"Video Satellite Option 1.0 - Authorization Error" - without Video Satellite

[Matts]

Hi,

Has anyone stumbled across this before:

We've been running our mid 2010 iMac 27" for approx. a month: a very stable, fast system. (10.6.6 and PT 9.0.2)

Then today in the middle of a session an alert suddenly pops up and immediately after there's a kernel panic.
Then the 5th effort to boot is finally successful.

Soon after PT unexpedtedly quits.
And a moment later a new alert and finally we manage to catch it on screen shot (and then a new kernel panic):

Video Satellit Option 1.0 Authorization Error

According to the alert Video Satellite Option 1.0 cannot run due to an error... and we don't even have Video Satellite...
So where did this come from?

Our stable and fast system suddenly became unusable.

Any ideas?

-matts

[Matts]

A quick update:

I'm glad no-one else seems to have experienced this!

Our iMac eventually stopped working completely: it, however, still tries to start up, but gives up after a couple of seconds and shuts down.

An earlier step was that it wouldn't even boot from an external drive without being struck by a kernel panic early in the boot process.

It is now being taken to an authorized Repair Center, where they said the internal HD could be faulty and, while connected, prevent it from booting properly?

My suspects are the processor, the motherboard and the RAM.

Anyway, Pro Tools doesn't have anything to do with the kernel panics, it seems.

-matts

[bortraws]

I have had similar kind of crashes with kernel panic where PT would say "Sync HD hardware can't be found" and then it would crash. Very weird because the machine don't have a Sync HD and never had either.

Never managed to solve it. Still pops up every now and then but not too often.

Hope you'll find what the problem is.

[Matts]

Of course, in our case it might be that the error message and the kernel panics are not related.
Far fetched. But possible.

On the other hand it IS certain that our iMac is faulty.

You're sure your Mac is not broken?
What kind of a Mac is it? No strange symptoms?

Today we hope to find out what was wrong with it, and then go on from there.
I'll keep you posted.

-matts

[Matts]

A quick update:

The repair shop called, we're getting our iMac back later today.

They said that there were some bad log files on the internal (boot) drive that caused the malfunction of the computer.
Nothing wrong with the motherboard, the memory or anything else.

They have now wiped the drive (I have a clone from when it initially worked beautifully; right after I'd installed and configured it) and re-installed the OS.

Sounds (more than) strange to me that bad log files on the internal drive could prevent the iMac from booting from an external drive, and while attempting to do so, even cause a kernel panic, don't you think?

I try to find out more about the log files, and we'll see how the iMac behaves on return - and after I have restored from my clone (which I sincerely hope doesn't include any bad log files!).

-matts

[Matts]

Quick update:

We had the iMac back, supposedly repaired (HD wiped and OS re-installed), but within the first hour the machine had it's first kernel panic (and finally the machine just couldn't be booted at all), and it is now back at the repair shop.

This just has to involve a mechanical failure.

-matts

[Matts]

Quick update again:

Progress: they discovered that one memory stick was faulty - and also that there was something wrong with the motherboard...

-matts

[Matts]

Final update (was away on a combination of sick leave and plain vanilla leave):

We got the iMac back. (AppleCare)

The initial "bad log files" turned out to be both a faulty motherboard and a faulty 2 GB RAM stick. Both now swapped.

Seems to behave normally again.

Presumably _all_ sudden strange symptoms (video satellite error, intermittent stuttering playback, unexpected quits, kernel panics…) were related to the faulty components.

-matts