nashikens

Q: iMac: graphics freeze, mouse moves

iMac early 2009

iMac9,1

3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

8GB 1067MHz DDR3

ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB

OS X 10.10

 

Seemingly without pattern, my iMac will freeze but the mouse pointer will still freely move. I have to hold the power button to force a shut down. Sometimes it will start up fine after this, sometimes it will not. When booted in Safe Mode I have not experienced the issue. The first occurrence happened on El Capitan. I have erased the hard drive via Disk Utility from a bootable Yosemite USB (then partitioned it in 3 sections) and installed OS X 10.10 from the App Store via USB. I then updated via the App Store to 10.10.5. I cannot seem to force the error. There is NO software installed other then what is included with Yosemite.

 

I suspect the graphics card fans/vents are clogged with dust.

 

What should I try to pinpoint the issue?

iMac (24-inch Early 2009), OS X Yosemite (10.10)

Posted on May 23, 2016 8:38 AM

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Q: iMac: graphics freeze, mouse moves

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  • by nashikens,Helpful

    nashikens nashikens Jun 21, 2016 6:57 AM in response to nashikens
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 21, 2016 6:57 AM in response to nashikens

    I pulled the "ATIRadeonX2000.kext" file onto the desktop (deleting it from it's original location), restarted in Normal mode and ...it's working. Obviously, there's graphics latency now. Is there a way to correctly address this issue?

  • by nashikens,

    nashikens nashikens Jun 29, 2016 6:40 AM in response to macjack
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 29, 2016 6:40 AM in response to macjack

    Anything else I can try? I'm stuck now using it without the ATIRadeonx2000.kext which is glitchy at best.

  • by macjack,

    macjack macjack Jun 29, 2016 7:35 AM in response to nashikens
    Level 9 (55,709 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 29, 2016 7:35 AM in response to nashikens

      [failed]    com.apple.ucupdate.plist

      [failed]    com.apple.watchdogd.plist

    You seem to have Android and Google software, which can be problematic on Mac. Did you install them, or port them over with migration assistant? I know you said you did a clean install (erase and install) but those are not normally part of the default operating system. I'd remove them.

  • by nashikens,

    nashikens nashikens Jul 27, 2016 4:56 PM in response to macjack
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 27, 2016 4:56 PM in response to macjack

    I didn't add them. The install is fresh from the App Store too.

    I can remove them. I doubt they're causing the graphics issue though, don't you think?

  • by macjack,

    macjack macjack Jul 28, 2016 6:45 AM in response to nashikens
    Level 9 (55,709 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 28, 2016 6:45 AM in response to nashikens

    Your problem isn't a graphics issue, there is no indication of a graphics card failure. Your Mac is just freezing. Because it happens infrequently it is difficult to troubleshoot. I wouldn't worry about it too much but the next time it happens note the time. After you boot back up check in Console for activity at that time.

  • by nashikens,

    nashikens nashikens Jul 28, 2016 7:59 AM in response to macjack
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 28, 2016 7:59 AM in response to macjack

    I've done that. At least 4 times after restarting after a crash and the Console shows nothing. Literally the same as if I had jut randomly held the power button and shut down the iMac for no reason.

     

    Looking for anything specific?

     

    There's some mention of bad kext files causing issues like this on the net.

  • by nashikens,

    nashikens nashikens Jul 31, 2016 11:55 AM in response to nashikens
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 31, 2016 11:55 AM in response to nashikens

    With this being a clean install, doesn't it HAVE to be a hardware issue? Wouldn't a clean install (erasing the drive prior to formatting/install) rid the system of any software issues?

  • by macjack,

    macjack macjack Jul 31, 2016 12:41 PM in response to nashikens
    Level 9 (55,709 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 31, 2016 12:41 PM in response to nashikens

    It does sound like a graphics card issue.

    I wrote that in my first post but we did troubleshooting to rule out software,

    macjack wrote:

     

    It does doesn't sound like a graphics card issue.

     

    I wrote that in my first post but we did troubleshooting to rule out software, I meant to say,"It doesn't sound like a software issue." I had graphics card on the brain.

  • by nashikens,

    nashikens nashikens Jul 31, 2016 5:04 PM in response to macjack
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 31, 2016 5:04 PM in response to macjack

    My frustration is that with out the proper kept files it's graphically horrible. With them, it freezes VERY frequently.

    Maybe be a new graphics catd is the only fix. Though at the current prices I can't really justify the expense on an early 09 iMac

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