I am currently having painfully frustrating problems with my computer intermittently freezing up... but it is much more complicated than that. I guess I should tell the whole story chronologically.
I first damaged my computer about 8 months ago. It was by my own doing (fell off my bed) and the result was, from my understanding, a broken fan. I sent it into Apple, who also believed it was a fan problem and sent it in to be fixed... it returned shortly thereafter and seemed fine.
Fast-forward about 2 months... my computer is now having serious problems with its hard disk. Some sort of error which i didnt' recognize - essentially, i couldnt' reformat it, i couldn't target-disk it, etc. So i sent it in to another place (not an Apple store since i had by this point exceeded my warranty time) and they replaced the Hard drive with a slightly larger and seemingly fine drive.
Fast-forward about 1 month... the fan's are running hot again. So hot, in fact, that it would frequently turn itself off. I was suspect that it was a software problem (after all, i had just fixed the fans) however it persisted while running XP under Boot Camp. The computer was only able to run by elevating it off the ground and putting a giant fan behind it. I had to leave the problem be for a while since i was unable to reach any store that could examine it.
About 1 month later, I am finally able to take it in to be looked at. Some guy (again, not at an Apple Store), tells me that this is clearly a software issue as he was able to run it with an external drive and not experience the problems. He was even able to check the fan speeds and temps (both fans were working) and the temperature was about 20 degrees Celsius less using his external drive. Convinced that I need to reinstall the operating system, I call Apple to send me new MBP disks (since I of course lost mine a long time ago).
Fast forward about another month... the disks never show up. Instead, I decide to go straight to the source and find an Apple Store that is willing to reinstall for me. The problem is dealt with, i take it home, and everything seems to work fine for a while.
Not so fast! The computer's running hot again, and the crashes/freezes are still happening. I finally decide to take matters into my own hands; i download smcFanControl, beef up the speed of the fans, and things seem to be running much better.
Again... not for long. Apparently this doesn't even seem to be the source of my problems. Currently i have the fans set at 5500 RPMs, the computer is running at a chilling 37 degrees Celsius, and yet still during just the time to write this post, my computer has frozen FIVE times equating to a lovely 3 minutes and 7 seconds wasted.
A couple notes about the problems itself:
When the beachball shows up, it initially just shows up in the frontmost application (usually), and i can even do some small maneuvering in the other applications. I assume this is because of minor RAM storage. However, as soon as i do something a little more intense (i.e. open an application or dig further into the finder), that application and usually every other one freezes up, leaving me nothing but a moving beachball. Usually, the freezes last for about 30 to 45 seconds, and the intervals between them vary from 15 seconds and 10 minutes.
If freezes happen at a frequent enough rate, eventually my computer will simply cease to function. In these instances, i force shut-down the computer and restart it. Sometimes (rarely) this works, and i can get back to work until it freezes again; however, after this happens enough, eventuallly the computer will become so angry that my hard drives simply CEASE TO EXIST for a short period of time. I can't boot up in either Mac or Windows, if i hold the Option key, nothing will show up, and the only way i can get to my computer is by booting off a CD or external hard drive. When viewing the Disk Utility under these circumstances, my hard drive isn't grayed out... it simply is not there at all. If i leave the computer alone for a couple minutes, it will usually come out of its tantrum and let me use the drive again - for a while.
The problem is NOT because of the fans or because of the heat, and smcFanControl is NOT to blame; however, this does not mean that high heat does not trigger a freeze cycle. If the computer's running hot, it will almost guarantee that i will have a freeze cycle, however it can turn out just as bad under cooler temperatures (such as now: the computer has frozen 4 more times since i commented on it).
My two theories are that it is either a hard drive problem or a logic board problem. I am about to receive a new hard drive from NewEgg.com, both for the purpose of larger capacity and a potential solution to this problem. I am frightened that this is a logic board problem... and if it is, what are my options? Would i have to buy an entirely new computer, or could i get a new logic board (and how much would that cost?)
Please, any help would be incredibly appreciated... i love my computer, when it works, and I just want to be able to write a simple page of text without having to experience (a grand total of) 12 freezes and over 6 minutes of wasted productivity.
