I never have had much luck with RAM. It seems for all of the computers I have built I would always get at least one bad stick in every batch and this one was no different. After installing the new 4GB of Crucial RAM last week I started getting kernel panics. One of the most common causes for kernel panics is malfunctioning kernel extensions or bad hardware. After false positive stress tests, I was finally able to confirm that it was the RAM and not the new EFI firmware that I had updated the same day:
I installed the Crucial RAM in a friends iMac and went to Best Buy and purchased 4GB of Kingston memory for the outrageous price of ~$400. Fortunately results were fast in coming and the iMac experienced a memory management BSOD, and my Macbook Pro since installing the kingston has been rock stable.
The exact same Kingston RAM can be bought from Newegg for under $90, so of course I’m going to return the RAM to Best Buy after I get my new stuff from Newegg. I find it very troublesome that it’s so over priced at Best Buy. But we can finally end the story with a happily ever after… until next month :p
Just in case you are new, my primary computer is a 17″ Macbook Pro which goes almost everywhere with me. I’ll be writing an article on my current hardware in the future so stay tuned.
Here are a couple of the kernel panics experienced in case it helps someone else troubleshoot their KP problems:
Mon Apr 14 23:15:22 2008 panic(cpu 0 caller 0x001A8C8A): Kernel trap at 0x0018d828, type 14=page fault, registers: CR0: 0x8001003b, CR2: 0x5b12ad8c, CR3: 0x013cc000, CR4: 0x00000660 EAX: 0x00000000, EBX: 0x00000000, ECX: 0x5b32bd9c, EDX: 0x00000000 CR2: 0x5b12ad8c, EBP: 0x5b12bdb8, ESI: 0x07a795a0, EDI: 0x00000006 EFL: 0x00010202, EIP: 0x0018d828, CS: 0x00000008, DS: 0x00000010 Error code: 0x00000000 Backtrace, Format - Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack) 0x5b32ab28 : 0x12b0f7 (0x4581f4 0x5b32ab5c 0x133230 0x0) 0x5b32ab78 : 0x1a8c8a (0x461720 0x18d828 0xe 0x460ed0) 0x5b32ac58 : 0x19ece5 (0x5b32ac70 0x0 0x5b12bdb8 0x18d828) 0x5b32ac68 : 0x18d828 (0xe 0x48 0x10 0x10) Backtrace terminated-invalid frame pointer 0x5b12bdb8 BSD process name corresponding to current thread: vmware-vmx Mac OS version: 9C7010 Kernel version: Darwin Kernel Version 9.2.2: Tue Mar 4 21:17:34 PST 2008; root:xnu-1228.4.31~1/RELEASE_I386 System model name: MacBookPro3,1 (Mac-F42388C8)
Thu Apr 17 16:05:03 2008 panic(cpu 0 caller 0x00192EE1): "pmap_flush_tlbs() timeout: " "cpu 1 failing to respond to interrupts, pmap=0x534500 cpus_to_signal=2"@/SourceCache/xnu/xnu-1228.4.31/osfmk/i386/pmap.c:4570 Backtrace, Format - Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack) 0x5b76ba88 : 0x12b0f7 (0x4581f4 0x5b76babc 0x133230 0x0) 0x5b76bad8 : 0x192ee1 (0x45e364 0x1 0x534500 0x2) 0x5b76bb48 : 0x1931c5 (0xb4a7af8 0x1 0x0 0xf146a64) 0x5b76bbf8 : 0x19562e (0x534500 0x5b5db000 0x0 0xfeadaed8) 0x5b76bc58 : 0x169d99 (0x534500 0x5b5db000 0x0 0x5b5df000) 0x5b76bd78 : 0x16a361 (0x5b5df000 0x0 0x1 0x0) 0x5b76bdb8 : 0x1645c3 (0x1d5ff78 0x5b5db000 0x0 0x5b5df000) 0x5b76bdf8 : 0x38eac1 (0x1d5ff78 0x5b5db000 0x4000 0x9a2f9c8) 0x5b76be18 : 0x38ec62 (0x22be084 0x8168fd0 0x5b76be48 0x1f1d72) 0x5b76be48 : 0x38ecc4 (0x76d9778 0x23ac6252 0x5b76be78 0x3e7c97) 0x5b76be78 : 0x366700 (0xba07138 0x5b76bec8 0x5b76bea8 0x22b8594) 0x5b76bee8 : 0x366af1 (0x74d2c60 0xba07138 0x76d9720 0x38c28e) 0x5b76bf28 : 0x366bad (0x0 0x16 0x5b76bf5c 0x1) 0x5b76bf78 : 0x3dcf13 (0x76d9720 0xa455520 0xa455564 0xffffffff) 0x5b76bfc8 : 0x19f1c3 (0x9804360 0x0 0x1a20b5 0x9804360) No mapping exists for frame pointer Backtrace terminated-invalid frame pointer 0xbfffefa8 BSD process name corresponding to current thread: vmware-vmx Mac OS version: 9C7010 Kernel version: Darwin Kernel Version 9.2.2: Tue Mar 4 21:17:34 PST 2008; root:xnu-1228.4.31~1/RELEASE_I386 System model name: MacBookPro3,1 (Mac-F42388C8)
P.S. – I will be returning the Crucial memory for a full refund but just know that I’m not bashing Crucial. I just happened to be unlucky enough to get a bad batch. The actual memory chips on the modules were actually produced by the same company for both Crucial and Kingston modules: Elipda.