
> locations, in all possible combinations: no effect.
> 3.  Swapping memory from another known-good machine: no effect.
> 4.  AirPort card still works fine, so I assume it's not due to it 
> being not seated properly.
>
> I should say that this problem has not been present for the life of 
> the machine; it only started a few months ago.  Also, the problem is 
> always accompanied by the fans running at their highest speed, 
> indicating to me that it is heat-related.
>
> Could there be a problem with the heat sink and the processor?  If so, 
> is this something I could investigate myself?
>
> However, I'm stuck as to what I can try next, without having it sent 
> in.  I fear it might be processor/motherboard related; and because the 
> machine is so old and I bought it used, it doesn't have AppleCare :-(
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Thanks,
>
> nick
>
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