iMac Software update 1.3

[Tom Sawyer]

Just noticed that Apple has pushed out the iMac Software Update version 1.3 on Software Update.

Has anyone been brave enough to try this? BTW... Running Leopard here, not sure if this is an update available in Tiger.

And of course the same vague description on Apple's site:

"This update provides important issue fixes and is recommended for the aluminum 20-inch and 24-inch iMac models with 2.0, 2.4, or 2.8 GHz processors." :o

[psychofreak]

Hopefully this will fix the video card issues for good...

[flopticalcube]

Could this be it? Could this be the unfreezing update we have all been waiting for!?!?!?! :eek:

[andorino]

Just noticed that Apple has pushed out the iMac Software Update version 1.3 on Software Update.

Has anyone been brave enough to try this? BTW... Running Leopard here, not sure if this is an update available in Tiger.

And of course the same vague description on Apple's site:

"This update provides important issue fixes and is recommended for the aluminum 20-inch and 24-inch iMac models with 2.0, 2.4, or 2.8 GHz processors." :o


This is seen as version 1.2 on tiger.

[Eidorian]

More then likely driver and firmware fixes for those new iMacs.

[Tom Sawyer]

That would be very cool for the many who have suffered. I have been on of the lucky ones and had no problems in Tiger with 1.1 or 1.2. My experience in Leopard so far as been just as stable (knock on wood). If I could only get time machine to see my NAS share for backups. So far no go. :mad:

I will say I am enjoying having 2 mac partitions and a dedicated bootcamp windows partition (now nicely hidden to OS X). This install feels good to me. :D

[psychofreak]

If I could only get time machine to see my NAS share for backups. So far no go. :mad:

Apple are reportedly still working on this, hopefully it will come at 10.5.1 :)

[Tom Sawyer]

Apple are reportedly still working on this, hopefully it will come at 10.5.1 :)

Ah that is good news indeed....

[wakerider017]

Holy crap!

Could this be the fix???????

[TheRuggedLion]

Nice. Been waiting for this... lets see.


Update: Heh, looks like a rush job. Just made my iMac freeze using good ol' Front Row.

[wakerider017]

So far.... STABLE!!!!

[wakerider017]

Here is the link:

For Leopard:
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/imacsoftwareupdate13leopard.html

For Tiger:
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/imacsoftwareupdate12tiger.html

[psychofreak]

So far.... STABLE!!!!

Awesome! I just got a friend to switch, and was worried he'd be whining to me about freezes :)

Now to wait for 10.5.1 (hopefully it'll be here by the 15th when his iMac is scheduled to arrive...

[Mindflux]

I guess the title is a typo. Version 1.2 you mean, right?

[wakerider017]

I guess the title is a typo. Version 1.2 you mean, right?

1.2 for tiger

1.3 for leopard

[flopticalcube]

Alas, no. Still freezes. :(

[wakerider017]

Alas, no. Still freezes. :(

Really?

You have to be kidding me...

[flopticalcube]

Really?

You have to be kidding me...

I wish. Even had a little artifacting on the desktop.

[TheRuggedLion]

Really?

You have to be kidding me...

I can make mine freeze so easily using front row. I just navigate to music with the Album art scrolling along, and move the selector from music to playlists to artists etc.

Freezes everytime.

What other programs did you use that made your iMac lock up? Maybe I can give 'em a try.

[ryan2385]

Really?

You have to be kidding me...

Nope, thought I was in the clear too, but did the test with screen saver Arabesque while mousing through the dock fast and .....yes ....it froze...still able to MAKE my mac freeze on spot.

[wakerider017]

Wow, I just froze in Time Machine.

This piece of crap is getting returned this weekend.

Maybe I should by one of those Windoze machines that crash every 2 days instead of every 2 minutes...

[Bobioden]

That would be very cool for the many who have suffered. I have been on of the lucky ones and had no problems in Tiger with 1.1 or 1.2. My experience in Leopard so far as been just as stable (knock on wood).


I also have had no freezing, or any of the other problems related to Tiger, and or Leopard. Very happy Apple camper here.

[TheRuggedLion]

Just the thought of me boxing up my 24" iMac that weighs a ton and carrying it through the mall is pissing me off. Then have one of their "geniuses" try and figure it out over and over like I don't know what hell I'm talking about pisses me off even more. And then the thought of not having my mac for a few days is the cherry on top. Maybe I shoulda got a ACD and a MacBook pro instead.

[ryan2385]

Just the thought of me boxing up my 24" iMac that weighs a ton and carrying it through the mall is pissing me off. Then have one of their "geniuses" try and figure it out over and over like I don't know what hell I'm talking about pisses me off even more. And then the thought of not having my mac for a few days is the cherry on top. Maybe I shoulda got a ACD and a MacBook pro instead.

Oh and the risk of your "repaired" iMac coming back with more problems than it originally had as well. Gotta love it man...I feel your pain.

[flopticalcube]

..and why isn't this front page news on MacRumors, arn? At least Page 2

[wakerider017]

..and why isn't this front page news on MacRumors, arn? At least Page 2

YA!

Apple could use a little bad press.

[Richard.John]

Because those with a functioning Mac couldn't care less about those of us with faulty units. That's human nature for you.

Anyway, I updated to 1.3 and haven't had any problems but then again my unit has been stable since Sunday so I really don't know what is going on. I tried screensavers, iTunes visualiser and front row to see if it will lock up the unit. Full screen screensavers are fine but I do get some artifacts when using visualiser within a window but none when using it in full screen mode. Weird.
Front row is fine as well.

[Foxer]

Well, I don't want to curse my machine, but when are they freezing. I've totally missed this issue. I picked up a 24-inch back in August and have had zero issues - certainly no freezing that I remember. Is there a common issue?

[flopticalcube]

iMac forum over at Apple Discussion has people chiming in now saying its a no go with 1.2/1.3, maybe even worse.

[otto-matic]

Took five minutes to freeze it with itunes screensaver.

If I revert to 10.4, with 1.0 everything happy.

This update did not solve my issue.

[IChing]

I just upgraded to OSX 10.5 today, I played Command and conquer 3 before I upgraded and after. I had freezing on certain levels before the upgrade but none after the upgrade. Safari, however has been crashing a lot today, widgets don't work right and some sites don't respond correctly.
iPhoto works faster and has not witnessed any problems.
Been trying to tweak the system all day. I did a update on this machine since it is rather new and I was waiting for OSX before I loaded it up with my old powerbook g4 stuff.

I plan on upgrading right after this post

Thanks.

[ImperialX]

The time has come to return these freezers to Apple.

[Matthew Yohe]

The time has come to return these freezers to Apple.


Uh what? This update fixes the issue... You no longer have a freezer.

[TheRuggedLion]

YA!

Apple could use a little bad press.



For real.

[Luap]

I've not been brave enough to install it yet! My iMac appears to be behaving for now, and I dont want to upset it again?? Seems like a risk..

Incidentally.. I tried to open the package with Pacifist to check out what was in there.. Pacifist could not open it?

[flopticalcube]

Uh what? This update fixes the issue... You no longer have a freezer.

If only. It doesn't fix the problem.

[longofest]

For what its worth, it does contain updated graphics drivers :(

[ImperialX]

Uh what? This update fixes the issue... You no longer have a freezer.

Look, the Graphic card is FAULTY. You have to return these machines if you want them to work.

[Cuprous]

For real.

So much for bad press. Macworld is reporting that Apple issued a fix for the freezing problem.

http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/11/01/imacupdate/index.php

[GTiPhone]

Wow, I just froze in Time Machine.

This piece of crap is getting returned this weekend.

Maybe I should by one of those Windoze machines that crash every 2 days instead of every 2 minutes...

Maybe you should have returned it the minute you began to notice persistant issues? They can't say NO to you ya know.

[GTiPhone]

Look, the Graphic card is FAULTY. You have to return these machines if you want them to work.

Thank you, someone with a brain.

If it don't work, RETURN IT, til ya get one that works. Be a customer with the mind of a 5 year old if you want good service.

[ImperialX]

Maybe you should have returned it the minute you began to notice persistant issues? They can't say NO to you ya know.

We weren't sure that it was a Hardware issue back then.

[flopticalcube]

So much for bad press. Macworld is reporting that Apple issued a fix for the freezing problem.

http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/11/01/imacupdate/index.php

Read the comments. Its the same on Apple's Discussion boards. Truth will out.

[ImperialX]

Thank you, someone with a brain.

If it don't work, RETURN IT, til ya get one that works. Be a customer with the mind of a 5 year old if you want good service.

Only 5% of the machines sold before were faulty.

[Whistleway]

Only 5% of the machines sold before were faulty.

This forum is just full of apple apologists.

[Cuprous]

Read the comments. Its the same on Apple's Discussion boards. Truth will out.

I agree, just wondering why they were so quick to assume this was the solution. It sure didn't take me long to realize that the problem is still present.

[longofest]

And, in case you haven't noticed, this article is front page of MacRumors :)

[flopticalcube]

And, in case you haven't noticed, this article is front page of MacRumors :)

Thank you. Thats the only good news I have had tonight.

[ImperialX]

This forum is just full of apple apologists.

OK look, you have a bad machine already that isn't repairable by a Software Update. What do you expect to do besides return it? I'm very disappointed by Apple's QC but what else can you do?

[IChing]

GioFX openmark improved from 6233 to 6900, gradient problems are still there but were improved from the OSX 10.5 and also this 1.3. Fortunately, with my new iMac I only had freezing playing CC3.

So far so good

[Sun Baked]

Lets see, 1 soft kernal panic related to the ATI driver didn't catch which app, 1 frozen mouse on wake from sleep.

iStat Dashboard widget hell in Tiger, switched to iStat Menu, had menucracker issues under leopard -- removed istat from my life.

Ran the update prebinding to work on the Throttling respawn issue.

[IChing]

Maybe someone could do a poll on when and where their machine was made and if they have problems or not?

I'm thinking that it is a faulty batch that came out, I remember a tread that gave a link on that which I did before I upgraded to OSX.


For those that continue to have problems return them it is unacceptable. Mine seems to fine though.
I've been running iTunes visualizer in spaces, CC3 in another and safari on another one and so far no problems.

20" iMac 2.4, 3 gigs of ram.

[pcorajr]

I do not know understand what some people are doing here but after my Leopard update the freezing stopped. I just updated and did some of the things that made my mac freeze and I did not experience any freezing.

I did not upgrade but instead made a clean install also my mac only froze a few times under tiger.

[flopticalcube]

Maybe someone could do a poll on when and where their machine was made and if they have problems or not?

I'm thinking that it is a faulty batch that came out, I remember a tread that gave a link on that which I did before I upgraded to OSX.


Well, mine was made in the first week of October so unless the batch lasted from the first week of August until the first week of October I don't think that is going to help.

I do not know understand what some people are doing here but after my Leopard update the freezing stopped. I just updated and did some of the things that made my mac freeze and I did not experience any freezing.

I did not upgrade but instead made a clean install also my mac only froze a few times under tiger.

If your Mac only froze a couple of times under Tiger, you probably didn't have the same or as serious an issue as the rest of us. At one point mine was locking up 4 or 5 times a day.

[mattbray]

Dear Apple,
Why don't you just seed the updates to a few of the consumers first and then we'll give you feedback and let you know that what you are doing isn't helping one effing bit? What's the point of releasing software that doesn't fix the problem?

My iMac has been stable after Leopard but I'm not installing these updates...

[kkat69]

Dear Apple,
Why don't you just seed the updates to a few of the consumers first and then we'll give you feedback and let you know that what you are doing isn't helping one effing bit? What's the point of releasing software that doesn't fix the problem?

My iMac has been stable after Leopard but I'm not installing these updates...

They are supposed to ;)

[mattbray]

They are supposed to ;)

Apparently they didn't get the memo...:eek:

[Nick12QB]

I got my iMac on Sept 7th from an Apple Retail store - it was a exchange, the one i ordered on Aug 19th had a broken iSight - and on neither of the two computers have I ever had the graphics freeze, and I really hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying so. Should I install this update or wait ?

