New 4850 3.06ghz iMac freezing multiple times a day.

[Tymbo]

I received my iMac yesterday and I have that horrible feeling of paranoia that my Mac has a serious problem.

I was watching ABC.com's full episode player of a show in HD quality.... it froze halfway through.

I played in WoW battlegrounds on max settings. It froze every 5-10 minutes.
I played WoW on "medium" settings and set my max fps to 30. It improved, but froze every 20 minutes.

There's also a dead pixel in the upper right hand corner, next to the Macintosh HD icon, which is an area I click on daily, obviously.

By "freeze" I mean the cursor stops. The screen freezes. And the sound.... it's a rhythmic sound loop that repeats what I've heard directly before the freeze.

It appears to be a direct duplicate of this:
"Mac freezes blamed on graphics woes" - http://www.cnet.com.au/mac-freezes-b...-339282662.htm

though dated from 2007, that's exactly what it appears to be. In the article, it mentions apple was aware, but never released a fix (as of the publication) . I'm not sure if they actually every did, maybe someone here knows?

Anyways, I was willing to live with the dead pixel (though I know I really shouldn't), but the freezing is frightening me. I'm usually a man about things, but every time my computer freezes, I feel like I want to cry.

I thought it was singled due to WoW, but when the exact same freeze occurred in another graphic-intensive activity, that's when I decided to make this thread.

I feel convinced enough to give Apple a call tomorrow. Anyone know what they might tell me, based on what I've shared with you so far?

[JayLenochiniMac]

Sounds like mid-2007 Alu iMac's problem all over again.

[jmpage2]

Sounds like a driver problem. This is why we need more testing and reports from other 4850 users to see if this is truly a software/driver problem or if maybe there are just a few bad cards floating around out there.

[Jack Flash]

C'mon 10.5.7

[Animalk]

Just Great. Another reason to wait even longer before making my purchase.

[flopticalcube]

Originally Posted by JayLenochiniMac

Sounds like mid-2007 Alu iMac's problem all over again.

Oh... the memories are returning.... NOOOOOO!!!!!!! Blew one of iMacs GPUs this way. Hopefully a fix comes soon.

[daneoni]

Gotta love Apple and their POS drivers.

[IrishBritish]

Not what i wanted to hear as i am waiting a replacement for my 2008 imac that had the very same issue's.
Hope it's just a few bad cards,and hope there will be fixes soon for this and hope 10.4.7 is soon also i hope!!!!

[Tom Dahl]

I've had my 3.06 / 4850 iMac since Friday mid-day. It hasn't frozen yet. I've played WoW (on all-max settings, 2x multi-sampling, 1920x1200) for ten or so hours so far. No battlegrounds (I'm not a PvP'er), but a moderate amount of time in Dalaran (which is very lovely, even with a high population of players -- 25 FPS at worst, 35-40 more typical).

I've also run Capture NX (an image-editing application from Nikon and Nik Software) a lot; no problems there.

[WizardHunt]

Originally Posted by JayLenochiniMac

Sounds like mid-2007 Alu iMac's problem all over again.

Oh No, Don't tell me that!

[SaSaSushi]

Originally Posted by flopticalcube

Oh... the memories are returning.... NOOOOOO!!!!!!! Blew one of iMacs GPUs this way. Hopefully a fix comes soon.

Well, it only took them about 6 months to finally issue a firmware fix that cured that problem if memory serves. In the meantime it sure kept these forums hopping.

[NewZealandMatt]

Received my 3.06 w/4850 yesterday.

One freeze for me today, exactly as described while copying some files across the network. Had a Safari window open, three Finder windows - nothing that should have been taxing the GPU. Screen froze, no beach ball, had to reset using the power button ...

But no problems in the last three hours.

[flopticalcube]

Originally Posted by SaSaSushi

Well, it only took them about 6 months to finally issue a firmware fix that cured that problem if memory serves. In the meantime it sure kept these forums hopping.

Yep. Not happy days those.

[1chocolate1]

I received mine yesterday. To avoid problems from the old systems I didn't use the Migration asst. but have done it manually. However, before bringing anything over mine froze. I thought it was the wireless mouse. However, today it froze again. I was in Safari. Hmm. I can't force quit because when it happens its just totally frozen.

[1chocolate1]

Would you believe that just after entering my last post the computer froze again??? It's too late to call Apple!

[hh83917]

For those who had their new iMacs frozen, can you call Apple and let them know what was happening? I have my iMac on order and I hope they would have heard of the problem when I make my call about freezing iMacs...

