Late 2009 27" iMac - Random freezes

Do you have any thing attached to the computer besides the keyboard and mouse? if so, have you tried disconnecting those extra items from the computer? if so, do you still have the items when those decies are disconnected?

Have you checked to make sure your software is up todate? (apple menu, software udpate)

Have you ran disk utility to verify the disk? dose it check out with no erros?

What is the smart status of the built in drive in disk utility?

Have you tried runng apple hardware test? Do you get an error message? if so, what error message?

when the computer freezes, can you use the sound up or sound down on the keyboard? if so dose it respound?

What about trying to force quit an application when the computer 'freezes'

Have you tried a safeboot?

Have you tried a SMC reset? have you tried a NVRAM Reset?

If you disable sleep, do you still have the issue?

Has the computer been ugpraded in any way?

What are you doing when the comptuer freezes? what applications are open? Dose it matter what applications you have open?

Jsh1971 wrote:

What is the smart status of the built in drive in disk utility? I'm not sure how to check this. I'll look into it.

If a drive has a failing smart status; the text of the drive would be red in disk utilty. But not all hard drives support SMART status.

Jsh1971 wrote:

Do you have any thing attached to the computer besides the keyboard and mouse? Yes. A USB hub with several external data drives, one being the TimeMachine backup device.

A failing external drive could cause cause all the symptoms your describing.

Jsh1971 wrote:

The last freeze occured within 2 minutes of waking the computer from sleep.

A failing drive might act up after sleep. Considering this is when the disk has to spin up, start to read data off of the hard drive.

Try using the computer without the external hard drives & USB hub. If the issue stops; then you know it has some thing to do with one of the external hard drives.

Curious if your lockup got resolved or not as I am having the exact same issues. Mine is also a late 2009 27" and I am about ready to trash it and get a new model. I had to pay a tech to fix it only a couple mos. back with the same problem. The issue then was deemed bad RAM which had to be removed. Now the problem is back again. For all that is bad about PCs, I never had this problem.

I have had this problem as well, and on a whim I thought I'd try deactivating the ScreenSaver. So far in the past 2 weeks I've had far fewer freezes. I can't say it's stopped completely, but it is a lot better. I'd suggest it to at least try it out, since it is far easier than doing clean installs.

So do I. The freezes seem completely random. But because computers are logical and don't do random I am not savvy in Mac troubleshooting enough to see the symptoms of this problem, diagnose, and correct it. I could be in Mail, Word, Safari or any program when it freezes up. This has just started about two months ago. I looked in Console and nothing jumps out at me. I have already done most of the things stated in the post above to no resolution. No hardware changes has been done, only Apple updates. All tests passed with no errors or red flags. But as I stated earlier, I am not as savvy in Mac as I am in Windows. In my situation the iMac completely freezes..no mouse movement(I use a Bluetooth Mouse/keyboard) or any other functionality. It's hard to think its the memory as it has been in there since I got this machine w/o a problem. I do have an external drive connected but that being a possible contributor don't make sense since the drive is always connected and go many days without freezing the computer. If I use my Windows troubleshooting experience such a freeze like this usually points to a hardware/driver issue because it is so catastrophic. There is just not enough "evidence" to test that, let alone, resolve the issue.

iMAC 27 Late 2009

OS X 10.9.5

I have 2x late 2009 iMac and I have the same problem on both. Nothing has changed yet I keep hoping with each Apple OS X update it will have been fixed, but its no better with 10.11.4 either. It happens multiple times a day on both. It seems to be happening more frequently if anything. It's really annoying.

I have the same issue for long time. I already change the GPU for new one, remove extra ram, clean install, etc. My guess is that the problem is related to the GPU driver after 10.6.3 like we can see on this link. I like to test old drivers but can find them. Maybe later I will try to install 10.6 and test...

Have freezing issue. The display has noise first, then freeze. The simplest solution is to boot into "safe mode" which disable the graphics acceleration function. Slow but works.

Hello there,

I hope someone can help me out with this issue that has been plaguing my late 2009 iMac for now quite a long time.

The scrren suddenly locks up, music keeps on playing, the mouse works but has no effect on anything. The only resource is to force a shut down by pressing the power button.

In my particular case, it appears that the issue happens more often when I am listening to an internet radio channel from iTunes. However even without radio, it does freezes on me.

Here is the Hetrecheck report:

Thank you in advance for any help.

Simon

iMac 27" late 2009

2.8 GHz Intel Core i7

20GB 1067 MHz DDR3

SSD1TB HD

ATI Radeon HD 4850 512 MB

--------------------------------------

EtreCheck version: 3.1 (331)

Report generated 2016-10-30 20:09:53

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime 2:17

Performance: Excellent

Click the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.

