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

Oct 28, 2010 1:18 PM in response to Community User

I don't know if my problems are quite the same as yours, but I found this link to be very helpful:

http://appletoolbox.com/2010/08/problems-after-snow-leopard-graphics-update-1-0/

in particular, the SMC fan control saved the day for me! From my experience, it appears that the graphics card on these iMacs just needs to be kept a little cooler when using OSX.6.3 and 4 vs 2. I know that the symptoms listed at this link don't exactly correspond, but it's worth a shot.

Nov 3, 2010 4:30 AM in response to sherifhanna

Hello,
I went crazy from freezes so after several tries I decided to take my iMac to Authorised Apple Service Center. After 2 weeks and many calls they didn't get any freeze, even with their devices connected neither using my login account. HW tests and performance testing passed many times successfully.
When I brought and connected my iMac back at home I've got a freeze after an hour of work. So I took my Snow Leopard Upgrade DVD and reinstalled Snow Leopard. Because it was an update DVD, everything was left as before (accounts, apps, data, e-mail, ...) and I was back on 10.6 - no freezes for 1 week.
Then I decided to apply Combo Update to 10.6.4 and all other updates via Software Update. I've got a freeze after a day or less. So went again back to original 10.6 from DVD. I applied only several updates (except combo update to 10.6.4) -> no freezes. I tried to apply 10.6.3 combo Update and then 10.6.4 combo Update -> first freeze after several hours.
So I went back to original 10.6 and applied 10.6.2 Combo Update and since that time no freezes for almost 2 weeks. And I will stay with 10.6.2 until somebody will try 10.6.5 (in few days) and approves that it solves this problem.

Nov 3, 2010 6:38 AM in response to sherifhanna

Have installed smcFanControl on my machine and increased the speed of the fans to 1800rpm. This has lessened the problem considerably. The GPU in my 20" iMac is at the top left of the machine - previously, this was very hot.

I personally think that Apple have increased the clock speeds on previously underclocked GPU's to get more performance, and these machines now overheat, especially the older ones like mine which are full of dust.

Nov 10, 2010 9:05 PM in response to sherifhanna

Same problem here for me. I can't go higher than 10.6.2 or my iMac randomly freezes up!

I just updated to Mac OS X 10.6.5 hoping the issue would be fixed...and it's not. I just had my iMac lock up and my screen turn black. Looks like I'm going back down to 10.6.2 again...:(

This is terrible! I can't use Facetime, I can't upgrade to iLife '11, I won't be able to use the Mac App Store. I'm stuck on 10.6.2 because if I go any higher my Mac will randomly freeze with a black screen, or a white screen, or a white screen with lines. It seems to happen when I use Expose or watch a video, so it must be graphics related right?

There's still no fix for this? I've never had a problem with my Mac until 10.6.3. That's why I'm still on 10.6.2. Would calling Apple help?

Nov 10, 2010 10:48 PM in response to Eminemdrdre00

10.6.5 gave me full performance back on my 2007 MacBook pro. I had my logic board replaced a few weeks ago since it included the faulty NVIDIA chip (see my earlier post). However, performance was still not so good after weeks of using the laptop.

Now FINALLY at 10.6.5 it's super snappy again. I can open MS Office, Illustrator, Matlab and many other programs at the same time and still have excellent computing power, like with 10.6.2.

@Eminemdrdre00 Calling Apple won't probably help too much, you just get standard answers and you probably know more about the problem than the support person on the phone. You could try going to an Apple store (if you live close to one) and have your graphics chip checked out. If this doesn't help and you still have Apple care I would insist for a replacement. If not, yeah that would suck.

A last note, I'm fairly certain for a significant number of users the graphics, performance and memory leakage problems were introduced with 10.6.3 when Apple was tweaking OS X to work well with graphically intense games (the whole Valve Steam thing). Finally at 10.6.5 the introduced problems appear to have been fixed, at least for me.

Have a great day.

Message was edited by: firedragon76

Nov 11, 2010 5:52 AM in response to sherifhanna

I combo-updated to 10.6.5 (from 10.6.2), but personally, I've only had a few minutes of use with it. My wife was using it this morning and said she's seen it black-screen. Playing the optimist, I'll have to see one for myself before claiming 10.6.5 doesn't fix things, but it's not looking good. I've got 10 days left on AppleCare. I was waiting to see if 10.6.5 would fix things before leaning on Apple. Guess I'll be making the call.

This is an iMac7,1. Solid as a rock under 10.6.2. Combo 10.6.3 or 10.6.4 was no help. (I've already done all the usual troubleshooting steps - see my previous posts.)

Nov 11, 2010 11:19 AM in response to sherifhanna

Did people who got their hardware replaced see the freezes issue get resolved? I got my iMac in August 2008, it was great with Leopard and it was great with Snow Leopard up until 10.6.2. If I upgrade to 10.6.3, 10.6.4, or 10.6.5 my iMac freezes. Sometimes it takes a couple hours, sometimes it takes a couple of days, but it always freezes. On 10.6.2 or lower I've NEVER had a freezes problem.

Nov 11, 2010 11:28 AM in response to Eminemdrdre00

No hardware replacement (Applecare ran out last April) but since reverting to 10.6.2 for the third time I still have occasional freezes. Not nearly as bad as on 10.6.3 or 10.6.4 when it would freeze five-six times a day. Now it may go a couple of weeks without a freeze, then hit me once or twice in a day. I do believe that .3/.4 overstresses the Radeon X1600 video on my 5.1 iMac. After a freeze I sometimes get random horizontal lines on the desktop or in individual application windows. Quitting programs and relaunching them usually makes this go away. If I run TechTool when the lines are present I get a failure on VRAM, but not when the lines are gone.

Nov 12, 2010 4:41 AM in response to mert

Well, Combo 10.6.5 didn't help with my random freezes (app doesn't matter, user account doesn't matter, beachball, mouse moves, keybd does nothing, background process still running), or black screens (behaves same as random freezes, just with a black screen - not off).

With 9 days of AppleCare left, I tried some more radical options I was leaving off the table until 10.6.5 came out. Last night I erased hard drive (by making a new single partition), verified the disk, installed 10.6.3 from retail DVD, and migrated stuff (users, network settings, apps, etc) from my last stable-as-a-rock 10.6.2 Time Machine backup, and combo-update to 10.6.5 + all SW updates. I've already experienced one freeze since the erase-install. Same symptoms I described earlier. This time there was a small black rectangle on the screen covering a portion of my usual desktop pic.

Nov 13, 2010 7:10 AM in response to sherifhanna

I also have an 24" iMac.

Since i upgraded to 10.6.3, 10.6.4 and 10.6.5 my iMac screen freezes! I can now only use 10.6.2 which means that i can't install iLife '11 !

I think that it is ridiculous that Apple don't fix it instead of releasing other irrelevant updates!!!

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? No
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? Migthy Mouse + Apple Aluminum keyboard w/number pad

Message was edited by: Tazthed

Nov 13, 2010 4:00 PM in response to Tazthed

Agreed. 10.6.5 does not fix the problem.

I have been through every possible 'fix', including the 10.6.5 combo pack last week and have had three locks since the upgrade.

Something was obviously introduced sometime in 10.6.3 in the video drivers.

I don't believe it has to do with overheating the video card as mine is always running cool, and a reboot and hard utilization can run for 5 minutes or 5 days, it really has nothing to do with heating the card.

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System Freezes Randomly after 10.6.3 Update

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