Apple Technician Guide MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009) - tim.id.au

2010-06-11
Kernel Panic/System Crashes
Unlikely cause: Battery, Power Adapter
Quick Check
Symptom Quick Check
Memory Issues/Kernel panic and
freezes
• Display notice of system kernel
panic during start up and
desktop use.
• System freeze during use.
• System freeze upon wake from
sleep.
Deep Dive
1. Reset SMC and clear PRAM
2. Remove suspect external devices.
3. Verify user memory is Apple-approved memory,
and memory configuration matches memory
installed.
4. Start up with shift key down for safe mode.
5. Startup from known-good bootable device
6. Check panic.log info for crash cause
7. Run AHT for sensors test
Check Result Action Code
1. Isolate Peripherals as cause.
Disconnect all peripherals,
external devices, and display
adapters if present
2. Reset SMC and clear PRAM
then verify that unit starts
without panic issues.
3. Boot in Safe Mode with Shift
key down, and check for recent
kernel panic data in panic log.
Open Panic.log file on hard
drive and check for affected
interface that crashed. If unit
still crashes during startup, you
will need to take out disk to
a good system to access the
file. Verify that kernel panic
dependency is not with an I/O
interface.
Yes Suspect peripherals as cause.
Reconnect one at a time,
verifying unit operation at
each stage
No Go to Step 2
Yes Issue resolved with default
startup settings.
No Go to step 3
Yes Kernel Panic is not a system
I/O related device. Go to step
5
No I/O device related crash, go to
step 4
MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009) Symptom Charts — Startup and Power Issues 47