(13)
I first damaged my computer about 8 months ago. It was by my own doing (fell off my bed) and the result was, from my understanding, a broken fan. I sent it into Apple, who also believed it was a fan problem and sent it in to be fixed... it returned shortly thereafter and seemed fine.
Fast-forward about 2 months... my computer is now having serious problems with its hard disk. Some sort of error which i didnt' recognize - essentially, i couldnt' reformat it, i couldn't target-disk it, etc. So i sent it in to another place (not an Apple store since i had by this point exceeded my warranty time) and they replaced the Hard drive with a slightly larger and seemingly fine drive.
Fast-forward about 1 month... the fan's are running hot again. So hot, in fact, that it would frequently turn itself off. I was suspect that it was a software problem (after all, i had just fixed the fans) however it persisted while running XP under Boot Camp. The computer was only able to run by elevating it off the ground and putting a giant fan behind it. I had to leave the problem be for a while since i was unable to reach any store that could examine it.
About 1 month later, I am finally able to take it in to be looked at. Some guy (again, not at an Apple Store), tells me that this is clearly a software issue as he was able to run it with an external drive and not experience the problems. He was even able to check the fan speeds and temps (both fans were working) and the temperature was about 20 degrees Celsius less using his external drive. Convinced that I need to reinstall the operating system, I call Apple to send me new MBP disks (since I of course lost mine a long time ago).
Fast forward about another month... the disks never show up. Instead, I decide to go straight to the source and find an Apple Store that is willing to reinstall for me. The problem is dealt with, i take it home, and everything seems to work fine for a while.
Not so fast! The computer's running hot again, and the crashes/freezes are still happening. I finally decide to take matters into my own hands; i download smcFanControl, beef up the speed of the fans, and things seem to be running much better.
Again... not for long. Apparently this doesn't even seem to be the source of my problems. Currently i have the fans set at 5500 RPMs, the computer is running at a chilling 37 degrees Celsius, and yet still during just the time to write this post, my computer has frozen FIVE times equating to a lovely 3 minutes and 7 seconds wasted.
A couple notes about the problems itself:
When the beachball shows up, it initially just shows up in the frontmost application (usually), and i can even do some small maneuvering in the other applications. I assume this is because of minor RAM storage. However, as soon as i do something a little more intense (i.e. open an application or dig further into the finder), that application and usually every other one freezes up, leaving me nothing but a moving beachball. Usually, the freezes last for about 30 to 45 seconds, and the intervals between them vary from 15 seconds and 10 minutes.
If freezes happen at a frequent enough rate, eventually my computer will simply cease to function. In these instances, i force shut-down the computer and restart it. Sometimes (rarely) this works, and i can get back to work until it freezes again; however, after this happens enough, eventuallly the computer will become so angry that my hard drives simply CEASE TO EXIST for a short period of time. I can't boot up in either Mac or Windows, if i hold the Option key, nothing will show up, and the only way i can get to my computer is by booting off a CD or external hard drive. When viewing the Disk Utility under these circumstances, my hard drive isn't grayed out... it simply is not there at all. If i leave the computer alone for a couple minutes, it will usually come out of its tantrum and let me use the drive again - for a while.
The problem is NOT because of the fans or because of the heat, and smcFanControl is NOT to blame; however, this does not mean that high heat does not trigger a freeze cycle. If the computer's running hot, it will almost guarantee that i will have a freeze cycle, however it can turn out just as bad under cooler temperatures (such as now: the computer has frozen 4 more times since i commented on it).
My two theories are that it is either a hard drive problem or a logic board problem. I am about to receive a new hard drive from NewEgg.com, both for the purpose of larger capacity and a potential solution to this problem. I am frightened that this is a logic board problem... and if it is, what are my options? Would i have to buy an entirely new computer, or could i get a new logic board (and how much would that cost?)
Please, any help would be incredibly appreciated... i love my computer, when it works, and I just want to be able to write a simple page of text without having to experience (a grand total of) 12 freezes and over 6 minutes of wasted productivity.
(13)