Q: OSX Lion + 2011 iMac 27'' + Video = Freeze

As I said before, 10.7.3 did not correct the corruptions and crashes for me, same as in all other versions, this speckling effect preempts a crash by a few minutes.

Using NVIDIA GeForce GT 130 512 MB

Thank You! I appreciate your response and I will stick with 10.6.8 as it is working fine on my new iMacs. I was going to purchase a new MacBook Air but I am fearful of the consequences as it will have Lion and as you indicated it is too unstabile at this time.

Should I call apple support to at least log a complaint of the issue?  Will they even take my call since my Applecare on this machine has expired?

Send feedback via there website and call them, as techincally you should have some type of software support as it is a combination of the software and hardware that is causing major issues. I am running 10.7.2 on my Mac Mini and everything seems ok for now, I however I miss my 2011 27" i7 iMac, I just didn't want to have the same flipping issues all over again and opted for a decked out Mac Mini and Apple display for now, I will "hopefully" go back to a iMac when they resolve these issues. It just p i s s e s me off as I have never had a problem with any Mac Product since 2003 when I just started buying Apple Products, but with the latest and greatest so called updates via SL and Lion installs have caused nothing but problems.

Ben,

Currently using a Mac Mini i7 with 16gigs of memory SSD drive/750 HD drive with zero issues so far, same goes with my wife's  new 2012 Macbook Pro and my 2011 Macbook Pro.

Anke,

If your unit is a 2011 and you have Apple Care and they haven't fixed your problem yet, I would ask for a new computer and or credit, that's what I did and I ended up buying a Mac Mini/Apple Display and Macbook Pro, spent a tad more money but so far I am much happier than dancing around a problem Apple isn't fixing yet!

Marjean,

I have a 2008 iMac that had Leopard.  Updated to SnowLeopard, (trying to get to Lion) but had the "curser moved, but machine was frozen," needed to do hard reset every 15 to 30 minutes.  After it rebooted (SL) I would go to Applications and as soon as the list popped up from the toolbar, it would freeze again.

I was able to do a Time Machine backup successfully and made a clone (of SL) and put both on an external drive, then wiped my iMac hard drive clean and put Leopard back on.

I would think that Apple's Jeanyessus would have charted this already... but maybe not.  It would be a great idea to see if there is a pattern.  I already see one pattern and that is LION WAS NOT READY TO BE RELEASED for  OLDER or NEW machines.  It is a pity that a 3 year old computer that has been a solid workhorse has turned into a paperweight. 

I've said this before - I am merely a consumer... not an I.T. person, nor a developer.  All I do is buy a program and run the install disk.  I hire people to do anything more than that, and when APPLE can not respond to hundreds of thousand of complaints, it makes me think twice about staying with Apple.  As it is, I already have to run non-MAC programs for my work, so I've gimped along with that issue for years.  I'm about ready to jump ship.   If they would just tell us they are working on it.......  I can deal with that.  

To be honest, I am afraid they might not even take your call without the AppleCare. I had AppleCare on my iMac and then canceled it after this whole situation. Call 1-800-692-7753 (MY-APPLE) and talk to customer service, tell them you want to file a complaint and I am sure they will note it on your account. I did that, they wrote a bunch of notes and sent me on to AppleCare. They aren't a lot of help I have to warn you, they just appolgize even two minutes.

I have 10.6.8 with the freeze symptoms outlined here. They were very sporadic and very rare in 10.6.6 more frequent in 10.6.7 and very frequent in 10.6.8.  I have been following this and other threads for a very good while now, especially with the belief that it is more than just updating to LION that is the culprit.

