Bassbarbie

Q: Problems freezing after update to Mavericks 10.9.5

I have a late 2011 Macbook Pro. all was fine until i clicked the button to update to Mavericks 10.9.5 (and I think there was another update too). Everything froze, the touchpad didn't work,.. nothing. Force quit did nothing. I closed lid - but later when I lifted it, it was all still frozen and I resorted to pressing and holding the on/off button. 

 

I've spent the last 24 hours trying different things - sometimes when it freezes, the laptop seems to think the edge of the screen is in the middle (i.e. keep taking the mouse left and it appears on the right of the screen), and also I am getting funny lines and dots on the screen (is it possible it's my graphics??) and the cursor changes to a funny vertical dotted line.

 

I tried starting it in safe mode - it got to the log in screen with loads of lines etc. on the screen, but I persevered as I had heard it would produce diagnostics.... anyway I ended up with a blue screen with black lines down it. Eventually I pressed the on/off button again.... so safe mode is not working... (I think.. unless I didn't wait long enough?)

 

As suggested on here, I went into the library and have now dragged the caches folder onto the desktop, and I am waiting to see if my laptop freezes again. This appears to have copied the folder onto my desktop, rather than moved it - is that right?

 

Today I have also removed 300GB of photos, as I was down to my last 19GB - just in case that was the problem, but it has frozen since, so I'm guessing not. I have 16GB RAM so that shouldn't be a problem.

 

I'm fairly new to Mac. I haven't encountered any error codes, just screen freezes and odd graphics. I haven't been able to find where the diagnostics are to run. When it freezes, it gets very hot, so I have been pressing the on/off button and letting it cool off.

 

I'm still awaiting to see if it happens again, but I wondered has anyone else experienced anything similar or does anyone have any advice. Any advice gratefully received!

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5), 16GB RAM 750GBHDD

Posted on Sep 22, 2014 2:44 PM

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Q: Problems freezing after update to Mavericks 10.9.5

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  • by dianeoforegon,Helpful

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon Sep 22, 2014 2:58 PM in response to Bassbarbie
    Level 5 (5,298 points)
    Sep 22, 2014 2:58 PM in response to Bassbarbie

    Boot into the Recovery Drive by holding down Command R when restarting.

    Run Repair Drive and Repair Permissions using Disk Utility in Recovery.

    Restart and run the combo updater.


    OS X Mavericks 10.9.5 Update (Combo)

    http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1760

     

    However, you might need to reinstall OS X in the Recovery Drive. This process should not damage your data but it's always advised that you backup first.


    _recovery.png

    If you don't have a clone backup it's time to start. Just like a seat belt and an air bag protect you in different ways when driving, you need both Time Machine and a clone for full protection.


    Both of these applications can be used to create a clone. You will need an external drive to backup your data.

     

    SuperDuper! http://www.shirt-pocket.com/

    CCC http://www.bombich.com/download.html

     

    Free space: It suggested you have a minimum of 10% free but this can vary depending on the size of the drive. When you get below 10GB free you need to start moving files off the drive.

     

    You can keep your iPhoto and iTunes Libraries on an external drive. Hold down the option key when launching the app to point to the new library location.

  • by Bassbarbie,

    Bassbarbie Bassbarbie Sep 23, 2014 2:22 AM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 23, 2014 2:22 AM in response to dianeoforegon

    Thank you so much! In the hour before I went to bed, it looked like the problem may have been fixed by dragging the caches folder to the desktop. I will print off your response though and keep it just in case.

    I do have my data backed up in addition to time machine, but I don't have a clone, so again, I will follow your advice. Thank you!

  • by Bassbarbie,

    Bassbarbie Bassbarbie Sep 24, 2014 11:07 AM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 24, 2014 11:07 AM in response to dianeoforegon

    Well after moving the caches folder it worked for about 12 hours. Then I used photoshop CS5 and the screen went funny again and everything froze.

     

    I Thought I had followed your advice, but I now realise I didn't quite.... I have...

