Wacbook

[amgff84]

I have done the unthinkable.

I have turned a Macbook into a full-time Windows machine.

My late 2008 Macbook 13" unibody is in perfect condition with minimal wear. The max os is El Capitan and Windows 7 in bootcamp.

Under Mac OS, all versions, it will freeze randomly. Sometimes once a day, sometimes multiple times in a day. The final straw was when I brought it with me for a 4 hour visit at the doctors and I couldn't use it because it just kept freezing. I have researched many hours and put money into it replacing parts. No such luck.

Here's the interesting thing - it will not freeze under Windows and holds a pretty low temp in the high 60's with macsfancontrol enabled. Now, we know Windows 7 is no longer supported and I really wanted Windows 10 on it, so I went to work trying to figure out how to get it to work.

After about 6 hours, I was able to install Windows 10, 32bit... And it fully works. It's simple too. Install Windows 10 32 using Rufus and MBR not GPT. Install OS on another machine, in my case I have an old laptop I use for experiments like this. Transfer the drive (SSD in my case) back into Macbook and let it do its thing. On that same install USB I have Bootcamp 4 already unzipped, so I use compatibility mode and install it as Windows 7. It took a few times, but it eventually worked with no errors. Then after a couple of restarts it will update the drivers and you will now have the latest video driver. This doesn't work well with the machine and you will lose some functionality of the screen brightness adjustment. Just roll back the driver in device manager and restart. I also then made it to the driver is excluded from updates using gpedit.msc.

I get it's an old machine, but it's in such amazing condition, and it's still pretty quick after reducing animations, and this SSD helps. It's perfect for what I need it to do, and it's build quality far exceeds any other Windows machine for the price. Intel set a high bar with the Core 2 Duo CPU's that even more modern budget machines can't compete. Below is a Geekbench 4 comparison between my $500 Asus Laptop from 2016 and my $50 (not including parts) Macbook. You will see they are comparable in performance. (As a side note, when I compare these more modern budget machines, I am looking at cost of the older macbooks too, which is why I say it's hard for a modern budget laptop made from plastic, hard to compete with an older aluminum macbook for the cost when geekbench scores are similar).

I actually spent $50 on the machine, then $70 on a new Logic board, and another $40 for the SSD. $160 grand total, but hours of work in replacing parts and troubleshooting to no avail.

2008 Macbook 13" SSD and C2D 4GB RAM
Geekbench 4 score; Single-1447 Multi-2424

2016 Asus Vivobook X540SA 15" SSD and 4 Core Pentium 4GB RAM
Geekbench 4 score; Single-1056 Multi-3291

This machine will probably serve me well for a few more years, assuming no crazy changes happen in Windows 10, but does anyone have any idea why it froze only on MacOS in the first place?

 

[retta283]

There's a lot of things that could have been freezing it, but if it happened after replacing the logic board too, that narrows it down a lot.

RAM could've been having problems, IIRC a bad WiFi card can sometimes trigger a freeze. It would seem strange to me that these issues are not mirrored in Windows, though. That makes diagnosis harder, as it's probably a problem that Mac OS X detects and triggers a freeze easier than Windows does.

 

[amgff84]

Did it with both logic boards, various RAM arrangements, and sticks. Wifi on these machines is onboard, so that was not changeable. However, I have heard Bluetooth could do it, so I tried disabling that too. I also swapped HDD ribbons and tried 2 different SSD's. I think that was all I have tried, but still, just a weird issue. Thanks for responding though.

 

[BrianBaughn]

To clarify…what Mac is it you're talking about? I don't see a "Unibody" MacBook from "early 2008".

 

[amgff84]

To clarify…what Mac is it you're talking about? I don't see a "Unibody" MacBook from "early 2008".

You are correct. I have so many of these older machines that I mixed them up. This is a late 2008 macbook unibody with the 2.4 ghz core 2 duo and the nvidia 9400m gpu, not early 2008.

See this link to everymac's description.

 

[BrianBaughn]

You are correct. I have so many of these older machines that I mixed them up. This is a late 2008 macbook unibody with the 2.4 ghz core 2 duo and the nvidia 9400m gpu, not early 2008.

See this link to everymac's description.

