Having a REALLY strange problem!

[dakota]

Starting about two days ago, a few times a day my computer seems to freeze momentarily ( a couple of times it actually froze totally and I had to force restart), and then it comes back to normal, with the screen flickering a couple of times, but as it recovers, my zip makes the same sound it usually makes on startup - usb zip 250.  I thought at first it might be a power drop in the area, but nothing else is affected - lights, etc. On Time Warner Roadrunner. G4 Quicksilver 733, Apple 17" studio display, usb hub with printer, scanner, palm. zip 250, La Cie external firewire drive, Nikon camera. Running 9.2 - no new peripherals or software added in months.  I'm not sure, but I think when it happens I see a lot of in and out activity on my Net Barrier control strip module - even when I'm not using a browser.  However, I always see the data light on my cable modem flashing - which I thought was normal- but it isn't usually accompanied by activity on the control strip.  The only recent change in the house was a switch in phone service which seems to have knocked out my talking called ID-announces occasionally now, but not always - but hey, I'm not using a phone line! - BUT, the caller ID uses an AC adaptor which is plugged into the same surge protector as the computer.  Unplugged the caller ID - still have the problem.  Any ideas?

[kelly]

Wouldn't know where to begin.    

Is your machine looking for a Server?

FWIW. The lights wouldn't have to dim to have a power problem.

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/power/ext/probs.htm

http://www.pcwebopedia.com/TERM/U/UPS.html

[cdub1988]

Can't say that I've seen the same exact situation, but I can tell you what I've seen on the cable setups here in town (Charter Communications). The Macs that are hooked up on that service seem to have their share of issues.

The modem hands out an IP to your machine from a DHCP pool and the ones I've seen using this have had some issues with getting bad IPs from the modem.

I think that this particular problem (the bad IPs) is directly related to the modem itself, though I can't verify that positively.

I know that I saw KC's Road Runner business class setup and they were using some pretty high-end Toshiba cable modems, so not sure if that may be the issue.

Can you leave up your TCP/IP Control Panel on screen and try to check the IP number from time to time and see if it's a legitimate number? (should be a 192.168.x.x number, or something of that sort). If you are getting a bad IP from time to time, this may be part of the problem.

Also, you might install

Also, have you checked NetBarrier?

Hope that helps.

Chris

 MacsBug in your system folder and restart the machine with that installed.

I use that on all our Classic boxes here at work to let me know what applications are crashing.

When the system crashes, MacsBug should bring up a debug screen. On the screen in the left-hand side, you will see in RED text "CurApName" and then a program listed directly below it that crashed.

May help you more quickly diagnose the problem.

Hope that helps,

Chris

[Xairbusdriver]

Try disabling NetBarrier for a few days. I doubt that you will find anyone able to actually access anything on your Mac, anyway, especially if you have Web Sharing disabled. If you are especially parnoid, disable File Sharing also. You will still be on one big LAN, so it is remotely possible that another person there might be on a Mac, but that is a rather long shot. At least you should be able to see if it NetBarrier that is having a problem.

BTW, it is my understanding that the almost constant light flashing is a result of being on a LAN (standard cable operation). It is not always an indication that someone is trying to acces your machine or even up/down traffic to yours. Frankly, the lights on my new cable modem are about useless, if they are on, it's working. Duh!

Jim C.

[dakota]

I don't think my machine is being accessed when this happens.  Normally I get an alert from Net Barrier when there is pinging, and I have not had any alerts for quite a while.

[dakota]

Okay - I have a better handle on what's happenng here -what, but not why.  I disconnected the zip, and that is not the problem.  What the zip does tell me, though, is that there is enough of a drop in power when I get a stall that the computer is turning itself off, if only for a split second, and then starting again - hence the zip startup sound.  Everything, mouse included, seems to freeze, I hear drive activity just before it happens - the kind of drive sound you get when you do start up, when email is dowloading, or when Stuffit is busy unstuffing - it's the same kind of freeze you get when you're downloading, it finishes, and while Stuffit does its thing, everything else stalls - then it's back to normal and you can browse again.  This is happening while browsing, and when simply working on apps.  Question is - why?  If I hadn't had the zip attached, it would say it is simply a stall, but the zip sound tells me that the zip is starting up, which it only does during a real startup. Electrical glitch? Bad surge protector?  Cable modem surges?  Or do I have a drive problem?  Ran Norton and Techtool and found no problem.