MacBook Pro 2011 17" hard freeze

To see if it's GPU related, a test could be to unload/reload GPU kext (using kextload), and restarting the UI server, on command line using SSH, after the freeze.

If that gets the UI back, then, it'd confirm that the GPU crashed or its driver.

There are no reports of 13"ers having trouble.


Anyway, I got it to crash again, but it took a lot more work. I had to open and run all of the following:

1.) Dev/Null (x8)

2.) Fish Aquarium http://www.chromeexperiments.com/detail/webgl-aquarium/?f=webgl

3.) Upsampling music via Audirvana

eventually, that took it down. but there was nothing special to note about the temperatures. idk, guys.

Hi

I have now read all 44 pages in this thread, but still haven´t got this cleared.

Is this problem only under OS X?

I was planning to buy a 15" this week, and now i see this. I will only be running Windows, so if someone can confirm that this problem is impossible to reproduce under Windows 7 it will make my decission eayser.

I wouldn't recommend buying a Mac for exclusively Windows usage.

1.) It runs hotter and louder in Windows.

2.) You lose the ability to switch GPUs.

3.) Battery life is cut approximately in half.

4.) You lose all the benefits of the trackpad and introduce a few problems along the way.


In short, buy a Mac to run OSX primarily...and for Windows only when you need to run a specific application for a period of time. Not as a primary Windows machine.


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New question: what, exactly, is the max fan speed for these machines? I'v read some people saying theirs ramps up to 6200rpm, but mine only shows a 5500rpm max in SMC Fan control or iStat Menus.

So what exactly is the deal?

If I didn't have to use this Macbook Pro for work, I could sit around and wait for Apple to fix it, but so far, the only explanation that Apple can offer me is that this is a Hardware issue, and not Firmware related. I can't afford to be in the middle of programming a large automation system, and then lose everything do to a defective product.

Ah, now, there's a useful suggestion. I froze the machine, unloaded and reloaded ATI6000Controller.kext and killed SystemUIServer (it restarted automatically).

No change, but other than the fact that it was loaded, I don't have a lot of confidence that's the right kext. Anyone know for sure?

I was just wondering if anyone has had this problem with the 13" i7 MBP? I don't have time to read all 44 pages of this thread. I'm looking at either getting a 15" 2.0 GHz or the 13" i7. I was unsure if this problem is related to the AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 1GB GDDR5 that is only in the 15" 2.2 GHz or the 17" models.

All I know is if it turns out to be hardware related, I don't want Apple to crack open my brand new MacBook Pro to attempt to repair it. My experience with Apple Hardware in the past is that once you open the case, it'll never be the same.

I can get my MBP 13 (2011) to fail as described using the Chrome Aquarium example. The only difference is that the fans don't rev. Based on the bit of reading of this thread that I've done (I'll admit to not having read all 45 pages) right now the working theory is that it's the AMD gpu that's the culprit, but based on what I'm seeing, my little Intel powered 13 is exhibiting the same issue.

sscerberus,

For people like you who don't have the time to read, we have tried to do this for you.

http://mbp-freeze.wikispaces.com/

It's kind of frustrating because there is someone like you ever couple hours asking essentially the same questions. This makes the thread longer and even more difficult to read 😉

I have a 2011 15''
Intel QuadCore i7 - 2.3Ghz - 8GB RAM - 512GB SSD
I was playing *Civilization V* and it was running fine, no overheating or loud fans, only when I quit the application I had the same problem, black screen with a cursor only. Had to do a hard-reset to get back to normal.
Hope this gets fixed soon.

If it's not temp related, it seems odd that so many users are tweaking fan controls (with some success) and reporting that it is happening when the CPU temps is around 93c to 95c. It could also be multiple issues like driver and temps. I just thought I'd add my 2 cents because I have worked on all types of hardware for years and this reeks of overheating.

had exactly the same problem, brand new out the box. froze like this within the first 5 min of usage.
i didn't think it was a major problem as it only happened once. Although iMovie HD (older version) kept crashing under heavy loads too i just assumed it was incompatible.

I'm on a Macbook Pro 15" with the 6750M GPU and I have not experienced the problems or a freeze as you've mentioned. My system worked perfectly fine despite encoding a 10Gb movie and changing it into MPEG4 from mkv.

I spent the last 6 hours reading this thread and testing last night after I ran into the lockup while playing x-plane on my new 15" 2.3.

To me, this feels like a hardware issue and not necessarily software. Let me explain. Note that I have video switching disabled in energy prefs and using gfxcardstatus to stay on the discrete GPU.

1) I CAN reproduce this issue in x-plane WITHOUT smcfancontrol running. x-plane is hard on the GPU but easy on the CPU. With smcfancontrol running and fans spinning fast (5.5k) before I even start the game, I can play for hours, no issues.

2) Regarding smallluxgpu, I can easily lock the machine up with fans on default in smcfancontrol. With fans maxed at 6.2k, I can run CPU only tests fine. Cpu+GPU locks up even with fans maxed.

My theory is that they used too much thermal paste on both the GPU and CPU, and if you got both hot at the same time, not even smcfancontrol maxed out (and in my thoughts, new firmware changing fan thresholds) will save you. I believe this is a QC issue.

I would have bought a PC if I wanted to deal with all of this, but instead I dropped 2800 on what is probably the fastest 15" lappy on the market. But since I am within my 14 day return period, I will be leaving soon to the apple store to regretfully return it and wait this out from the sidelines. the moment it looks lear I will buy again because I love the laptop.

Until then, I have my 27" i7 imac, 2008 C2D Macbook Pro, mac mini, ipad and iphone to keep me going. It will be rough, but I'll survive.