System Freezes Randomly after 10.6.3 Update

Hi,

I have seen other people post various other problems they have experienced after 10.6.3. But I want to dedicate this thread specifically to Macs freezing randomly during operation after applying the 10.6.3 update.

It has happened twice in the past 24 hours. While using my iMac, the system becomes unresponsive and exhibits the following symptoms:

1. Though the mouse pointer moves, I cannot click on icons, links, select text or interact with anything using the mouse.
2. The system is also unresponsive to key presses on the keyboard, whether they be individual key presses or pre-defined keyboard shortcuts.
3. The only way to make the system respond is by holding down the power button until the iMac shuts down.

I cannot tell if the problem is related to the specific activity I was performing on the Mac - the freezing may seem random to me but it could be caused by the same event (maybe Flash, Javascript, or some background program)

If you are having the same issue, please post here by copying and pasting the text below and entering your answers:

1. Problem started happening after 10.6.3 update? Yes/No
2. Did you get any errors during 10.6.3 update process? Yes/No
3. Mouse cursor moves? Yes/No
4. Mouse clicking does nothing? Yes/No
5. Keyboard key presses do nothing? Yes/No
6. Only way to re-animate system is by holding down power button? Yes/No
7. Mouse/Keyboard Model?

I'll fill in mine to start:
1. Problem started happening after 10.6.3 update? Yes
2. Did you get any errors during 10.6.3 update process? No
3. Mouse cursor moves? Yes
4. Can you click anything with the mouse? No
5. Does the system respond to keyboard key presses? No
6. Only way to re-animate system is by holding down power button? Yes
7. Mouse/Keyboard Model? Magic Mouse/Apple Aluminum KB w/number pad

iMac 24" (Late 2008), Mac OS X (10.6.3)

Posted on Mar 30, 2010 11:06 PM

Reply
682 replies

May 16, 2010 11:02 AM in response to iVain

Then I knew it was a problem with the OS X 10.6.3 update just like I stated before. Although, sometimes we can be humbled by finding out later .. sorry that did not work! I figured there was a correlation between those 24/27 inch iMacs and the graphics issues some were having. Now lets see
if another user has it resolved via the fresh plist change.

May 16, 2010 12:02 PM in response to xtech

xtech, Hahahaha...."The build also resolves an issue that could cause input devices to become unresponsive..."

So that's the "issue" we've been having.

As for the CS issue, there was a fast n ez fix at Adobe Tech Support http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/512/cpsid_51260.html. It basically involved trashing the /[startup disk]/Library/Preferences/FLEXnet Publisher/FLEXnet folder. This falls under the heading of "Known Issues with 10.6.3."

Two days without a freeze after reverting to 10.6.2.

May 16, 2010 12:53 PM in response to napabill

napabill, Hahahaha .. that only works for CS3 or up!

CS5 is a pretty penny but I use that on another machine. Would be nice to have CS2 working
again on the unit for our other users to do simple touchups, etc. also.

Stick with 10.6.2 as long as your productive. I would still wait a while on 10.6.4 even after the release
but you do what you think is necessary.

May 17, 2010 1:39 AM in response to whyisitsohard

I have converted the com.apple.windowserver.plist file to xml. Thank you to all who posted links to apps to do the conversion. I ended up using plutil in terminal.
http://developer.apple.com/mac/library/documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/m an1/plutil.1.html

The refresh rate being set to zero may be the culprit. I would have expected the zero value to be 3932160 (60Hz x 65536).

Extract from converted plist to xml file:
<key>RefreshRate16.16</key>
<integer>0</integer>

Full copy of the converted plist to xml file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>CGSInterocitorSelectMode</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>DisplaySets</key>
<array>
<array>
<dict>
<key>Active</key>
<integer>1</integer>
<key>Depth</key>
<integer>4</integer>
<key>DisplayID</key>
<integer>69673856</integer>
<key>DisplayProductID</key>
<integer>40078</integer>
<key>DisplaySerialNumber</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>DisplayVendorID</key>
<integer>1552</integer>
<key>Height</key>
<integer>1200</integer>
<key>IODisplayLocation</key>
<string>IOService:/AppleACPIPlatformExpert/PCI0/AppleACPIPCI/PEGP@1/IOPCI2PCIBr idge/GFX0@0/ATY,Hypoprion@0/ATY_Hypoprion/display0/AppleBacklightDisplay</string >
<key>IOFlags</key>
<integer>7</integer>
<key>IsStereo</key>
<false/>
<key>MirrorID</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>Mirrored</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>Mode</key>
<integer>2</integer>
<key>OriginX</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>OriginY</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>RefreshRate16.16</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>Rotation</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>StereoBlueLineSync</key>
<false/>
<key>Unit</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>UnmirroredHeight</key>
<integer>1200</integer>
<key>UnmirroredMode</key>
<integer>2</integer>
<key>UnmirroredOriginX</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>UnmirroredOriginY</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>UnmirroredWidth</key>
<integer>1920</integer>
<key>Width</key>
<integer>1920</integer>
</dict>
</array>
</array>
</dict>
</plist>

For those interested my hardware is:

Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac8,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.8 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: IM81.00C1.B00
SMC Version (system): 1.30f1

ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro:

Chipset Model: ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro
Type: GPU
Bus: PCIe
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 256 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x9583
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-B2250L-259
EFI Driver Version: 01.00.259
Displays:
iMac:
Resolution: 1920 x 1200
Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Built-In: Yes
Display Connector:
Status: No Display Connected

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System Freezes Randomly after 10.6.3 Update

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