branhan
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Q: 27" iMac occasionally freezes up - newbie needs help!

Hey folks: I'm new to the forum and fairly new to the wonderful world of mac. We have a 27" iMac, late 2009 (2.66 ghz core i5 processor; 12 gb RAM; ATI Raedon HD 4850 512 MB graphics) running OS X 10.8.4. Bought it used last year, and for the most part it works fine.


But every once in awhile it just freezes up on me. I can still see the cursor moving around when I move the mouse, but can't click anything. Keyboard doesn't do anything. My only choice is to hold the power button down and do a hard reboot. I thought maybe it was a mouse/keyboard connectivity issue, maybe a bluetooth thing, but it doesn't appear so.


It has happened shortly (i.e. within an hour) after turning the computer on, and after hours of use... at one point I thought it was more prone to occur when I was using Google Chrome (I kind of live in Chrome), so I tried uninstalling Chrome, but it still happened, so there might not be a cause-and-effect relationship here; it may be simply that I'm in Chrome a lot, so it's more likely to happen when I'm in Chrome than any other application - I dunno. I'm not knowledgable enough about macs to know if there's a way to troubleshoot this.


Any help or suggestions or pointers in some direction would be MUCH appreciated. I will not take offense to any responses; feel free to assume I'm completely ignorant.

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4)

Posted on Jul 19, 2013 10:07 AM

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branhan

Q: 27" iMac occasionally freezes up - newbie needs help!

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  • by rkaufmann87,

    rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87 Jul 19, 2013 10:36 AM in response to branhan
    Level 9 (58,956 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Jul 19, 2013 10:36 AM in response to branhan

    When you say it completely freezes up do you mean you cannot move the mouse at all or do you mean you see the spinning beach ball. There is a HUGE difference.

  • by Baby Boomer (USofA),

    Baby Boomer (USofA) Baby Boomer (USofA) Jul 19, 2013 10:40 AM in response to branhan
    Level 9 (57,660 points)
    Jul 19, 2013 10:40 AM in response to branhan

    How large is you HD and how much space do you have left?

    When troubleshooting, disconnect all devices from your computer.  Make sure all of your devices are updated (have the latest firmware, drivers, etc.).

     

     

    Mountain Lion Recovery

    Boot up from your computer by holding down the command+r keys.  This will take you to the recovery drive.

    Select Disk Utility & hit Return. 

    In Disk Utility select the HD on the left & click on Repair Disk (bottom right).

     

    Repair permissions when done.

     

     

    =================

     

     

    Check out:  Troubleshoot the spinning beach ball/freezing & crashing

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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  • by branhan,

    branhan branhan Jul 19, 2013 10:43 AM in response to rkaufmann87
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 19, 2013 10:43 AM in response to rkaufmann87

    rkaufmann87- yes, as stated, I can continue to move the mouse; no spinning beach ball. Weird, huh?

  • by branhan,

    branhan branhan Jul 19, 2013 10:46 AM in response to Baby Boomer (USofA)
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 19, 2013 10:46 AM in response to Baby Boomer (USofA)

    Baby Boomer (USofA) - I have about half of a 1TB HD free. This issue has occurred with no devices connected, and (just now) with 2 external drives connected; I don't think it's the drives.

     

    One of my concerns is that, because I bought the computer used, I don't have OS install discs - can I take any "recovery" methods without the discs? Will the "Mountain Lion Recovery" process you pasted (thanks, btw! I haven't tried that yet) present any risk of losing data?

  • by Baby Boomer (USofA),

    Baby Boomer (USofA) Baby Boomer (USofA) Jul 19, 2013 10:50 AM in response to branhan
    Level 9 (57,660 points)
    Jul 19, 2013 10:50 AM in response to branhan

    Every time you use your computer & sometimes when not, there is always the "risk" of losing data.  That is why the folks here are always harping about  "backing up."

     

    If you follow the recovery instructions, you should not lose anything.

     

     

    OS X Mountain Lion: Alternatives for backing up your Mac

     

     

    User Tip:  Most commonly used backup methods

     

     

    Emergency backups you didn't know you had!

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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  • by branhan,

    branhan branhan Jul 19, 2013 10:53 AM in response to Baby Boomer (USofA)
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 19, 2013 10:53 AM in response to Baby Boomer (USofA)

    That's valid; I understand the risks (I'm new here, so I haven't encountered the "harping"). Thanks!

