Random hard freezing on early 2009 MacBook Pro laptop

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Random hard freezing on early 2009 MacBook Pro laptop

My early 2009 17" MacBook Pro laptop randomly and VERY frequently (!!) freezes and requires a hard boot if I upgrade to ANY system over the original Leopard version it came with, including later Leopard versions or Snow Leopard 10.6.3 (just installed from a disk today). It doesn't matter what I am working on or even if I am not working on anything at all and the laptop is just sitting there doing nothing with no applications active -- I can go over to it and it's locked: mouse freeze, no access to anything. And it happens every 5-10 minutes.

I discovered this problem the first time I did an upgrade over the internet two years ago. I had to restore the original Leopard system from the disc it came with and then it stopped freezing. Then I promptly forgot about it and the warranty expired, although I have tried many times to upgrade since with no success. Now, however, I need to use Snow Leopard for obvious reasons, and I have to get this problem solved. I have seen countless blogs & discussions all over the internet about the MacBook Pro (especially 2009 models) freezing up, and the answers disappoint me.

I have repaired the hard drive using Disk Utility AND Disk Warrior (there are never repairs to be made, so that's not it) and repaired permissions many, many times to no avail. I have turned off screensavers and screen dimming features, etc., etc. Nothing has worked. There are very few things installed on this computer. Some of the same software is installed on my two other Macs (not MacBook Pro laptops) and there are no problems. I try hard avoid third party software anyhow.

This problem sure doesn't seem to be directly related with a particular system upgrade -- it's ANY system upgrade!

By the way, I just managed to download the latest firmware update in between lock-ups, and guess what? It locked up within 3 minutes.

I am trying to download the combo upgrade to see if that helps, but the dang thing keeps locking up.

HELP!!

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.3), early 2009 model laptop

Posted on May 27, 2011 9:38 AM

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Answer 1

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William-Boyd-Jr

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May 28, 2011 6:23 PM in response to mhmmccoy-n

If you launch the Console utility and look in the "All Messages" category, do you see any messages from the time of a freeze that might explain the problem? fI you boot into "safe mode", do you experience those freezes? If you create a new user account and use that, do you experience those freezes?

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Answer 2

mhmmccoy-n Author

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Jun 1, 2011 9:33 AM in response to William-Boyd-Jr

These are excellent suggestions, thank you. I have tried some, but not since I upgraded the OS completely, as there were many additional software upgrades needed after I installed Snow Leopard from the new DVD I got.

FYI, since I posted the above message, I managed to get all the Apple software upgrades downloaded and installed between lock-ups. There were two firmware updates and once those were installed, the freezes almost stopped. I also had to repair permissions a couple of times and had to do disk repairs both from the start-up DVD using DIsk Utility and from my Disk Warrior DVD. Now everything unpredictably freezes maybe once an hour, something like that (it has happened while doing nothing -- screensaver running, viewing youtube, etc.). That's still unacceptable, of course, so onward I go.

I will post results. Thanks again!

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Answer 3

Jun 18, 2011 2:54 PM in response to mhmmccoy-n

Mhmmccoy-n,

Have you found any more answers/solutions to this problem? I actually put new memory in my MacBook Pro laptop and it seemed to be working better, but...after installing a couple programs I am doing better, but still freezing!

I have thought about ordering a new hard drive, but I am not sure even that will fix the problem. I have gone through the same steps you have above besides Disk Warrior. I am at my wits end, and don't want to spend 3+ grand on a new laptop right now. Just bought the new Imac, but I have to travel.

My Best - NR

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Answer 4

Jun 30, 2012 2:01 AM in response to mhmmccoy-n

I have been facing the same hard freezing issue , but only recently . It started by happening roughly about once a month but It has been so frequent of late that it has rendered my MacBook pro useless . Initially I thought it was because of overheating issues . I have ruled that out by opening the back case and cleaning out the dust inside and using a cooler pad keeping the unit cool ,but it still freezes . I have to try using the apple hardware test to see if something is wrong with the hardware but a crappy non-functional SuperDrive is making it hard to do through the optical disk . I ll have try with an external drive . Can I do it with an external drive ?

Any solutions to this issue will be much appreciated ...

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Answer 5

Jun 30, 2012 11:23 AM in response to Vetri Vel

Did you do anything I suggested in my earlier post?

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