Mac Pro ATI 2600 Freezing Issue

I have to say I have seen this one as well. At first I tried different mouse, keyboard and such, and trying different USB ports to see if it would go away.

I wish I could say it was video driver or something. For now, keep a copy of OS X cloned to another drive and backup your files. And do a disk check if you have to do a hard restart as you don't want the directory to become damaged.

I couldn't even bring up the Force Quit dialogue, which I found odd, like something was looping and not responding.

File a bug report, run Apple Hardware Test, and even check with AppleCare.
http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

This is speculation, but informed speculation:

There was a significant issue with the likely related ATI 2600HD card that shipped with the new aluminum iMacs - search under "freezing iMac" in that thread.

The cause was bad/buggy firmware for the card. It took Apple/ATI a few months before they pushed a firmware update for the card that fixed things. All other attempts to do anything to fix the freezing issue failed. This affected many, many users.

Here is an example post:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1107864&tstart=0

This was a major reason that, when I ordered my Mac Pro, I ordered the nVidia card and never considered the ATI card.

Apple Hardware Test (on your Install DVD) and Memtest are good tests, (as is iTunes sometimes) but memory errors should show in panic log and System Profile. Some RAM doesn't get along together but works fine without the different brand.

Same problem here -- a new 2.8 GHz Mac Pro, completely stock as shipped from the Apple Online Store that I've had about 2weeks.

It will freeze with the pixel breakup -- sometimes twice within 30 minutes, other times it will go a full two days. Usually when doing basic navigation within the Finder or in Safari, but otherwise random.

I've reset the SMC and zapped the PRAM multiple times, no help. I've put it on a high quality AC power conditioner & battery backup, no help. Full boot disk testing w/ Disk Utility and clean erase and re-install of the OS, no help. The RAM passes the Hardware test...

Something is obviously amiss with these -- whether the ATI 2600 card itself or the driver.

Hopefully they'll get it addressed soon !

Same problem here also, on a brand new 2.8Ghz Mac Pro. Contacted the AppleCare, they will replace my Mac Pro with a new one. Not sure the problem is hardware based thought, maybe just a ATI driver issue... will see with the next one.

Same problem. Machine freezes all the time. Screen artifacts and can only move mouse. Been living with it because I hope the 10.5.2 update will fix it. I've read elsewhere that replacement machines have the same problem.

xlr8yourmac has been tracking the problem for weeks:

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/systems/2008mac_proreports.html#storytop

Add me to the list experiencing similar issues. Using stock 2.8 (8-core), 2GB Ram and ATI video card. Leopard is current.

I was having the exact same issue, checked memory, everything - and was sure that the root cause was the 2600. However, I checked a related thread that mentioned that there may have been problems with systems that migrated from a G5 to the Intel platform. Someone mentioned they had downloaded a program called Main Menu that would cleanup preferences and settings.

So I ran that and finished, but had a crash before I could reboot. However, after the reboot when (presumably) the settings had reloaded, I haven't had a single crash. This was on Saturday morning. Since then, everything has been perfect, even when doing a bunch of different tasks (everything from browsing in Safari to FCP editing, Compressor and Shake rendering, Color grading). Have not rebooted once in that time. Feeling optimistic at this point.

An update on my Mac Pro 2.8 GHz, 2GB w/ATI2600HD--

After going 4 full days of smooth running, it happened again. Interestingly, I had no problems when doing pretty heavy Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro work, then about a hour after I was finished it froze again with the screen breakup when navigating a Finder window.

I called AppleCare this morning, they got me a same day appointment at the local Genius Bar. We tried for an hour to crash it again (no luck, of course) so I'm letting them keep until the weekend to 'stress test' it.

Hi,

Just thought I'd add my name to the list of 2600 casualties. It happened once a week ago, but let it go hoping it was a one off. But it's happened 3 times today, twice while capturing in FCP, once while scanning through a video clip in FCP.

That's when I searched the forums and found this thread.

Regards
Peter