computer locks up

Hello,

One way to test is to Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, Test for problem in Safe Mode...

PS. Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive

Reboot, test again.

If it only does it in Regular Boot, then it could be some hardware problem like Video card, (Quartz is turned off in Safe Mode), or Airport, or 3rd party add-on, Check System Preferences>Accounts>Login Items window to see if it or something relevant is listed.

Check the System Preferences>Other Row, for 3rd party Pref Panes.

Also look in these if they exist, some are invisible...

/private/var/run/StartupItems

/Library/StartupItems

/System/Library/StartupItems

/System/Library/LaunchDaemons

/Library/LaunchDaemons

Open Activity Monitor, Show:>All Processes, sort on CPU%, see if anything using too much CPU% when this happens, click on Memory tab, do you have many Pageouts?

Open Console in Utilities & see if there are any clues or repeating messages when this happens.

Get Temperature Monitor to see if it's heat related...

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/12381/temperature-monitor

iStat Menus...

http://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/

And/or iStat Pro...

http://www.islayer.com/apps/istatpro/

Hey BDAqua, you have helped before but this locked state of my 2007 iMac is driving me nuts and I can't get any work done because of the regular freeze of the screen, I can move the mouse but no button or menu,nada happens. I do have a music software app [Logic pro 9.1.7] and it includes something called the 32-bit bridge,which I have heard mentioned in the Logic forum as messing things up. It tries to start together with Logic pro because I have some 32-bit plug ins that use it; these plug ins worked fine in 10.5.8 but after moving up to 10.6.8 I can't even get Audio out of the music software. I have a new driver for SL for the usb audio/MIDI interface through which all audio passes before it reaches the monitor speakers or headphones. As I said it all worked fine in 10.5.8, I am considerig buying a new imac and re installing everything but that would use up all my savings and I am not certain it would solve the problem. There is a third party app EWQL Symphonic choirs which includes a thing called Word Builder,it allows one to type in the text that the choir sings. It sends a large amount of MIDI data, and then it freezes the whole screen,but only after it makes a big mistake caused I think by the choir software and tells me it can't find a particular sample and would I like to search for it. It has its' own window for this search and the sample is always where it is supposed to be, but all this searching and opening things and having too many apps open at once is usually the moment the screen freezes and I must hard reboot, I have made a habit because of the complexity of the music software to repair permissions and use Disk Warrior to rebuild the drive, the report says often that the crash occured at the moment I opened the extra window to search for the missing sample. I tried looking in the places you mentioned in reply to the OP, but I see nothing that I recognize as the problem. Am I asking too much from this old iMac? it's only got Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz and 4 GB's DDR2 SDRAM. the imac is starting not to respond to what I want to write here, or this reply form has a bug in it that causes it to freeze and not let me add more text,or there is an anti verbosity protocol in effect and I have gone past the limit of how much I may write.

I would try a few things, especially before considering a new Mac.

First thing first, a new mac does not mean your woes are gone because the first thing to consider before buying a new mac is your software. Do consider if the versions of sofware you have will work with the new computer. If you have hardware consider if it will continue to work. Contact the respective software/hardware vendors on these points.

Secondly, under the circumstances you pointed out I would do the following. Disconnect ALL hardware from your mac (temporarily).

-start up normally and check if the issue is gone.

-if you are using bluetooth try not to (who knows)

-reset SMC on your mac (if you haven't in a while it won't hurt)

-run Disk Utility on your internal HD, permissions and check disk.

-actually, BDAqua provided very relevant steps here so I won't dive in with more options.

-You could temporarily create a partition on your drive to install a clean copy of the OS, or to an external drive. Boot from that partition/hard disk to test.

--Basically, you need to isolate if the issue is related to your software/3rd party hardware or Apple only software hardware.

Run the Apple Hardware Test as well, it doesn't catch everything but will be a good way of raising some confidence on your mac's health.

SMC Reset

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

AHT

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509

--I think what can help us help you further is by outlining your observations in regards to recommended steps.

