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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 3, 2014 4:53 PM in response to kloent

Thank you so much!!!! I've actually struggled with this issue for a few years and I've had my iMac in for service at 3 different Genius bars during my Apple Care period and no one could figure this out. They all thought I needed a new Logic Board. I had my boyfriend (who is an IT guy, mostly Microsoft) follow your great and detailed instructions and it worked perfectly! Windows 7 was even crashing but the way we found out it was the video card was it was referencing the 'AMD display driver has stopped working'. Regardless, many thanks to you and your hard work - you deserve some gold for this 😀

Jan 27, 2015 9:45 AM in response to kloent

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!


Finally, after years of kext replacements with each update, I tried your firmware update, and I'm now at two weeks of flawless performance - no freezes - on Yosemite!


I have to say, I was a bit concerned over a couple of things:

Firstly, you say the ROM files will be exactly 128K....my system reported them as 131K

Secondly, you say that the flashing process can take a while...mine was almost instantaneous.


However - everything completed successfully, and on reboot I was back in business!


Can't thank you enough for finding/figuring out this fix. Also, big thanks to MacRumors forum member Intell and his kext fix, which gave me years usability with this machine, and is still a very viable solution for those afraid to tackle a firmware upgrade.


Cheers!

Feb 8, 2015 7:03 AM in response to sherifhanna

I feel somewhat lucky because I recently (8 days ago) installed the OS X 10.10.2 update and two things have happened; I haven't seen one screen freeze and I still haven't had the pop up telling me I unplugged my 2TB USB drive. Last week I was called by Apple Support in regard to my filed bug report, and we set up a a live phone/chat session yesterday where the Apple Tech was on the phone with me for well over an hour, we ran some diagnostics, and I sent both log files and an EtreCheck report. Apple also has a screen share setup where they put a cursor on your screen but talk you through doing the actual diagnostics. I'm still not happy with Apple Mail but that was not this guy's task or specialty. But overall, I was very impressed and the technician was excellent.


Mike

Oct 24, 2015 9:01 PM in response to kloent

Wow thank you so much. This fix worked. I have a 2007 20" iMac with the Radeon 2400 and El Capitan. My video was freezing every other day. The instructions are more complicated than necessary if you are willing to take the risk. In summary, you need to boot into DOS and flash the video ROM with the file that Apple released deep inside another update.

I was ready to trash the iMac and get a new one, so it was worth the risk for me to avoid having to do all the backup and testing of an auto recovery CD.


It's too bad the official Apple installer artificially limits the update to a narrow set of iMacs with this problem. It would be much easier if they just added support to all macs with these GPUs. I wonder if there is a way to modify the official .pkg file somehow...

System Freezes Randomly after 10.6.3 Update

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