Level 1

17 points

MacBook Pro 2011 17" hard freeze

Overheat? The fans revved and suddenly I could use nothing but the cursor. Had to hold down the power switch to kill all and then re-power & startup. I wasn't doing anything unusual, but I had 7 apps open and was amid an auto-backup to TimeMachine.

Just a little disillusioned and concerned, wondering if anyone else there has experienced a hard freeze like this.

macbook pro 17" 2011, Mac OS X (10.6.6)

Posted on Mar 1, 2011 11:15 AM

2,292 replies

Andy!

Level 1

4 points

Jul 8, 2013 12:51 PM in response to Rensoom

It may be too early to tell but think I may have a fix.

I have 17in MBP early 2011, 2.2. Started glitching, freezing etc, got really bad eventually and wasn't booting up. I tried problem-solving everything but no luck, seems to be GPU / logic problem as everybody says. Don't fancy baking it in the oven as apparently you need to do it every few months.

I even had my mac for sale online for parts. Dead loss. Until... somebody suggested that I disable the AMD GPU. You can do this using gfxCardStatus

Boot up computer (if possible - good luck!). Tip - boot up on battery power as this should make the computer automatically use the internal GPU.
Quickly install gfxCardStatus before it crashes and burns
Set graphics card to only use internal GPU, not the higher-powered AMD GPU.
Make sure gfxCardStatus starts up automatically on boot in preferences.
Back up your computer if you have not already done so!

Summary: this forces the computer to use the Intel GPU and avoids the AMD GPU. I think the problem may be with AMD GPU.

So far my computer has been on for a few hours which is about 1000% better than it has been doing for a long time. Rendering 1080p video from After Effects no problem so far.

Will update how it goes in a few days.

Side note - let's hope that Mac Pro does not come with GPUs that have an intentional shelf life of 2 years...

Sep 4, 2013 3:46 AM in response to Ptike

Here's something I haven't tried (and Apple still has my MBP for repair, so I can't try it)...

In releases of gfxCardStatus prior to v2.2.1, the program allowed users to automatically restore the last-used mode at startup. In other words, you didn't have to fight to get a successful boot in order to set gfxCardStatus to integrated card only - that setting would just persist if you asked it to. Apparently this caused issues for some users, so with v2.2.1, Cody removed that feature and the program defaults to Dynamic Switching at each startup.

Those pre-2.2.1 releases are still available on GitHub, so you might be able to install one of those and use the persistent integrated-only setting to get you through boot reliably. However, keep in mind that:

there may be weird side effects from the persistent setting if you have apps that try to fire up the discrete GPU at startup
you won't be taking advantage of all of the bugfixes and improvements that have been made in later releases

But if anyone tries this, please report back about whether it worked! gfxCardStatus isn't a permanent fix, but it has helped a lot of users, and this could resolve the issues that people have with it returning to Dynamic Switching each time you reboot (and therefore potentially compromising the ability to boot).

Jul 13, 2014 11:06 AM in response to Karl Ihrig

Not completely true, Karl.

The high end 15" still has a discrete GPU as well.

"15-inch: 2.3GHz with Retina display

Specifications

2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz
16GB 1600MHz memory
512GB PCIe-based flash storage ¹
Intel Iris Pro Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce GT 750Mwith 2GB GDDR5 memory
Built-in battery (8 hours)^2"

Sep 25, 2013 4:18 AM in response to Rensoom

My 2011 MacBook Pro is dead after just about 2 years. Malfunctions like screen blurring, freeze and distortion happened, can't even boot and enter the system now. This universal issue is caused by the GPU of MacBook Pro Early 2011! Apple should start an quality investigation and do a recall on all these flawed models! I've shared my experience here: mbp2011 dot com

Join us and comment on the page if you have encounter the same issue! We are trying everything we can so apple cannot ignore this.

Mar 3, 2011 4:20 AM in response to Rensoom

I have had the same thing several times with my 15" 2011 2.2GHz model. Each time it was when the system was under load and the fans start running high and then there is a freeze.at first I thought it was connected to VMware running but I have now had it without VMware going at all. I will try to get a series of actions that can reliably reproduce the problem and the get the Apple Store to have a look. For me, at least, it seems pretty common and I hope it can be fixed because I didn't switch to Mac to keep rebooting 3 or 4 times a day.

feldkamp

Level 1

0 points

Mar 5, 2011 6:31 PM in response to Brendank13

Great. I'm having the exact same issue. It happens when rendering video in Imovie. The fan comes on and everything freezes. I can do nothing but a hard reset. Now I'm wondering if I should return this $2000 item and wait until all the bugs are fixed.

