I'm using a PowerBook 667 and the built-in drive, OS X(10.1.5). Twice this version of Limewire has wiped out my computer. One time I had just initiated a search- the CPU went to max and the beachball started spinning and never stopped. Force quit didn't work. The other event may have been identical, don't remember well.

Other symptoms: I can't stay connected to hosts very well- few stay for more than three seconds. One in a hundred lasts 3 minutes. This could be a problem with my cable ISP- I've noticed long ping times the last few days (how critical are ping times to maintaining connections?)

Other factors: I'm using a different virtual drive for data storage than for System and for Apps; all are on the same physical drive. I recently updated my system ROM in preparation for Jaguar. I had no such problem with LW 2.7x or earlier, in fact I've never had a panic since I got this computer over a year ago.

Tom

Sounds like the infamous Window Manager bug -- read the other current discussions in this forum.

I don't think Window Manager is involved, Janet. The problem persists even when Limewire is run alone (which actually never happens as there are always at least a dozen processes running in OS X). I notice long delays when I click on a tab, say to move from 'Search' to 'Library' which didn't happen with earlier versions. The processor isn't busy during these delays, but the spinning wheel goes on for 30-60 seconds before the request is processed.

There has also been strange behavior with downloaded files. In addition to the already mentioned 'can't move file to library', I've seen files download completely but the progress bar remains on screen- the file can't be found in the library or the incomplete folders (or anywhere).

It's interesting to note that of the many hundreds of Hosts that my Limewire tried to connect with, only two of them were version 2.8.x. All others were 2.7.x or lower versions (a couple of other brands briefly tried to connect). Is this a sign that 2.8.x doesn't work? Why hasn't this been mentioned?

I was able to find a v.2.7.3 that doesn't cause a kernel panic. Too bad the web site doesn't offer the option to revert to older versions. Version 2.7.3 doesn't connect to other servers or download well either, but at least I don't have to do a hard re-start and repair other files lost in the crash.

Version 2.8+ looks like a great improvement once it's working well. I hope that's soon! Thanks to all of you for helping to make LimeWire the best p2p on the Mac and merry Christmas to all you Christians.

Tom

Hey Tom:

I hope we get back to normal weather soon. This is bad SD weather. Unless you're from Iowa and miss a midwestern Xmas.

I went back and looked at an old installer I kept, because I changed the name of the zip file, but I have no way of telling what version it is. Even when running the installer, it never mentioned what version it was about to install. I finally cancelled before the point of no return, and before I entered the great unknown.

To me, that is sorta shoddy. Why not name your files at the developer end for their respective versions and make them all available, so we can go back to a 'working copy' if needed?

Luckily, I have an old version installed on my OS 9 partition. It works much better. I may have to boot back into 9 for a while to get proper operation again. I'd like you to take a look at the log from that OS 9 installation :

Install Begin: Sat May 11 14:37:46 PDT 2002
Install End: Sat May 11 14:38:02 PDT 2002

Created with Zero G's InstallAnywhere 4.5.3 Enterprise Build 1394


Summary
-------

Installation: Successful.

23 SUCCESSES
0 WARNINGS
0 NONFATAL ERRORS
0 FATAL ERRORS

Action Notes:

None.

Install Log Detail:

Check Disk Space: /NewMacHD/Applications (Mac OS 9)/LimeWire
Status: SUCCESSFUL
Additional Notes: NOTE - Required Disk Space: 8,393,856; Free Disk Space: 2,147,397,632

Install Directory: /NewMacHD/Applications (Mac OS 9)/LimeWire/
Status: SUCCESSFUL
Additional Notes: NOTE - Directory already existed

Install Directory: /NewMacHD/Applications (Mac OS 9)/LimeWire/UninstallerData/
Status: SUCCESSFUL
Additional Notes: NOTE - Directory already existed

Install Uninstaller: LimeWire (Install All Uninstaller Components)
Status: SUCCESSFUL


Install File: /NewMacHD/Applications (Mac OS 9)/LimeWire/UninstallerData/Uninstall LimeWire.lax
Status: SUCCESSFUL

Install Uninstaller: LimeWire (Install All Uninstaller Components)
Status: SUCCESSFUL

Install File: /NewMacHD/Applications (Mac OS 9)/LimeWire/ads.war
Status: SUCCESSFUL

Create LaunchAnywhere: LimeWire (Install All LaunchAnywhere Java Executable Components)
Status: SUCCESSFUL


Create Icon: /NewMacHD/Applications (Mac OS 9)/LimeWire//LimeWire
Status: SUCCESSFUL

Install File: /NewMacHD/Applications (Mac OS 9)/LimeWire/LimeWire.lax
Status: SUCCESSFUL

Create LaunchAnywhere: LimeWire (Install All LaunchAnywhere Java Executable Components)
Status: SUCCESSFUL

Install File: /NewMacHD/Applications (Mac OS 9)/LimeWire/LimeWire.jar
Status: SUCCESSFUL

Install File: /NewMacHD/Applications (Mac OS 9)/LimeWire/xml.war
Status: SUCCESSFUL

Install File: /NewMacHD/Applications (Mac OS 9)/LimeWire/MessagesBundle.properties
Status: SUCCESSFUL

