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ss723

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 9, 2010
1
0
I have a fairly old Mac Pro running Snow Leopard that keeps freezing up. I thought this beast with 1TB HD and 16GB of Memory would be rock solid.

Symptoms include the screen freezing up with the keyboard and mouse not working but display is on. Trying to force quit any apps does not work.

Can't locate or pinpoint the exact problem by looking at the logs.

Any ideas how to go about identifying root cause and actions I can take to resolve this?

Thanks in advance.


Specs:

Model Name: Mac Pro
Model Identifier: MacPro1,1
Processor Name: Dual-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 2.66 GHz
Number Of Processors: 2
Total Number Of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per processor): 4 MB
Memory: 16 GB
Bus Speed: 1.33 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MP11.005C.B08
 

grey17

macrumors newbie
Feb 11, 2010
12
0
Central California
Things to try

Assuming a USB keyboard and mouse: unplug then re-plug the mouse and keyboard next time it freezes. Could be just the mouse and keyboard are locked up. Try a different USB port. If available, try a different keyboard and mouse.

Usual things to try:
1) Remove anything extra: unplug firewire devices, unplug all USB devices except mouse and keyboard. Remove any extra PCIe cards
2) Re-seat memory parts. (remove & re-install)
3) A clean install of OS X. Easier if you've got an extra disk around.
 

ildondeigiocchi

macrumors 6502a
Dec 30, 2007
695
0
Montreal
I have a fairly old Mac Pro running Snow Leopard that keeps freezing up. I thought this beast with 1TB HD and 16GB of Memory would be rock solid.

Symptoms include the screen freezing up with the keyboard and mouse not working but display is on. Trying to force quit any apps does not work.

Can't locate or pinpoint the exact problem by looking at the logs.

Any ideas how to go about identifying root cause and actions I can take to resolve this?

Thanks in advance.


Specs:

Model Name: Mac Pro
Model Identifier: MacPro1,1
Processor Name: Dual-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 2.66 GHz
Number Of Processors: 2
Total Number Of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per processor): 4 MB
Memory: 16 GB
Bus Speed: 1.33 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MP11.005C.B08

I'm getting similar issues as you with my Mac Pro. Apps freeze randomly, it takes 2-4 seconds for the words to appear in spotlight when typing. I reset PRAM a few times and it worked better for a while but it then goes back to the freezes and lockups.
 

dbculp

macrumors member
Dec 29, 2009
51
0
Maryland
Mac Pro Freezes?

I have a similar Mac Pro, 1,1 with 16 GB RAM, it runs Snow Leopard flawlessly. The symptoms you describe sound a lot like a hard drive in the early stages of failure. Back up everything, try using an different hard drive as your startup drive.
 

bkspero

macrumors regular
Dec 19, 2009
117
0
Try a clean account?

I have a fairly old Mac Pro running Snow Leopard that keeps freezing up. I thought this beast with 1TB HD and 16GB of Memory would be rock solid.

Symptoms include the screen freezing up with the keyboard and mouse not working but display is on. Trying to force quit any apps does not work.

Can't locate or pinpoint the exact problem by looking at the logs.

Any ideas how to go about identifying root cause and actions I can take to resolve this?

Thanks in advance.

You might want to try a new, clean user account first just to be certain that it is not a software issue.

Depending upon how frequently it happens, or if it happens over just time even if you aren't doing anything, you might also unplug or remove the hard drive, boot from the OSX DVD and wait for a while to see if it happens then. If you wanted to run something, I think you can run the Apple Hardware test from the OSX DVD.

Good luck.
 

craighton

macrumors member
Sep 20, 2009
33
0
Seattle, Washington
Solution 1:

Next time you computer freezes then listen to the HDD and see if you hear any clicking or scratching, if so then you need a new HDD.

Solution 2:

If you upgraded to Snow Leo instead of wiping the HDD then installing Snow Leo then there might be some pieces of left over kernel causing the computer to lock up.

Solution 3:

Check your keyboard and/or mouse cable, if wired and see if any of the wires are exposed
 

ildondeigiocchi

macrumors 6502a
Dec 30, 2007
695
0
Montreal
Solution 1:

Next time you computer freezes then listen to the HDD and see if you hear any clicking or scratching, if so then you need a new HDD.

Solution 2:

If you upgraded to Snow Leo instead of wiping the HDD then installing Snow Leo then there might be some pieces of left over kernel causing the computer to lock up.

Solution 3:

Check your keyboard and/or mouse cable, if wired and see if any of the wires are exposed

I do hear a clicking sound from a HDD which is the Hitachi I have in Bay 3 not doing anything, with no files on it. Should I remove it. Can it be slowing down the entire system?
 
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