My G4 has been experiencing the problem detailed below 4-5 times a week
since the OS X.2.8 update was installed. It always happens when there
has been no user interaction for several minutes. There were only a
couple system freezes (with different symptoms) during several months of
operation under X.2.3 and X.2.6.

Is this a known problem with a known solution? Would reverting to X.2.6
be advisable and, if so, how can it be done?

Most of the display is greyed out. In the center is a white rectangle
with a faint power button icon in the background and the following text:
"You need to restart your computer. Hold down the power button for
several seconds or press the Restart button". The same message
(presumably) is repeated in 3 other languages and at the bottom of the
rectangle is
FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF

Thanks in advance for any help.

I had a similar problem on an old G42, the Apple dealer tested it for 3
weeks and when they replaced the CPU, it was ok again.

Dave


In article
<noaddress-575C6D.07431813112003@news-central.ash.giganews.com>,
Primo <noaddress@nodomain.none> wrote:

> My G4 has been experiencing the problem detailed below 4-5 times a week
> since the OS X.2.8 update was installed. It always happens when there
> has been no user interaction for several minutes. There were only a
> couple system freezes (with different symptoms) during several months of
> operation under X.2.3 and X.2.6.
>
> Is this a known problem with a known solution? Would reverting to X.2.6
> be advisable and, if so, how can it be done?
>
> Most of the display is greyed out. In the center is a white rectangle
> with a faint power button icon in the background and the following text:
> "You need to restart your computer. Hold down the power button for
> several seconds or press the Restart button". The same message
> (presumably) is repeated in 3 other languages and at the bottom of the
> rectangle is
> FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF
>
> Thanks in advance for any help.

In article
<davidlaine_spamnot_-4EEB57.04274714112003@nntp.bloor.is.net.cable.roge r
s.com>,
"Dave L." <davidlaine_spamnot_@rogers.com> wrote:

> I had a similar problem on an old G42, the Apple dealer tested it for 3
> weeks and when they replaced the CPU, it was ok again.
>
> Dave

A couple more crashes after posting yesterday (one when no user was
logged in), I also began to suspect it's a hardware problem. Hopefully,
it's not the cpu. I removed a DIMM that was added in the spring. It's
been less than 24 hours, but so far no more crashes.

Does anyone know of any software available to test memory or other
hardware components, or does it require specialized equipment?
>
>
> In article
> <noaddress-575C6D.07431813112003@news-central.ash.giganews.com>,
> Primo <noaddress@nodomain.none> wrote:
>
> > My G4 has been experiencing the problem detailed below 4-5 times a week
> > since the OS X.2.8 update was installed. It always happens when there
> > has been no user interaction for several minutes. There were only a
> > couple system freezes (with different symptoms) during several months of
> > operation under X.2.3 and X.2.6.
> >
> > Is this a known problem with a known solution? Would reverting to X.2.6
> > be advisable and, if so, how can it be done?
> >
> > Most of the display is greyed out. In the center is a white rectangle
> > with a faint power button icon in the background and the following text:
> > "You need to restart your computer. Hold down the power button for
> > several seconds or press the Restart button". The same message
> > (presumably) is repeated in 3 other languages and at the bottom of the
> > rectangle is
> > FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF
> >
> > Thanks in advance for any help.

On Fri, 14 Nov 2003 8:01:21 -0800, Primo wrote
(in message <noaddress-F39959.09012014112003@news-central.ash.giganews.com>):

> In article
> <davidlaine_spamnot_-4EEB57.04274714112003@nntp.bloor.is.net.cable.roge r
> s.com>,
> "Dave L." <davidlaine_spamnot_@rogers.com> wrote:
>
>> I had a similar problem on an old G42, the Apple dealer tested it for 3
>> weeks and when they replaced the CPU, it was ok again.
>>
>> Dave
>
> A couple more crashes after posting yesterday (one when no user was
> logged in), I also began to suspect it's a hardware problem. Hopefully,
> it's not the cpu. I removed a DIMM that was added in the spring. It's
> been less than 24 hours, but so far no more crashes.
>
> Does anyone know of any software available to test memory or other
> hardware components, or does it require specialized equipment?

1. A person that I know who uses lots of ram tells me that 10% defect rate is
about industry standard.
2. TechTool Pro by Micromat does perform hardware tests. Recent Apple
products come with a hardware test disk as well.