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

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

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  • by eBomber,

    eBomber eBomber Dec 20, 2011 9:52 AM in response to Marno49
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 20, 2011 9:52 AM in response to Marno49

    Marno49 wrote:

     

    I think we have success, on the install, at least.  My version numbers are now what they should be. I think I know what I did wrong the first time.

     

    Now it's wait and see if the problem is fixed.  Thanks for your help.

     

    Hi Marno49,

    could you explain how you did, please? What did you wrong the first time?

     

    I've got the same problem as you: I can't replace kext files properly.

     

    I have read and tried the different indications whith no success :


    kextstat | grep ATI

       77    2 0x14a5000  0x12e000   0x12d000   com.apple.kext.ATISupport (6.3.6) <76 14 13 7 5 4 3 1>

       78    0 0x15d3000  0x2a000    0x29000    com.apple.kext.ATI2400Controller (6.3.6) <77 76 14 13 5 4 3 1>

       81    0 0x96f000   0x247000   0x246000   com.apple.ATIRadeonX2000 (6.3.6) <80 76 14 7 6 5 4 3 1>

      103    0 0x16bf000  0x13000    0x12000    com.apple.kext.ATIFramebuffer (6.3.6) <77 76 14 13 7 5 4 3 1>

    .

  • by Marno49,

    Marno49 Marno49 Dec 20, 2011 2:09 PM in response to eBomber
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 20, 2011 2:09 PM in response to eBomber

    I used the instructions on page 28 of this thread, but I went wrong at step 5, where it says "Take the files........ and put them on your desktop."  I thought it meant take the bad files from my system directory, so those are the ones I put on the desktop, and those are the ones the installer used the first time.  So of course, I was only replacing the problem files with another copy of the problem files.  I subsequently figured out that I was supposed to take these files from the .zip file of the old drivers I downloaded in step 2. When I did it that way I ended up with the right versions. Makes sense, of course, but because it wasn't spelled out, and not knowing what a "kext installer" did, I didn't realise my mistake at the time.

     

    Don't know if this helps you (and I don't even know yet if the problem is fixed for me, as it has only been 2 days, but no freeze so far). Good luck.

  • by eBomber,

    eBomber eBomber Dec 21, 2011 8:25 AM in response to Marno49
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 21, 2011 8:25 AM in response to Marno49

    Thank you Marno49 for your quick response.

     

    I'm not doing the same mistake so I continued finding out what's the problem.

     

    Although I had already changed the corresponding kext, I have seen (System profile) that the system had used a copy of them and not those of the 10.6.2.

     

    So I deleted the copy and re-install the "old" kext (10.6.2, KrzysiuTurek "method"), but I get always a nice "kernel panic" when the computer starts. I tried to force 64bit as recommended by Harkaitz (in fact I had it so), but still gives kernel error.

     

    I keep trying and, of course, it is accepted suggestions


     



  • by Crimguy,

    Crimguy Crimguy Dec 21, 2011 9:46 AM in response to DazzaG
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 21, 2011 9:46 AM in response to DazzaG

    Well, it appears (may be too soon to say) that a very similar issue as the OP has been fixed by subbing the kext files as described in this thread.

     

    I have a mid-07 aluminum iMac 20".  Since about March of this year I've been getting random freeze-ups.  Mouse would move but could not click on anything.  Only way out was by forced shutdown.  I was associating the freezes with either waking from sleep, Chrome, or Parallels.  When I updated to Lion, freezing continued, and actually got worse - kernel panics became almost a daily occurrence.

     

    I gave the hard drive an enima and the problems persisted.  I went to a Genius who decided it was a bad hard drive - to be fair the hard drive was failing with 57 reallocated sectors.  So I did some surgery and put a new hard drive in (which, granted had one reallocated sector).  Reinstalled Snow Leopard, used it for a day, then updated, and then upgraded once again to Lion.  Within a day I had a freeze.

     

    Yesterday I had a freeze, rebooted, and was presented with a freeze-up within a minute of reaching the desktop.  So I tried replacing the files outlined, and since then I've had no freeze-ups at all.

     

    I'll give it a couple more days and if all goes well I'll post again.

  • by eBomber,

    eBomber eBomber Dec 24, 2011 6:56 AM in response to eBomber
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 24, 2011 6:56 AM in response to eBomber

    I answer myself

     

    First the machine:

      iMac 7.1 2Ghz, 2GB, ATI HD2400

    the problem, you know:

       GPU crash -> iMac screen freezes

     

    I have read previous post again and I think for my iMac the solution is (SnowLeopard not Lion):

      Downgrade to SL 10.6.7 and use kext from 10.6.2 (Harkaitz dixit)

     

    because kext 10.6.2 in SL 10.6.8 only works in 64bits mode but my iMac can't

     

    I'm right?

  • by richard.s.hall,

    richard.s.hall richard.s.hall Dec 24, 2011 7:50 AM in response to eBomber
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 24, 2011 7:50 AM in response to eBomber

    I don't think that's what the post says, but apparently you should try reading more of the posts, since I stated more than once that I have the same machine as you and I have Lion with the 10.6.2 kexts working fine. Good luck.

