Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iMac Freezing Fix ETA?

Now that October has passed, its high time this problem started getting some serious press again. I did submit a story today to AppleInsider, but who knows if they will publish it.

If anyone here has any connections with mac news tech sites, I suggest getting in touch with them to see if they will run an update to the story many mac sites published about this a month or so ago.

It seems Apple don't listen to us consumers directly, and just wont respond until the Apple tech sites post news about it.

How about it? Can anyone help with this?
 
samt14 said:
I also submitted to appleinsider a few days ago. I suggest, macworld as they were the ones who first published the story about apple's statement. Also engadget
Click to expand...

Ok.. I just wrote to Jim Dalrymple who published the original iMac freezing article @ MacWorld.

If anyone else can help out, particularly if you have some decent contacts, then it would be much appreciated and just might get Apple to finally get a move on and fix this problem once and for all.
 
flopticalcube said:
Since the iMac's case is good a transferring heat, I think it would be OK to have a hot case as long as the internal temps are good. I haven't noticed any abnormal heating on mine.

As the maestro would say, it is a conundrum.
Click to expand...

The variation in the amount of heat dissipated by various iMacs is also a conundrum.
Why should one iMac dissipate more heat than another at idle?
Where is the extra heat coming from?
Voltages should be identical, unless the motherboard EFI firmware or the GPU firmware is bad, and too much voltage is being routed to the PCI-E circuit, or something to that effect.

This would actually go a long way toward explaining virtually all of the reliability issues with some of the new iMacs.
Most PC hobbyists have experienced similar issues when experimenting with voltages and clock frequencies in order to gain higher framerates in games.

The heat itself may not be the source of the core issues at all, nor would dissipating it more aggressively fix the underlying problem.
 
wakerider017 said:
It didn't happen yet...

Iw would rather have a new computer than some guy tear my computer apart...
Click to expand...

This is my biggest fear...My computer is definitely going to feel tainted regardless when it returns home from repair.

Oh, and I'll probably end up finding other problems caused by the damn repair as well....the fun.
 
Howdy. Thought I'd chime in with my experience with this issue....

I have a 24" iMac 2.4 2GB. Everything was great with 10.4.10...

When 1.1 came out I updated. Started getting freezing every 10 mins or so.

So, I rolled back to 1.0. No worries. Everything was good again.

Then, Leopard comes out, so I upgrade. All of a sudden, my freezing is back again..

So, I call AppleCare. They tell me they are aware of the issue, that 5% or so of all iMacs are having this problem (paraphrasing here). To get that answer involved nearly 2 hours on the phone (1:50 of which was on hold). Considering Apple's recent financials, you'd think they could hire a few extra techs for a month or two after the roll-out of Leopard.

They told me to take it to my Apple store with a case #, and they'd likely replace it. So, I wiped the drive and packed it up.

Went to the Apple store, gave them case number. The 'Lead Genius' seemed astounded. Never heard of it before! Can't do a replace! Must be a software issue!

I couldn't duplicate it because I had wiped the drive and put 10.4 back on. D'oh!

So, they test it out with Leopard. They 'claim' they test for 5 hours under load and no crash or freeze.

So, I pick it up and take it home. Reinstall my apps (4 hours later...). Starts freezing again randomly...

I STORM back to the Apple store with 10.5 still installed... I demo the freezing for the Genius (not a tech, just a desk genius). He confirms the freeze.

3 hours later I get a call from a tech who tells me that he's had it under load for 5 hours (no kidding! 3 hours after I drop it off. Silence on the phone when I explain that anomaly to him...)... Says it's crashed once in five hours...

So, I tell him to open the screen-saver prefs for arabesque and leave it running. Then open iTunes visualizer, then scroll quickly back and forth over the dock.

...it freezes in 20 seconds.

They're ordering parts to fix it now. I'm pissed, but internalizing it. What else is there to do?

I'll post again when I get it back.

-Ben
---------------------------------------------------------
neo-fight.tv - {The Weekly Technology Podcast}
 
neoben said:
Howdy. Thought I'd chime in with my experience with this issue....

I have a 24" iMac 2.4 2GB. Everything was great with 10.4.10...

When 1.1 came out I updated. Started getting freezing every 10 mins or so.

So, I rolled back to 1.0. No worries. Everything was good again.

Then, Leopard comes out, so I upgrade. All of a sudden, my freezing is back again..

So, I call AppleCare. They tell me they are aware of the issue, that 5% or so of all iMacs are having this problem (paraphrasing here). To get that answer involved nearly 2 hours on the phone (1:50 of which was on hold). Considering Apple's recent financials, you'd think they could hire a few extra techs for a month or two after the roll-out of Leopard.

They told me to take it to my Apple store with a case #, and they'd likely replace it. So, I wiped the drive and packed it up.

Went to the Apple store, gave them case number. The 'Lead Genius' seemed astounded. Never heard of it before! Can't do a replace! Must be a software issue!

