A few concerns regarding MBP

[crazyiez]

Hello all, I bought the 15inch 2.4ghz macbook pro from the apple store about a week ago. (first mac purchase!!!) and its been a great experience and all but i have a tiny concern... yesterday as i was minding my own business my MBP froze up on me while i was listening to itunes and browsing the web with safari three.. nothing would work. i couldn't move the mouse and i couldn't force quit anything. so i restarted. This morning i turned it on did a few things. closed everything out and went to have breakfast when i came back my mac wouldn't wake up... and i had to click the power button to restart...

so should i be worried.


oh and i had a kernel panic a few days ago...


signed confused

[catachip]

If it were me, I'd do this:

First, I'd use the restore disks that came with the computer to reinstall OS X. Just insert Disk One and follow instructions. When it restarts for the installation, make sure you look for the "customize" button (one or two screens in) to select an "erase and install". This will wipe your hard drive clean and start you fresh. You will need to back up any files you want to save first (i.e. pictures, music, documents).

If the problem persisted after this, I would return it for an exchange.

Note that you only have two weeks from purchase date to get a new one, after that they will (generally) just take it for repair. So, act quickly.

Sorry, you have got a lemon.

[eenu]

i'd agree with Catachip..... i had the freeze from waking issue once... not had it since but i reset the Power Managment Unit

[techmonkey]

I'm getting my MBP next week (first Mac). What exactly is a kernel panic?

EDIT:
Nevermind,
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106227

[crazyiez]

If it were me, I'd do this:

First, I'd use the restore disks that came with the computer to reinstall OS X. Just insert Disk One and follow instructions. When it restarts for the installation, make sure you look for the "customize" button (one or two screens in) to select an "erase and install". This will wipe your hard drive clean and start you fresh. You will need to back up any files you want to save first (i.e. pictures, music, documents).

If the problem persisted after this, I would return it for an exchange.

Note that you only have two weeks from purchase date to get a new one, after that they will (generally) just take it for repair. So, act quickly.

Sorry, you have got a lemon.


bummer i thought i was done with reinstalling operating systems...
okay so ill back up everything (i wish i had time machine right about now) and if it happens again ill do what you said thanks...

other than those problems its been a awsome laptop... better than my pc by lightyears

[Habusho]

The first thing I did when I got my MBP was to erase the whole hard disk and re-install OSx with only the options I wanted. I didn't install MS Office, and all the other junk that comes pre-installed when you get the machine. I haven't had a single problem since I got my machine.

[crazyiez]

The first thing I did when I got my MBP was to erase the whole hard disk and re-install OSx with only the options I wanted. I didn't install MS Office, and all the other junk that comes pre-installed when you get the machine. I haven't had a single problem since I got my machine.


sounds like a good idea... problems or no problems. i dont have anything better to do at the moment so ill reinstall.

[techmonkey]

Does the MS Office trial allow for you to activate it if you want to buy it, or do you still need to buy the full version? If it doesnt, no sense of having a trial, everyone knows how Office works :)

[crazyiez]

Does the MS Office trial allow for you to activate it if you want to buy it, or do you still need to buy the full version? If it doesnt, no sense of having a trial, everyone knows how Office works :)


haha very funny, i dont know. but i reinstalled the operating system and im pretty sure i did it wrong.. got all the trial software still... still im hoping for the best

[catachip]

haha very funny, i dont know. but i reinstalled the operating system and im pretty sure i did it wrong.. got all the trial software still... still im hoping for the best

As long as you got the "erase and install" you're doing good. Later on there are some options to select things you don't want, such as MS Office Trial, iWork etc.

Please post to let us know how it went. The problem you are having is very rare, and to be honest, I'd be surprised if the reformat and install fixed it. It was sort of an effort to save you the effort of having to return it etc. However, if it does work, then that is great!

Enjoy your new Mac! Trust me, it's just a bump on the road to a much better place.

[kensir]

I'm having a very similar issue. Has anyone found the solution. About 2-4 times a day, I have to restart from either a kernel panic when running iChat/Safari or the macbook fails to wake from sleep. All of the panic logs mention the Airport Atheros thing (wireless hardware... i guess).

I'm so hesitant to return it, just because I have flawless screen, keyboard, trackpad, hinges, etc. everything works great and even the internet is fine for a while until the panics happen.

Should I just suck it up and return it? Put up with the issue? Or is there a quick fix that I or that Apple can do.

Thanks.

[techmonkey]

Should I just suck it up and return it? Put up with the issue? Or is there a quick fix that I or that Apple can do.

