System Freezes Randomly after 10.6.3 Update

Yeah, but how? Which way? Lots of people have reported this issue to Apple, and still no solution. Does anybody know of a way?

Well, I must admit I was hopeful that 10.6.5 was ok . . . but it ISN'T! After the first freeze that I reported I disabled Growl, as it was while fiddling with Growl that it the system froze with the current screen. I did this and carried on. No freezes for a couple of days continuous use then while working on something and holding the mouse on some selection the whole screen froze with what was visible just frozen in place... no mouse action or keyboard use. So, it's back to 10.6.2 again. I don't know what action to take now. What I do know is, that 10.6.2 gives me no problems (other than not seeing previews in column mode . . . this is rectified with 10.6.3 but no use to me if it freezes all the time). I begin to ask myself why I should want to spend more money on Apple products and stay with what I know works. Apple, get moving on this and SORT IT!

I got a MacBook Pro (early 2008). Had problems with the keyboard and touchpad freezing two system updates ago but was completely fine while I had 10.6.4 installed. Now it seems I upgraded right into reboot horror with 10.6.5 as my keyboard and touchpad once again freezes several times a day. My mouse still works so does the keyboard input from my remote iPhone app.

Is there any easy way to downgrade to 10.6.4? Or do you guys have any other remedy for this? (Sorry if this is already mentioned - havn't read through all pages.)

*Everyone who has a problem with the freezing on Mac should send a report to Apple:*

* http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html*

I've tried all the installation options and boot from an external drive, but it always freezes either immediately or after a day or two. So the problem is the graphics card or motherboard. I think that the graphic 99%. I sent an email to feedback, so waiting for reply. I have turned on automatic updates and to torment me from going 10.6.3.
Salute !

Hi,

I've been following this discussion for a long while. I've got a MBP 15'' 5,1 (late 2008) with 4GB Ram and until recently I've always had 20-sec freezes every few minutes or so. One day I noticed that my trackpad became increasingly unresponsive and was very sensitive to touch (i.e. registering many clicks when touching or dragging). Turned out that my battery had become slighty bigger (blown out), pressing against the logic board and trackpad and possibly registering a lot of unnoticed clicks and/or pushing the logic board against the case resulting in short circuits. I removed the battery and have since been powering up my Mac only with the power cord attached. I've only had two freezes so far over five days and these two freezes were due to heavy application load. I will buy a new battery next Monday and see of the problem persists.

To those of you with user-replaceable batteries: Try removing your battery and booting up only with the power cord attached and see if you're still getting freezes. To those of you with non-serviceable batteries: Try checking if the back of your mac is slightly uneven and check for any trackpad/charging problems and try to get a battery replacement from Apple.

I'd appreciate any feedback if this is also a solution for you.

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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. Mouse clicking does nothing? Yes
5. Keyboard key presses do nothing? Yes
6. Only way to re-animate system is by holding down power button? No, if I wait about 20 seconds the system unfreezes.
7. Mouse/Keyboard Model? Integrated in MBP 5,1

Message was edited by: opt03

An update:

I too started having screen freezes at 10.6.3. I spent a lot of time thinking it was software and waited for an Apple fix. After a few updates with no improvements I began thinking it is something with my computer. I did every check known. Safe mode, for instance, would seem to cure it for a few days but always would destabilize. Did one clean install and several archive installs. I would get another screen freeze after 3 or 4 days. Reverting back to 10.6.2 solved the problem. When 10.6.4 came out, I went with it and freezes resumed. No rhyme or reason to freezes. Wake from sleep seemed to accentuate the problem.

I did AHT, disk checks, PRAM and SMC resets, and Onyx with no problems ever showing. Finally took it to the Apple store. They did their hardware test which showed no faults. They also never reproduced the screen freeze.

Month later, I took my Mac back in again and "I" ran the computer until it froze. Finally the tech saw that it really does happen. My freezes seemed to happen in system apps not 3rd party apps (or at least quicker). The Apple store tested with Firefox and not Safari. Made me think again that it has to be software. Apparently not.

By this time my Apple care had run out, but with the help of a rather decent Apple guy back east they went ahead and put in a new logic board and graphics card at no charge. He also was aware of the 10.6.3 problem. Have had this computer for 3 weeks now with no problems.

Little warnings I had: Some of these problems creep up on you in a way that made me unsure if the computer always used to do this or is it a new behavior. The way this computer acts now (normally) leads me to think that the logic board may have been the culprit. Just an uneducated guess tho.

One was the size of the spinning gear at startup. I use 1280x800 resolution. The computer sometimes would use 1680x1050 gear at startup then go to my resolution or the correct gear size and to my resolution. It couldn't make up its mind.

Sound setting would not hold from startup to startup.

