DazzaG

Q: 24" iMac Screen Freezes since 10.6.3 update - pls help!

I don't know if this is just coincidence or not, but since updating my iMac to 10.6.3 it keeps on crashing. On 3 separate occasions today, whilst using my Mac the screen has gone completely black with thin white lines down it.....see pic below:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/6SYzhCgVYEU5TBKqRfOQ1Q?feat=directlink

The fans and hard disk are still running but it will not respond to any keyboard or mouse presses - I simply have to turn it off by holding the power button in.
It will then restart as usual.

Anyone got any ideas? Do you think that if I was to re-install Mac OS X from my original install disk it could solve the issue?

Thanks

Darren

24" intel imac 2.8Ghz, Mac OS X (10.6.3)

Posted on Mar 31, 2010 2:43 PM

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Q: 24" iMac Screen Freezes since 10.6.3 update - pls help!

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  • by CWGuide,

    CWGuide CWGuide Jan 26, 2011 9:55 AM in response to DazzaG
    Level 1 (135 points)
    Jan 26, 2011 9:55 AM in response to DazzaG
    Hey, I have the same issue. I downloaded the drivers linked to in this thread and then used kext helper to install them. The issue was that I replaced all of them instead of just the one for my driver (2400) and the two other files mentioned. On boot up I got a kernl panic and so I'm stuck for now. I have a backup from time machine so once I get my snow leopard disk back I'll restore and try again. Hopefully it'll work this time

    I'll keep you posted.
  • by yosoyrad,

    yosoyrad yosoyrad Jan 28, 2011 12:53 AM in response to nekosaur
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 28, 2011 12:53 AM in response to nekosaur
    "if anybody wants the 10.6.2 drivers for a 21" 2.0Ghz Core2Duo Intel iMac (7,1) using the ATI RadeonHD 2400 / 128MB Graphics card let me know - the whole 10.6.2 ATI driver set is only about 3MB."


    I have 10.6.6 running on my imac which is these specs, and it keeps exhibiting the weird freezing behavior described on this thread since 10.6.3. Do the drivers you have allow you to revert the video to the working 10.6.2 while keeping everything else about 10.6.6 in tact? If so, I'd LOVE if you could send me those drivers,
    Thanks,
    Sean
  • by balintalovits,

    balintalovits balintalovits Jan 28, 2011 1:45 AM in response to DazzaG
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 28, 2011 1:45 AM in response to DazzaG
    When will Apple finally be able to relase the solution with 10.6.7???
    I can not belive this....
  • by paulmacsmurf,

    paulmacsmurf paulmacsmurf Jan 28, 2011 11:20 AM in response to balintalovits
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Jan 28, 2011 11:20 AM in response to balintalovits
    Okay, I have the exact same iMac as Krzysiu Turek, and was suffering exactly the same issues, so I am eternally grateful to him for finding a solution which is working for me perfectly (although I have found using Pacifist to install the necessary files seems less disruptive to the system than using Kext Helper, and remember to repair permissions afterwards!)

    As I have AppleCare, I reported this issue to them, and it was bumped up to Tier 2 Technical Support in Ireland, who seem genuinely interested. They have asked me to create a separate partition on the Mac with a "vanilla" install of 10.6.6 and see if I can reproduce the problem there, then send them a diagnostic report. The trouble is, all I can really do in that is use Safari and Mail, and so far the problem has not recurred. I have cheated a bit by adding Klondike Forever to the mix, as usually if I play that for long enough (generally less than 12-15 games) I can guarantee the Mac will lock up, but so far it's behaving immaculately.

