FATE Ends the Mac

Did you know Mac OS X can even blue-screen? To be fair, it doesn’t actually present a blue screen. But when Mac OS X encounters a kernel panic, it looks like this:



True to form, Mac just has to be prettier and glossier than other operating systems, even in the area of system crashes.

The reason I bring this up is that the FATE system is bringing down my Mac. My Mac Mini is reliably dying every single time I try to execute my FATE client Python script. Maybe the weather is getting too warm.

Update, 2010-6-8: Following advice in the comments, I tried to run Memtest86 on the Mac Mini in question. I couldn’t get the machine to boot the CD I made. As an alternative, I turned the machine off and let it rest for a night. In the morning, I turned it on and ran the FATE client script. It’s working for now.

12 thoughts on “FATE Ends the Mac

  1. astrange

    Can you paste the panic log from /Library/Logs/?

    Maybe I can diagnose it…probably not, though.

    Also, would you mind updating the gcc/llvm nightly builds? They seem to be stuck.

    Also also could you look at turning asm back on for llvm? If it doesn’t work, it’s llvm’s problem and not ours.

  2. Multimedia Mike Post author

    @astrange: I dug around in that directory and into PanicReporter/. The logs I find in there state:

    BSD process name corresponding to current thread: Python

    So I guess I can claim credit after all. Also, there’s “Kernel trap at [address], type 14=page fault”.

    I don’t suppose there are any (free) Mac utilities that help diagnose bad RAM?

  3. Helpful

    Are you running an Intel Mac? I assume yes. In that case, why not just use Memtest86+?

  4. Reimar

    @Z.T.: Maybe they just though that everyone else except the French would probably understand English? I even heard rumors that even the French-speaking Canadian like to pretend they don’t :-P
    I guess I better stop making jokes now before any fellow FFmpeg developer starts to hold a grudge :-)

  5. Fruit

    Well, I guess german and french are traditionaly thought as world languages (big bias of course). But spanish would be close, but I guess it was looked down upon since it was too “south” or something… not to speak of portuguese…

  6. Multimedia Mike Post author

    If it makes you feel any better, the 10.6 kernel panic image adds Spanish.

  7. compn

    my grandmothers’ ibook started doing this on her. i was surprised mac had a BSOD as well.

  8. Multimedia Mike Post author

    The Mac Mini hasn’t panicked recently. A new problem has manifested however: the wireless networking is acting flaky (4 other wireless devices in the house are fine, and the access point is from Apple as well).

  9. Hopefully Helpful

    Mr. Mike,
    It’s been a long time since I’ve needed to do it, but you may have luck with repairing permissions on your boot drive.
    Strange that your CD wouldn’t boot; did you try option-key booting the machine, or just hold the C key?
    Good luck, and thanks for the blog. Very informative stuff.

Comments are closed.