Low End Mac
Search LEM 
Donate · Amazon.com · MacResQ · Advertise
Other Cobweb sites: Low End Living · Reformed.net
Quicklinks: · Power Macs · 'Books · Early Macs · Week's Best Deals · Best Buys · OS Downloads
Home > Editorial > The Lite Side
The Lite Side

Guide to Classic Mac Error Numbers


2003.04.29

"The application <fill in the blank> has unexpectedly quit due to a type 3 error."

Ever wonder exactly what causes a type 3 error?

Now you can find out, thanks to the Lite Side's

Guide to Classic Mac Error Numbers

Note: Items listed in [brackets] are meaningless result code meanings.

DS Error Table

1 deBasError. Computer was used to do work your boss should have done him/herself error

2 dsAddressErr. Return to the wrong house while drunk error

3 dsIllInstErr. Moving violation: cannot turn left on red error

4 dsZeroDivErr. Never been in a sleazy bar before error

5 dsChkErr. The presence of checks doesn't mean there is money in the account error

6 dsOvflowErr. Celery in the garbage disposal error

7 dsPrivYrr. Toilet seat left up error

8 dsTraceErr. Not coloring between the lines error

9 dsLineAErr. Wedding ring caught in sink trap error

10 dsLineFErr. Wedding ring not caught in sink trap error

11 dsMiscErr. Miscellaneous hardware exception error

12 dsCoreErr. Unscheduled regeneration initiation error. Resistance is futile

13 dsIrqErr. Leftover Windows error

14 dsIOCoreErr. Discarded apple core has turned brown and begun to stink error

15 dsLoadErr. Bullet caliber doesn't fit in this weapon error

16 dsFPErr. Unecessary extra significant figures error

17 dsNoPackErr. Storeroom worker not present error [Restaurant Manager]

18 dsNoPk1. Other storeroom worker not present error [Reserved by Apple]

19 dsNoPk2. I never get what I want for Christmas error [Gift Initialization]

20 dsNoPk3. My check is in the mail error [Standard Excuse]

21 dsNoPk4. Why does the guy down the street have so many cars error [Floating-Point Arithmetic]

22 dsNoPk5. What has my wife purchased from ebay this time error [Transcendental Functions]

23 dsNoPk6. Why is there a phone charge to Liberia? error [International Utilities]

24 dsNoPk7. dsNoPk7 is here, but not really error [Binary/Decimal Conversion]

25 dsBellyFullErr. Out of room, but give me more turkey anyway error!

26 dsBadLaunch. Can't launch Ariane 5

27 dsFSErr. Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care? error

28 dsStknHeap. You don't want to know error

30 dsReinsert. You know, but you don't talk about it in polite company error

31 dsNotThe1. Not the CD I wanted (out of stock) error

33 negZcbFreeErr. ZcbFree has gone negative. I repeat, Zcb has gone negative error

40 dsGreeting. Welcome to Macintosh welcoming message to welcome users to the Macintosh error

41 dsFinderErr. Can't Find the Finder error

42 shutDownAlert. Like an error, only it's an alert, error (obfuscated)

43 dsSystemFileKeyFobErr. Can't find System file to open (obsolete). Customers waiting outside error

51 dsBadSlutInt. You spoke about that cousin no one talks about error

81 dsBadSANEopcode. Medical term for "give a lobotomy right now" error

84 menuPrgErr. Happens when a menu is purged. Cleanup on aisle 7 error

85 dsMBarNFind. Occurs when the cow comes home error

86 dsHMenuFindErr. Waitress cannot find list of food for you to buy error

87 dsWDEFnFnd. Could not load WDEF; wrong camera type error

88 dsCDEFnFnd. Could not load CDEF; wrong film type error

89 dsMDEFnFnd. Could not load MDEF; no batteries in camera error

98 dsNoPatch. Explains why you are irritable today error

99 dsBadPatch. Elves are dancing in my purse error

101 dsParityErr. my husband does the same work as I do but is paid more error

102 dsOldSystem. Congratulations to OS 9 for joining our club error

103 ds32BitMode. Booting in 32-bit on a 24-bit sys with an 8-bit bus and a 2-bit mouse with one finger error

20000 dsShutDownOrRestart. User picked ShutDown but meant Restart error

20001 dsSwitchOffOrRestart. User picked switching off but meant Restart error

103-19999 dsForcedQuit. Fired employee was the only one who had these codes error

32767 dsSysErr. General system error (catch-all used in cased we don't have any freaking idea what happened)