    I suspect, therefore, that there is some third-party file or app that interacts with the graphics drivers, that was fine with the 10.6.2 versions but is incompatible with the 10.6.3-onwards ones. But what could it be? A calibrated display profile? Parallels? A QuickTime plug-in? I guess one way to find out would be to install every bit of third-party stuff I've got one bit at a time and test it, but that could take, well, months, and 10.7 would probably be out before I had an answer! (I'm betting that Krzysiu's fix won't work in 10.7.) So, does anybody have any gut intuition as to what could be conflicting? Or, indeed is anyone running a system that has absolutely no third-party software installed, and is still getting the freezes?
  • by Vurey,

    Vurey Vurey Jan 28, 2011 11:54 AM in response to paulmacsmurf
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Jan 28, 2011 11:54 AM in response to paulmacsmurf
    Well I'd be happy to create a vanilla partition and see how it goes. I don't have much planned for the weekend anyway!

    I really hope it's not a third party issue. Finding out the cause could take ages!

    * Partitioning now *
  • by olleka,

    olleka olleka Jan 28, 2011 12:23 PM in response to paulmacsmurf
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 28, 2011 12:23 PM in response to paulmacsmurf
    Hi.
    I had very frequent freezes. With the fix no freeze for over a week.
    I would say 95% of the times the freeze would occur using Indesign. Or Photoshop. Maybe it's because I use that for 95% of my time .

    But I have also had freezing in other apps like Safari. I also had a few where the log showed something about Parallels when the freeze took place.

    One thing that is interesting is that when going back to 6.2 version the the temp of the GPU i generally showing a higher number. And with the 6.3 and up version that the freeze would occur over a specific temperature. On my Imac it was around 60 degrees.

    Regards
    Olle
  • by Vurey,

    Vurey Vurey Jan 28, 2011 12:27 PM in response to Vurey
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Jan 28, 2011 12:27 PM in response to Vurey
    Vurey wrote:
    Well I'd be happy to create a vanilla partition and see how it goes. I don't have much planned for the weekend anyway!


    Forget that. Partitioning keeps failing. Probably need to defrag but iDefrag is acting up. Anyone else fancy a go?
  • by Simon Baker,

    Simon Baker Simon Baker Jan 29, 2011 3:48 AM in response to DazzaG
    Level 1 (139 points)
    Jan 29, 2011 3:48 AM in response to DazzaG
    I have reported to both macosx feedback and the bug reporter as apple do not formally monitor these threads, just provide the free hosting service.
    I also attached a console message log showing a GPU debug report. I had an engineer email a request for me to run a system diagnostic, which I did. I had one small glitch on the diagnostic - which I believe is a Hard disk drive fan overspeed by 100 rpm. Nothing heard of since, but did append a further message log showing that elements of the system were still trying to work after the GPU debug info end.
    I have now done the ATI kext thing that KrzysiuTurek engineered (SO MANY THANKS) and all fine.
    Obviously it is a very annoying bug that does now appear to have a software solution. But it is difficult to replicate at a Genius Bar and with a possible thermal issue that upping fan speeds seems to help. As does using a new user account (I get 10 days or so before the inevitable - which may point to a cache/prefs issue???). some lucky people with Applecare also seem to have been "resolved" with internal hardware replacements.
    So I am not surprised response has been so slow, it is impossible to see how widespread this issue actually is- so more complexity/consternation - but it does not seem to be confined to just a few imacs... which is actually good news. I think.
    Great news that we have a work around (THANKS THANKS and THANKS AGAIN!), but hopefully this will get properly resolved so we do not have to attempt a hack with every update and keep these pages going!
  • by cvdgenugten,

    cvdgenugten cvdgenugten Jan 30, 2011 4:08 AM in response to paulmacsmurf
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 30, 2011 4:08 AM in response to paulmacsmurf
    @paulmacsmurf:

    Don't worry about the mac not freezing now on a clean partition on 10.6.6. It will.

    Done this everytime since mac comes out with a OS update since 10.6.3.

    It will eventually freeze, unless you install 10.6.2 or older, or replace the kexts belonging to your videocard with the ones from 10.6.2. It's only a matter of time.

