OS X Lion freezes at login screen + App Store is slow

It's another GT330M... most likely just a new revision. I was told by my tech that there are several revisions of this board, which I assume have multiple revisions of the GT330M that probably had a metal layer fix sometime after the first revision was released. .

Actually I would have preferred getting an AMD Radeon in there 🙂. They rock on the new models. Soooo much faster and don't have the same insane heat issues that you get with the 330M.

All,

Interesting reading the last few posts. My MBPro is still working fine after the logic board replacement. I checked and I'm also running a Nvidia GT330. I've left it for ages after booting up and no freezez so far.

What is odd is that if I run 'Software Update' I am prompted to download and install an Firmware Update 1.9 which suggests that its going to fix this issue for all Mid 2010 MBPs. So having done this and then re booting etc... if I run Software Update again.... It wants me to do it all over again ??????

Cheers as always

Dave UK

Russian apple support refused to help, because macbook is out of warranty. 😟

I have checked another macbook pro 2010 (macbook pro 6,2, friend of mine owns it) which was produced a bit later then mine. It has no issues with graphic switching, spinning beachball at login and freezes at all.

Just been waiting so far, since I "downgraded" to Snow Leopart about a month ago (maybe not so long ago :-P) I'm completely happy with my decision. Since my "downgrade" I've had no more:

- Login screen freezes

- Mutilanguage death screens.

- File dialogs sluggishness

- Safari and other Apple programs random beachball tea sessions (avg. 20 secs)

- Looong boot up and shutdown times.

I restored from a SuperDuper clone, reinstalled the software I had installed in my Lion copy and my MBP is running faster, cleaner and cooler.... THIS is what I expected for a computer bought from Apple. For everything else I would have bought a Windows machine (just kidding)

So, one more solution here for the ones who want them.... By the way... IF THIS CAN BE SOLVED THIS WAY, then it's by no means a hardware "fault"....

I got an answer from apple' service. Well actually two.

1. They gift me apple care for 2 years (my MBP is of course mid 2010 but was bought in march 2011). Because I felt really dissapointed about general quality in apple products. They try to gave an ipod or something but I just tell them that those product even nice will not affect my feeling about my problem, so I suggest the apple care thing, and they did it.

2. According to technician a fix is coming with 10.7.2 that will be launched in few days (with icloud gadgets...). I had also a motherboard (or logicboard...) change and it did not fix the problem. As many of you I think that some compatibility issue with the video card is bugging the system, but no hardware replacement (but a full one of course) will fix the problem.

Another thing, is just me or all of you upgrade (or change) your original RAM and/or hard drive?

I did.

When they test it, ram did not pass all the tests... sad. I bought a certified ram (which cost a "bit" more)

about the hard drive a got the seagate xt momentus 500gb. super fast and no flags from apple test.

I'll wait to see what happens.

If no fix, I will demand a full replacement.

greetings,

@sardo007 Incorrect. Snow Leopard working and Lion not working does *not* mean that hardware can't fix this problem. OSX is heavily dependent on OpenGL and GPU hardware today, and it's very possible that Lion requires a feature that has a bug in a specific revision of the GT330M. This kind of thing happens all the time in the ASIC industry (which I am a part of). It is very likely that there was either a metal fix or a complete respin of the GT330M during its lifetime to correct this issue.

@2good2btrue Did you send the unit directly to Apple? I'm wondering if they assumed that it was bad/damaged/broken hardware vs. an outdated revision, and replaced it with a refurbed (older) revision of the board. I am convinced that this is a hardware issue.

Here is what I know, for a fact, based on conversations with Apple personnel and personal experience:

1. There are multiple revisions of the logic board for the mid-2010 Macbook Pro.

2. Some mid-2010 Macbook Pro users have the problem in Lion, some don't.

3. My mid-2010 Macbook Pro (purchased at launch) had the problem. I sent it in to Apple. They replaced the logic board. My machine is now completely, 100% solid. It hasn't locked up once and I've been using it every day for > 1 week.

Here's what I believe to be true:

1. One of the revisions on the logic board is a newer spin of the NVIDIA GT330M.

2. Lion is executing a new command to the 330M that Snow Leopard never used.

3. No software fix will cure this, other than modifying the way Lion works to "re-mask" this issue on the older 330Ms.

4. I would be very surprised if 10.7.2 will cure this.

@mikeev Of course you believe it's a hardware problem, you're a hardware guy. There are reasons doctors are not allowed to operate on family and I think this is a similar predicament.

Yes, you probably got a new revision, and yes your new revision is free of the defect. That does not mean the old revision is EOL'ed. It means the driver/related software in Lion works well with the revision you have.

My company makes hardware too and yes new revisions of hardware fix old defects. But, old defects are still bugs which need to be addressed.

