Q: MacBook Pro (2010) Freeze

Aritron, I'm glad you are not having this problem anymore but AppleCare is, at least in my case, unwilling to admit that this is a pervasive issue and is refusing to provide replacement hardware. If you would like to verify this, you are more than welcome to call them and provide my case number listed above.

My closest Apple Store is over two hours away. That's 8+ hours of driving round-trip to drop off and pick up a computer. Don't assume that everyone is going to have exactly the same situation as yours. I'm currently using my 13" Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro as my primary computer because my brand new $2700 17" MBP is so appallingly unreliable, and Apple wants me to jump through hoops to prove there's an issue, when it's clear that many people are having the exact same issue with their newest machines.

So, again, I'm glad your case is solved, but it's more than a bit presumptuous to believe that solves everyone's problem who is in the same boat.

Then please stop bottom-posting in what is bound to be a vain attempt to close a thread that's clearly still a concern to many other people. When a problem is not reproducible on-demand, it is useful in the world of technical support to be able to demonstrate that many other people are having the same issue with the same product. I don't know why this seems to be hard for you to understand.

What happens if you don't migrate that 100 Gig of stuff back, abrantl1? Does it operate normally with simply a clean drive with the OS and bundled applications re-installed?

Have you considered the possibility that there may actually be a problem with material on the image you are using for "re-imaging"? What happens if you do a "clean" installation from your OS discs instead? The fact that the problem was ,magnified after a TM restoration suggests that there is a software related or system corruption issue causing the problem.

Did you bring any fonts over from your PC etc? Even if you didn't, check using "Font Book" (in your utilities folder) that you don't have any duplicate or corrupted fonts.

In Activity Monitor, which setting are you using in the upper drop down menu on the "Activity Monitor" window? Make sure it is set to "all processes" or "active processes".

Cheers

Rod

esoterica -- Sorry for your troubles, but you're coming across as a jerk here. If this is the attitude you're using when dealing with Apple, it's not surprising that they're not jumping to go the extra mile on your behalf.

This entire freezing issue reminds me of a BRUTAL experience I had with a PB 5300 way back in 1997 (yikes!), so I feel your pain. I'm also way overdue for a new MBP, but I'm still gun-shy because of this thread.

In any event, if you believe your computer is affected by the issues described in this thread, call Apple back and insist that they take the machine back for analysis and possible repair/replacement. Apple will send a box right to your home for shipping the MBP, so the whole "it's 2 hours to an Apple store!!" argument doesn't really fly.

Good luck. Hope this gets cleared up for you.

esoterica, your comments here demonstrate precisely why it is far better to create a separate thread of your own to deal specifically with your own issues, rather than "piggy backing" on another, very general, discussion which deals with a wide variety of different problems united only by the fact that one or another of a variety of different things which people call a "freeze" has occurred.

The problem with this thread is that it doesn't demonstrate that "many people are having exactly the same issue". Instead, it demonstrates that there are a lot of quite different things which people call a "freeze" and a lot of very different reasons why these different problems may be occurring. The commonalities and differences all too quickly get "lost in the wash" in these sorts of situations.

I'd suggest again that you post separately, in a new thread, clearly identifying the nature of your own problems in detail and the steps you have already taken to try to deal with them. The same applies to other posters here. It currently contains so many cross-threads and different situations that it is useless for the purpose of drawing any conclusions about the incidence of any particular type of real problem.

Rod

JK09, when an issue is affecting other people, and the initiator of the thread is repeatedly posting at the end of the thread saying that his issue is resolved and he wants the thread to be closed, and that if anyone else is having problems they should start their own thread, that is nothing short of selfish -- starting another thread on exactly (EXACTLY) the same problem that Artiron lists at the beginning would be at best a duplication of effort, at worst it would be confusing the issue when anyone who is having the problem attempts to get resolution from Apple. To you and Rod, while I can agree that it makes sense for people who are having separate issues from the one this thread was started with, why would you think that if I were to start a new thread listing exactly the same issue that it would in any way suffer less from dilution of purpose? Allow me to repeat, I am one of the people who is having the exact same issue that Aritron lists at the beginning of the thread.

And JK09, are you really serious saying in one breath that you doubt the way I've handled the Apple representatives, and then in the next breath say I should demand they take my computer back? I have been 100% respectful to the Apple representative, but obviously in a situation when the computer only freezes every 1-3 days (and never while idle, just during use), that when a representative says that they likely won't find the problem when I send the computer in, that there's no reason to argue with them. Which is, again, why it's useful to have a thread that where people who are having the problem can point to with people who are having the exact same problem.

Aritron, not to be pedantic, but when you go to the trouble to be patronizing enough to define "your mileage may vary," how can you, with a straight face, turn around and say that your steps "are the appropriate course of action for someone experiencing the same problem"?

I simply cannot believe that you're actually sitting here actively policing this thread because you have unilaterally decided that since your issue was solved that everyone else's must be too (they're not), or that everyone else's will be if they follow the same steps that you did (they weren't).

I never suggested that Apple policed this thread, but the representative did forward the thread to their engineering department as part of the case. Now, if there were actually continued activity in this thread that didn't involve people (yes) selfishly wanting the thread closed, we might actually be able to begin to get to the bottom of why this is occurring. Instead, you are actively getting in the way of other people getting the issue resolved when the overly simplistic steps you suggest don't, in fact, work for everyeone.

Artitron's solution is probably a good one but it might not be successful for everybody as Apple continues distributing flawed MacBook Pro as my brand new CTO MacBook Pro 13" (arrived monday june 28th).

Concerning the source of the issue, I believe that overheating is involved and I found a temporary solution (before I go the genius bar later this afternoon).

I basically installed smcFanControl and have set the minimum fan rotation speed to 4000RPM instead of 2000RPM (default setting).
Doing so, the CPU temperature is lower and I guess it is the same for the graphic card.
The only fan in the MacBook Pro 13" is used for both CPU and GPU chips.

My take on it is that either the software controlling the fan speed does not control efficiently the temperature of the GPU OR the GPUs provided my Nvidia are overheating before their maximum temperature specification.

In any case, this could explain the randomness of the freezes and also why some people are able to recover from the freeze after 15 minutes (not my case though).

I hope this helps.

My problem is definitely not heat related. It has happened minutes after I've turned on the computer (when cold), and also after running for quite awhile. I'm still convinced it's related to either the video hardware or buggy video drivers. I'm headed up to the Apple store today to pick-up my second replacement laptop. Hopefully the 3rd time's a charm...???

Just wanted to add the latest on mine. I also don't believe my issue to be heat-related. Installing gfxcardstatus and fixing to the Intel graphics has prevented any issues on mine for over 3 weeks now.

Based on the experience of the OP, I called yesterday to log mine with Applecare. Got the usual run-around (hardware test, reinstall OS, remove everything from startup, etc.). In the end they absolutely refuse a replacement unless you're logging the issue in the first 30 days. Only recourse is to take it to an authorised service centre and go without while it's being repaired.

I think this is pretty poor, especially given that I seem to have an issue with nearly every Apple product I buy - but I can't be bothered to argue it any further.