MAC OS issues

[akaballa123]

Hi there,

I keep having this issue where my MAC freezes and I cant move my cursor. I have to resort to rebooting the system. I also noticed that the screen shows some streak lines. I intially faced this problem with MAC OS X Tiger. I then upgraded to Leopard 10.5.1. I am still having the problem though. Is this a hardware issue or can this be a issue that can be fixed with some king of update? Plz help!

 

[twiSSt]

Since the issue persists in Leopard, one would have to believe that you have a hardware issue.

You didn't tell us what model Mac you have so it is hard to give you directions as to what you can check.

I would do the following general steps:
remove any third party ram - does the problem continue?
remove any third party hardware, cards of drives - does the problem continue?
Login as a different user - same issue?


Tell us some more about your Mac, so that we can give you more direct methods to try.

From the sounds of it, I think you are having video card issues, but without some more info its just a guess.

Twist

===========================================
Everything will be OK in the end.
If it's not OK, then it's not the end

 

[akaballa123]

its a MAC OS X 10.5.4 (not 10.5.1...sorry)

Processor: 1.9 GHz PowerPC G5

Memory: 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM

Startup Disk: Macintosh HD

 

[Foamcow]

If it's a Mac Pro (big tower thing) then turn it off, open the side and carfully locate the video card to ensure it's properly seated in it's slot. It's unlikely that it's not but you never know.

If you have an iMac then it may be more difficult to check yourself.

I would also check the RAM is seated correctly.

The streaks indicate it could be a video card issue but it could really be anything. Does it feel particularly hot? Are the fans spinning fast/loudly? If this happens after a period of use then it could be a heat related issue.


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[twiSSt]

The fact that it locks up may be indicative of a hard drive issue as well. After rebooting does it always go away or do you have to reboot several times to resolve the lines on the display?

You can try and reset the pram, see here for directions,

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

or search the Apple support site for instructions for your model Mac.

Twist

===========================================
Everything will be OK in the end.
If it's not OK, then it's not the end

 

[akaballa123]

Well after rebooting the imac, the issue goes away. But after a while, the screen gets locked again, and I would have to reboot again. Will I lose any of my documents/files if reset my pram and nvram? Or does it just reset the config settings?

 

[Foamcow]

That will just reset the config but I doubt it will get rid of the problem. It does sound like a harware or a very low level software (kernel) issue.

Have you tried running any kind of diagnostics using something like Techtool?

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Tyres: Mine's a pint of the black stuff.
Mike: You can't drink a pint of Bovril.

 

[jmgalvin]

If you installed 10.5 using the Upgrade system method, you could certainly experience problems. Many people experienced problems using eh upgrade method. Those who used Archive and Install did not have the problems.

Before doing a new archive and install go through the following.

First, open disk utility in the applications/utilities folder and use it to check the hard drive. If the drive needs repair, you'll have to start the machine up from the software cd/dvd that came with your machine or the 10.5 disc.

While you have dick utility open, repair permissions. Permissions usually don't cause system freezes but repairing them cannot hurt.

If the above 2 do not help, you can then do an "archive and install" of the OS from the dick that came with your machine. This cannot do any harm, so it's worth a shot.

Archive and install saves everything and gives you a fresh os. You do not lose anything.

Check your Help for archive and install info. It's reached via clicking on the Options button on the OS installer, but read up on it first.

It's important that you do the archive and install, as opposed to a wipe and install, which loses everything on the hard drive. If you have an outboard drive, it's best to back up everything first, but you should ALWAYS back up in case of computer problems.




Using OSX 10.3.9 & 10.4.11 on a G4, G5 & Intel Macbook

 

[jpadie]

isn't this problem the well known graphics processor problem that the shim fix was discovered for? i.e. the the solder under the GPU gets cracked and you get periodic disconnections as the GPU heats up and expands. the disconnection causes a freeze. i have successfully resurrected a powerbook by applying a shim on top of the GPU to apply downward pressure on the chip. best of all is a reballing however. you might also try a blow torch! taking the case to bits is a long job though.

google apple shim fix for more data.