[Outcast-au]

Good timing for me. I've just spent the week going through apples phone support process. Yesterday we agreed to return my 2.8Ghz 24" to a apple service centre for repair. I've booked it in for Monday.... so I've got the weekend to try out this update.

Overall I'm still happy with my purchase. Its a great machine when it does not hang. That being said this has confirmed in my head that I need the support contract extended it 3 years.

[flopticalcube]

..EDIT: I'll hold my tongue until more evidence comes in...

[wakerider017]

Interesting discovery...


Removed my extra 1GB stick of crucial memory....

Tried to get it to freeze for 30 minutes... Couldn't. Still noticing artifacts though. Primarily in Time Machine.

Reset the PRAM and now I am trying as hard as I can to get a freeze or even artifacts... Been trying for 20 minutes and nothing...

Artifacts used to be soooo common. They would appear every 10 secconds in Time Machine...



Maybe a PRAM reset is in order after the update?


I am going to put my RAM back in and see what happens.

[coolabah]

I had the freezing (very) intermittently under Tiger. After running Leopard for a couple of days, it's returned with a vengeance.

I get lockups sometimes just after boot, using Time Machine, just moving the cursor around the screen, doing just about anything. It's even locked up on the login screen!

Interestingly, Windows XP (in the bootcamp partition) is working just fine. (This is very embarrasing, given that I convinced my wife we should get a Mac due to its inherent superiority. My reputation is in tatters - thanks, Apple.)

Has anyone had freezing crashes/problems running Windows in bootcamp? If not, wouldn't this indicate a software (and not hardware) problem?

[IChing]

I got my iMac on Sept 7th from an Apple Retail store - it was a exchange, the one i ordered on Aug 19th had a broken iSight - and on neither of the two computers have I ever had the graphics freeze, and I really hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying so. Should I install this update or wait ?

I'm running 2 visuals programs in spaces, iTunes and just the opening table for the CC3 game plus safari in the third.
I got higher graphic bench scores also after the upgrade. So far so good.

[Marble]

Interesting discovery...


Removed my extra 1GB stick of crucial memory....

Tried to get it to freeze for 30 minutes... Couldn't. Still noticing artifacts though. Primarily in Time Machine.

Reset the PRAM and now I am trying as hard as I can to get a freeze or even artifacts... Been trying for 20 minutes and nothing...

Artifacts used to be soooo common. They would appear every 10 secconds in Time Machine...



Maybe a PRAM reset is in order after the update?


I am going to put my RAM back in and see what happens.

Eager to hear about this.

[ImperialX]

Interesting discovery...


Removed my extra 1GB stick of crucial memory....

Tried to get it to freeze for 30 minutes... Couldn't. Still noticing artifacts though. Primarily in Time Machine.

Reset the PRAM and now I am trying as hard as I can to get a freeze or even artifacts... Been trying for 20 minutes and nothing...

Artifacts used to be soooo common. They would appear every 10 secconds in Time Machine...



Maybe a PRAM reset is in order after the update?


I am going to put my RAM back in and see what happens.

Very interesting. I anticipate the results.

[teiresias]

So if we have an iMac that's not experiencing freezes this update wouldn't possibly make it actually START freezing would it? I wouldn't want to screw up a good thing I've got going, haha!!

[flopticalcube]

So if we have an iMac that's not experiencing freezes this update wouldn't possibly make it actually START freezing would it? I wouldn't want to screw up a good thing I've got going, haha!!

Doesn't look like it from the discussion on the Apple board. Have a backup handy, however.

[Marble]

So if we have an iMac that's not experiencing freezes this update wouldn't possibly make it actually START freezing would it? I wouldn't want to screw up a good thing I've got going, haha!!

Reports indicate that you're probably safe. I haven't seen anyone cry havoc about 1.2/1.3, though obviously it was 1.1 which caused the problems to manifest for many of us, so you never know. :D

[SaSaSushi]

Dear Apple,
Why don't you just seed the updates to a few of the consumers first and then we'll give you feedback and let you know that what you are doing isn't helping one effing bit? What's the point of releasing software that doesn't fix the problem?

My iMac has been stable after Leopard but I'm not installing these updates...

My 24" was ordered on 8/7 (release date) and manufactured between 8/13-8/19. I have not had any freezing issues at all to date in either Tiger or now in Leopard. I've tried doing some of the things that some experiencing this problem say cause their iMacs to freeze such as switching around the menus in Front Row, etc and running screensavers and no freezing, no artifacting, no problems.

I installed the 1.3 iMac Update because I always install all driver/firmware updates that Apple releases and can notice no changes at all.

I know this problem exists for quite a few folks and I AM extremely sympathetic and DO care. I still wonder if this is a software or a hardware issue though. Maybe we should start comparing what software we are all running on our systems to see if there might be some common factor on those WITH the problem as opposed to those without.

I'd be glad to help any way I can. I can understand how frustrating it must be.

I ordered this machine with 1x1GB of RAM and have upgraded it to 2GB with 1GB I purchased a while back and had been using in my previous 20" Core Duo iMac.

[wakerider017]

Further testing.

Put my crucial ram back in... (2GB total now)
Started the computer and opened time machine...
FREEZE in 4 seconds


Took both sticks out and put the crucial in the #1 slot (1GB total now)
Started the computer instant artifacts all over the desktop, opened time machine...
FREEZE in .5 seconds

Put my apple ram back in again... (1GB total now)
Started the computer and opened time machine...
NO FREEZE in 5 minutes...

This looks like the RAM has something to do with it....

How many freezers are running aftermarket ram?





One thing I am still seeing in Time Machine even with just the apple ram, is like lines flashing across the screen. Not so much artifacts but more like chunks... I guess you could say glitches....

[emein66]

I just ran Software Update for Leopard on a 24" iMac running at 2.8 GHZ. When I restarted it (as asked), it seems to have erased my hard drive! The Getting Started window pops up. I go through whole registration process and it returns me to the beginning window. I tried to call Apple help, but they are closed. Any ideas? I'm fairly Mac savvy, but have no clue what happened. I back-up all the time, so I haven't lost anything, but what a pain! Anyone else have any problems?

[flopticalcube]

My 24" was ordered on 8/7 (release date) and manufactured between 8/13-8/19. I have not had any freezing issues at all to date in either Tiger or now in Leopard. I've tried doing some of the things that some experiencing this problem say cause their iMacs to freeze such as switching around the menus in Front Row, etc and running screensavers and no freezing, no artifacting, no problems.

I installed the 1.3 iMac Update because I always install all driver/firmware updates that Apple releases and can notice no changes at all.

I know this problem exists for quite a few folks and I AM extremely sympathetic and DO care. I still wonder if this is a software or a hardware issue though. Maybe we should start comparing what software we are all running on our systems to see if there might be some common factor on those WITH the problem as opposed to those without.

I'd be glad to help any way I can. I can understand how frustrating it must be.

I ordered this machine with 1x1GB of RAM and have upgraded it to 2GB with 1GB I purchased a while back and had been using in my previous 20" Core Duo iMac.

Ok. Stock 10.4.10 erase and install. The only other program added was WoW. Machine is a stock 2.4 20" 320G and the RAM was replaced with a 2G stick from CanadaRAM and a 256MB stick from my mini (Hynex).

[Nick12QB]

This may be isolated, but

http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=4432317&postcount=181

This poster says he had no freezes and after updating to 1.3 started getting them.

[Mindflux]

Run memtest86 on that ram. I have two sticks of 1GB crucial in my iMac and I've yet to have a freeze.

[wakerider017]

Run memtest86 on that ram. I have two sticks of 1GB crucial in my iMac and I've yet to have a freeze.

How do you do that?

[Marble]

I've got a freezer with 1GB Apple + 2GB OWC RAM. I haven't tried removing the RAM yet, but am considering it... Would suck to have to trade in performance for reliability.

[flopticalcube]

.

[Mindflux]

How do you do that?


http://www.memtest86.com/


grab the free ISO, burn the ISO to a blank cd and boot from it.

[SaSaSushi]

Ok. Stock 10.4.10 erase and install. The only other program added was WoW. Machine is a stock 2.4 20" 320G and the RAM was replaced with a 2G stick from CanadaRAM and a 256MB stick from my mini (Hynex).

Well that doesn't leave much in the way of potential third party software causes.

I'm intrigued by the results of Wakerider's testing with his RAM replacement. I am using a 1GB stick I purchased separately with no issues but it is perfectly matched and very good quality make.

Have you tried replacing your 2G stick with the stick that came with the machine? If you haven't I think that would be worth a try.

[Sun Baked]

One thing I am still seeing in Time Machine even with just the apple ram, is like lines flashing across the screen. Not so much artifacts but more like chunks... I guess you could say glitches....

So you are likely down to the normal issue running on Apple RAM alone.

Wish I knew why mine only has graphics glitches with iStat installed, but it did that even before I upgraded the memory.

[flopticalcube]

Well that doesn't leave much in the way of potential third party software causes.

I'm intrigued by the results of Wakerider's testing with his RAM replacement. I am using a 1GB stick I purchased separately with no issues but it is perfectly matched and very good quality make.

Have you tried replacing your 2G stick with the stick that came with the machine? If you haven't I think that would be worth a try.

Might do that. The memory was thoroughly tested, however.

[wakerider017]

I've got a freezer with 1GB Apple + 2GB OWC RAM. I haven't tried removing the RAM yet, but am considering it... Would suck to have to trade in performance for reliability.

Try it, I can't get the computer to freeze with apple memory. no matter how hard I try.

[flopticalcube]

Try it, I can't get the computer to freeze with apple memory. no matter how hard I try.

Was it the RAM or the PRAM reset? Maybe it needs a few reboots as well...

[SaSaSushi]

So you are likely down to the normal issue running on Apple RAM alone.

Wish I knew why mine only has graphics glitches with iStat installed, but it did that even before I upgraded the memory.

That doesn't sound good at all. The last time I recall "blocks" on the screen, lines and artifacting was when I had a bad logic board on my 20" Core Duo. I was told it may have actually just been a case of the GPU having worked slightly loose from the logic board due to excessive heat.

[Nick12QB]

I have third party memory and have never experienced a freeze.
Slot One- Apple 1GB
Slot Two- Patriot 2GB (this isnt even high quality RAM, so i'm a little surprised, isnt crucial better?)

2.4 24" 320GB stock model
ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro:
Chipset Model: ATI,RadeonHD2600
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 256 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x9583
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-B2250F-212
EFI Driver Version: 01.00.212

[likwidplastik]

My 24" was ordered on 8/7 (release date) and manufactured between 8/13-8/19. I have not had any freezing issues at all to date in either Tiger or now in Leopard. I've tried doing some of the things that some experiencing this problem say cause their iMacs to freeze such as switching around the menus in Front Row, etc and running screensavers and no freezing, no artifacting, no problems.

I installed the 1.3 iMac Update because I always install all driver/firmware updates that Apple releases and can notice no changes at all.

I know this problem exists for quite a few folks and I AM extremely sympathetic and DO care. I still wonder if this is a software or a hardware issue though. Maybe we should start comparing what software we are all running on our systems to see if there might be some common factor on those WITH the problem as opposed to those without.

I'd be glad to help any way I can. I can understand how frustrating it must be.

I ordered this machine with 1x1GB of RAM and have upgraded it to 2GB with 1GB I purchased a while back and had been using in my previous 20" Core Duo iMac.

Same here. 2.8GHz iMac w/4GB OWC ram. No problems before or after Leopard. I've also tried to create a freeze using the methods others have suggested. Installed the update and still, no issues.

For the record, this IS my second iMac. The first one I bought had the dreaded dead pixel issues.

I'm help in any way possible as well (comparisons, etc.)

[Xyl]

So if we have an iMac that's not experiencing freezes this update wouldn't possibly make it actually START freezing would it? I wouldn't want to screw up a good thing I've got going, haha!!

I hope I don't jinx myself, but I didn't have any freezes/artifacts before the update, and none after the update either. Running a 24" 2.8Ghz.

Edit: Using 1 GB Apple RAM, 2 GB Corsair RAM

[wakerider017]

Was it the RAM or the PRAM reset? Maybe it needs a few reboots as well...