Thanks very much LostAccount, you have made many good points. I reset the SMC last week to restore the FireWire 800 ports' functionality it works perfectly again now. I just did the Apple Hard Ware Test and it found no problems. The internal HD is too full to make a partition, that is why I have been using a 1TB FireWire 800 HD external to boot from-because apple, and many other software developers won't allow an online download to be placed anywhere but the Boot drive, that is how it got 2/3rds full-it is only 250GB,I had to find a solution and in 10.5.8 it worked like dream. I see your point about a new iMac having the wrong connection ports for my USB and FireWire. It looks to me like the issue is 10.6.8 and the third party software. I don't feel an urgent need to have the very latest versions of everything,I wish I had never installed 10.6,it has been only trouble and not only for me, the music software forums are buzzing with complaints about 10.6.8.

TheAudioMIDI Setup, so important to us musicians has been stripped down to a difficult to use app that requires almost weekely trashing the pref for it and re-configuring the set up. And now something is stopping me from typing this, it keeps refusing to recognize my key strokes, then it will work again[like now] but ever since I installed 10.6.8 has this has happened when I try to write a post here-is it me or the forum? The cursor keeps jumping backwards into what I have already typed, pain in the ***. Maybe I can find another refurbished iMac here with the right ports and have a 1TB Boot HD and 8GB's of RAMM installed in it,

must stop this is driving me crazy the way the cursor keeps jumping back into the text.

Hi again

I read your last post with interest.

There is a lot of data you can store outside your boot partition. Two software packages come to mind, notably your iTunes and iPhoto libraries can live on external hard drives, no issues there at all. I use this method myself. Saves me a lot of internal hard drive space. Yes, then again, some software requires installation on the boot partition as necessary component of function.

When it comes to the music software and Audio Midi Setup. I could possibly help a little more but you left a little to be desired in terms of hardware/software setup for the same.

10.6 is a very good Leopard by the way, a Snow Leopard, but in all seriousness. The first thing I would do is write down all the software and hardware you use in a list. Contact each one of those respective vendor's website and confirm the following:

1) That you are running software and/or hardware that meets the system requirements set out by those suppliers

2) Check their support site(s) for any known issues, aka, are they aware of any know issue with Mac OS X 10.6.x? Have you installed a version higher than they tested against? Check these things out because sometimes, that's all it takes to break something.

Your keyboard and mouse are an interesting beast on their own.

Is it an Apple keyboard and mouse?

Are they wired or wireless?

When did the keyboard mouse issues begin?

What changed on your system just before the keyboard and mouse issue?

Does the same keyboard and mouse work without issue on another mac?

For that matter does the same keyboard and mouse work as expected in a different user account?

If you attach a different keyboard and mouse to the affected computer does the issue disappear?

Here is a silly question but I won't know unless I ask. You say the mouse tracks erratically, might it be the surface you are tracking the mouse on? Could it be that the mouse needs a little cleaning up? I know it sounds silly but unless I ask I'll never know. It's a little like "My computer doesn't turn on!", followed by the apparently rhetorical question, "Is it plugged in?" sort of comments but sometimes that's all it is but I fear it isn't that simple.

All these questions might help be narrow down what to do but you can try all of these out and report back.

Anyway, try to answer these questions and I could better evaluate what to recommend as a next step.

Cheers!

Thanks again LostAccount, you have many good ideas,don't be afraid to ask things, I am not easily insulted. I wrote 4 long emails after posting the yesterday and the cursor did what it should, I fear that with Jobs gone, the top heavy giant may fall ,I hope it doesn't,I used to love Apple machines. yes this is the place where the cursor jumps about and if recent experiance is telling, this won't be fixed for many years. God give me the will to keep trying to write this way. I can't remember the order in which your questions were stated so forgive me if there are many non sequetors

This is a contiuation of the above reply because I tried to copy that text so I could move it to here,but command x did nothing so I just hit post and am hoping I will be able to finish this before the thing stops working.

