Snow Leopard freezes over time

Thanks Guru Evi! Your script seems to be doing the trick. Hopefully whatever the problem is with DirectoryServices will be fixed in 10.6.2.

I hope so too but I submitted a bug report with the fix and Apple just started communicating with me requesting samples of the process while it crashes so it might have to be a quick 10.6.3 (given they're already on 10.6.2 beta 3).

I appreciate your effort but am sorry to report this does not resolve the problem for me. I have looked high and low for a solution but nothing I try permanently fixes the problem. Reboot is the best fix. I notice when I sleep my Mac that if Parallels was running when the laptop is resumed that the clock is off in Windows. Running Windows time update always fails. I have been unable to find any reason for this. Correspondingly poor performance returns very quickly.

Something else I've noticed is that besides my mouse pointer getting "stuck" as it glides across the screen (in MacOS as as Windows -- I'm using a wireless - not bluetooth - mouse), that if I repeatedly click quickly on the Windows "start" button that Parallels doesn't see every click. Clicking slowly it does. This must mean something! CPU is getting interrupted by something!

The best solution is to shutdown Windows, reboot Mac, restart Parallels/Windows. Sooner or later the problem returns.

I've tried disabling Spotlight. We'll see if that helps. I do not anticipate that it will.

My brother's Macbook Pro was locking up (freezing) at random times after upgrading from Leopard to Snow Leopard. He reset the System Management Controller and his problems have disappeared.

Intel based MacBook and MacBook Pro: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1806
Intel based iMac: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1543

I've been having this issue since upgrading a late '08 MacBook Pro to Snow Leopard on the day it came out.

I'll be working and everything will freeze. Sometimes the grey screen comes up telling me to press the restart button, but it usually doesn't. It won't come out of the freeze on its own, and only a hard restart solves the problem. This can happen several times a day.

Since my system dates back to Tiger, I did a clean install and only migrate the applications as I need them. There has been a noticeable speed improvement, but the freeze issue has returned.

Jeff,

The restart screen means you may be experiencing a Kernel Panic as seen and described in Apple doc. HT1392. If not, disregard.

Bad or incompatible RAM is, more often then not, the cause of most Kernel Panics. It could also just need to be reset.

Here's the most used site for Resolving Kernel Panics. Please do all the steps in order, even if you don't think you need to do a certain step.

Here is a great MacFixIt article.

 Good Luck! DALE

Happy Mac User - please thank your brother! - I followed your link this morning and so far all's well. I would have expected at least one full system crash by now. Although every key I press may be taking me closer to the next one.....

I highly recommend people think twice before upgrading to Snow Leopard! I am regretting being so rash to install it....why do they do this to us? I have had to shut down and re-start my computer 3 times in less than an hour. Now I want to figure out how to uninstall it. I am soooo distraught! I wish I hadn't messed with a good thing. Its ridiculous that people are suggesting us to create a new login id? Really? Come on people....

don't get angry - it won't help!!

please read the post a few above - it seems to have solved it for me ... (shouldn't have to I know, but it sure beats trying to revert to an older version)

Hi Hilary in Tokyo;

Generally, the recommendation to create a new user is for troubleshooting purposes. If you have a problem that might be either the operating system or something in your user account, it is a very quick way to determine which of these is at fault. If you create the new user account and the problem is still there that indicates the problems is with the system. If on the other hand the problem is not there in the new account then the problem is something wrong in the old account. Hence being told to create a new account is a valid method to help someone so don't knock it.

Allan

Just want to add my voice of woe over Snow Leopard freezes. Long-time happy mac user and am experiencing multiple daily freezes on things as simple as changing users. Total drag. Running an Intel Core Duo imac. I do hope an update comes soon to solve these issues. Ran diagnostics and found nothing. Repaired permissions, etc. Apple - please listen to us and fix these big problems!

Hi Daniel Jenkins;

You are not talking to Apple here but other users just like yourself.

If you wish to let Apple know about your problems, please use the Apple Feedback Page.

Allan

After removing everything, reinstalling everything, resetting all possible SMC, RAMs etc ... There is one thing that appears to be consistent with the crashes I am experiencing. I have never had a single crash while my external FW800 Harddisk was physically disconnected. On the contrary I have seen at least one crash a day, on days it is connected. I don't know how to prove this though. The logs are totally empty.

Has anyone done a Clean Install of Snow Leopard yet, than migrated their files, folders, settings and apps from Time Machine? If so has your system been stable now? No lock ups or freezes where your forced to do a hard reboot?

After experiencing daily kernel panics and freezes, I did a completely clean install of Snow Leopard and restored my files, but not applications, from Time Machine. Unfortunately, restoring the documents also restores the application support and preferences files in your System folder, so I spent considerable time post-install removing anything that wasn't related to software that I considered critical. I don't use any system hacks and, other than 1Password and ClickToFlash, most of the software that I use doesn't directly affect non-preference or application support areas of the System folder. I re-installed my critical software as I needed them.

The kernel panics and freezes continued and I was never able to figure out a consistent pattern, other then they frequently happened when iTunes was open. Digging through system logs revealed some interesting information, but nothing that pointed to a single culprit.

Strangely, after installing the recent iTunes update the problems have stopped. I spent several hours using my laptop both last night and the previous night and didn't have a single issue, whereas before I'd have to hard restart several times each evening. We'll see if the pattern repeats.