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System crashing randomly resulting in corrupted startup disk

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Jan 13, 2014
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Motherboard
GA-H61M-S2P, Single Boot Yosemite, 4GB RAM, 1TB HDD
CPU
Intel Core i3
Graphics
Asus NVIDIA GeForce EN210 1 GB DDR3
Mac
  1. 0
Classic Mac
  1. 0
Mobile Phone
  1. 0
My hackintosh build with Mavericks was working fine since last 4 months. It was a fresh build on a brand new hardware (in my profile). Since last 2-3 days I started facing issues, the system started restarting automatically randomly. And today, after a series of such automatic restarts, it stopped working, I tried debugging it and found that the start up disk was corrupted. I tried repairing it by disk utility but it wasn't able to repair it. So I erased the disk and freshly installed Yosemite, but the problem was not solved, the system kept on restarting although at long time intervals and after about 12 hours of the install, the start up disk was corrupted again. The disk is not getting repaired and I am afraid that another fresh install will also not help.
Can this be a hardware issue, or there is a need of some extra post installation.
 
My hackintosh build with Mavericks was working fine since last 4 months. It was a fresh build on a brand new hardware (in my profile). Since last 2-3 days I started facing issues, the system started restarting automatically randomly. And today, after a series of such automatic restarts, it stopped working, I tried debugging it and found that the start up disk was corrupted. I tried repairing it by disk utility but it wasn't able to repair it. So I erased the disk and freshly installed Yosemite, but the problem was not solved, the system kept on restarting although at long time intervals and after about 12 hours of the install, the start up disk was corrupted again. The disk is not getting repaired and I am afraid that another fresh install will also not help.
Can this be a hardware issue, or there is a need of some extra post installation.

Your profile does not show your system information.

Any way if the restart is just that, then you might find some indication in the console logs.

However, if the system does crash with a kernel panic, then the KP may contain some information.

It would be helpful for you to characterize how the system fails.

Do you have the hardware monitor app running? How is the CPU temps? Are you fans working? Some systems are very simple and others very complex... describe your complete system. Dual boot? Are you running VMWare or Parallels? etc.

Good modding,
neil
 
Probably hardware issue.
Probably not the disk otherwise you had write error reinstalling.
Might be processor or memory but this kind of corruption is more likely memory.
If you have overclocking or memory over frequency go back to normal values.
Try to remove the 1 by 1 elements of memory or use a booting test disk.
 
My system is single boot on mac. I am not able to recognize if it is a KP. I had the system-restart even on the boot screen, on the boot drive selection screen and it also happened when I was fiddling with Disk utilities via Unibeast installer just few minutes ago. I cannot check the hardware monitor app as the system is not booting into at all. I guess this must be a hardware fault.
 
Probably hardware issue.
Probably not the disk otherwise you had write error reinstalling.
Might be processor or memory but this kind of corruption is more likely memory.
If you have overclocking or memory over frequency go back to normal values.
Try to remove the 1 by 1 elements of memory or use a booting test disk.

Could you please give me some links or more details to get started, most of the points you made were a bit out of my grasp.
 
rkmakwana,

You need to specify the complete configuration of your system in detail including OS X version.

If I had your system I would do the following:

if you elect to follow this process, take notes at each step.

Unplug the power to the system.

Take the covers off so that you can get at the memory and the motherboard.

The first step is a detailed visual inspection. You are looking for everything that is not “right”.

Loose hardware laying on the circuitry. Loose connectors, burned components (blacken and probably smell bad). Each fan is free and spins.

If everything appears okay, then reconfigure the system to have only the boot/system drive (disconnect any other drive by removing the power and data cables or by removing the drive from this system).

If your CPU supports internal video, pull your GPU card and and connect you display directly to the motherboard.

Pull all but one of the memory modules.

Reconnect the system with only one display, one USB mouse, one USB keyboard, one memory module, and the one system drive. No other USB devices. And a Ethernet cable if you have a wired network.

Reconnect your power cord and see if the system will run the Power On Selftest (POST).

Assuming that the system does complete POST, does it boot? If you should get to the desktop, let the system run to determine if the problem is still present.



Report back on your findings.

Good modding,
neil
 
Hi Neil,
After another fresh install of Yosemite, the system kept on with its random crashes. The HWMonitor app didn't show anything wrong with the temperatures and other values. Then I removed the graphic card and after a bit of boot troubles, did succeed in getting to start the system. It worked really slow but I kept it running to check if it crashes again and to my surprise, it didn't crash for about 4-5 hours. I then connected the graphics card again but kept the cabinet open and guess what, it is working without crash for more than 6 hours. I haven't put back the socket so as to check it for a few hours more.
As you suggested, there are no loose connections, no bad smell from the components and not even extra sounds. However, I can feel a little warm around the graphics card.
 
After getting under the hood, I am quite convinced that the trouble is caused by the graphics card. Is there any way to make changes in the way it works so that it doesn't cause trouble anymore.
 
rkmakwana,

You need to specify the complete configuration of your system in detail including OS X version.

If I had your system I would do the following:

if you elect to follow this process, take notes at each step.

Unplug the power to the system.

Take the covers off so that you can get at the memory and the motherboard.

The first step is a detailed visual inspection. You are looking for everything that is not “right”.

Loose hardware laying on the circuitry. Loose connectors, burned components (blacken and probably smell bad). Each fan is free and spins.

If everything appears okay, then reconfigure the system to have only the boot/system drive (disconnect any other drive by removing the power and data cables or by removing the drive from this system).

If your CPU supports internal video, pull your GPU card and and connect you display directly to the motherboard.

Pull all but one of the memory modules.

Reconnect the system with only one display, one USB mouse, one USB keyboard, one memory module, and the one system drive. No other USB devices. And a Ethernet cable if you have a wired network.

Reconnect your power cord and see if the system will run the Power On Selftest (POST).

Assuming that the system does complete POST, does it boot? If you should get to the desktop, let the system run to determine if the problem is still present.



Report back on your findings.

Good modding,
neil

Hi,
The system is still restarting on its own every now and then and I suspect it is because of the Graphics Card. What course should I follow now to fix it, I don't have any clue. Please help me with this.
 
Well if the system is stable without the GPU then you need to run without it or replace it with a supported one.

If the system is not stable without the GPU then you should start a hardware swap process. Items that need to be swapped (one at a time and then run documented test for stability): CPU, Memory, PSU, and Motherboard.

Another thought. Is your input power clean?

Good modding,
neil
 
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