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Level 1

8 points

Macbook Stuttering, Audio Distortion

Sometimes when watching a Flash movie online, my Macbook will stutter. Not just the video, the whole computer will cease to work for a few seconds. My mouse will be stuck, and the audio will stutter.

Sometimes after the stuttering stops, the audio becomes distorted. I can fix the audio by running the Audio MIDI Setup utility and changing the Output Audio format to a different Hz setting. I can then revert to the previous setting, and the audio stays normal until the next stutter.

I've run the extended Apple Hardware Test, and it found no problems.

I'm still under Apple Care warranty, so if I can't fix it, do you think I could get it fixed at an Apple Store? I've taken it to an Apple Store recently after the hard drive crashed. I mentioned the problem then, but they didn't say anything about it, and I assumed the problem was with the hard drive. The hard drive has been replaced, and the problem still occurs.

2007 Macbook 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Mar 2, 2010 5:33 PM

Best reply

kostby

Level 4

2,946 points

Posted on Mar 3, 2010 7:48 PM

Your processor is momentarily saturated. It's not really a 'defect' that is covered under warranty.

Flash is a widely-known resource hog. It's one of the reasons that Steve Jobs has 'banished' Flash from iPhones and the new iPad, and uses H.264 format video.

Have you also noticed that the fan becomes loud when this is happening? Almost any time the fan starts running at high speed, it's because your processor is working hard and needs additional cooling.

If you look at Activity Monitor when the stuttering occurs, you probably have a combined CPU utilization of the top two or three processes running of more than 100%.

It's also quite possible that the Free memory 'green slice' of the of the System Memory pie chart is quite tiny.

Work-Arounds
1. Run fewer processes/programs. Close and Quit every application that doesn't need to be running while you're watching Flash.

2. Try another browser. Some are better than others at running Flash. I use Safari primarily, but Firefox, Google Chrome, and Opera are also available.

3. Add RAM memory, especially if you still have just 1Gb RAM memory installed. Upgrading to 2Gb or 4Gb (MacBook 2,1 actually only recognizes and utilizes up to 3Gb) will help somewhat. It doesn't cure the processor saturation, but it does give the programs running more 'breathing room' until it reaches the saturation point.

4. ClickToFlash gives you options for how Flash is handled. Free download here --> http://rentzsch.github.com/clicktoflash/

5. H.264 format videos may be less processor intensive.

6. Buy a new Mac with a faster processor and more RAM. Even a 2.26Ghz MacBook Pro does much better than the 2007 2.16, because it uses a low power microprocessor, has 2Gb RAM standard, has a more advanced video chipset, and an unibody aluminum case to help dissipate heat.

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59 replies

Chatbox

Level 1

0 points

Sep 4, 2010 8:57 AM in response to Michael Napier

I had a similar stuttering problem started a few days back. (On the black MacBook)

Problems (from a fresh boot):
1. Faint speaker popping sound ranging from every 10 secs or so, to 30secs gaps.
2. Command-Space would not popup the Spotlight search box until some seconds of delay later.
3. Menubar would sometime have the spinning wheel while I wait for the Spotlight search box.
4. (Use Any browser. Safari, Chrome, Firefox) Go to youtube, watch any video, then the video playback would stutter.

I got fed up with it...so I reinstall the OS and the software. For me, the problem was with the Logitech Control Center 3.3 (lcc330.zip).

No problem before installing LCC.
Rebooted. No problem yet.
Rebooted again. Still no problem yet.
Configured my MX1100 from the Preferences.
Rebooted again. Ah....problem appeared.
Rebooted again. Yup, problem is still here.
Uninstalled LCC. Rebooted. Problem went again.
Rebooted again. Haven't seen the problem since.

Sep 4, 2010 12:09 PM in response to Chatbox

Interesting. I also have the Logitech Control Center installed (3.1 I believe for my VX Nano mouse).
I'm not sure how to uninstall it and if I do won't I lose the functionality of the extra buttons on the mouse? Might be worth it to stop the stuttering.