  • by Baby Boomer (USofA),

    Baby Boomer (USofA) Baby Boomer (USofA) Jul 19, 2013 10:56 AM in response to branhan
    Level 9 (57,660 points)
    Jul 19, 2013 10:56 AM in response to branhan

    I forgot to add....

     

    Check KB Article http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1159 to determine which OS came pre-installed on your model iMac.  I believe it was SL.  If so, you can get replacement System Install & Restore CD/DVDs from Apple's Customer Support - in the US, (800) 767-2775 - for a nominal S&H fee. You'll need to have the model and/or serial number of your Mac available.

     

    If you're not in the US, you may need to go through the regional Apple Store that serves your location to find the contact number. Here's a list of links to all of those - http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/intlstoreroutingpage.html  Another resource:  International Support Phone #s.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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  • by branhan,

    branhan branhan Jul 19, 2013 11:05 AM in response to Baby Boomer (USofA)
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 19, 2013 11:05 AM in response to Baby Boomer (USofA)

    Thanks! That's great to know. What does "SL" mean? I will see if I can get replacement disks; I don't mind paying for them, but I don't want to pay retail for an OS install when I already have an OS that works (well, for the most part!) ;-) I am in the US, so maybe I'm in luck. Thanks for directing me to this. I will try the recovery steps you mentioned and be vigilant to see if it happens again.


    It's weird; I've had the machine go weeks without freezing up, and I've had it happen more than once in the same day. I wondered if it might have something to do with my relatively low graphics processing power, because it has happened while working in iMovie before (but that could just be coincidence). The instance this morning was a first: I was watching a youtube video and everything froze, but the audio from the video kept playing, even though the video image froze, and (as I said) the mouse and keyboard stopped functioning at least to make any input commands.

     

    I did a lot of googling and tried to do my research before posting here and wasting everyone's time, but I couldn't find anything that was clearly the same issue I'm having (i.e. no spinning beach ball; mouse moves but can't click)... so I assume it's not a known issue with these older 27" imacs...

  • by Baby Boomer (USofA),

    Baby Boomer (USofA) Baby Boomer (USofA) Jul 19, 2013 11:15 AM in response to branhan
    Level 9 (57,660 points)
    Jul 19, 2013 11:15 AM in response to branhan

    Sorry, SL = Snow Leopard.

     

    System DVDs & universal retail OS DVDs are not the same thing.  For your model iMac, you will need the system DVD which are machine specific to troubleshoot.  Meaning you cannot use from Mac to Mac.  The system DVD #1 has the Hardware Test on it.  Universal retail DVDs do not, among a load of other things.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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  • by branhan,

    branhan branhan Jul 19, 2013 1:07 PM in response to Baby Boomer (USofA)
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 19, 2013 1:07 PM in response to Baby Boomer (USofA)

    Ah, I see. Thanks! if the OS has to be reinstalled, can this be done from the system DVDs?

  • by Baby Boomer (USofA),

    Baby Boomer (USofA) Baby Boomer (USofA) Jul 19, 2013 1:22 PM in response to branhan
    Level 9 (57,660 points)
    Jul 19, 2013 1:22 PM in response to branhan

    If you want to reinstall Mountain Lion, that is a different procedure.  If you want to wipe out the system to revert back to Snow Leopard, this is where the System DVDs come into play.

     

     

    For ML reinstall instructions go to the Mountain Lion forums and do a search poster "Kappy."  He has step by step instructions which are very easy to follow.

     

     

     

    EDIT:  Kappy's instructions are in this thread:  https://discussions.apple.com/message/19529675#19529675

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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  • by branhan,

    branhan branhan Jul 19, 2013 1:25 PM in response to Baby Boomer (USofA)
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 19, 2013 1:25 PM in response to Baby Boomer (USofA)

    Thanks BB(USoA)! Did you mean this one? https://discussions.apple.com/message/18125270#18125270

     

    So far so good since I started this thread; no freeze-ups yet, but we shall see!

  • by Baby Boomer (USofA),

    Baby Boomer (USofA) Baby Boomer (USofA) Jul 19, 2013 1:33 PM in response to branhan
    Level 9 (57,660 points)
    Jul 19, 2013 1:33 PM in response to branhan

    The link you found is better than the one I found!