    By now, by process of elimination, it should be clear it's a problem with the updates after 10.6.2
  • by Eliam,

    Eliam Eliam Jan 30, 2011 2:52 PM in response to Eliam
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 30, 2011 2:52 PM in response to Eliam
    I'd like to update you all on the status of my iMac. I have an "Early-2008" model with a 512MB Nvidia graphic card, & it was a hardware problem, so this may not be relevant to many of you.

    Just a quick recap: my iMac flickered & froze up like the way many of your machines have, to the point that I couldn't get it to boot, neither in verbose mode nor as a target disk. So I took it to the SoHo Apple Store & they replaced the graphic card. Now it has been a week since I got it back & the problem hasn't come back so far.

    I still haven't moved up to 10.6.6, but I'll probably do it before my AppleCare expires in July, just in case it is a software-related issue.

    If there's anyone out there with a Nvidia iMac & has taken it to Apple for repair, I'd be interested to know the diagnosis & outcome.
  • by Mark Quarmby,

    Mark Quarmby Mark Quarmby Jan 30, 2011 3:08 PM in response to Eliam
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jan 30, 2011 3:08 PM in response to Eliam
    My iMac has been freezing about every two weeks since I upgraded from 10.5.8 to 10.6.6, as I reported earlier. Each time I would need to wait a day or so before I could reboot it and often had to completely reinstall Snow Leopard plus the updates. Last week it did the same thing but this time I have not been able to finish reinstalling Snow Leopard. It has eaten my disc and the machine became so hot that I would have burnt my hand if I touched the top of the monitor or the back (where the vents are) for too long. After installing Snow Leopard yesterday (before I downloaded the updates), the computer froze and when trying to restart it, it started booting for a few minutes each time before it just switched off. This morning I can't even do that - it is completely dead. I have rung Apple (after finding my Applecare is valid until mid April this year) and will be taking it in this morning.
  • by CWGuide,

    CWGuide CWGuide Jan 30, 2011 3:56 PM in response to DazzaG
    Level 1 (135 points)
    Jan 30, 2011 3:56 PM in response to DazzaG
    Update: I reinstalled from time machine and replaced the drivers the proper way and am now running freeze free this problem is completely solved after rolling back the drivers!
  • by bbulmer,

    bbulmer bbulmer Jan 30, 2011 6:54 PM in response to CWGuide
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Jan 30, 2011 6:54 PM in response to CWGuide
    Replacing the Kernel Extensions did the trick for me as well.

    Reinstall from cd and then only use combo updater to get to 10.6.2.

    Then remember to only grab the one kext in particular for your graphics card. Just go to apple system profiler and find your graphics card model. Then grab from your 10.6.2 installation, the corresponding kext along with the two common kexts:
    ATIFramebuffer.kext
    ATISupport.kext

    Then update to latest OS Version, and replace them, reboot and all is well.

    Example: My system profiler stated: ATIRadeonHD2400
    So I grabbed from \System\Library\Extensions: ATI2400Controller.kext

    Good luck to all.
    _Apple, Get off your butts and include updated drivers in your next update, or at least a fix for the iMacs specifically!_
  • by userremoved,

    userremoved userremoved Dec 10, 2014 2:14 AM in response to nekosaur
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 10, 2014 2:14 AM in response to nekosaur
    @nekosaur: you refuse to blame apple and only want to blame ATI?
    That's called being blinded by love, that's called being a fanboy. Who decided to put ATI chipset in the mac in the 1st place? Who controls the softwares and updates available?
  • by Fredbug,

    Fredbug Fredbug Feb 2, 2011 7:58 AM in response to userremoved
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 2, 2011 7:58 AM in response to userremoved
    Indeed, I have a new 3,6 Ghz iMac and have the same problem.
    Apple should fix this.
    If the problem persists for such a long time, SHAME on you APPLE.
    Have allways been a macfan, but this is ridiculous.
    Since I do not have the knowledge and do not understand everything on the way to repair, I must wait for Apple,
    thanks anyway for all those who assured me that it is not my hardware but a systemproblem.
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