Snow Leopard freezes over time

If you have not run Disk Utility and used +Repair Disk Permissions+ since upgrading to Snow Leopard, you may want to do that as a first step.

Then, to further isolate your problem, create a new admin user account in System Preferences Accounts pane.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/8235.html

Log out and log in to the new account. You will be using default user preference settings and only standard processes will be running in the background (unless you installed third-party software that runs at the system level). Try whatever causes the problem in the new account, and note if it recurs.

I have done this for the several minor issues I ran into, and in the new post-upgrade account, there was never a problem. Then, I did some more detailed trouble-shooting in my pre-SL user account to figure out what was causing the problem (usually a preference file that I had to trash).

I installed Snow Leopard yesterday and my screen freezes more than five times in an hour.
I ran disc utiltity from the CD for permissions repair : the problem still exists.
Even connecting an USB stick and copying a file to my powerbook makes the screen freeze.

I have the similar problem, but I know that it's my HDD causes it. I even hear that it spins up while system is frozen for 5-7 seconds. So I'm on my way to warranty shop to get HDD replaced.

Did you try creating a fresh admin user account and trying the same things while logged into that account, as explained in my previous post?

Also, for +Repair Disk Permissions+, you should run that while booted normally, not while booted from the installation disc. +Repair Disk+ (which is completely different) should be used while booted from the installation disc.

This happens to me as well. I'd like to avoid creating new accounts and undertaking the level of troubleshooting that has been proposed here--even if it is helpful. I've had my Mac for over a year now, and that kind of involved troubleshooting feels like a return to Windows that I just can't stomach. I switched because I didn't want to do my own tech support anymore.

I suppose I could try to call Apple, or just wait for updates, but right now I wish I had not upgraded.

Creating a new user account is no big deal. Mac OS X is designed as a multi-user system. In fact, I have another user account that I used when I doing something specific that needs a different setup of the interface. Each user account has its own set of user preference files, so it is like using a different Mac when you log into a different user account. I also have another user account that is called "Test User" (short name "Test") that I keep with the default settings. If something doesn't work right in my usual account, I log in there to see it things are working right with default settings.

Creating a new user account is a normal function. You can also delete user accounts as easily as you create them. It is not "involved troubleshooting." The beauty of the Mac and Mac OS X is that you CAN do basic troubleshooting without "tech support." You just have to learn how.

Hello,

I have the same problem with a fresh re-install of OS X.6 😟 . No idea actually.

i had the same problem with snow leopard, AFTER i connected my (epson 2400 perfection) scanner to the usb-port: while using snow leopard, there were moments when everything freezed for some secondes or minutes (like in the good old system 7/8/9 times).
after i disconnected the scanner everything was fine.

maybe you should check your third-party usb devices???

I have a similar problem. Sometimes, and it's getting more and more frequent, the machine seems to freeze. Not just one program, but everything freeze: iTunes stop playing music for a while, no mean to change virtual screen via Spaces. The mouse continues to move (with a spinning wheel of death), but that's all.

Then, say 10s later, the whole beast seems to wake up, and runs again.

This is really painful, and totally disrupts my work.

I have disabled Growl 1.1.6 (after having browsed /var/log/system.log where there are frequent messages about it), and things seem to go well now. The Growl web page says to wait for Growl 1.2 for SL.

I have downgraded to Leopard although it felt more like an upgrade after Snow Leopard! Not only did Firefox freeze continually, so did Photoshop CS4 and eventually the finder froze and I couldn't even force quit. I earn my living as an Illustrator using Photoshop, Illustator and Painter, I've always used macs and will continue to do so but I won't be so quick to upgrade the os in future.

I have noticed that the freezes that occur on my MBP (either with the rainbow cursor, or just with no reaction) coincide with the following /var/log/system.log messages:

Sep 8 20:43:36 mycomputername smartd[136]: Device: IOService:/AppleACPIPlatformExpert/PCI0@0/AppleACPIPCI/SATA@B/AppleMCP79AHCI/PR T0@0/IOAHCIDevice@0/AppleAHCIDiskDriver/IOAHCIBlockStorageDevice, failed to read SMART Attribute Data

Note that resetting the PRAM does not help in this situation. At the moment I have not found any fix.

Try checking this thread.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2084745&start=150&tstart=0

It was started r/t freezes in Quicktime, but grew as other people with random freezing issues joined the discussion.

tl;dr, it seems the EFI Firmware 1.7 update is to blame. There are instructions on how to downgrade to 1.6 here:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=8414998&posted=1#post8414998

Hope this helps.

My last experience: Just installled SL
My screen freezes only when I use the battery (no problem using a wall outlet)
SL tells me that my battery has to be replaced soon
Today I bought and installed a new battery:
The problem still exists:
The screen freezes, however I can move the cursor.

(I bought a Sl family pack:my wife (Mac Book and children don't have a problem with SL)

Thank you for the pointers.

However, a firmware downgrade is not what I want to do at the moment. I therefore
disabled the SMART daemon (smartd) for now, ie. I did the following:

sudo /Library/StartupItems/SMART/SMART stop

and I moved the SMART startup item into a newly crated "StartupItems (disabled)" folder:

cd /Library/StartupItems
sudo mv SMART ../StartupItems\ \(disabled\)

This is a temporary fix for the freezes on my computer.

Greetings,
-- rft