I had already reached all third party app developers and had all the 64 bit drivers/versions ready on an external drive [ proporly disconnected] so I could load them into SL once it was installed. That went OK, I up graded my MBP at the same time and it has not had one freeze since, the only software on this thats not in the MBP is the EWQL choirs and VOP, so I think that is what is causing the problems. This mouse is a new Mighty Mouse that I need for scrolling, find the track pad insane I use this mouse on the MBP too, and it works perfectly .[ I and since horizontally ] that was supposed to be in the sentence above but now has jumped down a line to where it is now. I will not be using this iMac for forum replies after this one.[obviously] that also jumped to a new place. Both keyboard and mouse are Apple quality and I tried your idea and they both work fine on the MBP. The EWQL downloads site had a "fix" to downoad for Mac users to repair the faulty software which since my licenses for it are for life and remain in the USB key I had better tryt[iLok] that decided to move forward, the iLok key belonged in the sentence part about removing all remaining bit of EWQL from this iMac. Nothing on the iMac is bluetooth or wireless in any way. the freezes began when Logics 32-bit bridge thought it should be open for the choirs, even though I installed a new version from EW that says it is 64-bit, that bridge of Logics is mentioned on other Logic Fora as a cause of logic crashing-but on this iMac logic doesn't crash very often-the screen just freezes up,never happens on the MBP. And since this morning Time Machine has stopped working as it should, it was never IMHO very dependable but it now does nothingvery4 minute the message that there isn't enough room to back up, It Is using a 1TB WD 800 HD, and worked as expected before 10.6.8. firewire swhith ebute minterupt

the only software on this thats not in the MBP is the EWQL choirs and VOP, so I think that is what is causing the problems.

If you believe that these two software packages might be causing one of the issues to surface it won't hurt to uninstall them. This will give you a chance to make some observations and conslude whether your suspicions are correct. It's the easiest way to find out.

Both keyboard and mouse are Apple quality and I tried your idea and they both work fine on the MBP.

When you say Apple quality, I will assume you mean Apple branded. If the mouse and keyboard work without issue on another mac then it's safe to say it can't be these two device. Later you mention bluetooth is not in use; therefore, the issue might be related to the USB ports or some other software on your Mac.

For the keyboard/mouse issue try a PRAM reset, http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379. Wait for the 2nd startup chime before releasing the command=alt(option)-P-R keys that you hold on startup. If you hear a 3rd startup chime that's fine - no damage done.

In terms of software and how it might relate to this issue we have to figure out whether the issue stems from items that start with OSX or if the source relates to software that loads with your user account. To determine this, create a temporary admin user account and name it 'test', the password can also be 'test'. We can delete this account later. In addition, have the computer display the login window so that you can choose the new 'test' account to check things from.

In fact while at the login window, you can test the mouse because no user account software has loaded yet. The test is simple but will be revealing and tells which branch to take to look at this further. Probing this is key as we need to isolate where the issue comes from.

the freezes began when Logics 32-bit bridge thought it should be open for the choirs, even though I installed a new version from EW that says it is 64-bit, that bridge of Logics is mentioned on other Logic Fora as a cause of logic crashing-but on this iMac logic doesn't crash very often-the screen just freezes up,never happens on the MBP

Sorry, I know that here you mean freeze as in the menus don't reposnd but the mouse moves around. Either remove the Logic 32-bit bridge temporarily or test from another user account. The only way to know what causes what is to isolate things out, sometimes removing them temporarily.

There is a feature called Safe Boot or Safe Mode in OSX. You can read about it here, http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1455

And since this morning Time Machine has stopped working as it should

Sorry to hear that, we can look at that a little later. It's easier to deal with one issue at a time especially when all we have to our avail is writing text.

Please let me know if this is helpful or if I missed the point anywhere.

Hiagain LostAccount, I am using my MBP to reply,we'll see what the cursor does now. The "freeze" does occur every time I open Logic which causes the bridge to open. I didn't install the bridge, I assume it came with the 64-bit version of Logic Pro. I tried to spotlight it but nada,I have no idea where it is located, I can ask on the Logic Pro part of this web site. The cursor shows no strange activity in this reply field now so it must have something to do with the iMac. Probably a USB problem there are several USB app's I could move out to an external and disconnect it so SL can't find them.