64298301asdlfij aspohbg4chfcioWACV0CKDFX,MVU,8U dsLightningErr. Lightning has struck your computer error

Recent Lite Sides

Links for the Day

  • Mac of the Day: 'Yikes!' Power Mac G4, Aug. 1999 - The only Power Mac G4 with PCI graphics was built on a modified G3 motherboard.
  • Group of the Day: SuperMacs is for those using Umax SuperMac clones.
  • November 21 in LEM history: 00: OS upgrades, downgrades - AltiVec vs. Pentium III - 01: Saved by the clones - Computer of the future - 02: Apple Education: Let's get to it - 03: Panther lets Macs and PCs work together, - Lombard SCSI bug - 05: 3 survivors from the 1970s - Real world battery life inadequate - Windows to Mac file transfer with Zip disks - $99 alternative to Microsoft Office - 06: Parallels 1.0 far more polished than beta

Recent Content on Low End Mac

Recent Deals

  • Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.20. Used 400 MHz, $50; 733, $100; 800, $199; 1.25 GHz, $300; 800 MHz dual, $200, 867, $300; 1 GHz, $350; 1.42, $400.
  • Best iBook G3 Deals, 11.20. Used 300 MHz clamshell, $150; 366, $199; 800 CD, $180; 600 CD-RW, $240; 700 Combo, $290; 900, $369; 14" 600, $360; 900, $449.
  • Best Power Mac G3 and PCI Video Card Deals, 11.20. Used beige 300 MHz, $25; blue & white 350, $80; 400, $90; 450, $105; PCI video cards from $15; shipping additional.
  • Best iMac G4 Deals, 11.18. Used 15" 700 MHz Combo, $243; 800 MHz, $280; 1 GHz, $380; 17" 1.25 GHz SuperDrive, $400; 20", $549.
  • Best MacBook Air Deals, 11.18. New 1.6 80, $1,150 after rebate; 120, $1,744 a/r; 1.8 80, $1,794 a/r; 1.6 128 SSD, $2,150; used 1.8 64 SSD, $1,500; new, $2,200 a/r; 1.86, $2,398 a/r.
  • Best Mac OS X 10.0-10.3 Deals, 11.18. Mac OS X 10.0.3, $30; 10.1, $20; 10.2, $60; 10.3 CD, DVD, $100; CD, $119; 10.1 Server, unlimited users, $58; 10.3 Server, unlimited, $150.
  • Best iPod nano Deals, 11.17. Refurb 3G/4 GB, $79; new, $114; refurb 8 GB, $99; new, $125; 3G/8 GB, from $134; 16 GB, from $189. Prices include ground shipping.
  • Best Titanium PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.17. Used 1 GHz with SuperDrive, $478 plus shipping.
  • Best Xserve deals, 11.17. Used G4/1 GHz, $999; G5/2 GHz, $1,288; new 2.0 4-core Xeon, $1,900; refurb 3.0 4-core, $2,599; 2.8 GHz, $2,499; 3.0 8-core, $3,499.
  • More deals in our archive.
<go to the Lite Side index>


Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2008 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.

  • Mac of the Day: 'Yikes!' Power Mac G4, Aug. 1999 - The only Power Mac G4 with PCI graphics was built on a modified G3 motherboard.
  • List of the Day: SuperMacs is for those using Umax SuperMac clones.
  • Channels
     Power Macs
     iMac Channel
     iBook/PowerBook
     MacInSchool
    Computer Profiles
     iMac
     Power Mac
     PowerBook/iBook
     Performas
     Mac Clones
     Older Macs
     LisaNeXT
    Editorial Archive
    Mac Daniel's Advice
    Email Lists
    LEMchat (uses AIM)
    Online Tech Journal
    Consumer
     advice, reviews
     guides, deals
    Software
    Apple History
    Best of the Web
     Best of the Mac Web surveys
    Miscellaneous Links
     Best Used Mac Buys
     Used Mac Dealers
     Video Cards
     Mac OS X
     Mac Linux
     Macspeak
     RAM Upgrades
    About Low End Mac
    Site Contacts

    Open Link

    Support LEM

    Affiliates

    The Apple Store
    .mac
    iTunes Store
    Club Mac
    MacMall
    MacResQ
    ExperCom
    eBay
    Amazon.com
    PayPal
    PCMall
    PC Zone
    Crucial Memory

    Our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For detailed price quotes and advertising information, please contactat BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.