I'm still running the same model with Mojave (unsupported) now. Never had any weird issues. You've had bad luck with that one.

 

[amgff84]

I'm still running the same model with Mojave (unsupported) now. Never had any weird issues. You've had bad luck with that one.

I would agree! I just don't understand why it works fine under windows or even ubuntu. I have tried everything from Yosemite to Catalina and all yielded the same result. For a short while, it was fine under High Sierra, but the issue returned again. I have an early 09 poly downstairs which is not the unibody which will run anything even unsupported patched versions, but it's a little slow because of the RAM.

Glad to hear yours is doing well.

I'm waiting to see what happens with macs in the next few years before I decide to go back or not. It will be interesting I bet!

 

[amgff84]

So, I tried a thing and cleared NVRAM, I think thats the OPT+R+CMD+P keys upon restart. Wiped the drive, and reinstalled El Cap and so far no freezes. Prior to that, while installing it, it would freeze along with doing pretty much anything else.

If your desk is made from wood, please knock on it for me.

THANKS

 

[amgff84]

So... I couldn't go on without all of my apple stuff so I converted my MacBook back to a MacBook. The problem still exists though, and it freezes all the time. It will never freeze under Windows or Ubuntu, so I know it's something to do with the MacOS.

What if I mackintosh this thing? Would that solve my issue? I think I will be willing to find out because I'm waiting for my next MacBook to come in... Another oldie, but hey they are cheap.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Have you ever looked at the logs in Console to see if there's a clue at the time of a freeze?

I'm leaning to something wrong hardware-wise, as retta283 mentioned, and that macOS is the only OS affected…and my guess is the graphics card.

Have you tried it in safe mode long enough to see if it freezes?

 

[amgff84]

Have you ever looked at the logs in Console to see if there's a clue at the time of a freeze?

I'm leaning to something wrong hardware-wise, as retta283 mentioned, and that macOS is the only OS affected…and my guess is the graphics card.

Have you tried it in safe mode long enough to see if it freezes?

I forgot @retta283 mentioned this. I struggle with it being a hardware issue as it is never replicated on any other OS, so my thoughts are a driver issue. The only way to test this I would think would be to find an OS this shipped with originally... I might have that downstairs. I suggest a driver because they communicate with the hardware to get it to work, and if it works fine in other operating systems then I would imagine the hardware to be okay.

I will figure out the logs in console and see if I can spot anything there. To be honest, never thought of that.

I am expecting my next MacBook in today or tomorrow. A 2010 15" with the i5, and I also ordered the capacitor and fresh flux for the solder kit, just incase this machine has that graphics switching issue.

Also, how does one get into safe mode on a Mac?

 

[retta283]

It is still possible that it's a driver issue, so you may consider installing the original OS and tinkering with it for a bit. Original OS fore this model was 10.5.5, there was a 10.5.6 DVD which is close enough, and I imagine Snow Leopard would be acceptable for testing purposes too. Quite concerning, though.

Safe Mode is accessed by holding Shift as you boot the computer, IIRC. Just make sure that OS X is selected as the default startup when you do it.

Also, nice find on the 15", the 2010 was pretty good and the failure rates are lower than 2011s I believe. My dream MacBook is probably a 2010 17", I'm typing this on a 2006 17" currently, love the size.

 

[amgff84]

It is still possible that it's a driver issue, so you may consider installing the original OS and tinkering with it for a bit. Original OS fore this model was 10.5.5, there was a 10.5.6 DVD which is close enough, and I imagine Snow Leopard would be acceptable for testing purposes too. Quite concerning, though.

Safe Mode is accessed by holding Shift as you boot the computer, IIRC. Just make sure that OS X is selected as the default startup when you do it.

Also, nice find on the 15", the 2010 was pretty good and the failure rates are lower than 2011s I believe. My dream MacBook is probably a 2010 17", I'm typing this on a 2006 17" currently, love the size.

Awesome, thanks for the help. I ran downstairs and found 10.4.6 and 10.5.6, so I guess 10.5.6 is a go. I know snow leopard also shares the same issues. I'll try this later when I get home from work. I wish I could have found an i7 version, but I am happy to take in the 15" i5 knowing I have the materials to repair it on hand. The larger screen would have been a nice addition. Thanks for letting me know about safe mode as well.