    1. Run the repair drive (it said it was ok)

    2. I forgot to run the repair permissions (if that was a separate step- can't check now)

    3. I reinstalled the OSX Mavericks (that took hours)

    4. did some updates . But then it froze again. Managed to get back in and start the iBooks update but it froze again and I can't get it to restart without getting first a grey screen with lots of horizontal lines on it and then a grey screen. If I start it in safe mode, I get a blue screen.

    5. I've now reset the PRAM

    6. I tried the repair disk utility again and I get a blue screen now.

     

    According to the help on here, I should now replace the memory with the original apple memory. Any other advice would be welcomed. I'm starting to think this is terminal

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon Sep 24, 2014 11:45 AM in response to Bassbarbie
    Level 5 (5,298 points)
    Sep 24, 2014 11:45 AM in response to Bassbarbie

    Have you run validate Fonts yet?

     

    How to use Font Book to validate fonts

      1. Open Font Book in your Applications folder.

      2. Select All Fonts.

      3. Now click in the list of fonts and select all (Edit > Select All).

      4. Under File in the Menu bar, select Validate Fonts.

      5. Duplicate fonts will be marked with either the yellow badge or a black dot.

      6. Select to remove or delete duplicates.*

      7. Delete font caches (how to)

      8. Restart your computer

    * Step 6 – remove or delete duplicates is where the tricky part comes in. You can select to let Font Book disable or remove duplicates, but I’ve found that it removes the one you have not been using rather than selecting the best option. See Font Management in OS X, by Kurt Lang, for more info on fonts.

    http://www.jklstudios.com/misc/osxfonts.html

     

    See Kurt Lang's directions here to remove font caches

    https://discussions.apple.com/message/26188553#26188553

     

    BTW, how much free space on your drive. Use Disk Utility to find available space. If there is 20GB free with a bit of extra free space for your current install, we could do a clean install of Mavericks for testing. This would eliminate in issues with your install. If the base install fails, this would indicate hardware issues. (Did you keep the Mavericks installer?)

     

    availablespace.png

  • by Bassbarbie,

    Bassbarbie Bassbarbie Sep 24, 2014 2:16 PM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 24, 2014 2:16 PM in response to dianeoforegon

    Thanks for getting back to me, but I think it is beyond me now. I cannot get anything other than a grey screen, or if I try the repair disk utility (CMD R ) or a safe boot then I now get a blue screen.

    When it first turns on the whole screen with the apple logo on, has horizontal lines on it. I am wondering if this means it is the motherboard or graphics card that is the problem. (Clutching at straws , though these would not be a good scenario). The strange thing is that all this started when I hit the update button. I did have photoshop running at the time and I don't know if that could somehow have corrupted something.

    I Will phone the apple store tomorrow, but it is a ferry journey away so I may try and get someone local to see if they can help.

    Thank you for trying.

     

    edit: I forgot to say, of 750GB I did have 19GB free when this first started but I immediately moved a load of photos off, so there is around 300GB free now. I haven't tried to run validate fonts.

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon Sep 24, 2014 2:32 PM in response to Bassbarbie
    Level 5 (5,298 points)
    Sep 24, 2014 2:32 PM in response to Bassbarbie

    Do you have an external drive that your friend could install Mavericks on? If yes, you can attach the drive to your computer and see if it will boot from the external. It's possible once you can boot that you can repair your drive or at least copy the data. I suspect the Apple store will wipe your drive and reinstall OS X to "fix" it.

     

    Good luck. Let us know what you find out.

  • by Bassbarbie,

    Bassbarbie Bassbarbie Sep 24, 2014 3:04 PM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 24, 2014 3:04 PM in response to dianeoforegon

    It would seem there is a problem with early and late 2011 MacBook Pro 15" machines and I am not alone

    Macbook Pro (15" early 2011) horizontal lines on screen and not booting...?

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon Sep 24, 2014 3:17 PM in response to Bassbarbie
    Level 5 (5,298 points)
    Sep 24, 2014 3:17 PM in response to Bassbarbie

    Has your Apple Care expired?