I couldn't duplicate it because I had wiped the drive and put 10.4 back on. D'oh!

So, they test it out with Leopard. They 'claim' they test for 5 hours under load and no crash or freeze.

So, I pick it up and take it home. Reinstall my apps (4 hours later...). Starts freezing again randomly...

I STORM back to the Apple store with 10.5 still installed... I demo the freezing for the Genius (not a tech, just a desk genius). He confirms the freeze.

3 hours later I get a call from a tech who tells me that he's had it under load for 5 hours (no kidding! 3 hours after I drop it off. Silence on the phone when I explain that anomaly to him...)... Says it's crashed once in five hours...

So, I tell him to open the screen-saver prefs for arabesque and leave it running. Then open iTunes visualizer, then scroll quickly back and forth over the dock.

...it freezes in 20 seconds.

They're ordering parts to fix it now. I'm pissed, but internalizing it. What else is there to do?

I'll post again when I get it back.

-Ben
---------------------------------------------------------
neo-fight.tv - {The Weekly Technology Podcast}
Click to expand...


I would not put up with that... Apple told you can have a replacement. Go back and get your new computer...
 
I am getting concerned that there has been no more word from Apple on this. It seems like the driver fix was Leopard and they hope people will go away and not complain too much. If there is no fix by next week, it may be time to start investigating class action suits. This is uncalled for on brand new hardware.
 
Spankey said:
I am getting concerned that there has been no more word from Apple on this. It seems like the driver fix was Leopard and they hope people will go away and not complain too much. If there is no fix by next week, it may be time to start investigating class action suits. This is uncalled for on brand new hardware.
Click to expand...

To be fair on Apple they did say "most likely" by the end of the month. Leopard has made things worse for most of those affected so I doubt Apple will just let it rest. I think Blizzard (World of Warcraft) is also on their case. I would like to see a little more communication from Apple, however. Their silence is deafening.
 
I was on the phone with apple today for a total of 5 hours...

They put me on hold for 2 hours and then hung up on me. I am not pleased at all.

Nothing solved.
 
neoben,

Your machine is identical to mine, and so are the problems. I haven't taken it to a store or dealt with the phone b/c I don't have the time or the computer to spare.

This is disgraceful.

My machine runs perfectly with 10.4 and iMac 1.0
iMac 1.1 = useless
Leopard = useless

Obviously something with the software, Apple fix it already damnit!
 
wakerider017 said:
I was on the phone with apple today for a total of 5 hours...

They put me on hold for 2 hours and then hung up on me. I am not pleased at all.

Nothing solved.
Click to expand...

Wow! I was only on for 2 hours. Perhaps we should have a contest!

-Ben
---------------------------------------------------------
neo-fight.tv - {The Weekly Technology Podcast}
 
otto-matic said:
neoben,

Your machine is identical to mine, and so are the problems. I haven't taken it to a store or dealt with the phone b/c I don't have the time or the computer to spare.

This is disgraceful.

My machine runs perfectly with 10.4 and iMac 1.0
iMac 1.1 = useless
Leopard = useless

Obviously something with the software, Apple fix it already damnit!
Click to expand...

If it was a software issue only, everyone would have it (we're all running the same software). Must be hardware related too. Software might fix it if they release a driver that dumbs-down everyone's system to the point where those of us who have had freezes are no longer freezing...

-Ben

---------------------------------------------------------
neo-fight.tv - {The Weekly Technology Podcast}
 
Guys, IMAC SOFTWARE UPDATE 1.2 FOR TIGER RELEASED, 1.3 for LEOPARD.
This is probably the fix we've been waiting for. Can anyone confirm, i don't have access to my imac until tomororw.

For those who have leopard, install update, open system prefs/screensaver, highligh arabesque and leave window open, then run mouse over dock left to right very fast about 10-15 times, see if it freezes or not. if not i believe this is the fix
 
OK, I'm getting my iMac this weeks. My local Apple Retailer promised me that if there is such a bug, they would gladly exchange it for a new one. Thank God it's a hardware issue. Now I can be sure that even if I do get a freezer I can change it for a new one.

EDIT: Is that 1.2/1.3 actually out? It's not on the front page (don't own a Mac yet). Can someone post results?
 
samt14 said:
Guys, IMAC SOFTWARE UPDATE 1.2 FOR TIGER RELEASED, 1.3 for LEOPARD.
This is probably the fix we've been waiting for. Can anyone confirm, i don't have access to my imac until tomororw.

For those who have leopard, install update, open system prefs/screensaver, highligh arabesque and leave window open, then run mouse over dock left to right very fast about 10-15 times, see if it freezes or not. if not i believe this is the fix
Click to expand...

Still freezes...just did it. Horrible.
 
It's quite obvious that it's a hardware fault now, and apparently 5% of iMacs are effected.

I do believe that Apple is legally obligated to accept a replacement. It's not such a big deal. Back up everything, get a new iMac and you're good. So flopticalcube, are you going to request a replacement/exchanged graphics card?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back