Problem: Other problem

Description:

computer freezes

Hardware Information:ⓘ

iMac (27-inch, Late 2009)

[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

iMac - model: iMac11,1

1 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 (i7) CPU: 4-core

20 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

BANK 0/DIMM1

8 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM1

8 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

Video Information:ⓘ

ATI Radeon HD 4850 - VRAM: 512 MB

iMac 2560 x 1440

System Software:ⓘ

macOS Sierra 10.12.1 (16B2555) - Time since boot: about 2 hours

Disk Information:ⓘ

SanDisk Ultra II 960GB disk0 : (960.2 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: No)

[Show SMART report]

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

SSD 1TB HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 959.34 GB (584.06 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5680H ()

USB Information:ⓘ

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

VIA Labs, Inc. USB2.0 Hub

VIA Labs, Inc. USB2.0 Hub

Dynastream Innovations ANT USBStick2

Logitech USB Receiver

Seagate BUP Slim BK

Apple Card Reader

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Gatekeeper:ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers

Unknown Files:ⓘ

~/Library/LaunchAgents/Simo.plist

#1

~/Library/LaunchAgents/Yank Agent.plist

~/Library/Application Support/Matterform Media/Yank/Yank Agent/Yank Agent

2 unknown files found. [Check files]

Kernel Extensions:ⓘ

/Applications/Capture One 9.app

[not loaded] com.Leaf.driver.LeafFwXDriverMatcher (1.2.0d1 - 2016-06-20) [Support]

/Applications/Popcorn.app

[not loaded] com.roxio.TDIXController (1.6 - 2006-10-23) [Support]

/Library/Extensions

[loaded] com.logitech.manager.kernel.driver (6.30.1 - SDK 10.8 - 2016-10-28) [Support]

[not loaded] com.sophos.kext.oas (9.5.50 - SDK 10.11 - 2016-10-28) [Support]

[not loaded] com.sophos.nke.swi (9.5.52 - SDK 10.11 - 2016-10-28) [Support]

/System/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.Belcarra.iokit.USBLAN_netpart (3.1.1 - SDK 10.6 - 2016-10-28) [Support]

[not loaded] com.Belcarra.iokit.USBLAN_usbpart (3.1.1 - SDK 10.6 - 2016-10-28) [Support]

[not loaded] com.RemoteControl.USBLAN.usbpart (3.1.1 - SDK 10.7 - 2016-10-28) [Support]

/System/Library/Extensions/2.2.0/Belcarra.USBLAN_netpart.kext/Contents/Plug-Ins

[not loaded] com.belcarra.iokit.netpart.panther (1.6.3 - 2016-09-10) [Support]

/System/Library/Extensions/2.2.0/Belcarra.USBLAN_usbpart.kext/Contents/Plug-Ins

[not loaded] com.belcarra.iokit.usbpart.panther (1.6.3 - 2016-09-10) [Support]

/System/Library/Extensions/2.2.0/RemoteControl.USBLAN_usbpart.kext/Contents/Plu g-Ins

[not loaded] com.RemoteControl.USBLAN.panther (1.6.2 - 2016-09-10) [Support]

~/Downloads/Other/DiskWarrior.app

[not loaded] com.alsoft.Preview (4.4 - 2011-09-23) [Support]

~/Downloads/Other/Software/LCC Installer.app

[loaded] com.Logitech.Control Center.HID Driver (3.9.0 - SDK 10.6 - 2013-11-12) [Support]

[loaded] com.Logitech.Unifying.HID Driver (1.3.1 - SDK 10.8 - 2013-11-12) [Support]

System Launch Agents:ⓘ

[not loaded] 8 Apple tasks

[loaded] 164 Apple tasks

[running] 99 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons:ⓘ

[not loaded] 41 Apple tasks

[loaded] 164 Apple tasks

[running] 98 Apple tasks

Launch Agents:ⓘ

[running] com.Logitech.Control Center.Daemon.plist (2016-10-08) [Support]

[running] com.logitech.manager.daemon.plist (2016-10-08) [Support]

Launch Daemons:ⓘ

[running] com.MacRemover.Remover.DaemonServer.plist (2016-10-06) [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2016-10-23) [Support]

[loaded] com.malwarebytes.HelperTool.plist (2016-06-19) [Support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (2010-08-25) [Support]

[loaded] com.rogueamoeba.instanton-agent.plist (2016-02-15) [Support]

[running] net.exirion.ssdfanctrl.plist (2013-10-31) [Support]

User Launch Agents:ⓘ

[failed] Simo.plist (2016-08-27) [Support] - #1: Executable not found!

