MacBook Pro 2011 17" hard freeze

the adapter is set to stay on the ATI chipset

there is no memory swap for the graphics since when I exit the game I'm still running the ATI chipset. I have automatic graphics switching set to "off" which means that the default is the ATI chipset for all activity.

the Intel integrated graphics aren't coming into play, firmware or driver bug notwithstanding.

Just a reminder: any time you have to do a hard shutdown (holding the power button down to power off), you need to repair the hard drive by starting up from the Mac OS DVD and running Repair Disk or by starting up in Safe Mode. (This will take quite awhile longer than a normal startup because it does a file check and repair of the hard disk, the same as though you had used the Install disc.)

You will see your normal desktop. Once the hard drive has been repair via the OS Install disc's Disk Utility or Safe Mode, restart normally, and go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. Select the named boot volume in the left sidebar ("Macintosh HD" unless you've renamed it). Repair permissions on it.

There is a chance that at least some of you will not experience repeated system freezes if you do hard disk repair after the first one.

Good luck.

Thanks for the input Ronda, I'll give that a shot.

I did a regular repair and permissions rebuild after each hard crash, but I will try that next.

Also, worth noting, at least with my particular issue - that someone reported their render job finishing in the background in the state we are getting when we "freeze". I am also suspicious that what is happening is that the OS is still chugging along, but the user is hung in the app while background processes continue.

Since neither the caps lock light nor the mouse are affected in my case, I would believe this line of thinking as a complete and total freeze would render those two things frozen as well.

that's correct. The system is still functioning (for a time) in the background. If you have remote login enabled (ssh) you can connect and poke around. What I do find though is that after a while things freeze up even for command line items, specifically reviewing process tables (ps or top).

I did notice that after a time, yeah - everything froze.

Did you try killing processes while in a ssh session with the machine?

has anyone tried this repeatable test?

http://forums.macnn.com/69/mac-notebooks/435033/macbook-pro-thunderbolt-new-vide o-driver/

Yes, I was able to duplicate that same problem. But I'd hardly characterize that issue as being as severe as the lockups described in this thread.

I think my situation has been fixed. I removed iStat Menus, called AppleCare and ran a diagnostic by holding down the letter D while restarting my computer with the boot disk in and that came back just fine. Crazy thing is, my computer was freezing when I launched iWork in safemode I started getting font errors popping up and the snr AppleCare employee helped me do something and now my computer is just fine! No fan rev ups, no lagging, no freezing, system is actually smoother than it was before! oh, he also had me send over my profile by clicking on the Apple symbol, about this Mac, more info, file, send to Apple....he was the errors in their and now I'm all good for now.....

FWIW..

I am having this issue too on my high end 15" and am currently working with Apple.

So far, we have reset the pram and something else, tried something in safe mode, turned off automatic graphics switching, and I've sent a lot of reports in to Apple. I ran a hardware test for a few hours and had 8 tests that all passed.

I am calling in again tomorrow to reinstall the OS from my DVD and only load my games since they are what makes it freeze, and see if its a software issue from the migration from my old computer.

Hoping to a fix at home with Apple... I just got this computer and really don't want to wait for another one from China.

Not a comment on severity. Repeatable tests are important for vague issues, and could very well be related since the symptoms are similar.

Davis Boy wrote "AppleCare employee helped me do something and now my computer is just fine!", mind telling us what exactly they did?

Hey Ronda,

Just wanted to update the thread on this suggestion you gave. I did all the following in order, including your steps:

- ran Apple HW Diagnostics - passed
- booted off OS DVD, ran both a repair of the volume and the permissions
- verified both volume and permissions repair were successful
- booted in safe mode
- removed iStat
- Shutdown
- reset SMC with Shift-Control-Option-Power key combination
- powered up computer
- 5 zap PRAM cycles
- on finder load, verified automatic graphics switching is unchecked

- launching game it took approximately 10 minutes for system to freeze during a part of the game where it changes display modes while remaining full screen. During the entire time the system's fans were running high, as expected, but the surface temp of the unit is no hotter than my original Unibody during the same use. I didn't even try switching to windowed mode.

Doing a multi-core/RAM preview in After Effects CS5 with my friends macbook pro 2010
made no fan noise what so ever. Mine peaks at 6200 rpm just for short 3-5 second RAM previews.
That is not normal in any sense.

I got tired of this...

Just got of the phone with Apple, they are shipping me a new one:

MBP 15.4
With following configurations:
PROCESSOR 2.2GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7
MEMORY 8GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB
HARD DRIVE 256GB Solid State Drive
DISPLAY MBP 15"HR Antiglare WS Display

I will get to keep my current macbook pro at home meanwhile,
and when the new one arrives, I will still have a new 14-day
return policy to lean back on. I doubt the new one will be any different
but at least then, I will most likely have ruled out any hardware issues.

Hoping for a firmware update soon, another friends MBP 2010 model had this issue aswell,
until apple released a firmware update, and the fans went dead silent.

/d

Shamash...when doing the AHT was your mac charging at the same time or already fully charged? was it plugged into the mains supply ?

OTHER tests;
does anyone have connection to internet when playing or using Apps when this happens ?
Is snitch installed and what is it reporting during freeze, or is there any other App working including time etc ?

Does Mac dim when freeze occurs as per usual normally after a few mins (depends on your setup)?

You can also try setting up auto user switching from the menu straight away to see if this works
Or Fanning the mac with cool air into the vents.
Or keep changing the fans manually using SMC or something continuously to see if this helps.

Let us know if anything helps from the above.

Nicholas

I'm joining the Hard Freeze club.

Got my mbp 15" 2.2GHz march 8.
Have had 2 freezes so far, doing multicore rendering in After Effects CS5.
These have been hard frezees, meaning total lock-up, I was not even able to move the mouse.

I have since the installed iStat, and I've had my fans at 6200rpm on only 20-30% CPU load.
My temperature has peaked at 94c, but generally stays in the high 80's

I called Apple and asked for it to be returned, so the will pick it up one of the following days now, and I will get a refund.

Ironically, I'm going to buy it again, but I'm hoping to get a model without the problems.

I feel that, since this is not a problem that's affecting all new mbp's out there, I'd rather go for a new replacement than try and get this one "fixed". To me, it's broken, end of story. At this steep price, I'm not looking for a patch solution. I'm paying through the nose for a product I expect to work form the start.