The problem with removing the offending software is that the provided installer doesn't remove everything. In spotlighting for other things I have found product chunks from that company in the system library as well, and they do not belong there. I will send of another complaint to them asking where exactly they have put things so I can rid my iMac of their products. Boy is this MBP screen bright, hard on my glaucoma and **** to edit MIDI with, that's why I had not been using the MBP for a while, but I did install everything from Apple that was offered by software update,except iPhone support and iWeb-don't even know what iWeb is. If it is social networking I am not interested, I fear I am not part of Apples future if all is leading to having everything connected, Siamese twins are conected but from what I read they are seldom happy about it.

If I start with the clean[empty] account there is still no difference in how the iMac works,pity as that was a great idea of yours.

I must go now to post the question about moving the 32-bit bridge in the Logic Pro forum. After that I will go to the software company who make EWchoirs and ask where the stuff is hidden. If anything major comes out of that I will post back here.Thanks again,

Cheers,David

The "freeze" does occur every time I open Logic which causes the bridge to open.

If you are confident of this then you have indeed found the source of the problem. To further set your troubelshooting in stone, I recommend uninstalling Bridge for now to be extra sure. I will let you evaluate if that is necessary.

I didn't install the bridge, I assume it came with the 64-bit version of Logic Pro

Gosh I wouldn't know either. Do you know if it is Bridge that causes this issue? I am ignorant of this product unfortunately.

I can ask on the Logic Pro part of this web site.

Yes good idea, or use the built in help or google. Might this be of help? http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3989, Logic Pro and MainStage 64-bit mode FAQ

Probably a USB problem there are several USB app's I could move out to an external and disconnect it so SL can't find them.

What do you mean by USB apps? I also found this, sorry I've never owned or used Logic Pro but maybe this says something to you, http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2852

In spotlighting for other things I have found product chunks from that company in the system library as well, and they do not belong there. I will send of another complaint to them asking where exactly they have put things so I can rid my iMac of their products

Do contact support for some of the software you suspect, especially if you think something is not properly uninstalled.

I fear I am not part of Apples future if all is leading to having everything connected, Siamese twins are conected but from what I read they are seldom happy about it.

No worries about the iphone and iWeb updates, they have no bearing on the issue. iWeb is pretty much gone from Apple's suite of apps. It was an app to build websites and host them on their now switched off mobileme service.

If I start with the clean[empty] account there is still no difference in how the iMac works,pity as that was a great idea of yours.

I must go now to post the question about moving the 32-bit bridge in the Logic Pro forum. After that I will go to the software company who make EWchoirs and ask where the stuff is hidden. If anything major comes out of that I will post back here.

Well, don't give up, your doing really well and althought the issue is not resolved yet we can remove somethings off our checklist, it's a system wide issue for one (mention this on the other thread that you have yet to create or mention the link to this one for background).

Some software installations move components to the System side, not the user side, or sometimes your asked if you want something available for only your user account or all user accounts. If you choose the latter then it gets installed in the the /Library.

Have you tried safeboot yet? http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1564 and http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1455

---For the moment, I think you made one very strong statement here…"The "freeze" does occur every time I open Logic which causes the bridge to open." Your energy should focus on this software. I am not the right person when it comes to Logic but I will offer the following anyway.

1) Uninstall Logic and every plugin that you installed after it.

2) Re-install only Logic

3) Test

4) Install one 'plug-in'

5) Test

6) Install a second 'plug-in'

7) Test

You should find the culprit this way.

I hope this helps, report back if you need more help.

Just a quick bit of info. I won' try to venture to far into this but it would appear to me that bridge is a mechanism that launches when 32 bit plugins want to load while Logic runs in its 64 bit mode. Does this make sense.

I would guess that if you disable plugins as per the FAQ you might start to see some joy.

