24" iMac Screen Freezes since 10.6.3 update - pls help!

Thanks for sharing this. It is a good example of how a hardware problem can appear to be a software one. I'm not saying it is true for everyone posting about this issue, but for some the problem may not be the OS update itself; instead that it exposes a hardware problem earlier versions of the OS do not.

Just to give everyone a update. My screen freezes and pixel glitches are finally over. Apple Care repair man replaced my graphic card today and all is working with all updates. So nice to finally have my iMac back to excellent working condition.(:

R C-R wrote:
Thanks for sharing this. It is a good example of how a hardware problem can appear to be a software one. I'm not saying it is true for everyone posting about this issue, but for some the problem may not be the OS update itself; instead that it exposes a hardware problem earlier versions of the OS do not.

I agree that some may be dealing with actual hardware issues, but some may not, which means a likely-cheaper software "fix" could correct the problem by stopping the new OS from doing whatever the old OS wasn't doing. I'd probably prefer a software fix, if that was indeed possible, rather than being without my machine for several days.

Message was edited by: mert

Eager to hear if the Snow Leopard Graphics Update released today has had any effect on this problem.

mert wrote:
OK. I found someone with a 10.6.0 retail DVD (mine had 10.6.3 on it), and I've reverted my iMac7,1 to 10.6.2 (10.6.0 from DVD, 10.6.2 Combo update, Software Update to latest of everything else).

The clock is ticking (started Aug 3). I hope this returns my iMac to its freeze-free, month-plus uptimes of 10.5.8. Will report back in a couple weeks - sooner if it's still freezing. (see my previous posts for what I've done to try to deal with the 10.6.3/10.6.4 freezes)

As promised... it's been 2 weeks. Not a single freeze since reverting back to 10.6.2.

Wonder if the just-released "Snow Leopard Graphics Update 1.0" will have any affect on this issue. I won't be trying it any time soon (at least without hearing positive results from folks in this thread).

Mert, looking at the knowledge base article, it would imply this Snow Leopard Graphics Update 1.0 is intended for 10.6.4 systems. I applied it and noticed improvements so no harm done to my iMac.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4286

Rick Lang wrote:
Mert, looking at the knowledge base article, it would imply this Snow Leopard Graphics Update 1.0 is intended for 10.6.4 systems. I applied it and noticed improvements so no harm done to my iMac.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4286

Were you having this freeze issue under 10.6.4?

I won't be applying it to my machine, since I've given up on 10.6.4 (problems started with 10.6.3) and reverted back to 10.6.2. If other folks in this thread are still on 10.6.4, and this update made this issue go away, I'd go back to 10.6.4 and apply the update. Maybe 10.6.5 will have a positive affect on the freeze issue.

No, I didn’t have a freezing issue on 10.6.4. Never hurts to wait a while as you plan to do to see what others experience.

iMac 8,1 here (24") and no the graphics update did not seem to resolve this issue.

Either all white screen, or slight blue banding/striping and of course, freezing.

No the Graphics Update did not help for me, it made my finder freezes worse. So much so, that what was a once a day or so problem became so frequent since the graphics update, that I finally called AppleCare Support tonight.

To my surprise the Tech had NEVER heard of this issue and was unaware of this thread. I gave him the thread ID number and he was reading it as he work thru the "normal suspects" (zapping Pram, repairing permissions, deleting cache, etc, etc) with me.

So what good are these forums if Apple doesn't read them?

Indeed, it took me two months to get me iMac repaired. Apple en my AASP looked at each-other to solve this issue, but none of the two parties took initiative. Apple said it wasn't aware of this issue (but I've sent them loads of information, including these Apple Discussions-topics). Two months of unworkable and unacceptable lockups... Most amazing for an A-brand!

I finally contacted my insurance company so I could bring it to court. Which was about to happen. I also contacted a consumer organization to make these problems available for the public.

Next, I have informed Apple and my AASP about the steps I was about to take. The iMac was repaired in about 2 days after! The problem was a simple faulty video card.

The iMac has been doing great since the repair! No more lockups and freezes.

Anyway, court is suspended. But I'm absolutely publishing this with my consumer organization.

My hints for this issue: be assertive: demand a repair! And go further when needed.

Hope this helps.

Message was edited by: tommie_c

tommie_c wrote:
...
The iMac was repaired in about 2 days after! The problem was a simple faulty video card.

The iMac has been doing great since the repair! No more lockups and freezes.
...

In your case, did the freezes not occur in 10.6.2, started in 10.6.3 and continued in 10.6.4. And, the hardware issue was not detectable by Apples hardware test suite that comes on the DVDs that ship with it?

Wow I hope Apple come out with a fix soon, since I went to 10.6.4 I've had frequent freezing issues. Really annoying and denting my confidence in Apple.

If I was to go back to 10.6.2, could I go back to this software version yet keep all my current files/pictures in place (e.g. have loaded a bunch of new photos on Aperture, new songs to iTunes etc.) Can one go back to a older version without much hassle ? Any help is appreciated, as I'm still a Apple software Noob...

On that note I ran on 10.5.8 without any problems for a long time, then I made the "upgrade" to Snow Leopard.

What I have:
iMac
Model Identifier: iMac8,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.8 GHz

I have 4GD RAM memory.

Graphics is:
Chipset Model: ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro

Joseph Blass wrote:
(Just discovered this topic.) I just got back from the Apple store Genius bar. I had the same problem. They told me to install 10.6.2 and not go to 10.6.3. I had to reinstall from the Snow Leopard disk, then upgrade. They said Apple knows about the problem and is working on it. (I hope this works!)

FWIW, I have two 8,1 iMac's, one a 20" 2.8 GHz with ATA graphics & the other a 24" 3.06 GHz with NVIDIA graphics. Both have run all versions of 10.6, including 10.6.3 & 10.6.4, with no screen or any other kind of freezes.

I don't know why some iMacs have problems & others don't, but I suspect there is more involved than just the update itself. You might want to try the steps suggested in your user manual in the troubleshooting section (optimistically named "Problem, Meet Solution") to see if they help. If you can't find your copy of the manual, it is online at http://manuals.info.apple.com/enUS/iMac_Early2008UG.pdf.

Mert, I posted the same problem in this thread on June 17th. I had the same problems that you did with the freezing on 10.6.3 and 10.6.4, but stable on 10.6.2. I've been working with AppleCare (yes, I made them aware of this thread) and sending them logs, etc. They were unable to reproduce the problem in the lab. I then sent them pictures of the screen when it would freeze. From the pictures they decided it was a video card issue. AppleCare replaced the video card and my iMac has been freeze-free for 17 days on 10.6.4. Keeping my fingers crossed.