PRAM was reset in between each memory swap...

[Sun Baked]

That doesn't sound good at all. The last time I recall "blocks" on the screen, lines and artifacting was when I had a bad logic board on my 20" Core Duo. I was told it may have actually just been a case of the GPU having worked slightly loose from the logic board due to excessive heat.

Nope, wasn't HW -- it was software, since it would occur after login only. and not with a clean user.

Edit: most likely a conflict with iStat and an early carbon app, neither of which I'm using right now.

[djc6]

My 2.4Ghz 24" iMac is now completely unusable. I have Leopard installed on it, and it freezes immediately when the computer desktop appears. It tries to render the stacks on my dock and that is now enough to kill it.

I have Tiger w/o any iMac Software Updates on an external firewire drive, and that is what I am using to send this. This installation continues to be rock solid.

[wakerider017]

My 2.4Ghz 24" iMac is now completely unusable. I have Leopard installed on it, and it freezes immediately when the computer desktop appears. It tries to render the stacks on my dock and that is now enough to kill it.

I have Tiger w/o any iMac Software Updates on an external firewire drive, and that is what I am using to send this. This installation continues to be rock solid.

I bet you have aftermarket RAM...

[djc6]

I bet you have aftermarket RAM...

I do... I have two 2GB corsair sticks. I have let memtest86+ and memtest run for hours while at work, on several occasions, and neither tester has ever found any errors with the RAM.

http://matt.ucc.asn.au/memtest/
http://www.memtestosx.org/

[ImperialX]

I bet you have aftermarket RAM...

I doubt that anyone with 4GB doesn't have aftermarket RAM because of Apple's insane price, but I still find it hard to believe that the RAM is causing all the issues. There are posts above showing people with Aftermarket RAM without the Lock-ups.

[coolabah]

I do... I have two 2GB corsair sticks. I have let memtest86+ and memtest run for hours while at work, on several occasions, and neither tester has ever found any errors with the RAM.

http://matt.ucc.asn.au/memtest/
http://www.memtestosx.org/

The faulty-RAM theory doesn't make sense to me here - why would Tiger work without any issues for djc6, but Leopard fail? If it was faulty RAM, surely this would affect both OSs?

[ImperialX]

The faulty-RAM theory doesn't make sense to me here - why would Tiger work without any issues for djc6, but Leopard fail? If it was faulty RAM, surely this would affect both OSs?

Exactly. I still believe that the Graphic Card is faulty, and the updates corrupted it even further. I really think it's nothing to do with the RAM.

Still can't understand why wakerider017's iMac got fixed by removing the RAM though.

[pavelbure]

i guess i will clone this drive with super duper and try it out on the clone 1st. if it freezes, i am loading it onto my main drive and taking this thing back. i'm sick of this crap already. i knew going with those crappy ati cards was bad news.

[coolabah]

Exactly. I still believe that the Graphic Card is faulty, and the updates corrupted it even further. I really think it's nothing to do with the RAM.

Still can't understand why wakerider017's iMac got fixed by removing the RAM though.

But by the same token - if the graphics card is faulty, how does one explain how Leopard is a complete disaster on my iMac 24" (constant lock-ups), but Windows XP works just fine? Surely a faulty graphics card would take both down?

[SaSaSushi]

Nope, wasn't HW -- it was software, since it would occur after login only. and not with a clean user.

Edit: most likely a conflict with iStat and an early carbon app, neither of which I'm using right now.

Yeah, my machine with the logic board problem wouldn't even make it through the boot process most times. If it did get to the login screen it almost always had the lines and artifacts there as well and if it didn't they appeared as soon as I hit the login button.

I'm using iStat here as well. I just updated to the new version released yesterday.

[steken]

My money is on the graphics card, maybe the drivers?

From my experience, I had artifacts like white dots stuck on screen, fuzzy small colour pixels and then white pixel streaks going across the screen. It did this under Tiger before I installed Leopard and it is still doing it under Leopard with after market memory added.

My vote is on crappy drivers, perhaps one reason Apple should have stayed with Nvidia? However, having said this either way one would expect Apple to sort it out in time... last thing they want is bad press and/or recalls.


Steken

[Mac2004]

I just downloaded the Software Update tonight and I just got another freeze when I tried to open up Safari in the dock so I had to reboot my computer. I have a new 24 inch IMac computer.

[Marble]

But by the same token - if the graphics card is faulty, how does one explain how Leopard is a complete disaster on my iMac 24" (constant lock-ups), but Windows XP works just fine? Surely a faulty graphics card would take both down?

The freezes seem to occur when the graphics card is asked to perform certain operations. Maybe XP isn't asking the same things of the graphics card as OS X is? The problem areas—the dock, Time Machine, the screensavers, all use OpenGL image effects that you wouldn't see on XP.

That would be my guess, anyway.

[Mac2004]

I'm so glad i did not upgrade to Leopard with all the problems I am hearing about. I will wait until it's more stable.

[SaSaSushi]

My money is on the graphics card, maybe the drivers?

From my experience, I had artifacts like white dots stuck on screen, fuzzy small colour pixels and then white pixel streaks going across the screen. It did this under Tiger before I installed Leopard and it is still doing it under Leopard with after market memory added.

My vote is on crappy drivers, perhaps one reason Apple should have stayed with Nvidia? However, having said this either way one would expect Apple to sort it out in time... last thing they want is bad press and/or recalls.

The only problem with the "bad driver" or the "faulty GPU hardware" theories is that this is not a universal problem experienced by all 24" Aluminum iMac users. In fact, as bad as the problem seems by the frequency of posts in these forums and Apple's forums and the media attention to it I submit that it is still probably only a small percentage of all 24" iMacs that are affected by this.

It's an old mantra but it's true: The vast majority of those without problems never find a need to seek help in the forums.

It's a real problem of course and a very serious one for those who are affected.

My money, if I were a betting man, would still be on either a software conflict or maybe there is something to this RAM issue. I have an extra stick of RAM I added to my system and no problems but Wakerider seems to have cured his problems by removing his third party RAM and reinstalling the stock RAM. That's compelling evidence but of course his freezing may not be caused by the same thing that's causing other's freezing.

I hope Apple solves this crap quick.

[macrumors12345]

I do... I have two 2GB corsair sticks. I have let memtest86+ and memtest run for hours while at work, on several occasions, and neither tester has ever found any errors with the RAM.



memtest doesn't always give correct results. I ran it for hours on a 512 MB SO-DIMM that I knew was bad because it would immediately freeze up my gf's PB G4 as soon as I put it in, even though it met all the necessary specs (it would work quasi-reliably in my iBook, possibly because it had a lower bus speed). Memtest always claimed the DIMM was fine, but obviously it wasn't.

[Marble]

I want to hear if there are any freezers that have no additional RAM installed.

[ImperialX]

But by the same token - if the graphics card is faulty, how does one explain how Leopard is a complete disaster on my iMac 24" (constant lock-ups), but Windows XP works just fine? Surely a faulty graphics card would take both down?

Incorrect. A 'faulty' Graphics Card in this case stands for one that is corrupted by the drivers that otherwise works on the normal HD2600.

Seeing the Windows uses the Catalyst, it might be compatible even with these 'faulty' cards.

[nakile]

Aftermarket RAM strikes again? :(

I'd been thinking to myself for weeks now that this sounds like nothing Apple would do. That these video related crashes must be related to something else. Maybe the aluminum iMacs are just real picky with their RAM?

But that can't be it. This only seems to happen with Time Machine and other Core Animation stuff. Maybe Core Animation uses RAM different?

You know, maybe it writes data to a section of the RAM reserved by Mac OS for the sole use of Core Animation. If so, maybe this is why when you try to use Core Animation that a system with a bad stick of RAM crashes. It's trying to write to that dead section of your RAM and because it's dead it just doesn't work.

This would explain why normal use doesn't cause a crash. The part of the RAM where your standard programs and Mac OS runs might be good. But the Core Animation section might be bad.

I'm probably sounding like a technically illiterate idiot right now, but that's how science works. :p

[Freis968]

I ran my Software Update and nothing happened. Is this only for the Aluminum iMac? I have the white one.

[SaSaSushi]

Incorrect. A 'faulty' Graphics Card in this case stands for one that is corrupted by the drivers that otherwise works on the normal HD2600.

Seeing the Windows uses the Catalyst, it might be compatible even with these 'faulty' cards.

Perhaps the graphics card in YOUR iMac is defective. This I could understand. Perhaps all of the folks with freezing issues have defective graphics cards.

I'm not sure what you mean by "the normal HD2600". Are you talking about the graphics cards in the iMacs, like my own that don't have any freezing issues?

Then it would not be the fault of the drivers but the defective hardware.

At any rate all I was trying to say is that if it were a driver issue common to all iMacs then obviously everyone would be experiencing it.

If it is defective display cards on those machines that are affected no driver is going to fix them.

I doubt it's as simple as either of those cases. If it is not a RAM issue then I still think it has to be some sort of software conflict in the affected machines.

[mdriftmeyer]

Has anyone bothered to install Linux and test the new ATi drivers for these cards on Xorg 7.3?

If both Linux and OS X freeze up it's going to be an issue with the Video Card.

[ImperialX]

Perhaps the graphics card in YOUR iMac is defective. This I could understand. Perhaps all of the folks with freezing issues have defective graphics cards.

I'm not sure what you mean by "the normal HD2600". Are you talking about the graphics cards in the iMacs, like my own that don't have any freezing issues?



Yes, that it correct. The 'defective' HD2600 refers to the ones that have a bad conflict with the Driver Updates. This is what I believe is happening.

[SaSaSushi]

But by the same token - if the graphics card is faulty, how does one explain how Leopard is a complete disaster on my iMac 24" (constant lock-ups), but Windows XP works just fine? Surely a faulty graphics card would take both down?


Going back to the example of my previous 20" Core Duo iMac that had a bad logic board (probably GPU) I was able to boot into Windows XP in Bootcamp on it with no problems whatsoever even though OS X would rarely even make it to the login screen towards the end.

No, for whatever reason, how the machine operates in Bootcamp is no indication as to whether or not it is experiencing hardware issues.

[Stridder44]

All aboard the fail train.

Screw ATI forever. Whether it's Windows or Mac, they couldn't make a decent working driver to save their lives. This is pathetic.

It's one thing if the machines just came out a day ago, but it's been a couple months at least. Get it together already.

[SaSaSushi]

Screw ATI forever. Whether it's Windows or Mac, they couldn't make a decent working driver to save their lives. This is pathetic.

I believe Apple makes their own drivers in OS X or at least works in cooperation with AMD on that end. AMD/ATI makes the 7.10 Catalyst drivers most people are using in Bootcamp Windows with no problems even on "freezer" machines.

[snickelfritz]

I just installed the 1.2 update and as far as I can tell, the machine is perfectly stable and reliable.
I tried Front Row; perfectly smooth with no freezing or weirdness of any kind.
I tried scrubbing the Dock rapidly; perfect.

[daneoni]

For those of you that applied the update and are still experiencing freezing did you do a PRAM reset after the installing the update?

[Darkroom]

wow, i had no idea this was happening... was about to order a new 24" iMac next week... guess i'll wait until the new upgrade instead...

[snickelfritz]

That's a good idea, but I doubt the PRAM could cause the severe video issues people are experiencing.
VRAM and/or ROM are more likely to be the culprits causing the video corruption, black screens, lock-ups etc...

[RobjeMac]

Just updated Leopard to 1.3
Did a anti-freeze test with Google Earth latest version which I was never able to run without freezing :mad: and re-tried prior update and.........
working :D

Will keep my fingers crossed and the freezer closed......

_____________________________
-Al SiO2 24" 2.4GHz iMac (September 2007)
-1 (org) + 2 (aftermarket) RAM
-Wireless alu keyboard + MX revolution mouse (+steermouse)
-iPhone 8GB (unlocked :rolleyes:)
-Leopard OS X 10.5 (1.3)

[SaSaSushi]

wow, i had no idea this was happening... was about to order a new 24" iMac next week... guess i'll wait until the new upgrade instead...

