Q: MacBook Pro 2011 17" hard freeze

Quoted:

I agree with byranlee... Also the issue was never observed under normal usage.. only when u stressed the system, which apparently has been resolved.

Again, as far as I know, not all macbooks had that issue (although were majority).

So relax its a great piece of hardware overall!

Macbook Pro 15" 2011 2.0Ghz 4GB

-------
Please let's be careful with general statements. The original problem (at least for me, and many others) did NOT show up under "stressing" the machine -- it showed up randomly, and very often at times when the machine was essentially idle -- no excessive load, no excessive heat. Some of the tests (the /dev/null one, for example) simply forced a situation where the machine could be shown to freeze fairly reliably. But the key here is that we may be dealing with a number of different situations that show up in different ways.

1) There may be a driver issue when graphics switching takes place;

2) There may be an actual hardware issue with the graphics subsystem;

3) There may be heat-related freezes;

4) There may be an issue with how quickly (or slowly) the fans ramp up to provide cooling;

And some of these may be interdependent as well...

Here's hoping 10.6.7 moves things forward (as a number have found!).

Cheers,
Scott

People Read the thread.

If you disable the discrete GFX by installing and using gfxCardStatus this should fix the issue for you...

Also OS X 10.6.7 is out... you should install it. It might take care of the issue as well.. as it's suppose to address a known kernel panic issue.

Hey, I'm curious - does anyone else still have anything like this going on when plugged into an external monitor via the display port?

Here it is in OSX:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TXolf19wGw

Here it is in Windows via Bootcamp:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r9K2D3EvEU

John

Confirm hard freeze, intense graphic related.

Model Name: MacBook Pro 17"
Model Identifier: MacBookPro8,3
Processor Name: Intel Core i7
Processor Speed: 2.3 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 8 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Boot ROM Version: MBP81.0047.B04
SMC Version (system): 1.70f3

Stock 750GB 5,400 RPM drive. Anti-glare. OS X 10.6.6


Poor rendering of other operating systems in VM.

Confirm a serious loss of graphic performance after quitting VM Fusion.

Cinebench gives 1/4 OpenGL performance reading than normal for this machine/previous tests. A reboot does clear it and brings the graphic performance back to normal.


Applying 10.6.7, will re-evaluate.

.


Note: To all SSD users, your drives are NOT being thoroughly erased.

Google: "slashdot confidential data not safe on ssd" for details.

Confirm: application of 10.6.7 seems to have partially resolved the graphics issue for me.

1: Cinebench OpenGL scores back to normal after quitting VM

2: Rendering OS in VM's better than before using same test.

.

Waiting for a graphics related hard crash to occur again.


Very nice machine by the way.

Patch Fixed Issue (for me, so far)

For the record .. the patch has resolved lock up issues due to full screen graphics intensive gaming (dragon age). Was able to run for hours, cmd-tab out of the game, quit .. without any issues.

cpu core temps remain 91C or lower whereas previously they were hitting 99C.

Performance seems the same, though can't help but wonder if they fixed the problem by throttling cpu at some level. Regardless of the fix, my MBP is now performing the way I expect!

I can't test 10.6.7 until I'm home from work but I want to know whether, if it is in fact heat related, the machines could now be damaged?

Mine would show CPU temps of 99C when it would freeze. Surely that's too high and could compromise the processor. Certainly in the long term right?

Is that something to worry about? As in, even if it is fixed, could some (no matter how little) damage be done to the life of the machine?

iamjohnsname wrote:
I can't test 10.6.7 until I'm home from work but I want to know whether, if it is in fact heat related, the machines could now be damaged?

Mine would show CPU temps of 99C when it would freeze. Surely that's too high and could compromise the processor. Certainly in the long term right?

Is that something to worry about? As in, even if it is fixed, could some (no matter how little) damage be done to the life of the machine?

99c is slightly high....it's rated at 100c from intel

I've never seen mine go over 85 even under very heavy load so if you wish to return it, i'm sure apple would let you...

but:

10.6.7 DOES seem to solve this issue for me

Yeah. Just my 2¢, but since Apple has not publicly said, "We fixed it by doing _____" and the other story about Turbo Boost being disabled in Windows leads me to believe the 10.6.7 update has 'better' Turbo Boost throttling control to prevent the CPU from reaching error prone temps.

If that's the case then it's a good thing. It means you can use your computer outside or in hot-ish weather without fear of it locking up just from use. Windows users are SOL with Turbo Boost. They could always write something later if they wanted to.

Either way I'm pleased that it's being resolved. I could care less for Windows performance on my Mac computer. I haven't tested my machine for freezes yet since I'm doing a backup (staying 50C and below!), but hopefully all is well now.

hrm... altho highly skeptical, 10.6.7 seems to have fixed the problem for me. I'm still expecting a freeze here any moment but ... here's what I've done, you be the judge.

* openned 20 terminals all running "yes > /dev/null".
* started photobooth.
* started benchmark test "smalllux" midrange and ultra.
* started another terminal window running "sudo port install boost".
* Running WoW fullscreen (windowed) on my external monitor and actively playing.

I've been running the laptop this way now for 2 hours. I watched the temperature rise to the 180's Fahrenheit range, never to 190's ...yet. And still no crash.

Previously , I could crash this laptop within seconds just by running "yes > /dev/null" loop in 6 windows then running smalllux.

"and the other story about Turbo Boost being disabled in Windows leads me to believe the 10.6.7 update has 'better' Turbo Boost throttling control to prevent the CPU from reaching error prone temps."

Woha... Hold the phone.. What do you mean Turbo Boost is disabled in Windows?!
Where's this mentioned?

"This update is especially important for owners of the new 2011 MacBook Pro systems because it addresses a graphics bug that caused hangs and crashes under heavy graphics load."

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20045613-263.html

Ran this and immediately locked. Was having issues playing a video game and locking and started looking around. Mine's a 15", though.

10.6.7 Does fix this problem

Tested with playing Left 4 Dead 2 and Team Fortress 2. Both would hang when I would quit. Works totally fine now.

Happiness for all of us ^^

Message was edited by: bryanleee

One small observation.

Running the "Windows Experience Index" on a Windows7 VM in VMWARE fusion, the "processor index" increased slightly, the graphics numbers remained the same, but the "Memory (RAM)" numbers went from 7.9 to 7.7, consistent for several runs.

It almost seems like a clock cycle was added to the DDR3 memory bus turn around time between read->write or write->read, or a CAS/RAS latency cycle was added. Not sure if this is a valid memory bus performance metric, but it is curious.