     

    Glad to hear the freezing has stopped.  Hope it stays that way.

     

     

    Good luck!!!

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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  • by branhan,

    branhan branhan Jul 20, 2013 5:28 PM in response to Baby Boomer (USofA)
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 20, 2013 5:28 PM in response to Baby Boomer (USofA)

    FYI, it was suggested to me to check the logs in my Console. Not sure how the timing all lines up, but I tried this (first time I've opened the console) and these are the entries around the time of the freeze-up yesterday morning:

     

    7/19/13 9:27:11.000 AM kernel[0]: CODE SIGNING: cs_invalid_page(0x1000): p=9898[GoogleSoftwareUp] clearing CS_VALID

    7/19/13 10:08:17.961 AM com.apple.usbmuxd[27]: _heartbeat_failed heartbeat detected detach for device 0x274-192.168.1.100:0!

    7/19/13 10:17:37.453 AM com.apple.usbmuxd[27]: _heartbeat_failed heartbeat detected detach for device 0x275-192.168.1.100:0!

    7/19/13 10:25:52.000 AM kernel[0]: CODE SIGNING: cs_invalid_page(0x1000): p=9958[GoogleSoftwareUp] clearing CS_VALID

    7/19/13 10:53:20.161 AM com.apple.usbmuxd[27]: _heartbeat_failed heartbeat detected detach for device 0x278-192.168.1.100:0!

    7/19/13 10:55:01.633 AM com.apple.usbmuxd[27]: _heartbeat_failed heartbeat detected detach for device 0x279-192.168.1.100:0!

    7/19/13 10:56:46.692 AM com.apple.time[1195]: Interval maximum value is 946100000 seconds (specified value: 9223372036854775807).

    7/19/13 11:01:25.182 AM com.apple.usbmuxd[27]: _heartbeat_failed heartbeat detected detach for device 0x27c-192.168.1.100:0!

    7/19/13 11:07:19.727 AM com.apple.usbmuxd[27]: _heartbeat_failed heartbeat detected detach for device 0x27d-192.168.1.100:0!

    7/19/13 11:24:38.000 AM kernel[0]: CODE SIGNING: cs_invalid_page(0x1000): p=10021[GoogleSoftwareUp] clearing CS_VALID

    7/19/13 11:32:44.378 AM com.apple.usbmuxd[27]: _heartbeat_failed heartbeat detected detach for device 0x280-192.168.1.100:0!

    7/19/13 11:47:20.261 AM com.apple.usbmuxd[27]: _heartbeat_failed heartbeat detected detach for device 0x281-192.168.1.100:0!

    7/19/13 12:12:32.586 PM com.apple.usbmuxd[27]: _heartbeat_failed heartbeat detected detach for device 0x284-192.168.1.100:0!

    7/19/13 12:18:03.019 PM WindowServer[118]: handle_will_sleep_auth_and_shield_windows: no lock state data

    7/19/13 12:18:03.021 PM WindowServer[118]: Created shield window 0x29a for display 0x003f003d

    7/19/13 12:18:03.021 PM WindowServer[118]: handle_will_sleep_auth_and_shield_windows: no lock state data

    7/19/13 12:18:22.602 PM Finder[1212]: *** WARNING: -[NSImage compositeToPoint: operation:fraction:] is deprecated in MacOSX 10.8 and later. Please use -[NSImage drawAtPoint:fromRect: operation:fraction:] instead.

    7/19/13 12:18:22.603 PM Finder[1212]: *** WARNING: -[NSImage compositeToPoint:fromRect: operation:fraction:] is deprecated in MacOSX 10.8 and later. Please use -[NSImage drawAtPoint:fromRect: operation:fraction:] instead.

     

    Does anything in there raise any red flags for you? I'm pretty ignorant as to how to interpret any of this...but I know anything related to "kernel" is significant, and "heartbeat failed" sounds bad!

     

    I also did a search for "shutdown" and these entires came up:

     

    Jul 19 12:38:56 localhost com.apple.launchd[1]: *** Shutdown logging is enabled. ***

    Jul 19 12:39:35 localhost kernel[0]: Previous Shutdown Cause: 3

    Jul 19 12:39:48 Hancock-iMac-i5.local locationd[46]: locationd was started after an unclean shutdown

     

    What else should I be looking for?

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