jmacbookpro
Level 1 (5 points)

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

I installed OS X Lion in my Mac Book Pro (Mid 2010) and have two issues:

 

- Login screen freezes sometimes. "Colored rotating disc" appears, text cursor stops blinking and I can not do anything; I can not click anywere, I can not enter my user name/password... Only option is to hard-reboot the computer, which is not a pleasant thing to do.

 

- App Store is very slow. It takes about 30 seconds of "rotating colored disc thinking" every time a page has to be loaded!

 

I first installed OS X Lion via Mac App Store and login screen freezes happened about 50% or more of the times I turned on the computer! Also random freezes happened during computer work. Computer was almost unusable under these circumstances, so I reinstalled OS X Lion by doing a clean install (from DVD). After this clean install everithing seemed to run smoothly at first, but now login screen freezes happen again and Mac App Store is very slow as I explained.

 

I did not have any of these problems with Snow Leopard. I have checked permissions, and I have not installed too many apps yet.

 

Anybody with these same issues? Any idea of a solution? Somebody at Apple working to solve these problems?

 

Thanks!

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Jul 25, 2011 3:47 AM

by jmacbookpro,Solvedanswer
jmacbookpro jmacbookpro
Level 1 (5 points)
A:

To everyone's interest: my MacBook Pro logic board was finally replaced two days ago, and the problem was still there . So I have been back to the Genius Bar today (again...) with my repaired-but-not-properly-working Mac. Just while the technician was working with my computer, they have received a notification about a new quality program for this same issue.

 

Those waiting for a software fix, then, wait no more, or wait forever, as it seems that Apple has found something wrong with at least some mid-2010 Logic Boards. It was not Lion's fault, after all...

 

So, if you have a Mid-2010 MacBook Pro 15'' which experiences a spinning-ball freeze at login with OS X Lion, check Apple's support page, as they should post news quite soon. You will probably have to take your computer to an Apple Store; then, if your computer's serial number corresponds to an affected machine, Apple will change your Logic Board for a new revised one (free of charge, even if the computer is out of warranty).

Posted on Oct 27, 2011 11:03 AM

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

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  • by Lincoln Adams,

    Lincoln Adams Lincoln Adams Oct 17, 2011 4:01 PM in response to jmacbookpro
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 17, 2011 4:01 PM in response to jmacbookpro

    Just a quick update, brought my MBP to the store and could easily reproduce the issue for the tech, lol.  Tried to explain that this was due to the revision of the graphics card and the board might need to be replaced as a result but I don't think she really heard me.  On the upside they did fix my memory which failed the diagnostic and ruled that out after it continued to freeze.  It's now been sent in for reinstall/repair.   I'll see what happens but short of replacing the entire board I'm not hopeful. 

  • by Terry Mahoney,

    Terry Mahoney Terry Mahoney Oct 17, 2011 4:18 PM in response to Terry Mahoney
    Level 1 (35 points)
    Oct 17, 2011 4:18 PM in response to Terry Mahoney

    Update: I've got my MBP6.2, GeForce 330M Revision ID: 0x00a2, gMux 1.9.21, back from the shop and am now running Lion 7.0 (installed via retailer's netboot) wiith AGS (Automatic Graphics Switching) disabled, and Autologin OFF.

     

    If this "work-around" works for a few weeks without an SBBoD on login I'll let the thread know. But I still want a permanent fix for this bug.

     

    If SBBoD recurs, I'll remember to try using [f12] (increase speaker loudness).

     

    BTW, does anyone see any harm in leaving AGS ON after logging in, and then turning it off just before logging out or shutting down? Could easily write a script to do this.

  • by chrisby10,

    chrisby10 chrisby10 Oct 17, 2011 4:39 PM in response to hkoci
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 17, 2011 4:39 PM in response to hkoci

    I thought maybe 10.7.2 fixed the problem, but it appears that apple has set up 10.7.2 installs to disable AGS by default on the new install.  After enabling AGS I was back to problems.

