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Level 1

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Hard drive beachball problem for the 17"

Ok, so I know that there is already a few posts about this issue, (including the very large 96 page one) but I wanted to start a post for those of us with a 17" MBP that are having the same issues.

I was on the phone to a senior technician at Apple (Australia) today for about 2 hours trying to sort out this problem. Firstly he was a bit hazy about the issue to begin with assuming it was a RAM paging issue. Seriously, this thing has 4gb of ram, I think you would have to running so much stuff at once for it to legitimately run out of ram. I'm a web developer/designer so I can push the machine reasonable hard sometimes but I get the beachballs even when I only have safari and mail open. This is the fastest (stock) laptop Apple have ever produced, surely it can handle a bit of stick.

So I suggested it could be the hard drive/firmware etc and mentioned about the large amount of people on here with the exact same issue. After looking into some internal documentation he noted that there was indeed similar problems happening around the place but he seemed convinced that this only applied to 13" and 15" models and that the 17" never got the 1.7 firmware update.

After looking at the firmware page: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1237 it seems maybe he's right. I can't see my boot ROM version there anywhere (MBP52.008E.B05) The mid 2009 model 17" isn't on that list.

Whilst my friend at Apple is reasonably sure that my issue is software related and wants me to watch the console when Im having the freezing, I'm positive that I'm having the exact same problem as the 13 and 15s.

Can other people with 17" MBP that are having the same issue please post here so that we can begin to build a case for Apple to acknowledge the problem for our model too? Please add whether you have installed a 3rd party hdd or whether you are having the problem despite only having the stock hdd like me.

Thanks guys.

17" Macbook Pro 2.8ghz 4gb ram, Mac OS X (10.6.1)

Posted on Sep 16, 2009 5:53 AM

51 replies

Sep 28, 2009 8:55 AM in response to soniktrooth

I've just purchased the 17" macbook pro on Sunday (5400rpm HD) and immediately started having the spinning beachball problem. My 3 yr. old 15" old macbook pro runs more stable than this new computer. HDAPM fix has not helped in my case.

Sep 29, 2009 2:23 PM in response to blackmondo

How did you get it to install in Snow Leopard? I do not have a bin directory.

I too suffer from this annoying tick tock, beachball escapade. It's the most annoying sound. 500GB WD Scorpio Blue.

Oct 1, 2009 8:04 AM in response to soniktrooth

Just a quick note to say that the HDAPM fix is still working great for me.

I installed it one week ago, and I've had no beachballs since then. I'm a happy camper here!

To BennieBlanco: You should be able to just create the folder in /usr/local if it isn't already there.

Oct 1, 2009 9:07 PM in response to ernst lanzer

fantastic ernst. glad I'm not the only one this has helped. I still haven't seen any freezes myself. 🙂

Oct 1, 2009 11:23 PM in response to blackmondo

My new MBP 15" with a 320GB 7200rpm arrives tomorrow. (Friday the 2nd). I have downloaded HDAPM to my Powerbook G4 which will be the source computer for Migration Assistant. If I start seeing the same issues that you guys are talking about, I am going to try running this and see if it fixes the problem.

I have to say though, this feels SO UN-APPLE LIKE to me! :o/ Usually when I get a new Mac I can't wait for it to arrive! After I ordered this one last weekend, I just happened to check into the MBP forums and started reading all of these very distressing reports of spinning beach balls, clicking and beeping drives etc. I felt like I was reading a Windows/PC forum and NOT a Macintosh forum! Needless to say, I am more anxious than excited about tomorrow, which kind of ***** actually! Especially when I just got done laying out close to 3 grand on a laptop!

Thanks in advance to those who first posted the reference to this HDAPM thing! If it solves the problem for even half of those that are currently afflicted, you guys are heroes!

Now the big question is... WHERE THE HECK IS APPLE IN ALL OF THIS?????

Brand new machines with serious performance issues IS NOT COOL! Apple's silence is insulting to say the least!

We don't pay these premium prices for their hardware to be getting PC level reliability and customer service!

Oct 1, 2009 11:33 PM in response to Sir Macsalot

Hey, here's hoping you don't get a machine that gives you any grief, although it really seems like a lot of people are having trouble.

As for HDAPM, there's a good chance that it may not help at all if you do have problems, since the only data I have on success is from a couple of people with the 17 inch MacBook Pro. Guys with the 15 inch models seem to be having some success with downgrading the EFI firmware to 1.6, which is talked about in the mega (over 100 page) topic.

Again hopefully you don't have to do ANY of this stuff. Couldn't agree more about how un-mac like this problem is. It does sound like Apple is highly aware of it though, so a fix should be coming some time you'd think. The MacBook Pros are some of Apple's flagship computers, so it would be insane if they don't release a patch to fix this mess.

Good luck!

Oct 2, 2009 12:08 AM in response to blackmondo

Thanks! I hope that I don't have any issues, but if I do, I will definitely be posting my experiences on this forum!

Cheers. :o)

pahayden

Level 1

0 points

Oct 2, 2009 10:56 AM in response to soniktrooth

I've been keeping my eye on this problem since it first started to be reported, and I am suffering the same problem on my 17" MBP. I get beachballing a few times a day, it's most noticeable when watching video using Quicktime, but it also happens in iTunes, Safari and Word. I tried the HDAPM fix today and was keeping everything crossed in the hopes that it would work, but had the beachballing and 30 second freeze in Quicktime pretty much straight away, so it looks like that fix doesn't work for everyone. I am running Snow Leopard, so I don't know if that affects anything.

