Freezing MBP 10.6.8

Question

Level 1

0 points

Freezing MBP 10.6.8

So my macbook starting acting up a week or so ago, randomly freezing when I tried opening new applications or just freezing and giving me the dreaded color wheel for no reason at all. This is sporadic/intermittent.

I went through the following to try and fix --

-Ran Disk Repair and Disk Permissions

-Checked my free space on the Startup/HD - (Less than half is being used now--65% is free)

-Did all the most recent apple os software updates

-Reset SMC

-Reset PRAM

-Ran an EXTENSIVE HARDWARE TEST to see if everything was ok using my Applications CD ROM from Apple

-Ran a memory test using REMBER ( 3rd party software to test memory in case it was my RAM stick...nope!)

Additional information:

-Basically, I've tried everything short of reinstalling my OS. (I did that fairly recently --twice actually so I don't know if maybe something got screwed up there...)

-My mouse has also been acting strange periodically turning off--it is connected via one of two USB ports...I switch back and forth between the two ports.. I don't know if this is USB related...

-There are generally a few peripherals connected to the laptop--an external monitor via the mini display port/the mouse via USB/and the speakers. I tried disconnecting all and still noticed the same freezing...

If anyone has any more tricks up their sleeve I would welcome any suggestions. It doesn't appear to be a hardware issue.

My laptop is running 10.6.8--I bought it in December of 2011, I feel like it's still too young to be dying but that may be my own naivete.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Apr 9, 2014 6:53 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Melophage

Level 5

7,213 points

Apr 9, 2014 7:33 PM in response to bolsh

bolsh,

if you boot into Safe mode, does your MacBook Pro still freeze up?

Reply

Answer 2

bolsh Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 9, 2014 7:50 PM in response to Melophage

I did start it in safe mode at some point because I was curious of that myself and yes, it was still freezing...

Reply

Answer 3

Melophage

Level 5

7,213 points

Apr 9, 2014 7:54 PM in response to bolsh

bolsh,

you’d mentioned that you’ve run Rember. Have you replaced your MacBook Pro’s original RAM? If so, which model MacBook Pro do you have, what are the characteristics (e.g. speed in MHz) of the replacement RAM, and have you tried reïnstalling the original RAM to see if that makes a difference?

Reply

Answer 4

bolsh Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 9, 2014 7:52 PM in response to Melophage

I still have the original RAM that came with the MBP. I just thought I would check the RAM stick in case it had malfunctioned...

These are the specs of the computer:

Model Name: MacBook Pro

Model Identifier: MacBookPro6,2

Processor Name: Intel Core i7

Processor Speed: 2.66 GHz

Number Of Processors: 1

Total Number Of Cores: 2

L2 Cache (per core): 256 KB

L3 Cache: 4 MB

Memory: 4 GB

Processor Interconnect Speed: 4.8 GT/s

Boot ROM Version: MBP61.0057.B0F

SMC Version (system): 1.58f17

Reply

Answer 5

Melophage

Level 5

7,213 points

Apr 9, 2014 7:58 PM in response to bolsh

bolsh,

some 15-inch Mid 2010 MacBook Pros (which is what yours is) are known to have a defective NVIDIA GPU; if this freezing is occurring when running apps which use the NVIDIA GPU, then yours could potentially be one with the defect. Apple had a gratis servicing program for this model’s defect that lasted for three years from the date of the MacBook Pro’s purchase; they still offer the servicing program, but it is no longer guaranteed to be gratis. I’d recommend making an appointment at your nearest Apple store, to have them run their Video System Test on your MacBook Pro to confirm whether or not its NVIDIA GPU has this defect.

Reply

Answer 6

bolsh Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 9, 2014 8:38 PM in response to Melophage

Thanks so much! I'll look into it!

Reply

Answer 7

bolsh Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 10, 2014 11:03 AM in response to Melophage

Quick question--if I've never had problems previously with my GPU what could it be causing it to fail now? It's worked flawlessly for years. Could it be an OS update? If I roll back to a previous version would my troubles be assuaged?

Reply

Answer 8

Melophage

Level 5

7,213 points

Apr 10, 2014 6:57 PM in response to bolsh

bolsh,

if your freezing is due to the GPU defect, then it’s a hardware problem that would show up sooner or later, unless you were to never use the NVIDIA GPU. A rollback to a previous version of OS X might make less use of the NVIDIA GPU, but the problem would still be there; if avoidance is enough to assuage your troubles, then you could use gfxCardStatus to avoid ever using the discrete NVIDIA GPU.

Reply