Looks like your not the only one?…https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3636525?start=0&tstart=0

Thanks yet again LostAccount, you are very good and kind to give so much help. I removed every thing from that EW Choirs app and now there doesn't seem to be so many glitches. Even typing here is working now,except that Logic has lost its' audio output but that is a recurring problem usually caused in 10.5 by a corrupt Pref file. before the gargantuan task of uninstalling Logic I want to work a bit and see how this old girl is doing without the junk from EastWest. I wonder what will eventually happen with this switch from 32-bit to 64-bit, if the developers had gotten it right there wouldn't be so many complaints.. I see that you checked the Discussions in Logic or Main stage,yes many are still not happy with the largest corporation on Earth,or what's left of the Earth. This typing is going better than even I had hoped, just by getting rid of that EW software. It would help me the most now to switch from complaining about Apple's 64-bit stuff,whats done is done and other than re installing 10.5 there ain't nothin a customer can do about it. I need to get some work done and that means getting the audio output back up and running. As far as the work that needed a choir I have a very interesting French program that should be able to do the same thing as the EW choir, plus it has solo singers which are lacking in the EW app.

i did ask on the Logic pro forum about moving the 32-bit Bridge but have yet to hear anything, they are uasually very good but that bridge is Apples, and therefore the Logic Pro forum's baby and it most likely can't be moved. Give me a few days to work on this then I can report back what is or is not working,certainly can type here now!!!

i just wanted to add that I opened that Logic song that had locked the screen each time and the bridge opened but a pop up warned me that the EW choir was no longer available, but the screen did NOT lock up.

I am absolutely delighted to help you and am thankful of the progress made.

What I understand is as follows:

Bridge exists for one simple reason only, it's to allow Logic, when running in 64 bit mode (64 bit is good, it means your apps can use more than 4GB of RAM!) to be able to continue working with 32 bit only versions of plugins. Normally apps can't do this, it's 32 or 64 bit only for everything the app clings on to so it's, as far as I can tell, a little bit of magic that binds it together.

I know that you can force an app to work in 32 bit mode but that will restrict the app to a 4GB RAM ceiling. Here is how you can do that. I will use Safari's info window as an example. I went to the Applications window, clicked once on Safari and then performed a command-I from the keyboard, this window opens. Notice that below the colored labels you can choose to open an application in 32 bit mode. This is useful if, in the case of Safari, I needed a certain resource that Safari uses to work, useful if the resource is 32 bit but Safari is running in 64 bit mode without the tick turned on.

You can find related information here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3171

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3773

Incidently I found this sourced from http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3989?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US. It's visible after revelaing the first question. Jsut do the opposite to run in 32 bit mode. Bridge will never need to open because Bridge is there to permit 32 bit plugins to operate in Logic when it launches in 64 bit mode.

-

I will remind of this link which provides a wealth of Logic specific info, http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3989?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

I took a caption of this FAQ which I believe is relevant

-

Can I use my existing Audio Unit (AU) plug-ins in 64-bit mode?

To make the transition to 64-bit easier, both Logic Pro and MainStage are still able to access 32-bit-only Audio Unit plug-ins while in 64-bit mode by using a utility application called 32-bit Audio Unit Bridge. This application opens automatically whenever a 32-bit-only Audio Unit plug-in is accessed.* The 32-bit Audio Unit Bridge hosts all currently used 32-bit-only Audio Unit plug-ins and runs alongside Logic Pro or MainStage to provide access to the plug-ins being used.

* While most 32-bit plug-ins should work with the 32-bit Audio Unit Bridge solution, not all plug-ins may be compatible.

- Under the circumstances, I would contact the plugin vendor directly, asking them if they are aware of any specific known issue that might prevent the plugin you want to use with your software/hardware configuration.

Something that might help them — if you can add an attachment when emailing them you can actually save the "System Information" as a file and send it to them. This will let them see exactly what is installed on your mac and will provide them all the knowledge on your currently active hardware.

To do this:

1) Click to the Apple Menu

2) Click on "About this mac"

3) Click on "More Info"

4) Click "system Report"

5) Click on the "File" menu and choose "Save…"

6) Save it to your desktop and attach it in an email to them noting that everything about your system can be viewed on a mac by double clicking the attached file. It can only be viewed on a mac.

If you can't attacha file, let them know the version of Mac OS X, the version of their plugin and the version of Logic.

Finally, it sounds like things are working again but now you don't have access to the plugin, not sure you need the plugin though, if not you are good to go!

Hope this helps.

Don't hesitate to chime back

Great work! 🙂