See my post above about the overall percentage of iMacs experiencing this issue. Far fewer folks with no problems on their machines will post in here than those who do have them.

I think you've got very good odds of getting an iMac with no problems whatsoever and I also know that Apple is going to eventually fix or replace all affected machines anyway. I hope it's soon for the sake of those suffering with them.

[ImperialX]

I ran my Software Update and nothing happened. Is this only for the Aluminum iMac? I have the white one.

The white ones aren't suffering the Screen-Freeze issues.

[BKKbill]

I have a 24" iMac (Aluminum) 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 1GB Apple + 2GB Kingston RAM. and Tiger in this part of the world we have to send an e-mail to Singapore and get Leopard sent. Guess they have to catch them. It should be here this coming week so it seem Leopard may not be the problem.
This thing freezes playing chess. Two days ago a thin blue line shows up. Didn’t do the update just took it all back to the Apple reseller. They did the update blue line still there and didn’t check any further. Will get a new iMac Monday. This store was out of stock and I didn’t think it worth my time driving across town for more disappointment. I did notice the case was very hot. I know aluminum and all that but did not hear the fan. Does anyone think temperature could have something to do with this problem? Here’s hoping this gets resolved fast.

[ImperialX]

I have a 24" iMac (Aluminum) 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 1GB Apple + 2GB Kingston RAM. and Tiger in this part of the world we have to send an e-mail to Singapore and get Leopard sent. Guess they have to catch them. It should be here this coming week so it seem Leopard may not be the problem.
This thing freezes playing chess. Two days ago a thin blue line shows up. Didn’t do the update just took it all back to the Apple reseller. They did the update blue line still there and didn’t check any further. Will get a new iMac Monday. This store was out of stock and I didn’t think it worth my time driving across town for more disappointment. I did notice the case was very hot. I know aluminum and all that but did not hear the fan. Does anyone think temperature could have something to do with this problem? Here’s hoping this gets resolved fast.

The Aluminum naturally gets hot. The inside isn't all that hot.

However, at this point, all iMacs that freeze should be taken back for a replacement. No fixes coming soon for faulty hardware.

[Banjhiyi]

Basically, Apple doesn't have a clue what the problem is. All pointers suggest it is hardware and personally, I wouldn't rule out the main board just yet.

Some iMacs being received this week are freezing; I'll let you make your own minds up about whether Apple is knowingly shipping faulty hardware.

I'd also suggest that speculation about the scale of the issue is spurious; just as those without an issue stay away, those who are suffering don't all post on MacRumors, Apple (they make their forums difficult to navigate to for a reason...) or any of the other main Mac discussion boards - they may not know where to go, their issue is so bad they cannot even go without a freeze long enough to post, they don't have internet access and they may even have an aversion to using a discussion board (as many still do).

Talk of 5% is silly; it is obvious that a huge number of new iMacs are faulty. We know it is in the thousands based on the number of posts across the net, possibly into tens of thousands. And that is a number just based on those who know where to complain. Just because you or I post here, doesn't mean to say everybody else does!

Finally, talking in terms of odds of getting a working iMac? Seriously, when did Mac users start accepting bookmaker set odds that we might get a winning machine? This is awful, we should be demanding the best; Macs aren't cheap and we have all sat idly by while Apple's QA has gone down the pan in the past 12 months. Hardware faults and software bugs are increasing all the time.

If we just accept mediocrity through a love of Apple, we only have ourselves to blame when we end up in the same boat as Dell buyers. That is to say we just expect problems, whether they be our Macs suffering through faulty hardware, our O/S having no firewall, iPhoto just doesn't work or our iTunes rejecting our iPods.

I came to Apple all those years ago to avoid that scenario. I don't expect to start suffering that as a consequence of the company becoming too big for their boots.

And neither should anyone.

[I WAS the one]

Personally I think you guys need to be more specific about the freezing problem, I bought an iMac 2.8 ghz the 31st of October and I'm not having no freezing problems, but as I said you need to be more clear on that, because I want to know what to look for and what to see so I will know what will cause the freezing issue... I think if i detect that on time I will be able to returned right away...
:confused:

[Bozinsky]

If I could only get time machine to see my NAS share for backups. So far no go. :mad:

Have you tried something like http://uneasysilence.com/archive/2007/10/12595/ already?

[jonnyb]

My new 20 inch iMac was shipped this morning and my elation is being somewhat tempered by all this. The more I read the more I think it has to be a hardware problem. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that I get a good one. If I don't then it's going straight back to Apple for a refund.

I agree with the poster above when he says that Apple's QC has gone to pot recently. My Airport Express died on me just after the warranty expired and I had to take my iPod Touch back because of the negative black screen problem. I'm due some good luck aren't I?

It really shouldn't be a lottery.

[gn!uz]

Just wanted to let you guys know I've been running my 24" 2.8GHz iMac for 3 weeks without a single glitch.. Both Tiger and Leopard, absolutely flawless...

(Bootcamp, Vista x32) VMWare Fusion, iLife08, iWork08, Adobe CS3, Logic 8, Ableton 6.0.10, Flip4Mac, Perian, HD movies, all working very smooth (except for some specific Adobe apps - they're working on it! Leopard compatiblity)

As soon as the box arrived I removed the 1Gb RAM and put in 2x 2Gb Kingston RAM. Not the Apple KTA's but regular KTH's..

It might be a RAM issue. I can imagine it's frustrating for you guys.
The easiest thing to do is to swap your memory and see if it does the trick.. If not, return it...

[Ice-Cube]

My freezes only occur about once in 2 weeks after the 1.0 update. And usually it freezes right after I restarted from Windows. Now I have to shut down Windows, wait for 30 seconds or so, before booting up Mac OSX. And usually the first boot will have some graphic glitches like icons not displaying properly. I will have to then shut down and boot up again. After which, I will not experience any more problems. So far this solution has worked for me.

As for this 1.2/1.3 update and leopard, I am going to wait for a few weeks before jumping on the bandwagon. So far, judging from the Apple discussion boards and forums, things are not looking so bright.

I bought the rev a macbook before and it gave me random shut downs and the battery problem. I held on to my faith and bought the iPod touch, which gave me the black screen. Finally I got the new iMacs and they screwed me once more. I don't think I will buy another Apple product in the near future after this.

Sure they have wonderful software and nice looking machines. But the core product is not even serving its basic functions. I've been reading through the forums and can't believe people are saying "I'm so lucky my mac is not freezing". Man this should not depend on luck, we all paid a few thousand dollars for a machine that is SUPPOSE to work, not to gamble and see if we got a good working one.

And AppleCare, does not seem to reflect the meaning of that word. It gives me the impression they do not seem to care instead. I have to spend 5 hours on the phone, explaining this issue, when clearly its so widespread and reported in many sites. Apple, pls buck up - I don't wish to gamble with your products anymore.

[wilmor42]

i received my machine on september 19th.. upgraded to 4Gb kingston ram straight away, not really had any issues with it, i've only turned the thing off/restarted it about 6 times max since i got it-most of these were required restarts after installing software.. Only one of them was down to a freeze but im not sure it was related to the 'freezing' issue.. Very unsure wether to upgrade to 1.2 (still on tiger).. i mean i dont want to introduce any problems.. So is this actually a hardware fault in our ati cards or what?

EDIT: also i have a 20 Cinema display hooked to it in extended mode.. so the graphics card is handling 2 monitors and i dont seem to be getting any problems..

[boer]

Talk of 5% is silly; it is obvious that a huge number of new iMacs are faulty. We know it is in the thousands based on the number of posts across the net, possibly into tens of thousands.

Please. Apple has sold millions of these devices which implicates 5 % being hundreds of thousands of devices. Please provide references to these hundreds of thousands of distinct faults so I can believe 5 %. Then we can talk how much over that the rate really is (supposedly).

[risc]

Nothing to report here, my iMac got rebooted and is working the same as before. No freezes, no this, no that... just an iMac.

[Killyp]

I don't think Apple has sold 'millions' of the new iMacs yet.

Either way, this isn't good. Apple really needs to test things more thoroughly before they come out. My mk1 MacBook Pro was stupendously faulty, and so many other people experienced the same thing. In one case, somebody I managed to 'switch' to Macs ended up going back to PCs after a few months because his MacBook Pro was so dodgy (despite being repaired by Apple numerous times). The mk1 MacBook had serious issues with random shutdowns and overheating (just like the MBPs), and now these new iMacs. There are other products where this has happened in the past year or two, but they don't spring to mind.

Apple really, really, needs to do something about this. They can't just ignore it because it's one of those things which will at some point spiral out of control, Macs will get a reputation of failing all the time.

[Bolteh]

Did the update, reset the PRAM, joy, for the first time ever, artifacts..

Sigh



Edit: I don't have additional RAM, just the RAM my iMac came with.. But I'll be fair here: apart from the occasional colored pixels popping up on near the upper edge of the screen (artifacts) in Front-Row, this machine hasn't frozen.. Even spamming cmd+m in WoW (fullscreen to windowed and back) for half a minute didn't freeze up my machine, nor did it show artifacts.. I'm holding my breath here, but I can live with this minimum of artifacts, as long as it doesn't freeze.

For those who think I'm crazy and that I should send it back: I'll lose it for more than a month due to lack of Apple Stores near.

[Mac2004]

My new iMac has frozen 3 times tonight since I downloaded that update. Each time I have had to force shut down the computer and restart. I have the 24 inch model. This is getting so irritating!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ksgant]

This must be only for the brand new iMacs...as I just did a "software update" and said that everything was up-to-date. I'm on the original 24" iMac here.

EDIT: reading through the other responses, I realize I wasn't the first person to notice this.

[Bolteh]

Additional question: for those running leopard, did this update reduce freezing (since people reported that the freezing was far more frequent with Leopard than with Tiger)

[spazzcat]

I haven't frozen since I upgraded to leopard...

[rotlex]

Same here. 2.8GHz iMac w/4GB OWC ram. No problems before or after Leopard. I've also tried to create a freeze using the methods others have suggested. Installed the update and still, no issues.

For the record, this IS my second iMac. The first one I bought had the dreaded dead pixel issues.

I'm help in any way possible as well (comparisons, etc.)

Same experience here. Received my 2.8 this week. Installed Leoard, clean install. Installed 4GB OWC ram. No issues before or after the update. (Crosses fingers). Although it's only been a few days, I've used this thing HARD, and have purposefully tried near everything listed on these forums to make it freeze. It runs perfectly every time.

Personally, I'm really beginning to wonder if this isn't hardware related. WAY to strange how some have so many issues, and others, like myself, have ZERO.

[Bolteh]

I just froze after typing my previous reply -_- Freezing in Firefox, but not when stressing the GPU in WoW.. Sigh.

My last hope (lol) will be Leopard, if that doesn't fix it, this computer will be sent in for repairing, and hope it won't take a month like a friend's PowerBook.

[jnash]

I haven't had any freezing problems, I upgraded to 4 GIGs of ram using OCZ ram I also upgraded to leopard, done A TON of things and haven't had any freezes I am installing 1.3 now if I have freezes I will post back sorry to everyone else for having issue I dunno wth it could be :(

Maybe a bad batch?

[Thataboy]

On my new 2.8 ghz iMac (which doesnt freeze), this update fixed the bug that prevented system feedback sounds when switching volume. It was a little thing, but god it annoyed me! :)

[Thataboy]

Interesting discovery...


Removed my extra 1GB stick of crucial memory....

Tried to get it to freeze for 30 minutes... Couldn't. Still noticing artifacts though. Primarily in Time Machine.

Reset the PRAM and now I am trying as hard as I can to get a freeze or even artifacts... Been trying for 20 minutes and nothing...

Artifacts used to be soooo common. They would appear every 10 secconds in Time Machine...



Maybe a PRAM reset is in order after the update?


I am going to put my RAM back in and see what happens.

Holy 1993! "Zapping the PRAM" is something I haven't thought about in over a decade. Does that even still work in OS X? :) Wasnt it apple option P R? No wait, COMMAND option P R :rolleyes: Ahh the memories!

[wakerider017]

I really think it is the ram for whatever reason...

Maybe it is not technically bad ram but it is causing issues.


