Macbook Air intermittent freezing problem

skinski74 wrote:
today it started to overheat and freeze again.

It really sounds like you should send it back to Apple or at least call their support number. I have had some bad Macs in the past, but nothing as bad as what you describe. Most of them have worked flawlessly.

I really hope they are working on a fix for this problem. It's becoming a real problem to use the MBA. I wonder if it will be a hardware issue or can be fixed via software update?

If it's hardware I think Apple will be in a bit of trouble.

I think it's fixed but more testing required:

http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macbookairsmcupdate10.html

Mine says:

Your computer's SMC firmware is up-to-date with version 1.0 of the MacBook Air SMC Firmware Update.

No cookies for me. 😟 Still overheating tough.

By the way, my SMC version is 1.23f9 (System Profiler > Hardware). Way ahead of 1.0, which Apple says it was posted yesterday unless it is another SMC that I'm not aware of.

Message was edited by: Deny Dias (BR)

I download the the update but it told me I was already up to date.

Fingers crossed for a fix soon.

But cheers anyway dstracey.

Well, da SMC 1.0 thing didn't work at all, our MBAs still freeze, but at least the media is spreading our word:

Apple Insider: "MacBook Air software update targets ongoing freezing issues"
http://tinyurl.com/2dnnqx

Let's hope that Apple can fix this soon.

I've been running OK all week and then this has just started happening tonight. Not doing much - reading email, surfing, playing youtube - but fan on and computer got hotter - to around 69 C - then the stuttering/freezing started roughly every 10 secs, and then one core shut down completely. After about 5 mins, temp had reduced, and core started up again.

Seems to happen regardless of battery or plugged-in. SMC Update reports that I already have 1.0 installed.

This is annoying !!!

Hmm, here's another data point.

If I have the MBA on my lap, or on top of a cushion on my lap to make it a better height and to be honest to stop my legs burning after prolonged use, or on top of the duvet, then it gets hot, fan comes on full, eventually starts freezing/stuttering and one cpu core goes offline.

If I move it about 2 feet onto a solid wooden table, and carry on doing exactly the same set of activities - TM backing up, email, surfing, youtube - then the temp starts to drop, the fan spins down, the freezing/stuttering stops and normality returns.

Think - interesting. Lets experiment. On top of cushion - symptoms return. Back to table - symptoms go away. Stretch out on sofa with MBA on the sofa fabric - symptoms return. Put on hardwood floor - symptoms go away.

I'm detecting a pattern here, in my case anyway. MBA does not like soft furnishings !!!

A

I have the exact same problem, it freezes when I am doing video mainly or downloading something from the web, I also noticed that the kernel_task will skyrocket to an inmense use of CPU, the only way to get it back to normal is to close the lid, waith for 1 minute, reopene it, close video apps and voila....
This is crazy., I tried it with my old macbook with the same apps and it never happens. Any idea if Apple is taking action on this?

Baron15 wrote:
Hmm, here's another data point.

If I have the MBA on my lap, or on top of a cushion on my lap to make it a better height and to be honest to stop my legs burning after prolonged use, or on top of the duvet, then it gets hot, fan comes on full, eventually starts freezing/stuttering and one cpu core goes offline.

If I move it about 2 feet onto a solid wooden table, and carry on doing exactly the same set of activities - TM backing up, email, surfing, youtube - then the temp starts to drop, the fan spins down, the freezing/stuttering stops and normality returns.

Think - interesting. Lets experiment. On top of cushion - symptoms return. Back to table - symptoms go away. Stretch out on sofa with MBA on the sofa fabric - symptoms return. Put on hardwood floor - symptoms go away.

I'm detecting a pattern here, in my case anyway. MBA does not like soft furnishings !!!

A

No offense, but if you're serious this should be painfully obvious. Any soft surface causes the MBA to sink and block the vents. If those vents are blocked even though the fan is running, it's not getting cool enough.

Dias,

I'm from São Paulo, too, and I don't use air conditioning at home.

I was getting the very same issues from you: a very nice machine at work, under controlled climate, and lots of problems regarding flash videos at home.

The SMC Update didn't worked for me: it said my machine was already up to date. And my fan were running on 6200 rpm all the time.

I did a SMC reset (turning off the machine and powering it up with the left section Shift Control Option keys pressed, waiting 5 seconds and then powering up the machine again).

After that, my fans are runing about 2500rpm, even with Safari open with 3 or 4 tabs.

I noticed that playing a 6 minute video didn't raise the cpu usage too much like before. And I did notice that if go to another tab on Safari while playing the video, the cpu usage will lower.

This behaviour leads me to something we all already knew: Adobe Flash Player is a cpu hog, no doubt there. However, the problem is with exhibition of graphics, which grows so much that forces the SMC cut the power on one of the cpu cores.

I'm sure that the graphics drivers are part of this issue, alongside the flash player. Let's hope that both will be update ASAP.

Question: are you having those freezing issues just with flash video? What about hi-res quicktime or itunes videos?

Regards

I can say that this is certainly a hardware issue. I'm on my third Air, and this one works wonderfully. I was so incredibly frustrated with the core shut-downs and overheating. i've been pushing this new air to the limit, and it never overheats, and the core never shuts down. It has to be an issue with thermal grease application, or other defect, because it is a night-and-day difference.

I couldn't even connect an external monitor without my last air shutting down a core after a few minutes. Now I can run all day long without a wimper.

If your Air is doing this, take it back to Apple. I almost gave up on the Air, but I'm super-glad that I didn't.

My airbook was Produced at Factory W8 Shanghai China Jan 4th 2008.

Whats happened with mine is that the curser freezes, then unfreezes, then freezes.

Mine AB has version 1.23f9 too and I don't need the update either.

Hi,
This is good news.
So when and where was yours made? This might help.

Type the serial number into:
http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html

and let us know.
Cheers
Tracy