Computer crash

I have a G4 PowerMac with OS X, the latest QT Pro, 1.6MgH processor, over 900 gigs of memory, three harddrives with at least 60 MB free space (including master), FCP 4.5 HD. Lately I am getting crashes when I am playing a FCP timeline (I think they are called kernals?), where the computer goes dim and a box comes up with something like "you must restart the computer" written in four languages. Does anyone have any idea why this is happening? I have run DiskWarrior on all drives ... no difference.

Is FCP the only app that crashes your Mac? Did it just start happening? Does it crash in same place in timeline or about the same place?

Hi Mike:
Thanks for the input. Until recently, this has never been a problem. It happens not only when i try to play a timeline but it now occurs when I am trying to burn a DVD on Studio Pro and iDVD. Playing a single FCP timeline of 50 minnutes in length, it crashed five times. Does this info help? Thanks.
Stan

How much Ram you got? Any stills in the timeline or is this all just DV? It may be that your G4 cant handle this timeline. Is this movie cuts only or heavily filtered? What about breaking it up into smaller sequences to see where it crashes?

Also, for the heck of it, trash your preferences and might as well trash all your render files and re-render.

[www.lafcpug.org]

Mike:
I have over a terrabyte of ram. The FCP timeline is actually one continuous unbroken clip digitized from a DV tape with a variety of short titles laid over on V2. The crash during iDVD is only a 30-minute show. I'll go ahead and trash the preferences and see if that helps, then get back to you. Thanks.
Stan

Not how much storage you have, how much RAM - as in memory? You can find this out by going up to the Apple meu and selecting About this Mac

Mike

Sorry, Mike. I meant Ram. I have close to 1000 MB.

So you have 1 gig of Ram for a 50 minute sequence? That might be pushing this. Anther 512 or 1 gig stick would help. Was FCP open when you were trying to burn the DVD?


Try closing all apps except the one you are working in.

Mike:
Yes, FCP was open. That makes sense. I am probably doing too much with too little RAM. It makes sense to get another 512 stick. I'll get one right away/ Thanks so much for the help/advice.
Stan

Are you getting a kernel Panic? if so, these things are usually more hardware related than software. My Quicksilver 2002 G4 with 1.5 GB RAM (which is the max you can have) plays Final Cut timelines all day long.

It sounds like this just started to happen on a system box that was working. Is that true? It could mean a memory module problem or some other hardware issue.

Look around for the box of CD's you got when it shipped for the Hardware Test Suite CD and boot off it. This can help diagnose "kernel panics"

I' think every app would be crashing if it were bad ram but its a good idea to do a hardware check.

It does crash in both FCP and Studio Pro, so maybe it is a RAM problem. How do i check the RAM sticks to make sure they are all good?