BUT, for eight days now the freezes/crashes have stopped! I am not exactly sure why, but I am starting to get very cautiously optimistic. First off, I did mostly everything that is generally recommended with no success. A week ago, however, I added RAM to the max for my machine--4gb--in hopes that sometime I might go to LION. Immediately I noticed an improvement: fewer freezes, and once a "freeze" of sorts where the spinning beach ball was evident, which never happened before. About the same time I removed an old 1.0 USB connection to a Kodak camera dock. I also ceased "resetting" safari as was my habit, but I do clear history and/or clear the Safari cache. Since then, no freezes so far. If this holds, MY answer may be in one of the following that I did in the past week and a half:

     - add RAM (which was Apple manufactured RAM, done at the Genius Bar)

      - remove the camera dock usb connection

      - cease resetting Safari

I know this is not that much to go on, but I can only report where I am and how I think I got here. This freeze thing has been with me for monbths, and this is the first extended period without them that I have gone through.

I am NOT going to LION until there is more positive feedback of one sort or another on this freeze issue.

I am updating this thread from what I posted back on page 101.  I got my iMac back from the Apple store.  They ran all the tests and found no issues.  They did however reseat the RAM.  I have 8GB of RAM and they were installed by Apple at time of purchase.  I've been using my iMac now for a week with no issues. 

@fvd:  you had mentioned that you upgraded RAM which means the modules were taken out and installed.  I am wondering if there's some correlation between our cases.

Anyhow, I hope this is the last of my issue.  I've been playing WoW (dualboxing) in 2 windows (side-by-side) and have not seen any performance degradation or experienced any lockups. 

@rentu: I am beginning to think that there is a correlation.That there is two of us within about a week is something. Yes indeed, my exisiting RAM (1 kb) was removed and then new ones( two 2kb)  installed. There were also hardware tests done to be sure all (including ram) was okay. Everything checked out. I mentioned the issue of freezes/crashes and was told that the tests showed nothing wrong, and  that the recent console logs that I also had on my desktop done at the time of some recent crashes showed nothing really out of the ordinary.

HOWEVER, I was told that resetting the ram could have an impact because if the ram was not seated right freezes and assorted problems could occur.

@fvd: Interesting. Maybe the heat and the way that the RAM modules plug in upside-down got loose.  Who knows?  And I think you meant GB and not KB

Well I'll just keep using the iMac and let you all know if anything occurs.  I have saved pics and vids of the original problem before I visited the Apple store just in case it is needed for review later.

@fvd I will tell you why this is a load of garabage. If you Ram is not seated correctly, the system would either do one of a couple things.

1.) Not Turn On

2.) Not Register The Ram in About This Mac

3.) Cause Random Shut-Downs

4.) The Freeze would not be limited to Finder; Meaning, the cusor would be frozen also, not movable.

It would not cause Freezing as you are reporting. It is due to lion and firmware incompatability; my bet is on the GPU. I am hesistant to blame it on overheating as the system should have a auto-shutup set up in the EFI. Its also worthwhile noting that Lion increase Ram used needed over Snow Lepoard. I will also note that the fan on my iMac 27' was always running, you can hear it from the back just above the stand.

@fvd and @rentu: since apple feels that need to censor gandolf the grey and my own comments, i will be taking this conversation elsewhere which they have no control over anything. not to mention, they ban me from viewing this thread for a few minutes. they have just royal p i s s e d me and now i am going to do whatever i can to bring this issue into the public light.

@jmarchalonis:  I'm sorry you are being treated that way.  This is an important issue and hopefully we can get an official response from someone.  I have been without my iMac for a week and a half and it has hindered my ability to work from home as the 27" screen makes my job 10x easier in the workspace that I have.  Everything has been working thus far since I got it back and would be nice to see everyone get their's fixed too.

Snow Leopard caused the same "freeze" issue on my 2008 iMac.  The top left frame of the monitor was HOT to touch.  When I went back to Leopard, I had no problems, or freezes at all. 

What I find so disturbing is some of the brand new computers are having the same freeze issues.  I feel really sorry for those Buyers.  What a first impression.. 

Might be a  component that is being used that gets overtaxed with the upgrades..??

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?