Still 100% stable on apple ram. Crashing like crazy on crucial.

[SaSaSushi]

Please. Apple has sold millions of these devices which implicates 5 % being hundreds of thousands of devices. Please provide references to these hundreds of thousands of distinct faults so I can believe 5 %. Then we can talk how much over that the rate really is (supposedly).

Exactly right and I wasn't basing my entire theory of this being a problem for a small percentage overall simply on the posts to user forums. If it was a problem on such a large scale as even 5% of all machines this would be major news in the general media news outlets and not just a tech news story.

Is it a known and proven issue? Yes. Apple has openly acknowledged it.

Is it widespread to the point that one is likely to encounter it in any new iMac they purchase now? I don't think so.

Is it necessarily a hardware issue and not a software conflict or third party RAM issue? Not proven at this point one way or the other.

[johnmcboston]

Personally, I'm really beginning to wonder if this isn't hardware related. WAY to strange how some have so many issues, and others, like myself, have ZERO.

Hey, after only 2 months with the brand new imac, my airport card has died - so I wouldn't put anything past being a hardware problem.

[Yateball]

I really think it is the ram for whatever reason...

Maybe it is not technically bad ram but it is causing issues.


Still 100% stable on apple ram. Crashing like crazy on crucial.

I'm running 1gb Mushkin RAM, and 1bg Crucial RAM, with JUST the mushkin I have absolutely no problems, but whenever the crucial is put back in there's always freezing.

Wakerider might be correct.

Or this might be a completely different issue

[Bolteh]

I can now safely say that 1.2 made everything worse for me (Tiger, obviously).. Have been getting artifacts and about 6 freezes the past 2 hours.

According to the Blizzard Mac tech, the update fixes some issues in fullscreen stability and some optimisation..

Guess this patch wasn't meant to be a fix at all.

[jonnyb]

Great - I've bought 4GB crucial RAM to put in my iMac when it arrives. Anyone with Crucial RAM not having freezes?

[BenRoethig]

Only 5% of the machines sold before were faulty.

Unless it is a fatal design error like the G3 iBook I had before this iMac. Apple is pushing things right to the edge to make things just a little bit thinner ot better looking. Sometimes they go over that edge.

[Thataboy]

My 2.8 ghz iMac has not had any freezing issues, and I have 4GB of Samsung "Apple Recommended" RAM from 18004memory.

[longofest]

just for kicks, I added a poll to the thread regarding third party RAM

[phillipjfry]

...Then have one of their "geniuses" try and figure it out over and over like I don't know what hell I'm talking about pisses me off even more. ...

This is the very reason why I haven't taken my iMac (white, not ALU) to the :apple:store for my random hardware issues. I hope you ALU peeps get a good update soon. Nothing like having a machine that freezes up all the time to spoil the Apple love around here.

[Yateball]

My 2.8 ghz iMac has not had any freezing issues, and I have 4GB of Samsung "Apple Recommended" RAM from 18004memory.

That's the thing with mine too... the Mushkin RAM is supposedly "apple certified" where Crucial doesn't advertise this at all...

[RRK]

I have a 2.8ghz version and I only had one freeze. It was before the 1.1 update and it happened after I closed Doom 3. I bumped up the fan speeds just to be safe and everything has been great for me, especially after Leopard. I only have 2gig of ram all from Apple.

Anyone benchmark these new drivers yet?

[Miharu]

Updated, still gettting the same freezes.

Tiger, basic 2.4 ghz iMac 20", no third party RAM.

[GTiPhone]

Just the thought of me boxing up my 24" iMac that weighs a ton and carrying it through the mall is pissing me off. Then have one of their "geniuses" try and figure it out over and over like I don't know what hell I'm talking about pisses me off even more. And then the thought of not having my mac for a few days is the cherry on top. Maybe I shoulda got a ACD and a MacBook pro instead.

You won't have to suffer through this if you call Apple technical support over the phone. If you complain, they will e-mail you a pre-paid Fed Ex label to send it back and over night another Mac to you. At least, thats what they did for me last time I recieved a faulty Mac.

You have to COMPLAIN. Or you will be treated like crap. Its the way it works.

[GTiPhone]

I have a 2.4 20" with the 1 gb of RAM that it came with, which is barely enough to turn the damn thing ON, and it still does not have this issue.


I mean, it has occasionally locked up for no reason, but I'd have to say maybe 3 or 4 times since I've purchased it. That would be right after launch.

[daran]

I've got a MacPro with the very same symptoms (random gui freezes about once a week) since the last minor system update (10.4.10). Assuming it is the same problem as for the iMacs (GUI is blocked, mouse continues to work, remote login still works).

From all I can tell it is a simple dead lock. These can be hard to fix, though. Also since it involves a race condition, how often it happens can depend a lot on usage patterns and the drivers involved.

Damn, I used to be proud of my rock solid system...

Daran

[chuckyboy81070]

hi everyone,

i just wanted to chime in. i've got a 2.8 Ghz, 24" aluminum iMac. it has had freezing issues since day one. it only froze once before the tiger 1.2 update, then froze multiple times a day after installing 1.2. i reverted back to 1.1 and while i did get an occasional freeze (maybe once or twice a week) it was much better than the multiple times per day uner 1.2.

after upgrading to leopard, it was back to daily multiple freezes. now, after installing 1.3 for leopard, it still freezes. :( no better, no worse. i reset the PRAM after installing 1.3 as well. hardware tests don't show any errors, btw.

the issues range from a screen freeze, to a screen "black out", to white streaks accross the screen. i can force a freeze by openeing the screen saver panel, select arabesque and either moving the control panel or moving my mouse quickly accross the dock. often, time machine will cause a screen blackout, as will front row.

i have no 3rd party RAM installed.

[y0zza]

No problems with 2 x 2GB of Hynix RAM in my 24 inch iMac 2.8GHz.

My machine is on 24/7, not a single graphics freeze yet over the two–three weeks or so I've had this machine.

[otto-matic]

I really think it is the ram for whatever reason...

Maybe it is not technically bad ram but it is causing issues.


Still 100% stable on apple ram. Crashing like crazy on crucial.

I bought my RAM pre-installed by apple at an apple store, so I have no idea what brand it is, but I would hope that it is apple. I have 2GB, and have the freezing problem.

[brasscat]

After the update, my 24" iMac with 4GB freezes when trying to exit Front Row. I also see more artifacts in Time Machine than before.

[Tom J]

It's very interesting that we're still trying to reach a consensus on what's causing this. With users reporting freezing with different hardware confiqurations, is it possible that there are two (or more) distinctly different issues causing this? Third party RAM causes the problem for some, bad drivers cause what appears to be the same problem for others?

Just trying to throw out some alternatives.

EDIT:

Another possibility that has been mentioned (but not seriously considered) is that the graphics card needs to be reseated. Yes, I agree the symptoms don't directly point to it, but again, this could be a separate issue that could be causing what appears to be the same problems that others are having.

[Little Newton]

I have had some freezing - less than once a week - accelerated when I installed Leopard (no 3rd party RAM)...seemed to happen when some Quartz Extreme visual candy was being exercised in Time Machine or fast user switching etc. Nothing since update last night.

I think there are probably a number of different issues being drawn into this big tent. Some sound like RAM problems and others like motherboard issues. I had a lot of trouble with my logitech mouse making system unresponsive until downgraded LCC software to previous version.

Love my computer and am sure my problem will/has been resolved

[Koopz]

I have 20" Alum Imac and I'm only experiencing freezes when Im' using Aperture, but other than that everything is ok. I have added a 1 gb after-market RAM (G-Skill) and dont have any freeze problem too. This is both on Tiger and Leopard.... didnt upgrade to 1.3 yet... coz im afraid that i may ran into the same problem you guys are having...

[SaSaSushi]

just for kicks, I added a poll to the thread regarding third party RAM

I think it would be more valuable if you changed that 3rd choice to simply Aluminum iMac with no freezing issues and then maybe added a 4th N/A choice. It sort of skews the percentage of unaffected aluminum iMacs otherwise.

[snickelfritz]

I bought an iMac 2.8 ghz the 31st of October and I'm not having no freezing problems,...
:confused:

I'm confused! Is "not having no freezing problems", the opposite of "having no freezing problems"?

[kkat69]

Sad thing is I had 2 neighbors over the other night, and they both were thinking of buying a Mac. They wanted to see and after my machine froze a few times they kinda shook their heads and said (verbatum!) "Vista doesn't even crash this much, we'll just stick with it!"

I tried to explain the situation but you can't really blame them for the initial reaction.

I was about to buy my wife the new macbook and she also said something similar "as much as I hate vista it runs better than your os, just go get me a dell"

Now you can't argue with their reactions. Human nature will judge based on what they see. Even when I tried to explain it's just the system I have (Al iMac) and let's go into the store and re-judge which she agreed to. But honestly, this is the impression people will get after seeing something like this and not knowing that it's system specific. As far as an average user will see, it's APPLE specific and shy away.

I still love my iMac and the OS. I'm glad I switched, but really, I can't even work for an hour straight without crashing and now I can't even pull files out of timemachine without crashing.

[masterapple04]

My iMac has developed a very sporadic freezing behavior.

1) The 1.1 update caused more freezing than had happened when I bought in August. Freezes were maybe 1 every other day, with very light video use, as opposed to 1 in the month from when I bought it.

2) Updating to Leopard made the freezing almost unbearable. Happened at least 5 times a day - in Front Row, Time Machine, VMWare Fusion, even just the Finder. This was from Friday night until Monday.

3) Didn't freeze all during the work week until yesterday Camino, iChat, and iTunes were n use when it froze. During the week I successfully used all of the apps listed in 2) with no freezing.

4) Since I updated to 1.3 last night, I've not had an issue. I did a mild stress test in iTunes and Time Machine with no freezing.

I know I have a problem, but it doesn't present itself in any predictable manner, so for right now I'm going to give the 1.3 update a positive vote.

I am using the 1GB of Apple RAM with a 1GB stick form Crucial. Everything else is stock.

[longofest]

from early results of our poll, I'd say this issue does NOT have entirely to do with 3rd party RAM.

The issue that people seem to be having with 3rd party RAM is most likely a separate problem altogether. A bad stick of RAM or one with mis-matching specs can definitely lead to the kind of graphical corruption and freezing that folks are experiencing. I have had this kind of experience myself...

The main issue at hand I think is more related to the GPU drivers, which ever since being updated with the iMac 1.2 update, have been very unreliable for some folks.

[jonnyb]

Well it seems to me that the pattern is that there is no pattern. We have all sorts of configurations here and some are experiencing freezes and some are fine with no single common factor. No wonder Apple don't seem to be able to fix it...

[Spankey]

This update has made things MUCH worse. Can't even get to the WoW login screen. Computer freezes everytime. Before the update, I played for more than two hours last night without a hitch. Does Apple even QC their software before releasing it to the wild? There should be a way to undo this nonsense. I am PISSED!

[SaSaSushi]

the issues range from a screen freeze, to a screen "black out", to white streaks accross the screen. i can force a freeze by openeing the screen saver panel, select arabesque and either moving the control panel or moving my mouse quickly accross the dock. often, time machine will cause a screen blackout, as will front row.

i have no 3rd party RAM installed.

If I had an iMac that had a guaranteed way to cause the freeze and didn't just do so randomly I would send it back to Apple faster than you can say "freeze".

You paid for a working machine and you clearly have a defective one. Not to mention that since you can tell them how to produce the freeze on your machine perhaps the Apple engineers could use it to help pinpoint and solve this problem for the freezing community at large.

This is not an aesthetic issue like the supposed "gradient defect" some claim on the new iMacs.

As much of a hassle as it is I urge all those who have these problems and can force them to occur and have now suffered them through 2 or 3 updates to send the machines back to Apple for repair or replacement under the warranty.

There's no reason you have to suffer this crap while Apple "figures it out" and the only way they WILL is by having hands on access to more machines with the problems.

[numbsafari]

I have an aluminum iMac. I have 3rd party RAM. I installed it myself and not through an Apple reseller/certified tech.