  • by Bassbarbie,

    Bassbarbie Bassbarbie Sep 25, 2014 5:59 AM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 25, 2014 5:59 AM in response to dianeoforegon

    I thought it had, but this morning I called the technical support team and it turns out I'm covered until next May! That was welcome news! I tried CMD R start while on the phone and it went to a blue screen and I told him everything I had tried. He agrees he thinks it's a hardware fault and I shall take it in to them next weds. ( I am not in mainland UK so not as easy as it is for some) I suspect it will need a new motherboard.

     

    Thank you for your input. It can all get a bit scary

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon Sep 25, 2014 8:55 AM in response to Bassbarbie
    Level 5 (5,298 points)
    Sep 25, 2014 8:55 AM in response to Bassbarbie

    That's welcomed news. I had a similar issue and my iMac was covered by AppleCare. After multiple replacements to fix, in the end I got a new computer.

  • by gvhconnect,

    gvhconnect gvhconnect Oct 1, 2014 6:28 AM in response to Bassbarbie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 1, 2014 6:28 AM in response to Bassbarbie

    I have exactly the same set of issues.

     

    Mine is an early 2011 MBP. Everything fine until I updated to 10.9.5 "pre new OS" update.

     

    Then immediately started getting display issues... ....not defining edge of screen... ...displaying lots of noise. Not responding to reboot or mouse.

     

    All sorts of iterations to try and bring back. As more power offs, it started to come up and get 1/2 way through boot cycle and show blue screen.

     

    Reset PRAM, reset SCM, and eventually it came back. Worked find for 2 1/2 weeks, and then again... ...except this time have been unable to recover.

     

    While it shows up as display issue, given the performance of the display when it has been up and in early boot cycle, it doesn't on the face of it seem to be a hardware issue.

     

    I have connected via Firewire to other 10.9.5 machine and disk is fine, carried out a Verify and Repair anyway, but no evil there.

     

    Right now just backing up some files, and about to attempt a reinstall of the OS.

     

    Yours is the only post I've found so far, but I have to believe that this is not that unique.

     

    What has been the final resolution?

     

    Thanks for your post!

  • by Bassbarbie,

    Bassbarbie Bassbarbie Oct 1, 2014 10:38 AM in response to gvhconnect
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 1, 2014 10:38 AM in response to gvhconnect

    Hi

    Yes make sure it is all backed up - I reinstalled the OS and it made no difference - though I thought it had at first. Eventually it got worse and worse (I'm talking from first issue freezing on a Sunday evening to totally unable to do anything within 3 days). On the Weds, I called Apple support and they made an appointment for me, but said they thought it probably was the graphics card.

     

    Today, a week later they have taken my Mac to have a new logic board. At the store they plugged it into a system that checked everything. They also checked it on an external monitor. The repair would have been about £360 with parts and labour, but thankfully I am still covered by Applecare.

     

    Checkout the link in my post higher up - there are masses of people with the same problem with this Macbook. Mostly early 2011 models, but mine was late 2011

    Good luck!

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon Oct 1, 2014 4:35 PM in response to gvhconnect
    Level 5 (5,298 points)
    Oct 1, 2014 4:35 PM in response to gvhconnect

    Just because Disk Utility says the drive is OK, I still suggest you take it in for a checkup. There is no charge to check. I had a client that was having issues so we cloned his drive. Had lots of issues making clone with corrupt files that would not copy, but eventually got all but a few files copied to clone. When we booted from clone and ran Disk Utility it said the drive was OK. Erased the drive and reinstalled OS X. Tested in the new install and still had issues. He then took the drive in to Apple Store for a check and the drive was bad and had to be replaced.

  • by KennyBee51,

    KennyBee51 KennyBee51 Jul 12, 2015 6:33 AM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 12, 2015 6:33 AM in response to dianeoforegon

    I updated to OS 10.9.5. The computer is freezing at the point where I am to enter the password; I cannot type it in. Perhaps related, or perhaps not, is a window I get seconds later, saying it is looking for a wireless keyboard. I use a wired Apple keyboard. Cannot dismiss this window. Tried starting up using Command-R, to no avail. I have everything backed up onto an external drive using Time Machine, and most of the data files onto a flash drive as well.

    ???

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