Hi Forum,
This is my first post, but far from my first time reading fixes, advice, suggestions, etc on here. So, I know this community is great. I will try to make this as clear and detailed as possible. I just broke my ankle and AppleCare has run out anyway, so figuring this out from home (and not from the Genius Bar) is almost a necessity. I also have a Mac Pro that I use for video and photo editing, but I need to work on the fly / in coffee shops, etc, so my laptop is very important. I hope I can fix this!
The Symptoms:
My MacBook is freezing, restarting, or showing me the grey screen that says "You need to shut the computer down, press the power button... etc" randomly. It does not ever just shut down. The symptoms will happen no matter what programs I am running. The freezing happens the most often, occurring several times a day. The grey screen and the restarting are also frequent, but are not my computer's first choice to frustrate me. Some days are worse than others, which just confuses me further. I have made it a full day without a freeze and have also had it freeze every few minutes for hours.
My System:
I am using a 2007 Black MacBook. After my apple care ran out, I installed a new harddrive and ram myself. This was over a year ago and has been working great. I am running Snow Leopard. "OSX Version 10.6.4". Here is what my about this mac says:
Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook1,1
Processor Name: Intel Core Duo
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 2 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz
Fixes I Have Tried To No Avail / Theories:
- I tried resetting the PRAM by restarting and holding Command, Option, P & R.
- I have run my Software Update. The first few times, the blue progress bar would begin but not move says "Checking for new Software". But now it works, gave me updates and currently says I am up to date.
- I have Repaired Disk Permissions (multiple times, it currently says all permissions are verified.
- I have used Disk Utility to verify my disk. It told me I needed to repair it, so I have booted from the Snow Leopard Disk and Repaired my Disk (**I had to do this more than once, so this may show a problem). It currently says my disk is verified.
- I thought maybe this was a hardware issue. So I tracked down the original grey disks that came with the computer and ran the Hardware Test by pressing D during the boot. I tried more than once. The first time, I think it froze during the hardware test. The next few times, I ran the extended test and it passed every time.
- I also thought it seemed to happen more frequently using an internet browser, but has happened running just Word and having me lose everything multiple times. It is possible I just think it happens more when running browsers because that is what I do the most on this thing. I have tried running different browsers and have had freezes still.
- I thought maybe it was overheating, because very often when it freezes, the bottom is extremely hot on the upper left side (the side opposite the escape key). Unfortunately, I have had it freeze and not be very hot at all. This is still a possibility though.
- I have tried removing the battery and trying again the next day. It sill freezes.
- The weird news is that after doing all these things, It seems to freeze less often. But it still freezes.
- I know I have already tried other things that are not coming up here, so I will add if I can think of them.
I hope this was specific enough! Please help! I appreciate all of your time.
This is my first post, but far from my first time reading fixes, advice, suggestions, etc on here. So, I know this community is great. I will try to make this as clear and detailed as possible. I just broke my ankle and AppleCare has run out anyway, so figuring this out from home (and not from the Genius Bar) is almost a necessity. I also have a Mac Pro that I use for video and photo editing, but I need to work on the fly / in coffee shops, etc, so my laptop is very important. I hope I can fix this!
The Symptoms:
My MacBook is freezing, restarting, or showing me the grey screen that says "You need to shut the computer down, press the power button... etc" randomly. It does not ever just shut down. The symptoms will happen no matter what programs I am running. The freezing happens the most often, occurring several times a day. The grey screen and the restarting are also frequent, but are not my computer's first choice to frustrate me. Some days are worse than others, which just confuses me further. I have made it a full day without a freeze and have also had it freeze every few minutes for hours.
My System:
I am using a 2007 Black MacBook. After my apple care ran out, I installed a new harddrive and ram myself. This was over a year ago and has been working great. I am running Snow Leopard. "OSX Version 10.6.4". Here is what my about this mac says:
Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook1,1
Processor Name: Intel Core Duo
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 2 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz
Fixes I Have Tried To No Avail / Theories:
- I tried resetting the PRAM by restarting and holding Command, Option, P & R.
- I have run my Software Update. The first few times, the blue progress bar would begin but not move says "Checking for new Software". But now it works, gave me updates and currently says I am up to date.
- I have Repaired Disk Permissions (multiple times, it currently says all permissions are verified.
- I have used Disk Utility to verify my disk. It told me I needed to repair it, so I have booted from the Snow Leopard Disk and Repaired my Disk (**I had to do this more than once, so this may show a problem). It currently says my disk is verified.
- I thought maybe this was a hardware issue. So I tracked down the original grey disks that came with the computer and ran the Hardware Test by pressing D during the boot. I tried more than once. The first time, I think it froze during the hardware test. The next few times, I ran the extended test and it passed every time.
- I also thought it seemed to happen more frequently using an internet browser, but has happened running just Word and having me lose everything multiple times. It is possible I just think it happens more when running browsers because that is what I do the most on this thing. I have tried running different browsers and have had freezes still.
- I thought maybe it was overheating, because very often when it freezes, the bottom is extremely hot on the upper left side (the side opposite the escape key). Unfortunately, I have had it freeze and not be very hot at all. This is still a possibility though.
- I have tried removing the battery and trying again the next day. It sill freezes.
- The weird news is that after doing all these things, It seems to freeze less often. But it still freezes.
- I know I have already tried other things that are not coming up here, so I will add if I can think of them.
I hope this was specific enough! Please help! I appreciate all of your time.
