DazzaG

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

I don't know if this is just coincidence or not, but since updating my iMac to 10.6.3 it keeps on crashing. On 3 separate occasions today, whilst using my Mac the screen has gone completely black with thin white lines down it.....see pic below:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/6SYzhCgVYEU5TBKqRfOQ1Q?feat=directlink

The fans and hard disk are still running but it will not respond to any keyboard or mouse presses - I simply have to turn it off by holding the power button in.
It will then restart as usual.

Anyone got any ideas? Do you think that if I was to re-install Mac OS X from my original install disk it could solve the issue?

Thanks

Darren

24" intel imac 2.8Ghz, Mac OS X (10.6.3)

Posted on Mar 31, 2010 2:43 PM

Close

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

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

first Previous Page 8 of 120 last Next
  • by spyder90230,

    spyder90230 spyder90230 Jun 16, 2010 11:40 PM in response to Chacao
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 16, 2010 11:40 PM in response to Chacao
    I am experiencing the exact same problem, never turned off, problem free 17" intel imac starts freezing and wont boot after 10.6.3 Thought 10.6.4 would solve it, no dice; question mark folder icon and unable to fix this disk errors when running disk utility. Took it to the Apple store Manhattan Beach, and was told it would cost 360!!! dollars to replace the hard drive. Seems as if this situation is similar to http://www.apple.com/support/macbook/hd/repairextension/ Perhaps it is time to extend the same courtesy to Imac owners based on the volume of reports from users.
  • by mert,

    mert mert Jun 17, 2010 4:32 AM in response to Chacao
    Level 3 (880 points)
    Jun 17, 2010 4:32 AM in response to Chacao
    Chacao - Did you install the smaller update or the large "Combo" update? I used the 10.6.4 Combo update on the evening it was released, and so far, I have not seen a freeze.

    aluminum 20inch iMac7,1
    2GHz Core2Duo, ATI RadeonHD2400
  • by Jimmdean,

    Jimmdean Jimmdean Jun 17, 2010 6:37 AM in response to mert
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 17, 2010 6:37 AM in response to mert
    Mert - we have the same iMac. Mine is just as unstable in 10.6.4 as it was 10.6.3, and I did use the combo update. I went back to 10.6.2 and now I am stable again.

    Message was edited by: Jimmdean
  • by Jimmdean,

    Jimmdean Jimmdean Jun 17, 2010 6:40 AM in response to mert
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 17, 2010 6:40 AM in response to mert
    My freezes on 10.6.4 are not identical to the freezes on 10.6.3. On 10.6.3 the freezes were often graphic-wise (w) the weird patterns like the picture. The 10.6.4 freezes were just spinning beachballs - no ability to do anything (although it seemed the mac was still working ok behind the scenes). 10.6.2 is rock solid again though...
  • by mert,

    mert mert Jun 17, 2010 7:33 AM in response to Jimmdean
    Level 3 (880 points)
    Jun 17, 2010 7:33 AM in response to Jimmdean
    Jimmdean wrote:
    My freezes on 10.6.4 are not identical to the freezes on 10.6.3. On 10.6.3 the freezes were often graphic-wise (w) the weird patterns like the picture. The 10.6.4 freezes were just spinning beachballs - no ability to do anything (although it seemed the mac was still working ok behind the scenes). 10.6.2 is rock solid again though...

    Sorry to hear 10.6.4 didn't help. I saw both of your described freezes on 10.6.3, although most were the beachball spinning kind where the screen picture stays the same, you can move the pointer with the mouse, but clicking on anything or trying the keyboard is useless (although several times, while it was in that state, I verified the machine was still running - I could ssh in and run command line stuff).

    So far, no freezes on 10.6.4 (my hopes are not exactly high though). I never tried 10.6.2 on my machine, it went from 10.5.8 directly to 10.6.3 (the Apple retail DVD I purchased came with 10.6.3 on it).
  • by Steve Hoge,

    Steve Hoge Steve Hoge Jun 17, 2010 7:34 AM in response to Chacao
    Level 2 (170 points)
    Jun 17, 2010 7:34 AM in response to Chacao
    Chacao wrote:
    For the records, this is an iMac 7,1, ATI,RadeonHD2400. I have WD USB drive (was really buggy to mount before 10.6.3, ok after the "upgrade") and an iomega firewire drive for time machine.


    BTW, make sure you reboot with those drives disconnected before you do OS updates...

    -Steve
  • by R C-R,

    R C-R R C-R Jun 17, 2010 8:07 AM in response to Jimmdean
    Level 6 (17,700 points)
    Jun 17, 2010 8:07 AM in response to Jimmdean
    Jimmdean wrote:
    My freezes on 10.6.4 are not identical to the freezes on 10.6.3. On 10.6.3 the freezes were often graphic-wise (w) the weird patterns like the picture. The 10.6.4 freezes were just spinning beachballs - no ability to do anything (although it seemed the mac was still working ok behind the scenes). 10.6.2 is rock solid again though…


    Sometimes this kind of problem is caused by certain kinds of previously installed software that is incompatible with the later version(s) of the OS. The suspects are not regular applications like say PhotoShop but add-ons that install kernel extensions, startup or login items, or similar things that add to or alter the basic functionality of the OS. Tracking them down can be difficult but comparing the behavior of the system during a safe boot or when logged into a temporary new user account to a normal startup & log in is often useful in narrowing the list of suspects to one or another part of the system.