Sep 4, 2010 1:56 PM in response to Chatbox

Well, I tried uninstalling the Logitech Control Center and it didn't work for me. I didn't get any stuttering watching HD videos on my external screen but I did get them in World of Warcraft. Pretty quickly after entering the game too.

baocm

Level 1

0 points

Sep 4, 2010 10:26 PM in response to Michael Napier

I resolved this problem by resetting SMC.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964?viewlocale=en_US

Message was edited by: baocm

mr_proud

Level 1

9 points

Sep 5, 2010 2:54 AM in response to Seroth

I don't have Logitech Control Center installed, so that not the problem here.

Tried the SMC reset too, and that didn't help.

Video back to stuttering (first thing I tried was Vimeo...)

Arrrghhh....

Anyone?

I'm thinking that opening up the macbook and blowing the dust away still might be the best idea. Anyone else try this to good effect?

Thanks.

Sep 6, 2010 5:50 AM in response to Seroth

In my case I don't know think it is dust build-up because it only happens when I have the external display connected. I would think that if it was getting too hot the problem would also happen when using the built-in screen.
However, when I'm using the external monitor the fan RPM doesn't seem to ever fall below 6200. When using the built-in screen it will get down to normal RPMs when idle.

Sep 7, 2010 11:50 AM in response to Seroth

Well, today I experienced stuttering, again, watching YouTube HD videos so I don't think the Logitech Control Center had anything to do with it either.
This is quite frustrating.

Sep 9, 2010 10:59 AM in response to Michael Napier

I tried using a different, small monitor last night and didn't experience any problems. Today I was watching a video and copied some of the console logs from when the stuttering happened:

9/9/10 12:33:26 PM kernel IOAudioStream[0x5c3e400]::clipIfNecessary() - Error: attempting to clip to a position more than one buffer ahead of last clip position (e7,14de)->(ec,127e).
9/9/10 12:33:26 PM kernel IOAudioStream[0x5c3e400]::clipIfNecessary() - adjusting clipped position to (eb,14de)
9/9/10 12:33:28 PM kernel IOAudioStream[0x5c3e400]::clipIfNecessary() - Error: attempting to clip to a position more than one buffer ahead of last clip position (f0,47e)->(f1,2084).
9/9/10 12:33:28 PM kernel IOAudioStream[0x5c3e400]::clipIfNecessary() - adjusting clipped position to (f1,47e)
9/9/10 12:33:30 PM kernel IOAudioStream[0x5c3e400]::clipIfNecessary() - Error: attempting to clip to a position more than one buffer ahead of last clip position (f5,484)->(f6,120b).
9/9/10 12:33:30 PM kernel IOAudioStream[0x5c3e400]::clipIfNecessary() - adjusting clipped position to (f6,484)

Then I loaded up World of Warcraft and was hit with the stuttering right away. Here are the console logs from that:

9/9/10 12:51:58 PM [0x0-0xa40a4].com.blizzard.worldofwarcraft[3259] Thu Sep 9 12:51:58 Mikes-MacBook-3.local World of Warcraft[3259] <Error>: kCGErrorIllegalArgument: CGSCopyRegion : Null pointer
9/9/10 12:52:34 PM [0x0-0xa40a4].com.blizzard.worldofwarcraft[3259] failed to open /Applications/World of Warcraft/Data/Interface/Icons
9/9/10 12:52:34 PM [0x0-0xa40a4].com.blizzard.worldofwarcraft[3259] failed to open /Applications/World of Warcraft/Interface/Icons
9/9/10 12:53:50 PM kernel IOAudioStream[0x5c3e400]::clipIfNecessary() - Error: attempting to clip to a position more than one buffer ahead of last clip position (1f0,174d)->(1f9,2d09).
9/9/10 12:53:50 PM kernel IOAudioStream[0x5c3e400]::clipIfNecessary() - adjusting clipped position to (1f9,174d)
9/9/10 12:53:55 PM kernel IOAudioStream[0x5c3e400]::clipIfNecessary() - Error: attempting to clip to a position more than one buffer ahead of last clip position (1fb,158f)->(1fd,3ff).
9/9/10 12:53:55 PM kernel IOAudioStream[0x5c3e400]::clipIfNecessary() - adjusting clipped position to (1fc,158f)
9/9/10 12:53:55 PM kernel IOAudioStream[0x5c3e400]::clipIfNecessary() - Error: attempting to clip to a position more than one buffer ahead of last clip position (1fd,13ff)->(200,38c).
9/9/10 12:53:55 PM kernel IOAudioStream[0x5c3e400]::clipIfNecessary() - adjusting clipped position to (1ff,13ff)
9/9/10 12:53:55 PM World of Warcraft[3259] kCGErrorIllegalArgument: CGSCopyRegion : Null pointer
9/9/10 12:53:55 PM [0x0-0xa40a4].com.blizzard.worldofwarcraft[3259] Thu Sep 9 12:53:55 Mikes-MacBook-3.local World of Warcraft[3259] <Error>: kCGErrorIllegalArgument: CGSCopyRegion : Null pointer
9/9/10 12:53:58 PM kernel IOAudioStream[0x5c3e400]::clipIfNecessary() - Error: attempting to clip to a position more than one buffer ahead of last clip position (206,2f5a)->(208,1060).
9/9/10 12:53:58 PM kernel IOAudioStream[0x5c3e400]::clipIfNecessary() - adjusting clipped position to (207,2f5a)
9/9/10 12:54:00 PM kernel IOAudioStream[0x5c3e400]::clipIfNecessary() - Error: attempting to clip to a position more than one buffer ahead of last clip position (20c,3e9)->(20e,1afb).
9/9/10 12:54:00 PM kernel IOAudioStream[0x5c3e400]::clipIfNecessary() - adjusting clipped position to (20e,3e9)