[running] Yank Agent.plist (2016-10-07) [Support]

User Login Items:ⓘ

iTunesHelper Application (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

Caffeine Application (/Applications/Caffeine.app)

AdobeResourceSynchronizer Application (/Applications/Adobe Acrobat Reader DC.app/Contents/Helpers/AdobeResourceSynchronizer.app)

DiskWarriorDaemonStarter Application (/Volumes/Seagate Backup Plus Drive/DiskWarrior.app/Contents/Helpers/DiskWarriorStarter.app)

WhatsApp Application (/Applications/WhatsApp.app)

Snip Application Hidden (/Applications/Snip.app)

Airmail 3 Application (/Applications/Airmail 3.app)

Solar Service Application (~/Library/Application Support/Logitech/SolarService/Solar Service.app)

Garmin Express Service Application (/Applications/Garmin Express.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/Garmin Express Service.app)

ScanSnap Manager Application (/Applications/ScanSnap/ScanSnap Manager.app)

ScanSnap Manager Evernote Edition Application (/Applications/ScanSnap Evernote Edition/ScanSnap Manager Evernote Edition.app)

AOUMonitor Application (/Applications/ScanSnap Online Update.localized/AutoOnlineUpdater.app/Contents/MacOS/AOUMonitor.app)

Internet Plug-ins:ⓘ

FlashPlayer-10.6: 23.0.0.205 - SDK 10.9 (2016-10-26) [Support]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-10-24)

Flash Player: 23.0.0.205 - SDK 10.9 (2016-10-26) [Support]

JavaAppletPlugin: 15.0.1 - SDK 10.12 (2016-09-09) Check version

PepperFlashPlayer: 23.0.0.205 - SDK 10.9 (2016-10-27) [Support]

SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.6.9 - SDK 10.6 (2016-10-19) [Support]

User internet Plug-ins:ⓘ

QQMail: 1.0.2.0 - SDK 10.7 (2016-04-23) [Support]

txftn: 1.0.0.6 (2016-04-23) [Support]

Safari Extensions:ⓘ

1Password - AgileBits - https://agilebits.com/onepassword (2016-10-17)

Adblock Plus - Eyeo GmbH - https://adblockplus.org/ (2016-10-17)

3rd Party Preference Panes:ⓘ

Flash Player (2016-10-23) [Support]

Logitech Control Center (2016-10-08) [Support]

Logi Options Launcher (2016-10-08) [Support]

Time Machine:ⓘ

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

SSD 1TB HD: Disk size: 959.34 GB Disk used: 375.28 GB

Destinations:

Seagate Backup Plus Drive [Local]

Total size: 999.86 GB

Total number of backups: 15

Oldest backup: 10/21/16, 10:36

Last backup: 10/30/16, 19:16

Size of backup disk: Too small

Backup size 999.86 GB < (Disk used 375.28 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU:ⓘ

6% WindowServer

5% launchd

3% com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(12)

2% fontd

1% Airmail 3

Top Processes by Memory:ⓘ

1.28 GB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(12)

1.14 GB kernel_task

410 MB mds_stores

369 MB Safari

307 MB Airmail 3

Virtual Memory Information:ⓘ

13.86 GB Available RAM

9.48 GB Free RAM

6.14 GB Used RAM

4.38 GB Cached files

0 B Swap Used

Diagnostics Information:ⓘ

Oct 30, 2016, 05:56:51 PM ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/ScanSnap Manager Evernote Edition_2016-10-30-175651_[redacted].crash

com.fujitsu.pfu.ScansnapEvernoteEdition - /Applications/ScanSnap Evernote Edition/ScanSnap Manager Evernote Edition.app/Contents/MacOS/ScanSnap Manager Evernote Edition

Oct 30, 2016, 05:56:10 PM Self test - passed

Oct 28, 2016, 04:31:06 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Finder_2016-10-28-163106_[redacted].cpu_resourc e.diag [Details]

/System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder

The two BIG things I see,

Ditch/proerly uninstall the Sophos antivirus.

http://www.sophos.com/en-us/support/knowledgebase/119182.aspx

If this isn't the proper link, search the web to learn how to properly uninstall Sophos antivirus and never install antivirus on the Mac OS, ever again.

OS X doesn't need it or want it and this can negatively impact OS X performance.

Next,

You have waaay tooo many login/ startup items installed.

Startup items have been obsolete for some time now, but if you need to have them, you need to pare these down to less than six items at login/startup.

Add or remove automatic items Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Users & Groups. Select your user account, then click Login Items. Do one of the following: Click Add below the list on the right, select an app, document, folder, or disk, then click Add.If you don’t want an item’s windows to be visible after login, select Hide. (Hide does not apply to servers, which always appear in the Finder after login.) Select the name of the item you want to prevent from opening automatically, then click Delete below the list on the right.

Make sure any external device drivers are up to date.

Make sure you web browser and any web browser extensions and/or any web browser plugins are up to date.

Good Luck!

Dear MichelPM,

Thank you so much. I will give it a try and will post the results.

Simon