Mar 6, 2011 6:43 AM in response to feldkamp

I've had my MBP 2.3 15" for 5 days.
It has now frozen or locked up about 6 or 7 times.

Each time, the fan(s) were spinning audibly.
Last time it happened I was running Handbrake converting video.
Machine froze, no mouse movement - completely "dead" and had to hold down power button to shut off.

Twice it has happened when running BioShock - in this case, in one instance at least, I Apple/Tabbed out of Bioshock to go into finder and do something and the screen went black, OSX seemingly unable to "get out" of Bioshock and the whole thing froze - ALT/APPLE/ESC etc did NOTHING.
Had to hold down power button again.

Also, I have had similar behaviour, when fans were spinning loudly and thus, presumably the machine working relatively hard, but the mouse would stay responsive to movement but clicking did not work for anything. Again, Apple/Tab etc would not work, could not force quit anything - effectively the same problems as above, but the mouse would at least move.
Only way to fix = hold down power button.

In each instance, the machine started up fine, immediately and most recently (such as right now) I am running Handbrake again and typing this post, and the MBP appears fine.
Thus, the problem does NOT occur everytime the CPU/GPU is under load, but it HAS ONLY happened when the CPU/GPU is under load.

Rather worrying and I will be talking to Apple first thing Monday morning!

heat235

Level 1

0 points

Mar 6, 2011 10:03 AM in response to AutoFiend

MBP 17" 2.3GHz

I have the same problems as Sid Merrett.
I talked to Apple yesterday and they recommended a replacement.

I have checked the internet each morning and the problem is growing.
It might be a bad batch of GPU/CPU if so replacement. If not a Software/Drivers update in OS 10.6.7 might do the trick.

Hammie14

Level 1

5 points

Mar 6, 2011 11:01 AM in response to heat235

I have the same problem with me 2.3 i7 15"

Happened 3 times now, mine freezes and the screen goes all funny (like it has hundreds of dead pixels)

You need to power down (hold power button) the turn it on again then its fine!

Will be talking to apple in the morning!

Message was edited by: Hammie14

dnakad

Level 1

0 points

Mar 6, 2011 1:11 PM in response to Janusfox

Exactly the same issues are happening with my 15 inch MBP 2,2 Ghz i7,

When rendering from After Effects the fans go wild, like an airplane and the CPU temp reaches 98C,
then sometimes everything freezes but the cursor movement, only way forward is a hard reset.

Will call Apple first thing tomorrow Monday morning.

/d

Mar 6, 2011 8:17 PM in response to Rensoom

I have a 15" 2011 MacBook Pro with a 128 SSD. It has repeatedly frozen in the week I've had it - often at random points while using StarCraft II and also while trying to access Time Machine. When it freezes, sound continues and I can still move the cursor (which is sometimes the spinning ball and sometimes the regular cursor) but the computer is completely unresponsive -- force quit does not work nor does anything else - have to do a hard reboot.

I tried turning off Time Capsule entirely but still get freezes. Turned down graphics settings in StarCraft II - still freezing. Very frustrating. This has happened about a dozen times in a week.

Adam!

Level 1

10 points

Mar 6, 2011 10:17 PM in response to brandonlive02

Mine freezes almost every time I open a game. I play for a couple minutes then click on something and bam. I hear the sound of the game but the whole computer is frozen except the cursor. I have to hold the power button. This is very frustrating! What could be causing this? I do not think it is temperatures... the times this has happened the CPU has never gotten hotter than 185 degrees F.

Mar 7, 2011 1:57 AM in response to Adam!

Sorry to make an intervention even though I am still a 2010 MBP owner: did you have a look at 2010 MBP freeze 'kilomteric' thread? It seems that there is something not fully addressed even in 2011 MBP, probably coming from past generation (I had a 10min freeze with my MBP a long time ago and only once during Imovie files import).
On the other hand, I had already noticed high temps on 2010 MBP when rendering with FCE or imovie but I had never had freezes (max noted temp was 104°C for me).
I was thinking of changing over my 2010 MBP but I will probably wait a couple of months yet.
Cheers

dnakad

Level 1

0 points

Mar 7, 2011 4:26 AM in response to califfo1975

Spoken to Apple this morning regarding the hard freeze, they suggested reinstalling Snow Leopard and give it another go, if the problems persist, ask for a replacement, they will ship me a new one within 24 hrs, I doubt this to be a Snow Leopard/faulty install problem, but will give it a go and report back tomorrow.

/d

Mar 7, 2011 4:58 AM in response to dnakad

Hi,

I also spoke with Apple and have been told to return my 2.3 i7 MBP for a refund/replacement.
They would not comment on the idea that this may be a system or product wide problem with the new range.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

MacBook Pro 2011 17" hard freeze