This is a really gutting situation and I don't know how Apple have let it drag on for so long. I have had so many different Mac computers and been very happy with them up until now, even recommending them to anyone who will listen... I really wish I had stuck with my 2008 MBP now, that was running perfectly.

I tried to report the problem to Apple, but they were ignorant that it even existed and the Apple Care rep I was speaking to starting to go through the usual basic fix routine of things to try, so I just gave up. I've also read every page of the massive 100+ page thread that relates to beachballing on 15" & 13" 2009 MBP's and from my own observations of my problem think that it is a related issue (although users on that thread take offence if anyone suggests it and I saw how arrogant some users were to blackmondo when he posted on the thread).

Come on Apple, pull your finger out and sort this. PLEASE...

Oct 2, 2009 10:56 PM in response to pahayden

I'm sorry to hear your problems did not get resolved with HDAPM. Mine did, but I have'nt "stressed" the system yet, so it might be lurking in the shadows. Surely Apple must provide a better solution to the problem than us having to run the hdd power saving in "do not sleep" mode?
Just a note on HDAPM. I did not see an improvement straight away. I rebooted the machine and since that I have not seen the "30 second beachball of doom".
I was going to upgrade to SL today, but I might put it off until later since you are having troubles with your mac.

sjprg

Level 1

0 points

Oct 2, 2009 11:16 PM in response to ernst lanzer

I downloaded this fan control. Get the MBP version. This lets you see and adjust the fan speeds and sensor temps. When I executed the app it showed the CPU and the GPU temp at idle as being 58c which I beleive the Intel limit is 60c. The bottom line is that even with the fans runnings at 5500rpm the idle was 44c.As soon as I loaded a 35Mb Tif in Photoshop the temps jumped to 62c. Maybe the app is not reading the sensor temp accuratly, BUT at about 70c the MBP beachballs and requires a power off shutdown to recover. I'll talk to Tech support tommorrow and se what they say.

http://www.derman.com/iMac-Fan-Control

Oct 3, 2009 1:05 AM in response to pahayden

nice to see someone acknowledge the rather abrupt (and pretty argumentative) response I got in that megathread. I guess maybe I got a bit annoyed initially that a few in that topic seemed outright dismissive to anyone who suggested the 17 inch MBPs have a similar problem. I don't see what's so different about the problem we're seeing here, even though I acknowledge that we never had the option of upgrading to EFI Firmware 1.7. 🙂

I also think too that even though some of the guys in that megathread have done some stellar work in debugging the issue, we're all pretty much in the dark about WHY these macs keep doing this. It really seems like the EFI Firmware across ALL of these mid 2009 MBPs is just buggy in general.

One thing too, my mac wouldn't even boot this morning, which freaked me out a bit, but I zapped the PRAM and it came straight back up again. More flakiness I don't need 😟

I haven't been in touch with Apple about any of this myself: A. because I've been stupidly busy with work and NEED my computer, and B. because I've read so much on these forums about how Apple goes through the standard procedures when trying to debug it. Surely a better response is "yes, we acknowledge there's an issue, we're very sorry, and we're working around the clock to fix it".

You'd think.....

pahayden

Level 1

0 points

Oct 4, 2009 1:27 AM in response to soniktrooth

I've been hanging on in for Apple to fix this, but the fact that they aren't even acknowledging that there's a problem doesn't look good for a solution anytime soon. I use my MBP for work and can't do without it and I was willing to be patient and wait for this to get sorted, but I can't keep using a computer that is not reliable. I've ordered a replacement computer and as soon as it arrives and I transfer all my data then this buggy 17" MBP is getting the elbow and going back to Apple.

Oct 7, 2009 1:35 PM in response to soniktrooth

Hi,

I reported this in a previous, more general thread.

Having the same freeze issue. I have the Seagate 7200RPM 320GB drive (stock) and 4GB RAM. Freezes for 25-30 seconds several times a day. I can tell the length because the clock often stops along with everything else. I travel all the time so I have not had time to go to Apple with it hoping it would magically get solved.

Too bad because other than that, this is by far the best notebook I've had.

Tried hdapm but still get the freezes although I don't have the startup script running, so maybe the setting gets changed back on reboot? No way of polling the setting I suppose.

Oct 10, 2009 5:27 PM in response to soniktrooth

I had similar symptoms and went to the genius bar but no help. I then discovered something in the Activity Monitor called "Fontworker" that took up 99.9% or the CPU resources for short amounts of time. I use FrontExporer to manage fonts and discovered it has a tool to "Clean System Font Folder". This basically removed any Non Apple provided fonts from the system fonts and dumps them on your desktop. I must have installed those many years ago and they just stayed with me over time.. Anyway, that fixed it for me. No more beachballs.

ammorsy

Level 1

5 points

Oct 11, 2009 4:38 PM in response to soniktrooth

My uMBP 17 with 5400 rpm hitachi 500 GB HDD, is having the same exact problem
Beach balling for 10 seconds, with iTunes pause.
This is very annoying, since i'm buying one of the best laptops in the market, and it's doing that ! I can't beleive that !
Apple has to do something about it.
They fixed the 7200 rpm HDD problem, but a new problem appeared in the 5400.
WHAT'S WRING WITH APPLE?

Hard drive beachball problem for the 17"