g4 mdd freeze with mouse control

[ettore]

Hello...i am a newbie os9 user.I Have a g4 mdd dual 1.25 with a new 160gb hd,ati 64mb,os rom 9.6.1 and a fresh install of 0s9.2.2.
The maschine is fast and i have installed a lot of apps but rarely and suddenly the os freeze with the pointer controlled by the mouse,
and the only chance is to turn off and reboot.At reboot the g4 go with no problems.Maybe an heat problems?The g4 run very well before
and after the freeze,i dont know what cause this issue.
I have 2gb of ram installed and os9 recognize 2gb pc133 1gb/512mb/256mb/256mb perfectly.

[GaryN]

QUESTIONS
It just freezes? No error message or anything else?
Wired mouse or wireless?
Any pattern at all to the freezes? Running a particular app, combination of apps? Or during a particular operation?
When you reboot, does the drive utility check the drive or does it just start up?

There are lots of possible reasons for this - most (though not all) of which are NOT specific to an MDD but are usually a software conflict of some kind.
The trick here will be to narrow this down step by step.

ALSO - I cannot testify to this personally since I have 4 x 512Mb in my MDD - BUT there are some on this forum who swear that having mixed varieties of RAM as you do instead of matched pairs (both size and speed) can cause random weirdness to happen.

[supernova777]

i also had a similar memory config in my dual 867MHZ mdd..
(1x1gb chip + a mix of others) i was experiencing the same type of lockups with that configuration now that u mention it.

os lockups are most likely due to ram errors its true
whether its the combination of the ram or whether its one or more chips that
are creating errors somehow

its best to have modules all of the same size.. + make up (#of chips on the chips)

although the mdd's arent meant to work with 1gb chips they do. but only 1 x 1gb at a time i think if u try to use 2 x 1gb it may or may not work..
but u dont need 2gb of ram for mac os 9.. its over kill.. u would be fine with 1gb of ram.

i would suggest u take out all the ram except the single 1gb ram chip and then test to see if it locks up ... it probably wont..

i changed my ram config to be 4 x 256MB modules that were all the same brand + type + my lockups stopped. macos 9 doesnt need more than 1gb of ram.

[ettore]

Thank you very much for the fast answer;
When the freeze happen,i have no error message,with the pointer moving on the desktop,
But no action with mouse clicking;

 i shut down by pressing the power off button,at the startup i have to wait some seconds for the disk check;after that the os run normally;
Generally it freeze when i start an internet session...but i dont know if this is the cause...when i restart after the first freeze,the g4 run without problems,but in some days i can have also another freeze after reboot...but always with the pointer moving on the desktop.
I will try to remove the two 256 ram,and leave 1.5 gb.
I forgot to say that i have the same freeze in osx 10.5.8,with no mouse.now i have removed that hd because i dont need it.

[supernova777]

yep thats exactly the same behaviour.. unexplainable system freezes.. nothing moves. total lock up.. have to re boot - after that it runs fine..

u arent getting what we said tho..
the problem could be being caused by the clash of different types of RAM.
ie: theres single sided modules, double sided modules and of those types they can be further classified into how many actual chips are on the module 4 vs 8 vs 16 etc and also what brand name they are..

for example i wouldnt mix single sided modules with 4 chips with double sided moduels with 8 chips... for fear of this type of strangeness occuring..

thats why i said.. take ALL OUT except the 1gb module.. 1gb is enough ram for os9.. u arent gaining any performance by having more then 1gb.  trust me.
and u are eliminating the problem of having memory chips clash with one another.

then again the 1gb ram chip could be the cause of the problem ASWELL. because this machine was not originally intended to be used with 1gb modules, even tho it works... the manual for the machine says to use 256 or 512 modules only.

like i said before i fixed this problem by removing that strange configuration and putting in 4 x 256mb matching identical modules + my freezes dissappeared completely + never returned.

i would reccommend that u follow this advice. using identical modules.. either
2 x 512MB matching modules
or 4 x 256 matching modules
try this + u will see the freezes stop..
once u confirm that they have stopped if using 512mb modules u can then try to add a 3rd module for 1.5gb.. mac os 9 doesnt recognize more then 1.5gb anyway but osx will.. obv if uare dual booting.. u can try to add a 4th 512mb module for 2gb total..

good luck  + please report any interesting findings

[ettore]

I have opened the case...you cant imagine what i have find in the ram slots...two 1gb module and two 256 module...terrific...i have removed  the gb module and now i have 1gb-256-256,total 1,5gb.the System turn in with regular "gong".now i test the configuration and i will post if there are other freeze.

[supernova777]

i dont think u are really understanding what ive said..
possible reasons for the freezes:

a) different memory TYPES (amount of chips on the modules, single vs double sided)
b) possibly because the MDD doesnt support 1gb modules 100% officially
c) mixing different size memory modules together (this is usually ok? but who knows? maybe not because of b)
d) mixing different BRANDs (manufacturer) of memory modules together

some scenarios that i think u should try:
1) install 4 x 256mb modules (1gb total)
2) install 4 x 512mb modules (2gb total)
3) install 2 x 1gb modules (2gb total)

i know that 1) is the safest bet - and its what worked for me.

"more ram makes hte machine faster/better " does not apply in this situation.. this is a mac that is from 2002. when 1gb of ram was the equivelant of 4gb ram on windows XP... its more than enough.. yes u can put more but it wont really use more... you are not benefitting in speed or performance by putting more than 1gb of ram in the mdd...

u would be better off to take out the 1gb modules and just boot it with 500mb ram with the two 256mb modules installed - and have no freezing at all.

[ettore]

Chrisnova777 i understand very well,but at the moment i dont have 4x256 or 4x512 ram modules;i have only the module that the bad ebayer sell to me with the g4,so 2x1gb am 2x256.I am trying with those i have,sorry.

[DieHard]

Ettore,

Please remember to download the the diagnostic CD Image (from our downloads) and Burn a CD and boot to it... then run the "extended" tests, it will confirm if the RAM is an issue

[ettore]

Ok i will download it immediately.

[ettore]

Which Application is best For temperature monitoring?

[supernova777]

which version of AHT is for the MDD?
is it v1.2?

http://macintoshgarden.org/sites/macintoshgarden.org/files/apps/AHTG4_12.ZIP

[DieHard]

Use this version 1.2.7 for MDD found here on our site

http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=822.0

Note: V1.2.6 had some Known issues (like false failures on an MDD)

[ettore]

Now the g4 seems to run without freezes;i am looking For 4x256 as chrisnova777 reccomandation.

[supernova777]

glad to help