The only freezing that I have noticed is that (I'm a recent Windows switcher), in general, the Mac UI is NOT multi-threaded and does NOT deal very well with reporting errors. Most often, if an app experiences a wait it simply locks up... It locks the universal menu bar. It locks it's own window. And if that App happens to be Finder, then there's no hope. Also, apps have a tendency to simply "disappear" rather than reporting any kind of error and, so far, I haven't found any central place to go find out about what those errors could be (probably a console log somewhere...).

Anyhow, I know Apple is supposed to be "great" with UI design. But, so far, my experience simply shows that they are simply different, not better at all. And way less mature.

For all that people complain about MS, at least MS listens to their customers on issues like this (at least, with a much higher frequency).

I am experiencing buyers remorse.

[bluenose]

Has anyone considered that some iMacs may have poor heat sink contact to the CPU or GPU in freezing machines? I imagine the entire aluminum casing forms part of the heat dissapation strategy, but everything must make firm contact with flat surfaces and thermal pad/paste.

Apple is struggling to solve the problem with software. Software could only improve cooling by throttling back the CPU and GPU and avoiding 3D modes.

[IshPBG]

I am stunned at the number of people who are putting up with constant freezes on their iMacs. TAKE THEM BACK! That is the only way Apple will get the message, and the only way you will get satisfaction. They will either have to really fix your iMac, or give you a new one, or give you your money back.

[BKKbill]

[QUOTE=Nothing like having a machine that freezes up all the time to spoil the Apple love around here.[/QUOTE]

Well I don't know about the love it just doesn't seem to be there or I'm just not feeling it. Maybe taking 30% off the top and then producing something that doesn't work and continually shipping the same thing out to eager fans may have something to do with this. I really think Apple should stop or at least slow down and take a long hard look at things. Here I thought I was doing the smart thing by switching to Apple after a long sabbatical but if this is the result possibly an error on my part has been made. Hope the Jobs is heeding this, one can hope. Things have a way of balancing out as to price spent and expectation expected. The replacement for my defunct iMac comes on Monday so I guess the choices I made will be self explanatory then. It really is a shame at these prices such disappointment occur. Such in life in the fast lane I guess.

[snickelfritz]

Has anyone considered that some iMacs may have poor heat sink contact to the CPU or GPU in freezing machines? I imagine the entire aluminum casing forms part of the heat dissapation strategy, but everything must make firm contact with flat surfaces and thermal pad/paste.

Apple is struggling to solve the problem with software. Software could only improve cooling by throttling back the CPU and GPU and avoiding 3D modes.

That sounds more plausible than a software problem that only affects a small percentage of the machines.

[happydude]

haven't had any freezing problems with our 24" 2.8 don't think we'll install this "update" . . .

[Mindflux]

I have an aluminum iMac. I have 3rd party RAM. I installed it myself and not through an Apple reseller/certified tech.

The only freezing that I have noticed is that (I'm a recent Windows switcher), in general, the Mac UI is NOT multi-threaded and does NOT deal very well with reporting errors. Most often, if an app experiences a wait it simply locks up... It locks the universal menu bar. It locks it's own window. And if that App happens to be Finder, then there's no hope. Also, apps have a tendency to simply "disappear" rather than reporting any kind of error and, so far, I haven't found any central place to go find out about what those errors could be (probably a console log somewhere...).

Anyhow, I know Apple is supposed to be "great" with UI design. But, so far, my experience simply shows that they are simply different, not better at all. And way less mature.

For all that people complain about MS, at least MS listens to their customers on issues like this (at least, with a much higher frequency).

I am experiencing buyers remorse.

Yes, console log. :p

[nomad01]

Had Tiger, now Leopard - 2.4 ghz iMac 20", 1GB Apple supplied Ram and 1GB Kingston RAM. No freezing at all so far. Had it a couple of months now and possibly the snappiest, most stable machine I've owned.

[Kwill]

My 24" was ordered on 8/7 (release date) and manufactured between 8/13-8/19. I have not had any freezing issues at all to date in either Tiger or now in Leopard. I've tried doing some of the things that some experiencing this problem say cause their iMacs to freeze such as switching around the menus in Front Row, etc and running screensavers and no freezing, no artifacting, no problems.

I installed the 1.3 iMac Update because I always install all driver/firmware updates that Apple releases and can notice no changes at all.

I know this problem exists for quite a few folks and I AM extremely sympathetic and DO care. I still wonder if this is a software or a hardware issue though. Maybe we should start comparing what software we are all running on our systems to see if there might be some common factor on those WITH the problem as opposed to those without.

I received a new 24" iMac last month. After it arrived, I read reports of freezing. I don't use Front Row (Hmm, don't even see it in Applications folder), it's mainly a production (work) machine. Anyway, slots were filled with two 2GB sticks of third-party RAM. In the month or so that I have had this iMac, it has only froze once. I can't say I am too curious about how to make it freeze frequently. Still running Tiger with Leopard upgrade disc stashed in an envelope until next year.

Since everything is working fine now, I would hate to "fix" what isn't broken only to join the camp of unsatisfied. It would be nice if Apple elaborated further on what the update addresses. Then again, that's why we have sites like MacFixit.

[$1()()0N$]

Is the freezing issue on the imacs which have been upgraded to leopard by the user or those bought with it preinstalled? Has this update managed to sort out anyone's issues?

[BKKbill]

I'm confused! Is "not having no freezing problems", the opposite of "having no freezing problems"?

Possibly it could be "not having any freezing problems" to "not having freezing problems". I know I know but just needed a break from the freezing problem.

[SaSaSushi]

Has anyone considered that some iMacs may have poor heat sink contact to the CPU or GPU in freezing machines? I imagine the entire aluminum casing forms part of the heat dissapation strategy, but everything must make firm contact with flat surfaces and thermal pad/paste.

Apple is struggling to solve the problem with software. Software could only improve cooling by throttling back the CPU and GPU and avoiding 3D modes.

That's an interesting theory. A poorly seated/improperly thermal pasted heatsink could result in exactly the issues many are reporting like freezing and video artifacts, etc.

It is another case, if true, where sending the machines back to Apple would really help because if Apple got enough of them back with such a problem to acknowledge a large scale manufacturing defect they would offer an open recall for all those with the freezing and stop wasting time on software "fixes".

[jscooper]

I just ran Software Update for Leopard on a 24" iMac running at 2.8 GHZ. When I restarted it (as asked), it seems to have erased my hard drive! The Getting Started window pops up. I go through whole registration process and it returns me to the beginning window. I tried to call Apple help, but they are closed. Any ideas?

I have't upgraded to 10.5 yet but I share an office with someone who did. Same thing happened to him on a MBP. He reinstalled Leopard doing an archive and install rather than upgrade (which is what he did first time) and it seemed to go better the second time 'round. He says he didn't lose anything though, it just kept re-running the welcome app and the only way around it was to reinstall.

Jeff

[weezer160]

First, my regards to those who have been experiencing any of the known issues with the iMacs.
We've had our iMac for a week now, and have been fortunate enough not to have had any problems with this. I just purchased Call of Duty 2 and haven't experienced any problems whatsoever. I hope that's a good sign, because I don't know if these problems are linked to specific apps such as Front Rose, iTunes screen savers, etc.
In any case, I'll be buying the AppleCare in case it crops up in the future.

[Lancetx]

I have an aluminum iMac. I have 3rd party RAM. I installed it myself and not through an Apple reseller/certified tech.

The only freezing that I have noticed is that (I'm a recent Windows switcher), in general, the Mac UI is NOT multi-threaded and does NOT deal very well with reporting errors. Most often, if an app experiences a wait it simply locks up... It locks the universal menu bar. It locks it's own window. And if that App happens to be Finder, then there's no hope. Also, apps have a tendency to simply "disappear" rather than reporting any kind of error and, so far, I haven't found any central place to go find out about what those errors could be (probably a console log somewhere...).

Anyhow, I know Apple is supposed to be "great" with UI design. But, so far, my experience simply shows that they are simply different, not better at all. And way less mature.

For all that people complain about MS, at least MS listens to their customers on issues like this (at least, with a much higher frequency).

I am experiencing buyers remorse.

Yes, console log. :p

It's amazing what just a few seconds of actual research will turn up huh? :D

[BKKbill]

Well I have decided to follow this and other posts this week-end and if there is no positive news may just leave that new iMac in the store and pick up my cash.

[Mundy]

I'm starting to wonder if the iMac freezing issue isn't actually a hardware problem. It seems like a lot of the early aluminum iMacs were affected by this issue. Aluminum iMacs that have shipped in recent weeks seem much more stable. Mine has yet to lock up after a week of hard use.

Maybe some of the early Aluminum iMacs got a bad batch of Radeon 2600s? It wouldn't be unprecedented, seeing as the original Radeon X1900XTs that shipped with the Mac Pro were faulty.

[kingtj]

They have a point here. If you bought a *new* Mac and it was constantly freezing up on you, I would think the only sensible thing to do would be to wipe the whole drive and do a fresh re-install of the OS again. See if that fixed anything. If not, take it back!

I bought a new aluminum 20" iMac myself, and I can honestly say I've had absolutely NO crashes or freezes with it so far. I don't use it as my primary computer though. It's one I use only for my MIDI and music gear. So theoretically, I'm just not seeing a potential problem because I'm not doing intensive enough stuff with the 3D graphics. (However, it does regularly sit, drawing one of the 3D screen savers, and that hasn't ever caused an issue yet.)

If and when I get any free time this weekend, I'll try out some of these things people mentioned in Front Row, etc. - to see if I can make it freeze up. But I'm currently leaning towards the theories other people posted. ATI may have sold Apple some defective graphics card chips in some of these units.


This forum is just full of apple apologists.

[Spankey]

OK, this is WEIRD!

The computer has worked fine now for the last few hours. I even played WoW and the performance was better than before. After some initial crashes the game played without a hitch.

This is what I am seeing, in regards to Leopard.

A new patch is applied and for some reason it takes time to fully implement itself. Bizarre, right? Happened when I upgraded to Leopard. The system crashed and then over the next few days and hours became more and more stable.

I'm not saying I am not going to crash again, but perhaps there is some stability with the video card and maybe we are seeing OS issues? Patch the card, then the OS? Is there background indexing going on? Do changes take affect to certain parts of the system in a sequential order? I dunno. For now. Things are A-OK.

[flopticalcube]

OK, this is WEIRD!

The computer has worked fine now for the last few hours. I even played WoW and the performance was better than before. After some initial crashes the game played without a hitch.

This is what I am seeing, in regards to Leopard.

A new patch is applied and for some reason it takes time to fully implement itself. Bizarre, right? Happened when I upgraded to Leopard. The system crashed and then over the next few days and hours became more and more stable.

I'm not saying I am not going to crash again, but perhaps there is some stability with the video card and maybe we are seeing OS issues? Patch the card, then the OS? Is there background indexing going on? Do changes take affect to certain parts of the system in a sequential order? I dunno. For now. Things are A-OK.

I have to say that is my impression as well and this is with Tiger (1.2 update). Last night I was one of the first to apply the patch and it froze on me within a minute or two. Several reboots later it now (touch wood) feels more stable. I can enter and leave windowed mode in WoW. I can go back and forth over a magnified dock. No freezing. Let's just hope it stays that way.

[plokoonpma]

Hi, I'm not a certified apple tech support guy just cause I dont want to travel and spent to much money on the certification. But something I learned thru the years fixing macs its that always u have memory upgrades different than your original installed it could cause conflict.
Example, my iMac alu came with hynix 1gb so dim, but i removed it and upgraded it to 3gb with 1gb so dim + 2gb so dim from owc/techworks. No freeze here yet, after upgrade to tiger got very nice FPS in games, command and conquer runs faster and this 1.3 update seems to keep that trend of performance.
Please if your machine its bad, just complaint and Apple will replace it. I had a Mac Pro that got so messed by third party memory that I had to ask Apple to replace it and they did. I felt so relieve cause wasn't a cheap system at $4600.00.
So if I got that juggernaut replaced, please go for it.

When upgrade RAM please try to use same size so dims of the same brand or at least the same brand, that will ensure that specs are the same and no conflict should happen.