  • by Crimguy,

    Crimguy Crimguy Dec 24, 2011 7:55 AM in response to richard.s.hall
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 24, 2011 7:55 AM in response to richard.s.hall

    OK I've been 3 days without a freeze.  I think the ATi kext file was definitely the culprit.  I have noticed the performace of the older driver is noticibly worse than the latest from ATi, but I'd rather have stability than performance.

  • by eBomber,

    eBomber eBomber Dec 24, 2011 10:01 AM in response to richard.s.hall
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 24, 2011 10:01 AM in response to richard.s.hall

    The solution described is for Snow Leopard.


    In my iMac with Lion seems to work in 64bit, so you can use the 10.6.2 kext, but iMac 7.1 with SL, curiously, does not accept 64bit mode.

     

    Thanks anyway richard.s.hall, it's good to know that I can update to Lion my iMac.


  • by swmaster,

    swmaster swmaster Dec 24, 2011 1:15 PM in response to eBomber
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 24, 2011 1:15 PM in response to eBomber

    they are 64bit-aware. you can run a full 64bit lion with them 10.6.2 kexts. see below.

     

    ati64bit.png

  • by swmaster,

    swmaster swmaster Dec 24, 2011 1:21 PM in response to swmaster
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 24, 2011 1:21 PM in response to swmaster

    by the way, even with the 10.6.2 kexts there is a way to get the GPU down to its knees:

     

    run a game that requires 3d support. i did it with heroes of might and magic 5 for mac.

    it's pretty deterministic. you start the game, it's fine until you start playing a scenario.

    then the good old gpu debug kicks in, and you have to restart your imac from a remote ssh

    session.

     

    it must be some kind of opengl feature behind the scenes, which is requiring the faulty part of

    the gpu. the same game however runs w/o any glitches on my wife's imac, which is the very

    same model (imac7,1) with the very same specs and softwares installed, but w/o the 10.6.2

    kexts, as they are not needed. i have to confess, her mac is a bit newer (2 months younger than

    mine), however down to the very bits it's pretty much the same (same cpu, same gpu, same firmwares).

     

    so behind all this cr#p there must be some part of the gpu doing it wrong... and we were unlucky.

  • by mia_sarx,

    mia_sarx mia_sarx Dec 30, 2011 10:10 AM in response to friedmania
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 30, 2011 10:10 AM in response to friedmania

    I had the same problem with my computer. I used the method described and I got the gray screen. Fredmania mentioned that he changed the permissions on the kext files. How do you do that?

  • by eBomber,

    eBomber eBomber Dec 30, 2011 1:04 PM in response to mia_sarx
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 30, 2011 1:04 PM in response to mia_sarx

    If I'm not wrong the kernel panic (gray screen) is not due to permissions, but by not being in 64-bit

     

    The way to do it here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2384136?start=555&tstart=0

     

    But keep in mind if your iMac can: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3770

  • by Ken Cluff,

    Ken Cluff Ken Cluff Dec 30, 2011 5:42 PM in response to mia_sarx
    Level 2 (205 points)
    Dec 30, 2011 5:42 PM in response to mia_sarx

    I used the kext rollback others talked about but consistently had a kernel panic (grey screen) when I applied the "fix" to a 10.6.8 instal. I could never get past this. But, since then I've successfully applied this fix to 10.6.6 and to 10.7.2. I didn't have to do anything with permissions nor with 64-bit mode since my machine's CPU doesn't support 64-bit. (It's a mid 2007, 20.1" Core 2 Duo machine with ATI 2400HD graphics.)

     

    I upgraded to 10.6.6 so I can get to the App store to get Lion.  Thanks to all for sharing this info.

  • by mia_sarx,

    mia_sarx mia_sarx Dec 31, 2011 11:12 AM in response to Ken Cluff
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 31, 2011 11:12 AM in response to Ken Cluff

    Ken thank you for the response. I have the same machine you have and I am also running 10.7.2. I am experiencing less freezes with 10.7.2 than 10.6.8. It is good to know that I can apply the fix if I continue to run into any problems. This discussion thread has been a real help. Thank you everyone who posted helpful hints.

  • by ricardofromfunchal,

    ricardofromfunchal ricardofromfunchal Jan 3, 2012 3:28 AM in response to DazzaG
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 3, 2012 3:28 AM in response to DazzaG

    Hi people,

     

    I have this freezes some time ago before Christmas, sometimes when i log in the  Question Mark symbol appears, i read that my HD was dying, so i change and my Imac was faster, i really enjoy and was happy my problem was gone. It last only a week and the freezes starts again, and know my computer don't even starts?

    I've run the hardware text several times and a bunch of keys combinations but with no sucess

    I've been reading this threat for some time, could i get some help here.

     

     

    Aluminium Imac, August 2008

    Imac 8.1

    Intel Core Duo

    3.06 GHz

    CPU Cache: 6 Mb

     

    NVIDIA 8800 GT

    VRAM: 512 Mb

     

    Memory: 4 Gb  -  2x2Gb  800Mhz

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