Q: System Freezes Randomly after 10.6.3 Update

I was listing the wrong view.

Shhh ..dont tell everyone

iMac (24-inch Early 2009)
Original OS X 10.5.6 (9G2030)
3.06 processor is E8435
EFI firmware 1.4 was applied an correctly up to date!
Mighty mouse - not magic mouse
4 different graphic card possibilities for that unit

Are you still have problems?

Make sure your firmware is set properly .. restart the unit and hold your power button in until
you hear a long tone. Do this just to make sure the firmware was properly updated.

If still freezing let us know again. xtech

I haven't done anything besides roll back to 10.6.2.

I haven't tried deleting the items in preferences. However if 10.6.4 has this issue I will try deleting those files then.

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.

Hi Napabill,

Here is your CS3 issue ... say my CS2 has the same issue but a stable OS.
I think 10.6.4 will be coming out very fast due to fact of that problem also!

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20005024-263.html

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.

R C-R wrote:
I'm not exactly sure why you included a hex dump of the preference file but FWIW, they use a standardized XML format & can be read with the *Property List Editor* app that is a part of the Apple developer tools package or with the donationware app Pref Setter.

Or the free app TextWrangler.

(Also the command line utility plutil.)

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.

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

It's pretty common for an unspecified or zero entry to mean 'default' or 'computer picks best' but good luck in your investigation.

Like I said "may" as I am not sure. My system is certainly very different (and loving it).

As far as being easier on the eye, my system is certainly very different.

*My system just froze. Cursor could still be moved but no inputs were possible. Powering down was the only solution.*

Tom Robinson5 wrote:
It's pretty common for an unspecified or zero entry to mean 'default' or 'computer picks best' but good luck in your investigation.

Tom, I think you are correct.