iMac freezes, then makes loud noise

omiof5

I'm one of those that didn't have the "loud" noise, but every other symptom was pretty much the same as stated. For our case, it was a combination of hdd, and overheating that seemed to be the culprit.

cheers

Jason

Try these:

Reset PRAM

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

Reset SMC.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1543

I am recently experiencing something similar as well. Our late 24" 2008 imac 3.06Ghz with 4GB Ram is now frequently freezing and requiring a hard reset. I initially thought it was something to do with Snow Leopard and reverted back from it to regular 10.5.8 Leopard twice now. Also sometimes when resetting after rebooting it is still frozen. I can move the mouse but clicking any buttons or presses on the keyboard does nothing. Usually these freezes will occur after performing a processor intensive task (ie processing photos in lightroom, or watching a video on youtube, etc). I am noticing however that the casing is considerably hotter than what I've noticed before. I have tried resetting pram, smc with no luck. I did notice this all start a few weeks before initially upgrading to Snow leopard (I thought it might have fixed it by upgrading, but it seemed to be worse under Snow Leopard) I have logged an applecare ticket and am hoping to get in touch with support tomorrow.

Hi Jason.Lena, I have exactly the same issue as you have and exactly as you describe it. My iMac is a 2,66 from 2008 with 4GB Ram. I have reeinstalled Snow Leopard from scratch and started to scan my harddisk with TechTool Deluxe this morning, if the scan is Ok, I will check the memory overnight and monitor my hardware with HardwareMonitor in the next days until the next crash with hope to see something. By the way I don't have any loud noise.

Heya jbboret,

I forgot to mention that we don't have the loud noises either. It just freezes. I spoke to applecare support this morning (the lady was quite nice and very apologetic that I was experiencing this problem) and she immediately booked me into a genius bar appointment later on today. So I will have to pack it up and take it in (pain in the a$$.. wish they had onsite service support like I had with my dell notebook but oh well..) and see how it goes from there. Will keep you posted with updates.

cheers

Jason

Just an update, got a call from the apple store, after waiting 4 days now.. and the tech said that they had troubles with my machine after performing the repair (I think he mentioned the hard drive threw some errors after running another AHT overnight). So rather than messing around with it, they're going to give me a new machine. Now just to see what exactly "new" means.. whether a refurbed 24" or a newer 27".

Jason, I hope you're still reading this thread. If so, I would like to know if the loud sound was a mechanical noise? I now know personally of four 24" iMacs that intermittently freeze, make an extremely loud noise (mechanical sound like something beating inside the case), and have to be turned off by holding the button down. Then everything is fine until the next time it happens. If this sounds like your problem, will you please post? Apple assures me that I'm the only one who has complained about this problem. Uh, yeah.......

hi, i've got exactly the same problem with my macbook (model from feb. 2009).
did you find anything out about that issue?

I know personally of four 24" iMacs (all in my town) built in 2008 that have had this same problem--3 were bought in the same week in July 2008 from the same store. Two of those (mine included) were replaced in December 2008 and the third continues to have the same issue.

According to my research, this model was sold through March 2009 BTW. My replacement iMac has been doing exactly the same thing for more than 6 months and I'm still getting the runaround from Apple. I have video documentation for three of the computers and the owner of the fourth has promised to document the next episode.

The problem is sporadic and appears to go away once the computer is forcibly turned off and restarted. I suspect most people assume they have done something wrong or have a software conflict. T'ain't so -- this is clearly a manufacturing/quality control issue.

My current iMac (the Dec 08 replacement) has been at the Genius Bar multiple times--they've reproduced the problem (and the noise was loud enough literally to frighten the person who opened the store the next morning). Everyone agrees it's mechanical--they've replaced two fans--they've replaced the logic board. No one (including Apple engineering) admits to hearing about the problem before.

Last July the Apple Store Service Manager promised a computer replacement if there were any more problems, but that promise has evaporated. I will continue to work with the Apple Product Specialists because I have no other options at this point. And, yes, everything I own is covered by AppleCare -- doesn't make a difference.

I've been a consistent and loyal Apple customer since my first purchase of an Apple II computer. I know that times and policy change, but I am just beyond disheartened at the way the company is refusing to acknowledge and take care of this problem.

Jason, thanks so much for responding. I will keep my fingers crossed that you get a new 27" model because I think a refurbished 24" is highly likely to end up with the same problem. I didn't have a hard time getting the first one replaced, either, but have continually hit stone walls on this second one.

Re the volume of the noise, the fourth iMac I mentioned belongs to my adult daughter and has a serial number that is one digit off my iMac that Apple replaced last December. The noise on hers apparently is much less loud than my two have been. She didn't realize it was a problem at first because she assumed that one of my grandchildren's games or music had caused the problem. But when three out of three 24" iMacs sold from the same store in the same week fail in the same way......kinda makes one wonder. ;-}

If I were you, I would push VERY hard for anything except a 24" model--think it could save you a lot of frustration in the future. I truly wish you wonderful luck on the replacement and hope you continue to receive such nice treatment from your AppleCare rep.

Lars, I'm so sorry -- I didn't read your post carefully enough and I just realized that you asked about a MacBook. Wish I could help, but the only problems I know about personally are with 24" iMacs from 2008.

I have been experiencing this exact problem for a while now. I had this problem periodically on Leopard, but since I've upgraded to Snow Leopard is has been more frequent. Sometimes I will go a couple of weeks between these episodes. Sometimes it will happen several times the same day. It seems to depend on how much I tax the computer. I have several videos of it doing this (always after it freezes).

Symptoms:
Computer is frozen.
Areas of the screen flicker to different colors.
(sometimes) Violently-loud high-pitched noise, sounds almost like electricity arcing.

I haven't yet brought it back to the Apple store as I need it daily for work. I did run the Apple Hardware Tests, and it came up with nothing. :/

Sounds like you may be under AppleCare or warranty? If you haven't started a case file with Apple, I would strongly advise doing so even if you don't want to take the computer in. Both product specialists and techs have recommended this to me; it gives Apple a tracking point if the computer must be taken in later.

Hopefully you and InternetComplete just have some kind of software issue related to Snow Leopard (I haven't upgraded yet) and a solution will be coming in at some point.