Does this information give any hints about what is happening and why?

Message was edited by: Michael Napier

Sep 14, 2010 1:24 PM in response to Seroth

Has anyone found a solution to this problem? I'm seeing it when watching low-res YouTube videos as well (not full screen either).
Never have ANY issues using the MacBook's built-in display.

Sep 14, 2010 2:13 PM in response to Michael Napier

It's flash for sure. Flash just uses tons of CPU, I am not sure however why it causes distortion in sound but I found instead of shutting off the computer you can go to system preferences and change the audio output to something else and then change it back to the built-in speakers, or you can plug in an audio cord and unplug it.

All in all flash is killing my mac, Every youtube video just kills my computer!

Sep 14, 2010 2:23 PM in response to chester4444

It's not just Flash. I have had the problem playing MS Silverlight videos and even Quicktime videos. As well as playing World of Warcraft (which works fine without the external display connected).

Qiu Yang

Level 1

4 points

Sep 14, 2010 3:35 PM in response to Seroth

Same problem here,
also got to my attention about a few months ago,
with or without external monitor, did;t matter.

most often occurs during playback in Flash, VLC, Quicktime.
with Flash, it can kick in any minute from the start whereas with VLC and QT, it could let me be relaxed for a while (20, 30 minutes) and then, suddenly out of nothing, it start to chop up the video and distort the audio too.
fire up activity monitor when this happens and the cpu usage is not always on the ceiling at all.

Hopefully someone genius could shine us some light here.

Qiu Yang

Level 1

4 points

Sep 14, 2010 4:47 PM in response to chester4444

same here.
if I unplug the USB for AudioDJ sound card and plug it back in, it would restore to normal,
until next time it happens.

and it happens to iTunes, to Traktor, Quicklook, basically anything has to do with audio visual.

Message was edited by: Qiu Yang

Message was edited by: Qiu Yang

Sep 14, 2010 5:42 PM in response to Seroth

I would like to figure out if it's a CPU problem, a video problem or a sound problem. The errors in the Console Log make it look like an audio problem.
I'm not using any kind of USB sound device, just a pair of speakers plugged into the audio out jack.

Qiu Yang

Level 1

4 points

Sep 15, 2010 1:56 PM in response to Michael Napier

Console Message when this just happened now :

9/15/10 10:47:10 PM kernel IOAudioStream[0x70c5600]::clipIfNecessary() - Error: attempting to clip to a position more than one buffer ahead of last clip position (c4,da3)->(c7,722).
9/15/10 10:47:10 PM kernel IOAudioStream[0x70c5600]::clipIfNecessary() - adjusting clipped position to (c6,da3)
9/15/10 10:47:13 PM kernel IOAudioStream[0x70c5600]::clipIfNecessary() - Error: attempting to clip to a position more than one buffer ahead of last clip position (cd,2522)->(cf,2a94).
9/15/10 10:47:13 PM kernel IOAudioStream[0x70c5600]::clipIfNecessary() - adjusting clipped position to (cf,2522)

Macbook Stuttering, Audio Distortion