[Cuprous]

I've got a freezer with 1GB Apple + 2GB OWC RAM. I haven't tried removing the RAM yet, but am considering it... Would suck to have to trade in performance for reliability.

I also have a 2.8GHz 1GB Apple Ram +2GB OWC Ram, went home for lunch installed iMac update for Leopard removed the OWC Ram, disconnected all USB and FW devices, reset PRAM. After restart from PRAM reset had the rectangular artifacts on desktop. Reset PRAM again and going into screensaver selecting the Arabesque and wham system locks up.

I would assume this should rule out the OWC Ram and external devices to be the cause for my system. My patience is running thin….

[Consultant]

Just the thought of me boxing up my 24" iMac that weighs a ton and carrying it through the mall is pissing me off. Then have one of their "geniuses" try and figure it out over and over like I don't know what hell I'm talking about pisses me off even more. And then the thought of not having my mac for a few days is the cherry on top. Maybe I shoulda got a ACD and a MacBook pro instead.

Here are your options:

- Call Apple Care, have them send a box and shipping sticker. Expect 30 minutes to trouble shoot.

- Make genius bar reservation, and call the store to ask where you can drop off your mac. There is typically a pickup / delivery area for the heavier items where your car can get to.

- Get MBP and ACD.

[mctheriot]

I purchased a 20" 2.4ghz machine on Sept 10th - no freeze issues.
- Purchased a 20" 2.0ghz machine on Sept 28th - no freeze issues.
- Moved the stock RAM from one machine to the other (2G total) and install 2 1G mem modules in the other machine - no freeze issues.
- Clean installs with Leopard - no freeze issues.

I just went in to front row (never used it before) and played around for about 20 minutes and couldn't get it to freeze.

Is this a case of a HW issue with a certain batch? What is everyone's purchase date and is there a way to tell date of manufacture?

Mark

[seashellz2]

Good God, what is wrong with APPLE?
They probably should have waited for an end of Nov release date, to get it right.:(
This is still practically a beta seed, from my experience and a LOT of other people's in my reading.
Yes yes, I know, the people with no problems dont write in here to complain, but this seems....
different-but ya know there must be tons of people who dont hang out on Mac sites, who dont complaint,
because they dont know how to, or want to bother with it.
10.5 has some cool stuff but is unstable, buggy, and the freezes...
Im gonna switch...

back to 10.4
And what the H is up with 10.4.11?

It sounded as if it was ready to push out the door weeks ago...

[Maccus Aurelius]

I share the sentiments of those who think that people should not be waiting on firmware updates. When the Macbook RSD issue first sprouted, I too fell victim to it, and I ran over to the Apple store that same day and got it back that same weekend (2 days total without my macbook). Not long after a firmware fix came around. Just send the things in. I sure as hell would.

[daneoni]

I'm starting to wonder if the iMac freezing issue isn't actually a hardware problem. It seems like a lot of the early aluminum iMacs were affected by this issue. Aluminum iMacs that have shipped in recent weeks seem much more stable. Mine has yet to lock up after a week of hard use.

Maybe some of the early Aluminum iMacs got a bad batch of Radeon 2600s? It wouldn't be unprecedented, seeing as the original Radeon X1900XTs that shipped with the Mac Pro were faulty.

Got mine Aug 22nd. No freezing

[psonice]

Well, don't fear the update if you're not getting any freezing. I had none before (it's frozen once in 3 months of heavy use and I'd put that down as a random crash), I've used tiger and now leopard for a week or so. I've installed all of the updates including the last one, and no sign of a glitch. So no need to avoid installing it if you don't have any problem.

If anyone's trying to figure out which macs are affected, mine was bought early august, it was a 2.8ghz with 1gb (now upgraded to 4gb by my self, non-apple ram). I had a few issues in Tiger initially (things being slow or buggy, NOT freezing), but each update has improved it until it seems to run pretty much perfectly now.

[pavelbure]

i installed 1.2 on my super duper drive so as not to mess up my main drive. took a few min. but i got it to freeze on the screen saver. i am calling apple care now to get this fixed. also the bar code under the title screens on imovie 06 was still there after 1.2. what's the point of having a title screen if it looks like crap ?

[MacMommy]

We bought ours August 15th. Last week it was freezing about 20 times a day....and it wasn't even during hard use. We stripped it down to nothing, did the erase and install, added the Software Update 1.1, and it started freezing again. So we stripped it down AGAIN, did another erase and install and didn't add the 1.1 update and it ran like a dream. Didn't freeze once....first time in two months. I installed 1.2 this morning. It's freezing again. It has to be their software updates. I love Macs, have never had a problem with my little MacBook. This Mac I want to throw out the window.

[èdgårøö]

not sure if its been posted already, but this update does not fix the issues with madden 08. Well at least not for the Leopard update on a 24" 2.4C2D.

[darkerside]

First let me say I am a long time mac user and this is my first time I have been in this type of situation with a mac.

I purchased my iMac in August. I am running a Al iMac 2.4ghz with 1gig stock RAM
Here is my situation
10.4.10 with iMac update 1.0 = no freezes in OS (a couple of times in games but i can deal with that)
10.4.10 with iMac update 1.1 = numerous freezes a day in OS
So I reinstalled and skipped the 1.1 update
Leopard was released and knowing the risks I went for it and was surprised by results
10.5 installed = no freezes in OS (one or 2 in games but I can deal with that)
So today i decided to take the risk and install the 1.3 update
10.5 with iMac 1.3 update = 2 blackscreen freezes, 3 regular freezes. All in the OS. Simply navigating the doc.

*Bangs head against the wall*

[Mindflux]

10.5 installed = no freezes in OS (one or 2 in games but I can deal with that)
So today i decided to take the risk and install the 1.3 update
10.5 with iMac 1.3 update = 2 blackscreen freezes, 3 regular freezes. All in the OS. Simply navigating the doc.

*Bangs head against the wall*


Can't you just roll the update back somehow? Rather than reload?

[Virgil-TB2]

Dear Apple,
Why don't you just seed the updates to a few of the consumers first and then we'll give you feedback and let you know that what you are doing isn't helping one effing bit? What's the point of releasing software that doesn't fix the problem?

My iMac has been stable after Leopard but I'm not installing these updates...I find your comments a bit much, and overly mean as well. :mad:

A few points worth noting:

- If upgrading to Leopard made your machine "stable" then you are not experiencing the same freezing problem. So maybe you should not comment if you are not able to say anything of worth.

- It's stupid not install the updates; hardly ever has an update from Apple made the problem worse. It's your choice not to do so, but it indicates you don't know much about how these things work.

- The problem is with the hard/firm/software of the ATI graphics chip, so pissing on Apple about it is hardly fair of you. (same goes for half the comments on this thread)

- Early reports are that the update has fixed *some* of the freezing issues.

I don't understand how ATI is getting no blame for this and Apple is getting roasted alive. :confused:

[igazza]

i feel sorry for imac users i hope its not a hardware problem. i think .1 will be out in 2/3 weeks. lets all wait for that huge download . hmm :apple:

[flopticalcube]

I don't understand how ATI is getting no blame for this and Apple is getting roasted alive. :confused:

Because it is Apple's choice to put the card in there. Because Apple sold the ATI card to us. Because the warranty says Apple is responsible for ALL the hardware in the computer regardless of origin. I wish people would stop this nonsense of "Its not Apple's fault it's ATI's/low wages in China/global warming/Al Gore". Regardless of who's fault it is, Apple is the one who is responsible. I bet Apple is giving ATI some stick about this, if that makes you happy.

[RevToTheRedline]

24" 2.8 purchased on the 9th of September, have not experienced a single crash with any updated, great computer!
:apple::apple:

[amf666]

I don't understand how ATI is getting no blame for this and Apple is getting roasted alive. :confused:

Because Apple, not ATI are selling the machines.

If the brakes failed on your Mercedes you'd blame Mercedes but I guarantee you Mercedes did not make all the parts involved.

[TheRuggedLion]

OK, this is WEIRD!

The computer has worked fine now for the last few hours. I even played WoW and the performance was better than before. After some initial crashes the game played without a hitch.

This is what I am seeing, in regards to Leopard.

A new patch is applied and for some reason it takes time to fully implement itself. Bizarre, right? Happened when I upgraded to Leopard. The system crashed and then over the next few days and hours became more and more stable.

I'm not saying I am not going to crash again, but perhaps there is some stability with the video card and maybe we are seeing OS issues? Patch the card, then the OS? Is there background indexing going on? Do changes take affect to certain parts of the system in a sequential order? I dunno. For now. Things are A-OK.


Man... At first I thought you were crazy...

But I rebooted again, and played with front row for about 10 minutes, going through all the menus, playing music while going through the menus, and fast forwarding a 720p movie plus a few other small tests, and I must say that I have NOT been able to freeze my iMac! I'm not going to get over excited, I'm going to continue testing this out first. :)

[wakerider017]

I have an appointment with a Mac Genius Later this evening...

I hope they decide to give me a new computer...

[naftalim]

I have my Alu iMac since early September and have not had any freezes or any problems whatsoever. Its weird that some do and some don't, is it a certain batch that was made on a Monday or something like that?

[kkat69]

Ok I was under NDA but after reading the latest email from Apple I'm half tempted to break it because I'm pretty po'd that this was released when the patch was known to NOT fully work.

I will however keep it quite until I hear I am no longer under NDA.

Until then I think I'm gonna go for a swap/exchange on my iMac.

[pavelbure]

it will freeze again. just give it time. i called up apple care, spent about 90 min. total on the line. did the usual disk permissions ect. stuff. still froze on front row.

they gave me 2 choices, they would ship me a box and i would send it back and they would send me a loaner or have someone come out and replace the graphics card. i choose having someone come out and replace the card.


hopefully this will fix the problem i have in imovie 06 i am getting weird graphic glitches on themes. go to "reflection - white" theme, click on the "open" theme, when title 1 appears near the end i get some sort of bar code looking thing instead of a title 1 reflection. if i type something in it goes away, only to reappear when i add it to my timeline. this is really irritating me. also occasionally when i add clips they will be all distorted. quicktime does the same thing.


does this imovie thing happen to anyone else with good cards ?

[Bradleybell1]

So annoying this isn't available for my Intel Core 2 Duo 17" Intel Graphics iMac.
Im experiencing so many graphics related problems. My dock is jerky as it appears with magnification and sometimes without. Transitions and animation lag. This really ruins the UI. Hope they will bring out an update soon.

[Luap]

I have an appointment with a Mac Genius Later this evening...

I hope they decide to give me a new computer...

Sorry, i must have missed a post by you somewhere amongst all the fuss in here lately. But I thought you confirmed your iMac had a problem with 3rd party ram?
Either way, good luck!

And for those saying "Don't blame Apple" You have to be kidding...

[lazyrighteye]

Updated a black MacBook (10.4.10) this morning.
No issues yet.

[Lob]

*Waves fist at Apple and Ati*

[kkat69]

I don't understand how ATI is getting no blame for this and Apple is getting roasted alive. :confused:

Because it's Apple engineers developing the drivers, testing them, Apple users beta testing them (or so we thought) and Apple making the desicion to release said drivers.

Knowing that apple beta testers, users who probably like you and me report back findings and Apple still makes desicion to release said drivers.

Now what exactly did ATI do? Apple Engineers are developing the drivers not ATI.

[Sun Baked]

I have an aluminum iMac. I have 3rd party RAM. I installed it myself and not through an Apple reseller/certified tech.

The only freezing that I have noticed is that (I'm a recent Windows switcher), in general, the Mac UI is NOT multi-threaded and does NOT deal very well with reporting errors. Most often, if an app experiences a wait it simply locks up... It locks the universal menu bar. It locks it's own window. And if that App happens to be Finder, then there's no hope. Also, apps have a tendency to simply "disappear" rather than reporting any kind of error and, so far, I haven't found any central place to go find out about what those errors could be (probably a console log somewhere...).

The console app or looking at the logs in system profiler work, though the console tends to show all the logs, instead of the select few that system profiler does.

At least with the recent updates, killing off some apps, and the prebinding run -- I'm back to a reasonable amount of entries in the log.

[PMR]

And what the H is up with 10.4.11?