    Sometimes it is simpler just to review what is installed on your system & check for any known incompatibilities or recent updates that might explain or even cure the behavior. The review itself is not always easy to do but System Profiler can be helpful with this, since the "Applications" & "Extensions" sections of the Software category produce comprehensive lists of all of those types of software installed on the system.
  • by Chacao,

    Chacao Chacao Jun 17, 2010 8:16 AM in response to mert
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 17, 2010 8:16 AM in response to mert
    @Mert I installed straight from Software Update, I am not sure if that is the small install or the combo.

    *Steve Hoge* Worth mentioning, after that one freeze/reboot the computer has been working fine. No freezes so far.

    Good luck!
  • by T-squared,

    T-squared T-squared Jun 17, 2010 8:35 AM in response to DazzaG
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Jun 17, 2010 8:35 AM in response to DazzaG
    I, too, experienced the freeze-ups after upgrading to 10.6.3. I have an iMac8,1; Intel Core 2 Duo; 2.8 GHz; ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro. The system was rock solid on Leopard and Snow Leopard through 10.6.2. Five days after upgrading to 10.6.3 (in April), the system would freeze, mouse & keyboard unresponsive, sometimes the screen would go dark, sometimes the screen would go gray with thin vertical white lines, sometimes the screen would remain as-is. Power off/on was the only way to regain control. I re-installed 10.6.2 and haven't had any freezes in 7 weeks. I'm interested in hearing if 10.6.4 fixes this. On several freezes I ended up with corrupt files that I was working on at the time of the freeze, so I'm hesitant to move off of 10.6.2. Thanks to everyone that has posted their 10.6.4 results. Please keep us informed.
  • by Vizion1,

    Vizion1 Vizion1 Jun 17, 2010 9:46 AM in response to DazzaG
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 17, 2010 9:46 AM in response to DazzaG
    Same Problem but on a 2008 20" iMac. Anyone know if Apple owned up to this issue yet? I had a similar issue on a Macbook Pro and Apple didn't own up to the issue until 3 years later. =S
  • by mert,

    mert mert Jun 17, 2010 9:54 AM in response to Chacao
    Level 3 (880 points)
    Jun 17, 2010 9:54 AM in response to Chacao
    Chacao wrote:
    @Mert I installed straight from Software Update, I am not sure if that is the small install or the combo.

    That would be the "small install". I would try downloading and installing the 10.6.4 Combo update from Apple's Support:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1048
  • by raccc,

    raccc raccc Jun 17, 2010 11:14 PM in response to DazzaG
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 17, 2010 11:14 PM in response to DazzaG
    Well unlike you guys I haven't experienced this until tonight.

    I posted this an hour ago:
    "No idea, but just now I had to restart my 24" iMac 2.8GHz C2D running 10.6.4 by holding the power button just like you. The screen all of a sudden started flickering black horizontal lines like mad for about 4 minutes. I could move my mouse for about the first two minutes but clicks and the keyboard wouldn't register.

    Then everything froze, the screen stopped flickering but showed the entire screen in tact, and connected devices like external hard drives and iPod Touch powered down as if the computer turned off. I used the power button to shutdown after 5 minutes of nothing happening.

    I've noticed the screen flicker three times now while I've been typing this... =/ "

    Since then I haven't had any flickers though.
  • by Fizzybhoy,

    Fizzybhoy Fizzybhoy Jun 17, 2010 11:55 PM in response to raccc
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 17, 2010 11:55 PM in response to raccc
    I'm a first time poster as I've never really had a problem with any of my previous Macs before however since updating Snow Leopard on my iMac 3.06 with the Nvidia GeForce 8800 card I have had 48 hours of crashes and beach balls while trying to restore then eventually scrub my hard disk before being able to restore back to version 10.5.8 from an external drive through Time Machine.

    I too thought this must be hardware however since going back to 10.5.8 I have my 'good' iMac back again and I can get on with my work! I have been crash free for the past 24 hours.

    Can Apple please provide some advice around what to do as I do not want to take the risk again going back to 10.6....?
  • by R C-R,

    R C-R R C-R Jun 18, 2010 2:23 AM in response to Fizzybhoy
    Level 6 (17,700 points)
    Jun 18, 2010 2:23 AM in response to Fizzybhoy
    Fizzybhoy wrote:
    Can Apple please provide some advice around what to do as I do not want to take the risk again going back to 10.6....?


    Discussions is a user-to-user service hosted by Apple. IOW, you are talking with other users here, not with Apple, & any advice you get here will not be from any official Apple source. Click on the main support page tab at the top of the page to see the support alternatives from Apple.

    Also, FWIW I have an iMac just like yours & it has had no problems running any version of 10.6, so it is unlikely the problems you are having are intrinsic to Snow Leopard. One thing to check is that all your installed software is compatible with Snow Leopard, especially anything that installs an extension or modifies the user interface.

    If you would like help troubleshooting your problems, please start a topic of your own for more personalized help. This topic is specifically about screen freezes, not crashes & much of the advice & comments will not apply to you.
  • by Eminemdrdre00,

    Eminemdrdre00 Eminemdrdre00 Jun 23, 2010 9:51 PM in response to M_Landers
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 23, 2010 9:51 PM in response to M_Landers
    Same freezing problem here on a 2008 iMac with an ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro card. Started freezing with 10.6.3, and now it's happening on 10.6.4 too. 10.6.2 is fine. It must be graphics related, I'm getting random freezes and pinstripes on my screen.

    Message was edited by: Eminemdrdre00
first Previous Page 8 of 120 last Next