[OS X TeX] Off topic: system stablitity

[Alan Litchfield]

Richard Seguin wrote:
>>
>
> I would also suspect a hard disk that is getting flakey. This happened
> to me recently, and it had to be replaced on a Santa Rosa MPB. Also,
> bad RAM or RAM that is badly seated can cause unusual problems.
>

It is a likely cause, but not the only cause.

Any problems with memory tend to be pretty definitive on startup. Normally the
system will fail to load and will issue three beeps before shutting down or
exiting startup on a grey screen. But problems with hardware incompatibilities
(if there are third party add-ons), logic board problems (various depending on
hardware specs), bad sectors on the hard disk hard disk, I/O problems with
hard disk, fluctuating power supply from source, internal power supply due to
fail, over heating issues, running too cold, ... are all possible and likely
scenarios given the evidence to date.

Cheers
Alan

-- 
Alan Litchfield MBus (Hons), MNZCS
AlphaByte
PO Box 1941, Auckland
http://www.alphabyte.co.nz