It sounded as if it was ready to push out the door weeks ago...

I would like to know that too:mad:

[daneoni]

I just installed Leopard on another partition and Leopard is asking me to install the 1.3 update. However, i already installed it on my main partition (Tiger). Do i still need to install 1.3 for Leopard?

By the way i don't have the freezing issue

[Stinkypalm]

My turn - I ordered and received ( 2 ) 24" Imacs 2.8 750gb Imacs on September 4. I upgraded both with 4GB of OWC. One has been flawless and the other has the freezing issue with 1.1 Tiger and with Leopard it freezes every 5 minutes and is unusable with Leopard. I think its time to call apple and have this issue addressed, because once you have a working Imac like the other one I have, it proves to me that something is seriously wrong with the freezers that no software fix is going to make better and I don't have the time to deal with this BS. Goodluck to all.

[weezer160]

I just installed a 4GB kit from Crucial. I just played Call of Duty 2 for an hour and no freezes or shutdowns. I also did some screen savers and nothing yet. In my opinion, the random shut downs are random among the iMacs in general. There are too many factors right now to narrow it down.

Unless it is a fatal design error like the G3 iBook I had before this iMac. Apple is pushing things right to the edge to make things just a little bit thinner ot better looking. Sometimes they go over that edge.

[pavelbure]

I just installed Leopard on another partition and Leopard is asking me to install the 1.3 update. However, i already installed it on my main partition (Tiger). Do i still need to install 1.3 for Leopard?

By the way i don't have the freezing issue

up to you. the update will only apply to the os that you are currently running.

[Rental01]

My turn - I ordered and received ( 2 ) 24" Imacs 2.8 750gb Imacs on September 4. I upgraded both with 4GB of OWC. One has been flawless and the other has the freezing issue with 1.1 Tiger and with Leopard it freezes every 5 minutes and is unusable with Leopard...
What week numbers are those machines?

I still think this is a low percentage issue but it's stopping me from buying one. $1700 is a lot of money for me and I don't want to get something that'll fail. I'm trying to use this as my windows replacement system but my G5 is already pretty stable (if underpowered). I'm still saving for it and may buy one in the next week or two if I can be convinced that it's something that I'll be able to get help with if I experience these issues I keep hearing about.

[RickT67]

I am less than 24 hours until my personal shopping experience with an Apple employee. I am planning on purchasing a 24" 2.4 iMac with 1GB ram (4GB to be installed later). I have posted about making the purchase and testing the machine in the store before I drive home (2hr drive, 1 way). I am making a list of things I want to test.

1)Screen - any pixel issues/ uneven color
2)Freezing
3)Freezing in front row-is that a consistent error?
4)Should I make sure the machine is updated to the 1.3 update for all of this?

What other "issues" should I check for? Any help is appreciated.

[dsmcclin]

Just to put my two cents in,

I have a late August Alu 24" iMac (2.8GHz, 4GB Apple RAM, 750GB) - started freezing bad with 1.1 update, fixed with archive and install without it, then upgraded to Leopard and the problem came back fierce as ever (freezing on registration, mouse-over dock, etc).

I tried to get apple to replace it - they will not without a repair first (so to all of you with freezing in a new iMac, <14 days old - RETURN IT FOR A NEW ONE NOW!!!). For those of you like me who waited, you might as well start the process of getting it repaired now (and buy Applecare if you don't have it), or else you will get screwed later on. Brought mine in about 4 hours before update 1.3 was released - hopefully I will get it back with new parts and not just the update with minimal testing.

By the way, at last count there were at least 150 iMacs affected from just the Freezing iMacs Apple Discussion Forum (from last night, and this is just the group of people who post on the forum).

[Tom J]

My turn - I ordered and received ( 2 ) 24" Imacs 2.8 750gb Imacs on September 4. I upgraded both with 4GB of OWC. One has been flawless and the other has the freezing issue with 1.1 Tiger and with Leopard it freezes every 5 minutes and is unusable with Leopard. I think its time to call apple and have this issue addressed, because once you have a working Imac like the other one I have, it proves to me that something is seriously wrong with the freezers that no software fix is going to make better and I don't have the time to deal with this BS. Goodluck to all.

I think this is significant. Two indentical Mac's that came off the assembly line probably within minutes of each other. Both likely using parts from the same lot. One freezes, one doesn't. This kind of diminishes the "bad lot of graphic cards" theory.

I still think there's a possibility that it's a connector or thermal issue.

[amf666]

I bought mine early August and it had all of the freezing issues discussed so far. By Monday of this week I was REALLY fed up so made a genius bar appointment. On Wednesday I walked out with a brand new machine after nearly two months. Apple doesn't have what appears to be a standard approach to the problem, I think this proves beyond doubt that currently Apple has no clue. Some guys like me are getting brand new ones, some are getting repairs and some are getting palmed off with talk about nonsense software fixes. None of it makes sense, oh, and the new machine is PERFECT.

[EMU1337]

Tiger Woods '08 still is prone to freezing and Madden '08 still has jumbled words even after the 1.3 update for Leopard. This is ridiculous, why would they release such faulty software...come on EA, get it together.

[longofest]

Tiger Woods '08 still is prone to freezing and Madden '08 still has jumbled words even after the 1.3 update for Leopard. This is ridiculous, why would they release such faulty software...come on EA, get it together.

don't be too hasty to blame EA. Any pseudo-graphics intensive action seems to be causing the symptoms. A game is most certainly graphics intensive. The blame is (most likely) with ATI/Apple, not EA.

[daneoni]

up to you. the update will only apply to the os that you are currently running.

Oh ok....thanks

[risc]

The poll on this is pointless. Why not have an option that says AL Mac not freezing?

[flopticalcube]

I think this is significant. Two indentical Mac's that came off the assembly line probably within minutes of each other. Both likely using parts from the same lot. One freezes, one doesn't. This kind of diminishes the "bad lot of graphic cards" theory.

I still think there's a possibility that it's a connector or thermal issue.

My situation is identical. My 2 iMacs are 10 serial numbers apart and identical in every respect right down to the software. One freezes, one doesn't. At the moment, after numerous reboots and PRAM settings, the freezer seems to be behaving itself (update 1.2).

The poll on this is pointless. Why not have an option that says AL Mac not freezing?

I think the point of the poll was to determine if RAM is a cause in the freeze, not how many are freezing. Its clear from the poll that RAM is not a significant contributer.

[darkerside]

My situation is identical. My 2 iMacs are 10 serial numbers apart and identical in every respect right down to the software. One freezes, one doesn't. At the moment, after numerous reboots and PRAM settings, the freezer seems to be behaving itself (update 1.2).


Can you post the info on both the freezer and non-freezer

example:
Chipset Model: ATI,RadeonHD2600
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 256 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x9583
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-B2250F-207
EFI Driver Version: 01.00.207
Displays:
Color LCD:
Display Type: LCD
Resolution: 1680 x 1050
Depth: 32-bit Color
Built-In: Yes
Core Image: Hardware Accelerated
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
Display Connector:
Status: No display connected

[kkat69]

Because it's Apple engineers developing the drivers, testing them, Apple users beta testing them (or so we thought) and Apple making the desicion to release said drivers.

Knowing that apple beta testers, users who probably like you and me report back findings and Apple still makes desicion to release said drivers.

Now what exactly did ATI do? Apple Engineers are developing the drivers not ATI.

WOW I just re-read my own post, man my grammer was really bad. That's what happens when your iMac freezes! LOL

[flopticalcube]

Can you post the info on both the freezer and non-freezer

example:
Chipset Model: ATI,RadeonHD2600
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 256 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x9583
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-B2250F-207
EFI Driver Version: 01.00.207
Displays:
Color LCD:
Display Type: LCD
Resolution: 1680 x 1050
Depth: 32-bit Color
Built-In: Yes
Core Image: Hardware Accelerated
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
Display Connector:
Status: No display connected

Identical to yours save for ROM/EFI version 212 and both the same.

[andrewgospastic]

Are any of you running boot camp?

Does your Windows partition ever freeze?

If not, wouldn't that point to a software issue?

[flopticalcube]

Are any of you running boot camp?

Does your Windows partition ever freeze?

If not, wouldn't that point to a software issue?

Mine are in Windows maybe 70% of the time (for game play). I get occasional black screens on Gary's Mod but nothing really unusual for a 3D game. The other thing that is really telling is that most of these issues popped up after Software Update 1.1 so it does point to a software problem but these are very murky waters indeed.

[darkerside]

Identical to yours save for ROM/EFI version 212 and both the same.

Well thinking about this more. I have to lean towards ATI Hardware issue.
Even though you iMacs are 10 serial numbers apart the graphic cards could be from completely different batches. I wonder if there was a way to check the serial numbers on the graphic cards without opening the Machines. (doubt it though)

In any case my iMac is a freezer
well it freezes with the 1.3 update
It did not freeze in the OS with just leopard but as soon as i installed that 1.3 update I started freezing just by running my mouse through the dock.
Interesting part was with tiger 10.4.10 i did not freeze till the imac 1.1 update. Which i removed to solve the problem.

Its almost like dejavu for me and a little disheartening

[flopticalcube]

Well thinking about this more. I have to lean towards ATI Hardware issue.
Even though you iMacs are 10 serial numbers apart the graphic cards could be from completely different batches. I wonder if there was a way to check the serial numbers on the graphic cards without opening the Machines. (doubt it though)

In any case my iMac is a freezer
well it freezes with the 1.3 update
It did not freeze in the OS with just leopard but as soon as i installed that 1.3 update I started freezing just by running my mouse through the dock.
Interesting part was with tiger 10.4.10 i did not freeze till the imac 1.1 update. Which i removed to solve the problem.

Its almost like dejavu for me and a little disheartening

It's my teenage son's first Mac after his 6-year old PC bit the dust (we had to press on a particular spot on the mobo with a pencil to get it going). I told him all those days were behind him now that he had a Mac. The look on his face the first time it crashed was completely heartbreaking. I swear tears were welling up in his eyes.

[Macallan]

I took the iMac to the Apple Store yesterday because there was no update by Oct. 31. The "genius" was aware of the freezing issue and checked my computer in for repair. I come home a couple of hours later and there's updates posted! Apparently, the updates aren't fixing the problem so I feel a litter better and will leave my iMac in the hands of Apple. Up until this point I believed that this was a software problem, but I'm leaning towards a faulty graphics card now. I kind of wish they would refund my dinero...

[sam10685]

I didn't realize imacs had their own software.

[Macallan]

I didn't realize imacs had their own software.

what?

[mdriftmeyer]

Identical to yours save for ROM/EFI version 212 and both the same.

These are the first two useful comments.

People should grab these sets and build a list of GPU Bios/ EFI Driver to look for correlations.

[chuckyboy81070]

i've got to chime in again because something different just happened.

just because i'm a masochist, i thought i'd see if i could make my imac freeze again. i tried the usual: go to the screen saver prefs and select arabesque then move the window around. sure enough, the screen went black. so i pressed the power button as usual, but here is the strange part: i had the MS remote desktop beta client term'd into work, and i guess it lost connection. the thing is, the screen "woke back up" to alert me to this info. the screen was black for 6 seconds evidently. here is the log entry:

11/2/07 4:17:49 PM kernel System Sleep
11/2/07 4:17:55 PM kernel System Wake
11/2/07 4:17:55 PM kernel EIR is not supported.
11/2/07 4:17:56 PM configd[14] setting hostname to "iMac1.local"
11/2/07 4:17:57 PM Remote Desktop Connection[224] Disconnect code class: 0, main reason:4, error code: 1

11/2/07 4:17:57 PM Remote Desktop Connection[224] Main disconnect reason code is 0x0.
11/2/07 4:17:57 PM Remote Desktop Connection[224] Bad IP address
11/2/07 4:17:59 PM configd[14] setting hostname to "Macintosh"
11/2/07 4:17:59 PM kernel AppleYukon2: 00000000,00000000 sk98osx_dnet - recovering from missed interrupt
11/2/07 4:18:06 PM kernel AppleYukon2: 00000000,00000000 sk98osx_dnet - recovering from missed interrupt

very strange.