Thanks.

Since everything else works great, I would try to reformat/reinstall. Thats easy to do, and wont hurt anything.

Did you try this already?

[kensir]

No.. will it be easy to move my files back over from say an external hard-drive?

As long as it will read the hard drive again... i can do that i guess.

(Sorry, i'm new to macs)

[rendezvouscp]

Yeah, it'll be easy to move back over. There's even an application that asks you if you want its help moving your files over.
-Chasen

[kensir]

Ok, I'll try that later this evening and post results...

[techmonkey]

No.. will it be easy to move my files back over from say an external hard-drive?

As long as it will read the hard drive again... i can do that i guess.

(Sorry, i'm new to macs)


I'm confused, what files are you talking about? Since its a new computer, you shouldn't have to many new files to archive.

[klymr]

So, question about all this reformatting and reinstalling (sorry for the hijack). My MBP's 160gb drive is almost full (it's been less than a week and I have less than 25gb free space left...long story). Anyway, I had to copy all my music off my old 60gb iPod onto the MBP and I started to import them into iTunes (which I found out copies the files, not just find them on the hard drive like on my PC).

So, I guess my question is this: If I copy everything from the iTunes folder to my iPod after importing the songs (not syncing it, but moving them in disk mode) can I put them back after I reinstall OS-X and have them show up, or will I have to import them again? Anyone know?

[kensir]

As soon as I got my notebook, I moved all my pictures/music over to the new mac. I also installed a Gmail notifier, Google Earth, and a few other apps.

Really, it's still no big deal, but I'm just really afraid to pop in those discs. I feel like I know very little about Mac OS X, which at least in Windows world meant don't even try an install.

EDIT: I was thumbing through some Apple Support Documents online and noticed that it says NOT to reinstall an OS X of an older version over a newer one. Will this matter, since I updated to OS X 10.4.10 when I got it??

[miniConvert]

browsing the web with safari three
Mhm, this is still in beta, no? Are you interested in beta testing a potentially unstable product?

Stay away from beta software :D

[techmonkey]

As soon as I got my notebook, I moved all my pictures/music over to the new mac. I also installed a Gmail notifier, Google Earth, and a few other apps.

Really, it's still no big deal, but I'm just really afraid to pop in those discs. I feel like I know very little about Mac OS X, which at least in Windows world meant don't even try an install.

EDIT: I was thumbing through some Apple Support Documents online and noticed that it says NOT to reinstall an OS X of an older version over a newer one. Will this matter, since I updated to OS X 10.4.10 when I got it??

If you have an external hard drive, just move your files to it. Do a reformat/reinstall. NEVER do a install over a previous OS. I don't care if its OSX or Windows, thats a bad idea. I'm surprised you never reformatted/reinstalled Windows before, I do it yearly. Doing this feels like a new computer again, since Windows gets clogged up with crap over time that slows it down. I'm hoping OSX isnt like this, or at least not as bad.

Summary, move your files to a safe location, reformat, reinstall. :)

[Sopranino]

If you have an external hard drive, just move your files to it. Do a reformat/reinstall. NEVER do a install over a previous OS. I don't care if its OSX or Windows, thats a bad idea. I'm surprised you never reformatted/reinstalled Windows before, I do it yearly. Doing this feels like a new computer again, since Windows gets clogged up with crap over time that slows it down. I'm hoping OSX isnt like this, or at least not as bad.

Summary, move your files to a safe location, reformat, reinstall. :)

Due to the nature of the HPFS+ file system, and Unix file handling in general, you will not suffer from a system slowing down due to things (like say the Windows registry) getting clogged up and bogging your system down. The only thing that is going to slow down your system is if you start running your disk drive at 95% capacity. Then it will slow down. To fix that problem you would simply need to clear some items off the drive.

Sopranino

[kensir]

Well, I just had another kernel panic (Airport problem... again)... so I'm going to give apple a ring first. I don't want to have to reformat and reinstall in case they need the panic logs to prove that I need a new machine or something.

EDIT: Just tried to use that TechTool thing that came with my mac...nothing so far.

EDIT2: Just got off the phone with AppleCare. Very nice people by the way. The guy was very helpful and taught me how to reset the Power Management Unit as well as the PRAM, so I think it should all be working fine now. If I have more errors, he said I could simply call them up again and send it in for repair.

EDIT3: 6 minutes after hanging up with AppleCare, I had a kernel panic.

EDIT4: Switched Router security from WEP to WPA-PSK. No Kernel Panics since...