Were you guy's iMacs shipped from overseas? In the other thread, some are saying theirs is being assembled in CA. Could that be a quality issue or simply a driver issue? I'd like to know.

[jmpage2]

This seriously leaves me considering cancelling my order, the GT130 iMacs aren't freezing up.

[JayLenochiniMac]

Originally Posted by jmpage2

This seriously leaves me considering cancelling my order, the GT130 iMacs aren't freezing up.

Keep in mind that not all the 4850 iMacs will freeze up, just as not all of the HD2600 Pro Alu iMacs had this problem (I was one of the lucky beotches).

[ceezy3000]

Originally Posted by Tymbo

I received my iMac yesterday and I have that horrible feeling of paranoia that my Mac has a serious problem.

I was watching ABC.com's full episode player of a show in HD quality.... it froze halfway through.

I played in WoW battlegrounds on max settings. It froze every 5-10 minutes.
I played WoW on "medium" settings and set my max fps to 30. It improved, but froze every 20 minutes.

There's also a dead pixel in the upper right hand corner, next to the Macintosh HD icon, which is an area I click on daily, obviously.

By "freeze" I mean the cursor stops. The screen freezes. And the sound.... it's a rhythmic sound loop that repeats what I've heard directly before the freeze.

It appears to be a direct duplicate of this:
"Mac freezes blamed on graphics woes" - http://www.cnet.com.au/mac-freezes-b...-339282662.htm

though dated from 2007, that's exactly what it appears to be. In the article, it mentions apple was aware, but never released a fix (as of the publication) . I'm not sure if they actually every did, maybe someone here knows?

Anyways, I was willing to live with the dead pixel (though I know I really shouldn't), but the freezing is frightening me. I'm usually a man about things, but every time my computer freezes, I feel like I want to cry.

I thought it was singled due to WoW, but when the exact same freeze occurred in another graphic-intensive activity, that's when I decided to make this thread.

I feel convinced enough to give Apple a call tomorrow. Anyone know what they might tell me, based on what I've shared with you so far?

dude this is exactly whats happening to my macbook! it keeps freezing even when scrolling the dock? update me when u have the answer please.
thanks and good luck for u and me both

[WizardHunt]

Originally Posted by Tom Dahl

I've had my 3.06 / 4850 iMac since Friday mid-day. It hasn't frozen yet. I've played WoW (on all-max settings, 2x multi-sampling, 1920x1200) for ten or so hours so far. No battlegrounds (I'm not a PvP'er), but a moderate amount of time in Dalaran (which is very lovely, even with a high population of players -- 25 FPS at worst, 35-40 more typical).

I've also run Capture NX (an image-editing application from Nikon and Nik Software) a lot; no problems there.

Good so it is not a wide problem .

[WizardHunt]

Originally Posted by jmpage2

This seriously leaves me considering cancelling my order, the GT130 iMacs aren't freezing up.

I would not jump the gun, it may show that it is not the HD4850 that is causing it. Also Apple could come up with a fix if it is a big problem affecting everyone. So far it appears that it is not affecting everyone only a small percentage.

[WizardHunt]

Originally Posted by 1chocolate1

Would you believe that just after entering my last post the computer froze again??? It's too late to call Apple!

You know you bought up a good point. I wish that Apple would stay open longer for support on phone. They close at 6 pm PST and that is not much time once you get off work. On the east coast it is 9 pm but still they need 24 hour support or at least 9 pm PST , and midnight on Eastern Time.

[WizardHunt]

Originally Posted by NewZealandMatt

Received my 3.06 w/4850 yesterday.

One freeze for me today, exactly as described while copying some files across the network. Had a Safari window open, three Finder windows - nothing that should have been taxing the GPU. Screen froze, no beach ball, had to reset using the power button ...

But no problems in the last three hours.

You are not running Safari 4.0 are you?

[NewZealandMatt]

Originally Posted by WizardHunt

You are not running Safari 4.0 are you?

Yep - is this a known issue?

[WizardHunt]

Originally Posted by NewZealandMatt

Yep - is this a known issue?

Yes that is why it is freezing up. The beta is not compatible with 10.5.6 They are waiting for 10.5.7 , if you go back to Safari 3.0 it will not lock up anymore I bet you. That is what is holding up the release of 10.5.7 is Safari 4.0 They are working on it now but so far it is not fixed. Stay away from Safari 4.0 for now. I am willing to bet you if you go back to Safari 3.0 it will not lock up any longer. Just a thought.