I was checking through some invoices (pdf) on my drobo, and cross checking them in an open browser (google chrome) and I got the beachball, so I starting writing an email.
All of a sudden Drobo switched off, followed by my macbook.
This is a link to what I saw on my Macbook: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4636
This support thread states a kernel panic caused the issue, which suggests the mac shut down because of the issue with the drobo.
Has anyone else had this issue? Is it serious?
Drobo Dashboard seems to think my drobo and array is fine.
I have checked that the software and firmware are up to date.
That’s the Mac OS equivalent of a BSOD on Windows.
It could be caused by a number of things including a corrupt PDF, a bug in Chrome, faulty memory, a glitchy interface cable, power surge…
I think what bhiga was getting at is a kernel panic can be an utter fluke, never to happen again. Sometimes things just crash. I haven’t seen one in years, but as long as it doesn’t happen again, I wouldn’t worry. If it happens a second time, then start investigating.
whenever theres a power cut or reboot etc,
i always run a chkdsk (windows) on the drobo, one volume at a time and without any other programs specifically accessing it. Usually it corrects a few things nice an early, but sometimes even chkdsk gives an all clear (which is nice)
if you are not sure what to use on a mac for checking the filesystem, please say so or research first, as there are some tools out there which can do more harm than good i believe.
If you want to feel better about at least your memory (which is the silent corrupter), Memtest86 or Memtest86+ (contrary to the naming, the former may be more up-to-date than the latter).
Be sure to let it run at least two complete passes. Memory doesn’t usually, but it can go bad. Cooling issues and power supply problems tend to occur more often though.
And as diamondsw said, it might simply have been a glitch or fluke.
Computers are pushed so hard nowadays that it’s surprising they don’t crash more often. If I told myself from 20 years ago how fast things would be now, I wouldn’t have believed it.