  • by Mr Mot,

    Mr Mot Mr Mot Oct 18, 2011 2:19 AM in response to jmacbookpro
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 18, 2011 2:19 AM in response to jmacbookpro

    You can add me to the list:

     

    NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M:

     

      Chipset Model:          NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M

      Type:          GPU

      Bus:          PCIe

      PCIe Lane Width:          x16

      VRAM (Total):          256 MB

      Vendor:          NVIDIA (0x10de)

      Device ID:          0x0a29

      Revision ID:          0x00a2

      ROM Revision:          3560

      gMux Version:          1.9.21

     

     

    I don't get a boot freeze on 10.7.2 but did constantly if I didn't log in quick enough on 10.7.1

     

    I now just get freezes early after boot (usually within 5 mins and usually when running/using firefox which has caused AGS to switch to nvidia)

  • by Terry Mahoney,

    Terry Mahoney Terry Mahoney Oct 18, 2011 1:36 PM in response to Mr Mot
    Level 1 (35 points)
    Oct 18, 2011 1:36 PM in response to Mr Mot

    @Mr Mot & @chrisby10: Thanks for the info. - even more evidence that AGS (anytime) is causing the problem whenever a switch is triggered. Earlier on this thread, someone else said that 10.7.2 defaulted to AGS-OFF. I assume Mr Mot had also turned it back ON?

     

    I will not bother working on a couple of AppleScripts, to switch AGS ON at login and OFF at logoff. Best to just leave AGS OFF (as a workaround), I guess, and suffer the extra battery drain on the laptops, or leave them pluggged in for general use. But this is hardly "a fix".

     

    Going a bit off-topic, it's curious that some other machines (including the Lion OEM MacMini server-box, dual-drives and single, integrated Intel HD3000, on-die GPU) that do not use (our) NVIDIA GeForce 330M also occasionally experience the SBBoD. I wonder if this is also graphics-related? But there's no GPU switching happening; or is there?

  • by chrisby10,

    chrisby10 chrisby10 Oct 18, 2011 3:09 PM in response to jmacbookpro
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 18, 2011 3:09 PM in response to jmacbookpro

    I just got off the phone with the senior level tech who escalated my case to engineering.  In my case, the switch from integrated to discrete login problem is a software issue that engineering is aware of and is working on a solution that will run through the software update channel.  I was advised to use the discrete card only until an update specfic to the macbook pro is issued.

     

    I hope that helps some of you.

  • by bruleke,

    bruleke bruleke Oct 18, 2011 3:22 PM in response to Terry Mahoney
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 18, 2011 3:22 PM in response to Terry Mahoney

    @crisbry10

     

    Thats perfect news!

    Thanks a lot!

    The best part was: "engineering is aware of and is working on a solution that will run through the software update channel"

     

     

    Thanks a lot for helping a THOUSAND of people!

  • by chairmo,

    chairmo chairmo Oct 18, 2011 4:15 PM in response to jmacbookpro
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 18, 2011 4:15 PM in response to jmacbookpro

    Sorry, posted the wrong graphics card details before:

     

    Chipset Model:          NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M

      Type:          GPU

      Bus:          PCIe

      PCIe Lane Width:          x16

      VRAM (Total):          256 MB

      Vendor:          NVIDIA (0x10de)

      Device ID:          0x0a29

      Revision ID:          0x00a2

      ROM Revision:          3560

      gMux Version:          1.9.21

  • by chairmo,

    chairmo chairmo Oct 18, 2011 4:17 PM in response to Terry Mahoney
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 18, 2011 4:17 PM in response to Terry Mahoney

    @ Terry Mahoney.  Yes, that's my model.  Not sure what you are looking at, what's the query?

     

     

    Quick update on my mac, I've had one login freeze since I last posted.  It was after I ran the automated Onyx maintenance, so I'm willing to give that a pass!

  • by chairmo,

    chairmo chairmo Oct 18, 2011 4:23 PM in response to jmacbookpro
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 18, 2011 4:23 PM in response to jmacbookpro

    Also guys.  Have you seen this thread relating to system crashes and lockups, mostly on MBP 2010s.