Infrequent font or screen tearing in any app and always unpredictable.

Software Update would hang 20% of the time. I would quit it and it would run the second time.

Too RC-R: You seemed to be correct with your hardware theory. Makes it dicier though when Apple people and my checks don't turn up anything. I still believe the OpenGL update at 10.6.3 had some kind of deleterious effect. Maybe, some kind of an effect with hardware that wasn't quite at optimum? Was it a firmware problem with hardware or is that even possible? Love to know what happened exactly but probably never will.

Anyway, I'm done. Hope this helps someone. Good Luck

RM

*Everyone who has a problem with the freezing on Mac should send a report to Apple:*

* http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html*

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

Done. If everyone did the same, maybe we could get some kind of answer. I also copy+pasted a link to this topic, hoping that someone could actually read it over there. I highly doubt it, but you never know.

I've been in this thread, and its sister thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2384136&start=0&tstart=0
for a long time. I've read every post in both, but now I'm leaving them behind as my problem is being left behind.

In my case, the problem was definitely hardware, but also, it was absolutely only triggered when using OS versions newer than 10.6.2 (i.e. .3, .4, or .5).

About a week before my AppleCare ran out, I called Apple. After discussing the symptoms (I also mentioned these two forum threads), and everything I had already tried to resolve the display freezes (see my many previous posts), they asked if I could bring it in. I said no problem (there's an Apple Store about 25 minutes away).

The Apple Store had the machine for a week and could not reproduce the problem. So, I picked it up and took it home and began reinstalling software. I started with an erase-install from a 10.6.3 retail DVD. While still booted from the DVD, and selecting which optional items to install, the display froze - exact same symptoms. This ruled out anything to do with my software or accounts. I called Apple and they said bring it back in.

They kept it for another week. I got a call that they think it might be a RAM problem. They saw a freeze or two (all week) during RAM tests, but with those tests disabled, no freeze. This, of course, is the same RAM that runs for months under 10.6.2 without any freezes. It's not RAM (more below). My guess is that since the RAM tests are very long, the display freeze is simply more likely to occur during that time. Based on all the symptoms and testing to date, the west coast AppleCare guy believed it was a logic board or video card problem and wanted the store to replace those parts, but the store said no - try replacing the RAM.

So I picked up the machine again. Using appropriate grounding, I took the RAM out - two sticks of 2GB from Crucial - which had been in there for years. I put the original Apple-supplied 1GB stick back in and proceeded to erase-install again. Started with the 10.6.3 retail DVD, migrated my accounts from backup, then Combo-updated to 10.6.5, plus all available Apple patches. I got two more display freezes within a couple hours of use. This was on completely different, Apple-supplied RAM. I called the store and they wanted me to bring it back in. I called the AppleCare guy and he said enough-is-enough. The AppleCare guy offered to replace a significant amount of hardware to help resolve the issue (sorry, I cannot define "significant"). AppleCare really paid off. Bottom line is, for me, it was a hardware problem (not RAM), but a problem that was only revealed with OS versions newer than 10.6.2. Best of luck to everyone still suffering with this issue. If you still have active AppleCare - be sure to use it.

I enjoyed reading this - twice - but I'm still none the wiser as to whether the problem was hardware or software and how, or if, you solved it. Could you clarify please?

I think there is a mix of problems - for my own system, it is a software issue, the hardware is fine as I have extensively tested RAM and GPU with well known Windows-baseed hardware testing tools. Also since I have installed 10.6.3 (without the Graphics update) my system has been completely stable.

I know for a fact the issue I'm seeing is GPU related, as the kernel.log identifies a GPU Debug event, but the hardware itself is OK.

Well, we're on page 56 now and still the reports keep coming....I'm going to try one more time to install and run 10.6.5 for a couple of weeks over the quiet Christmas period, and will report back if I encounter any more sudden freezes. Meanwhile having cloned back to 10.6.4 I'm busy with serious income-generating work, for which I need a computer that doesn't leave me stranded. I've never encountered any problems with 10.6.4.

Tom in London wrote:
I enjoyed reading this - twice - but I'm still none the wiser as to whether the problem was hardware or software and how, or if, you solved it. Could you clarify please?

Sorry Tom. I realize I'm being kind of obtuse (it's for legal reasons). In a way, it's hardware & software. It's software, but only in the sense that the hardware problem is triggered by using 10.6.3 or newer. It's hardware because my display freezes occurred even when booted from Apple's DVD - so only 100% Apple software involved. Changing RAM didn't help, the hard drive was not involved, all that's left is the logic and/or video board. My problem is solved: I'm on new* hardware (yet I even migrated my previous accounts and data onto it without any issues).

*new continues to remain undefined

Message was edited by: mert