Install File: /NewMacHD/Applications (Mac OS 9)/LimeWire/collections.jar
Status: SUCCESSFUL

Install File: /NewMacHD/Applications (Mac OS 9)/LimeWire/jl011.jar
Status: SUCCESSFUL

Install File: /NewMacHD/Applications (Mac OS 9)/LimeWire/swing.jar
Status: SUCCESSFUL

Install File: /NewMacHD/Applications (Mac OS 9)/LimeWire/xerces.jar
Status: SUCCESSFUL

Install Directory: /NewMacHD/Desktop Folder/
Status: SUCCESSFUL
Additional Notes: NOTE - Directory already existed

Create Alias: /NewMacHD/Desktop Folder/LimeWire
Status: SUCCESSFUL


If you have any idea what version I am looking at here, I'd be shocked.

Ridiculous!

<End of Rant> ;0)

_
Horse...

The only way I've found to tell the version is to install and do a 'About LimeWire' from within the program. Then you wait a few seconds and a window eventually appears with the version number. Once I've done that, I rename the file with the version number. It may be unable to show the version normally because it is a Java program, and not actually running in the Mac OS. I assume that's also the reason you can't tab between fields or use your page up/down keys, etc.

None of this helps to understand the kernel panic, of course.
I hope someone can help with that.

Tom

Sorry, I went off topic on you.

I just meant to make the point that there's no way other than an 'about' to get a version number.

re your kernel panics on the 667, have you tried the usual troubleshooters, ie, disk utility, fsck, DiskWarrior, repairing permissions, disconnecting any peripherals, etc?

I run on an older G4 400 with 1 gig of RAM, so I know your processor will handle it.

"Other factors: I'm using a different virtual drive for data storage than for System and for Apps; all are on the same physical drive."

Do you mean your shared folder is on a different partition? If it was storing onto a firewire drive, I could understand the panic attacks, but you say same physical drive, so I doubt that's in play here.

Lastly, if you haven't already, I'd suggest posting on the Apple Discussion boards. Answers tend to come back pretty quick. Luckily, I have practically no experience with k p 's.

And so how exactly is this a kernel panic?! And what exactly do you mean by "wiped out my computer"?

If you're running 10.1.5 and you have a kernel panic, the kernel dumps the panic log overtop of your screen. It's white text on a black background. If you write down what is displayed, perhaps we can get to the bottom of this.

It is impossible for a piece of software running at the application level to cause a kernel panic, no matter how buggy the application is. The only thing that can cause a kernel panic is a poorly coded device driver (kernel extension -- ".kext" -- which works on a much lower level, between your hardware and your applications) or a bug in the kernel itself.

I'll agree with you that I've had non-stop performance problems with the latest versions of LimeWire, but I highly doubt it's causing kernel panics.

My guess is that it's the same Window Manager bug that the rest of us are seeing. As long as you have the Finder running and switch from LimeWire to the Finder, you could be experiencing this problem.

Instead of switching to the Finder and leaving LimeWire's window visible in the background, try holding down the Option key as you switch to the Desktop and see if that helps at all.

Hope this helps.....

from mdouma46
"the kernel dumps the panic log overtop of your screen. It's white text on a black background."

Yep, that's right. A lot of gobbledygook all over my pretty screen and darn near impossible to read when mixed with the other stuff still on the screen. Until now I've never had a kernel panic and never actually met anyone who had one.

Well, there's been a lot of activity since last report. I reinstalled older version 2.7.x and ran it several hours to verify it's OK. I ran v.285 again for short periods in hopes of avoiding memory overruns (or whatever was causing the problem). I did have one more kernel panic, even though it was only running for under an hour.

There are plenty of other problems with v285 as have been noted. Some have persisted through many updates. For instance, I tell it I want to connect to 6 servers. From time to time Limewire decides that that means 3, 4, 5 or 7 servers and it is perfectly happy to go on that way for hours. Limewire often forgets 79 megabytes of an 80 megabyte file and resumes from the beginning again. Searching for a file will bring up 20 copies, but none of them can be downloaded for some strange reason. I suppose it is a matter of ego but Limewire still wastes huge amounts of screen space with large buttons, tabs, and empty space. Perhaps the programmers believe that nobody uses other programs and they have the right to monopolize the user's entire screen. These problems persist so long that it looks like serious neglect by the programmers.

As you use it you will notice that none of the Hosts you connect to are using version 285. Yet many people trying to upload from you are using it. So if lots of people are using it, and none of the hosts are using it, isn't that a clue that it is seriously flawed?

The program has so much promise. Multiple downloads of a single file works well. Better information is available as connections break and resume (it's frightening to watch as the last 3 minutes of a long download stretches into dozens of broken connections and 30 minutes during which you fear it will be another start-from-scratch download.) You can put a file on your 'wish list', and I hope to see that actually work for me soon. You can browse another user's computer (theoretically, I've never got this to succeed either). Your computer doesn't freeze for long periods as it did with early versions. Last, but not least, Limewire is the only decent gnutella system for the Mac. Limewire gets better each time and it breaks my heart that this current version breaks my entire computer and I can't use it.

Tom