I'm betting on driver issues and the only way for either of us to be sure other than spreading dis-information is to wait and see what the next maintenance release will bring. If the maintenance release doesn't fix everyone's issue, then yes, email, call, smoke signal apple and get a new mainboard. If it does, then we all win.

I have a mid 2010 MacBook Pro and don't have AppleCare. What would be the steps I'd need to take to have this serviced with a new logic board that could help resolve the issue, without paying through the nose for it? I assume if I go to my local Apple store I'll get a rep who isn't aware of this issue and will just go through the motions of reinstalling Lion or some other useless attempt at troubleshooting that would NOT resolve the issue. Not sure what to do.

@fdawg41- spreading misinformation? Come on man, I'm just trying to help out those who still have this problem, and sharing what I *do* know, and what I *think* is true, and I think I made that distinction crystal clear. My MBP is fixed- I don't have to be wasting my time posting here. Give me a little credit. Don't be an *******.

Anyway, Apple is replacing these mainboards with this problem *as if it's EOL'ed*. They could have easily told me "wait until 10.7.2". But the protocol in place for Lion users, today, is to replace the whole logic board. I think it's safe to say that that's the action that you need to take if you ever want your mid 2010 MBP to work normally in Lion with AGS turned on. This, so far, is the *only* valid fix, and since Apple is replacing these boards with the latest rev for free (and only has your laptop for 2-4 days), it's somewhat silly to keep waiting, hoping and praying for a software workaround.

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@Lincoln Adams- Here's how to get it fixed (or at least what I did):

1. You get *one* free AppleCare call with the purchase of Lion. Call them up and use it.

2. If the initial rep does not have a solution for this problem, make sure to get transferred to a senior support rep.

3. Ask him to check for different revisions of this logic board, and ask him if Apple is willing to replace it.

4. I did NOT have Apple care. For this issue alone, my rep offered to replace the logic board for free without much hassle at all. They mailed me a box that arrived the next day, I put it in on a Thursday afternoon and mailed it off via FedEx. Saturday morning I got it back, brand new logic board, and it was 100% fixed. Yes, that was <2 days. Incredible.

Hope this helps. Let us know how it turns out.

@All

In support of what mikeev says.

I've booted / rebooted / slept / woken loads of times and still no issues since the logic board was replaced.

I agree the solution is a trip to Apple and they will change the board. Also as mikeev says, it will only be gone a few days. Go for it - nothing to loose. Do your back up and take it in !!

DaveUK

Oh man I totally forgot! As Dave said- please use Time Machine to back up everything before sending it in. Mine was wiped when it came back. Just assume that they're going to format it. Your tech support rep should mention this, too.

Definitely don't have anything to lose. While my MBP was @ Apple, they also did a thorough diagnostics of my system and found issues with my track pad, which they also replaced. Awesome service, once you let them get their hands on it.

Mike

@mikeev I didn't say hardware CAN'T solve the problem... of course you can solve it changing hardware... What I mean (maybe it's my poor english) is: if you CAN write a driver that DOES work well, then the problem DOES have a software solution. If you find that a function in the OS requires some hardware feature that's broken in certain batch of controllers, then you may:

1- Make that feature optional... or

2- State those chips as incompatible with the OS at install time... or

3- Make a company-wide statement advising your current users NOT TO UPGRADE until you work out a solution or not to upgrade at all, because they'll have troubles...

So far Apple has made none of the above... they've let all their customers to upgrade their OS without advice, they've not stated there are problematic controller chips, and of course, they've given no means to deactivate the failing feature.

The fact is THERE IS a software solution, and it shouldn't be so complicated... In the worst case, they could allow people to install/use the old drivers.

I also have the "random freeze on login" problem. My machine is a MacBookPro6,2. EveryMac.com says this is a "mid-2010" machine with a 2.66 GHz dual-core i7 in it (which it is).

Thanks, mikev, for your helpful reply. I'll take my MacBook back to the dedicated Mac retail store (not an Apple store) where I bought it and see what they say. It is out-of-warranty because I goofed-up on my intent to extend the standard AppleCare before the default, 1-year coverage had expired.

I won't bother to back it up becasue there is literally nothing on it yet. I just finished downloading and installing 10.7.1 this morning, and set up a couple of admin accounts. Immediately I discovered this problem. So it really doesn't matter to me if my hard-drive comes back "wiped", as long as it has Lion reinstalled on it.

Just to update everyone, I have just installed the 10.7.2 update and tested with several restarts, logins/outs, etc and everything appears to be running smothely with no more hard freezes on reboot. As I said, in the post that was mysteriously deleted, the driver was most likely to blame as it worked fine through the beta release of 10.7 update 4 (just before Gold Master). Keep everyone posted if it rears up again.