Power Mac G5 (Late 2004) 1.8GHz Firmware Update

applied 10.3.9 version of the update. freezes continue. mine are not associated particularly with graphics (other than the user interface, which is always what freezes although the systemuiserver process is still shown as happy in the activity monitor) and i've never had this two hour feature - my freeze-ups can occur after any time ! More often than not mine are associated with network activity, first freeze after applying update was during a wifi session with another mac. has anyone else had problems associated with network activity but using 10.4 ? If not, I might try upgrading.

andreas, bit patronising to assume i haven't done all those things don't you think ?

don't think its a totally different problem - if you look through all the discussions where late 2004 g5 problems are discussed there is in fact a wide range of circumstances but the common link is ui interface freeze-up whilst the non-ui processes chug away happily as if nothing has happened and the ui comes back some time later. i actually suspect that associating the problem with particular apps is at least partly reflecting different users habits - in other words if a punter uses quicktime a lot they are gonna see more freezes when using quicktime

del, thanks for info. key question for me though is do you access any networks ? i'm still not sure whether freezes occur because we try to access the ui or whether something has already hung which prevents system from coping with user activity, but if its the latter its surely got to be a low level system problem rather than something high level like graphics or networking. its a pity apple hasn't given more technical detail about what exactly they think they have solved. given the universal nature of the problem and wide range of experiences, not to mention the wide range of solutions previously proposed by apple i am not really too surprised that this update isn't 100% effective. if it is successful for you, congratulations !

that's useful info del, wifi is also via ethernet. generic networking discussion topics not really on this case - i think everyone who's got this model is posting under that flag and there have been networking problems raised - of course apple mention unresponsive internet connect as something they believe they have fixed - but its surprisingly difficult to find people with exactly the same set-up. i seem to be very much in a minority using dial-up networking but there must be plenty of others out there who can't get broadband cos they live out in the country...

dan, me old china, as you say he didn't know what level i was at so it was patronising to ASSUME that i knew nothing. of course by definition anyone with a late 2004 machine has been coping with these problems for months which brings me to the rest of your comments which are simply wrong.

trawl throught the many topics where people have discussed these problems and you'll find both panther and tiger well represented. the common link is the machine which is why apple have released a patch FOR THE MACHINE in BOTH 10.3 and 10.4 VERSIONS. (by the way if you forget your password and go through the apple link to reset it your reg date is also reset...)

del, came accross a discussion this morning that indicates network associated freezes probably are solved by the 10.4.3 patch

http://www.mymac.ws/mac-internet-connect-hangs-on-disconnect-os-10-3-5-8242.html

i'm downloading the 10.4.3 upgrade now - fingers crossed, maybe later today i'll finally be able to talk to my G4

dan, i think you need the sort of help you won't find on a computer bb. above you subjected me to an unsolicited rant assuring me that this model had no problems using 10.3 and now you post about your problems using 10.3...

I just got off the phone with apple and they did not know about the firmware update that was posted today. I found it when I hung up the phone.
The tech today said he was a G5 specialist and had me poking around inside the tower with a pen to reset the PMU. When I could not find it he sent me an email which stated the PMU was replaced by the SMU and you just unplug the power for 15 seconds to reset it.
He also said this was not a widespread problem.
Whatever. I did the firmware update and turned my sleep settings back on, since this was half my trouble, and we'll just wait and see.
Good luck to all!
Thanks to those at Apple who worked on this fix.

What firmware version does system profiler report for you now, once you install this upgrade? Mine still reports 5.2.2f2 as the boot rom, just as I bought it.

A bit startling!

I would certainly like to know what was wrong, and what was fixed, but I doubt we'll ever hear from someone who really knows. They're probably back working on the Intel Mac Mini, or whatever the current rumor would have it.

Boot ROM Version: 5.2.2f2 Same here.

Wow - so Apple did acknowledge the issue. I'm also gonna install the new Firmware and then turn my sleep settings back on. It's a little sad that my expensive supercomputer can't put itself to sleep without crashing!

Just so y'know, I'll be installing the 10.3.9 version of the new Firmware so I'll post feedback as to how that's worked out. It would be good if people could make sure the OS in their profile listing is accurately up to date so we know which Firmware version their reporting back on.

It'll be interesting to see if both 10.3 and 10.4 versions are as reliable as each other (if at all).

Best if luck kids!

QUICK UPDATE:

The 10.3.9 firmware update does NOT resolve the wake-from-sleep problem of the monitor color calibration profile losing its setting back to default.

Still too early to tell about anything else.

The updater ran smoothly.

So far, so good with 10.4.3 and firmware 5.2.2f5 on my SP 1.8 Powermac G5. I've been able to run slideshows from the finder and log on to the Quicktime homepage without the computer freezing up. Also, I downloaded a Quicktime trailer and watched it in full screen mode without a hitch.

I've got my fingers crossed!

Do you actually see 5.2.2f5 in System Profiler? I, like others on this thread, still see 5.2.2f2. Running 10.4.3, and Software Update seemed to run smoothly.

Oh I feel like a kid in a candy store ... don't want to get too hopeful though ... I'm going to try the firmware update now - running 10.4.3.

I'll let you know after an evening of work and setting my sleep mode back on.

Good luck to all of you others out there!