     

    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3191083?start=0&tstart=0

     

    The two issues have to be related!

  • by jwsell,

    jwsell jwsell Oct 18, 2011 5:01 PM in response to Terry Mahoney
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 18, 2011 5:01 PM in response to Terry Mahoney

    Yes.  Sorry I left out the details:

    Late 2010 MBAir 11"

    4GB Ram

    1.6 GHz Core 2 Duo

    NVIDIA GeForce 320M (256 MB)

     

    In reading this thread, it seems like my problem may be a little different from some of the others.  I could get through the login screen.  The hang would come at the desktop: either menu bar only with no desktop icons or normal desktop showing, but the spinning beachball would not let me continue.  Third force quit usually resolved it until shutdown when the problem cropped up again.  The solution was simply to remove all of the preferences and then reestablishing them. This is not necessarily inconsistent with the hypothesis that graphics card switching may be at the heart of the matter since there is probably a pref file for that.  Good to know in any case that Apple seems to be working on it. In the meantime this worked for me and may help someone else.

    Regards, John

  • by Terry Mahoney,

    Terry Mahoney Terry Mahoney Oct 18, 2011 6:40 PM in response to chrisby10
    Level 1 (35 points)
    Oct 18, 2011 6:40 PM in response to chrisby10

    @chrisby10: Fabulous news indeed! So we basically turn AGS OFF and wait for a software or (another) firmware update.

     

    I have also just opened a case-ID with AppleCare's phone support but my Apple Assistant has not "nailed it" yet. He asked me to download and install the MacBookProEFIUpdate1.9 (released last August, which I have since done) but it gives me an Alert that reads "This software is not supported on your system." So that is not the right one.

     

    I'll call Apple Support again tomorrow (hours: 6am to 6pm) using my case number, to tell them what happened. Maybe it would help them if they shared the case numbers, I'll ask them if they want to do it (and how). They need to put out a bulletin.

  • by Lincoln Adams,

    Lincoln Adams Lincoln Adams Oct 18, 2011 6:42 PM in response to jmacbookpro
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 18, 2011 6:42 PM in response to jmacbookpro

    Got a call that my MBP was ready.  The verdict?   COULD NOT DUPLICATE.  They didn't change or fix a thing because they couldn't reproduce the problem.

     

    So I go to the store, ask the rep if I can check my MacBook and sure enough I reproduce the problem.  Just to add another monkey wrench into the equation, it now freezes hard whenever I hit the power button to bring up the menu to shut it down/log off/ restart.  Not sure why it's doing that now, but basically I'm watching my MBP, of which never had a single issue under Snow Leopard slowly being destroyed by the Lion update, Apple's version of Windows Vista. 

     

    Good times, baby.  GOOD.  TIMES.

     

    Having reproduced the issue, they're now holding it over night for more testing.  I should hear something in the morning.  I told the guy repeatedly though that this was a Lion issue in which it has real problems with the specific graphic card revision I have, and the logic board needs to be replaced.  We'll see.

  • by bruleke,

    bruleke bruleke Oct 18, 2011 7:35 PM in response to Lincoln Adams
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 18, 2011 7:35 PM in response to Lincoln Adams

    Veeeeeeeeeery nice Lincoln!

    I really really hope Apple listens to these guys!

    And I am glad that people like you are doing these things! THOUSANDS os users will be glad!

  • by Terry Mahoney,

    Terry Mahoney Terry Mahoney Oct 18, 2011 8:03 PM in response to Lincoln Adams
    Level 1 (35 points)
    Oct 18, 2011 8:03 PM in response to Lincoln Adams

    Lincoln - I feel for your frustration. But it looks like there's light at the end of the tunnel. Did you see chrisby10's post (above - Oct 18, 2011 3:09 PM (in response to jmacbookpro))? I.e., there IS a software fix - in the offing.

     

    In the meantime I am using my MBP6,2 with the AGS turned off. (If that doesn't work I'll post another rant).

    Hang in there (and, as my math prof often said, "You will catch more flies with honey than you will with vinegar").

     

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