Q: MacBook Pro 2011 17" hard freeze

Open photobooth first. That is key. Then do the yes > /dev/null. Then open / close photobooth while it's running. This presumes you have switching enabled for your video card.

New machine has not fixed the problem for anybody yet.

Confirmed report of this test crashing the machines on both the Intel and AMD GPU's:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=12212648&postcount=58

I have a base model 15" MacBookPro8,2 2.0GHz i7, 4GB RAM, stock 5300RPM disk running OS 10.6.6, VMware Fusion, xcode 3.3.x, mac office 2008 & 2011, chrome, adium, etc.

I've run through the steps you outlined twice and can not get my machine to freeze/crash.

That really doesn't mean anything. Once the machine has crashed the firmware likely defaults to max fans. There is no way to tell if this is cause or effect.

Personally, I suspect it's much, much more likely to be firmware / driver issues. These are the sorts of issues that usually can only be reproduced under heavy threaded use. Which coincidentally also produces heat.

Your machine shouldn't be affected. Nor the 13" is seems to only affect machines with 2 GPUs.

I thought the Pro in MacBook Pro was for Professional, not Problematic. Or Probably won't work.

As this is my first Mac and I have invested thousands into the switchover from Windows, buying licenses for CS5 and Final Cut on top of the price of the Mac, I have to say I'm sorely disappointed.

Is Apple in the habit of fixing these things? And if so, quickly?

I'm a video editor and my income depends on my computer's productivity.

At this rate, I'd be better off cutting film.

It's weird....I've had this crash but it is totally random for me.

I can't seem to "make it happen" by doing the stuff people say to do.

Right now as i'm posting this i have yes running 8 times and photobooth running along with cinebench. No crash. But it DOES happen. Originally i thought this may be something to do with parallels. After i read other people having this issue i realized it may be a real issue. I am really hoping apple will be able to solve this issue without having to replace my laptop, i love this machine and i don't want to send it back....

In my experience Apple will always make it right. The question of timing is up in the air. If someone relied on the machine for income and this issue is hitting, I'd recommend your return for full refund and wait it out if possible.

Could be next week. Could be 3 months. You never know.

guys, guys, guys!

can anyone try my workaround? Here's what I did to avoid the freeze:

before doing CPU intense stuff, make the fans run at higher RPM (watching 1080p Youtube video should do the job).
And then as soon as the fans are at about 5400rpm, start whatever you want to run/test.

In my case, this fixed the crashes with Cinema 4D. The CPU temperature goes as high as 93C, but then gets cooled down to 87C/88C, fans running at 5200RPM.

I use the gfxCardStatus utility to switch between integrated and discrete.

Not a single post fråm Apple? Whats the deal having a forum if you dont use it to communicate with your customers?

@K43l

I wonder if that is why mine seems so random. I've had them at times but i can't seem to make it happen...

I thought this was a graphics switching issue, not a fan/heat issue.

K43l wrote:
guys, guys, guys!

can anyone try my workaround? Here's what I did to avoid the freeze:

before doing CPU intense stuff, make the fans run at higher RPM (watching 1080p Youtube video should do the job).
And then as soon as the fans are at about 5400rpm, start whatever you want to run/test.

In my case, this fixed the crashes with Cinema 4D. The CPU temperature goes as high as 93C, but then gets cooled down to 87C/88C, fans running at 5200RPM.

Yeah, nursing the fans to speed up slowly will keep mine from freezing some of time.

I would like to know if anyone is NOT having the problem. I've had my 15" mbp since March 2nd and haven't had the freezes described. I have been using applications in CS5, playing movies, converting cds for iTunes, etc. I have SMC fan control and the highest I've seen the temperature is somewhere around 60C and then not very often. Maybe it's because I don't play games. No, I haven't tried the steps specified to "make it freeze".