2011 13" MBP slow wake, other issues. Exchange? 1 day left to decide!

[mikepro]

My wife got a new 13" macbook pro a couple of weeks ago, and we are having trouble with it. My last day to return/exchange is tomorrow, so I'm looking for advice, things to try before I decide.

Here's the machine's history and what I've been experiencing:

History:
- Tried migrating everything, (users, setting, apps from 2007 Macbook). Used wired ethernet. Near the end it failed. Each side was stuck, said the other was unresponsive, and one minute left to cancel. Never finished. Rebooted. Seemed to have migrated most of the apps and stuff. Tried migration assistant again, still never finished.

- Since I didn't know what state the computer was in, did a full reload of the new MBP using install DVD's. Did Migration assistant again, this time from external USB time machine backup. This worked all the way through.


Having all my apps and settings are great, However, I'm experiencing the following issues:
- Homesharing failures. This is documented in other threads, maybe Apple will fix this. Wondering if I hadn't reloaded or migrated if I would have had issues...

- Occasionally, the system takes an extra long time to wake from having the lid closed. Normally, it only takes a few seconds for the screen to come up and be ready to go. One of the best features of a Mac, IMHO. However, occasionally, the system will be totally unresponsive for 30 seconds or more when opening the lid. Seems to just happen randomly every few lid openings. Mouse pointer won't move, or will get beachballing. I've NEVER experienced anything like this on my 2010" 15" MBP or 2007 Macbook. This is my biggest complaint. Wondering if this Mac's reloading or migrating history is causing this, or maybe some hardware issue?

Anyone else experience this? What could be causing this? What sort of logs can I look at to figure out what's going on? One thing to note, is I forced booting into 32 bit kernel, as that's the only way time machine will work with my HP Mediasmart server. Could this be an issue?

I'm wondering if I should exchange this system (which also has a slight mis-alignment between the lid and body), or re-load it and use a different procedure this time? Did I get a lemon? Is it from migrating from an old system? Should I do something different?

Any suggestions?
- Use migration assistant and just transfer apps? Settings too?
- Reload and start fresh. Don't use migration assistant, but manually copy over my files, and itunes library. Re-install my apps. I know this is the approach I have always done in Windows. I can do this if I have to. (I would sort of like to change the account name from what was used on the old Mac, but have all the files back. Especially iTunes playlists. If I use this method will I have to edit the XML itunes library to change the full path name?
- Exchange for new one.
- Create a new user, and see if the slow resume problem happens?
- Other?

I'm leaning towards an exchange, (why not, really?), but wondering if I should do something different this time.

Sorry for the long winded post, and extensive bold highlights , but I have to decide by tomorrow! Thanks for any help!

 

[g3funk]

Pop into disk utility and repair permissions on the drive. Or if you wanted to download a program like onyx you could have it do the work. Once you have repaired the permissions, turn the laptop off and when you power it back on hold cmd + option + p + r. This should reset the PRAM for you.

Find yourself a FireWire drive, download SuperDuper, and make an image of the laptop. If those two quick methods don't work try doing a fresh install (it sounds like it could use one). Don't do a migration assistant (this will allow you to use the same home directory name). When the computer comes back up you should be able to drag and drop files from the FireWire drive back into the fresh comp. You will be able to see all the installed programs so you can decide if you really need to reinstall them.

This is a process but shouldn't take long especially if you already have the external drive.

 

[Mobius 1]

pmset -g | grep hibernatemode


sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 0


enter yer password


sudo rm /var/vm/sleepimage



that's it , you now have faster sleep wake/engage

 

[Mik3F]

You are still in your returns window (just), if you are not happy just return it for an exchange

 

[mikepro]

@g3funk: I did do the disk utility repair permissions. It did fix a bunch of permissions. Didn't try the reboot and PRAM reset though. Good idea, I'll give it a try! Also, good idea to do a SuperDuper copy onto another external, so I can do the manual file approach.


@Mobius 1: I'll try that too, will also compare the results with my 2010 15", which never does this. I'm, not sure it's hibernating though, (although maybe it doesn't matter.. it could be just dumping ram to disk or something?), since it can happen on a very full battery. Definitely worth a try though.


@Mik3F: Yeah, I may end up doing that, but want to try some stuff tonight, and get as much debugging info as possible. I'd hate to do an exchange, and then end up with the same issues because I migrated a program or setting that I shouldn't have.


Any other suggestions? I also need to look at system console and activity monitor, and see if there is something weird going on during these slow resumes. Part of my problem, is I'm more of a Linux/Windows expert, so I'm not the greatest at Mac debugging. And, from my Windows history, I'm pre-disposed to believe that stuff will "just not work". So, the idea of using migration assistant to copy files, programs, settings from a 4 year old computer initially seems horrific to me, as this would royally screw you in Windows world, and you would end up with a slow turd. Sometimes I over-think things in the Mac world, as I don't trust them to "just work" and that the software is well designed. Maybe the problems with this laptop really have nothing to do with being reloaded, or from migrating from an old system.

Still, if I do an exchange, I'm leaning towards not migrating this time, and just manually copying over files and re-installing apps. A lot of work, but I'll probably feel better in the end, and won't be bound by any settings or username decisions from the old computer.

 

[TxdoHawk]

I would exchange, but do a fresh install on the laptop first, and see if you have the same problem. If you do, that pretty much nails it as a hardware issue, and you can try migration again on the new laptop when you exchange without feeling like you are wasting your time. If it's fine, you can chalk it up to the migration, and after you exchange just go right into the fresh install without wasting your time on trying to migrate again.

Long story short: You have the "old" laptop in front of you, may as well use it to narrow down the source of the problem pre-exchange.

 

[Ruahrc]

Do you connect your laptop to Wifi? I was having a very similar problem with my 2009 13" MBP. A fresh reinstall (with no migrating or carryover of old settings save what came over from MobileMe sync) did not seem to help.

One possible culprit is the network service order. Go to System Prefs, Network, then underneath the column on the left with the list of various networking channels, click the gear icon with the arrow. Select "Set Service Order" and drag the entires so that the connection method(s) you use are at the top. I think every time the machine boots/wakes, OSX looks for network connections in the order listed. So if you are connecting on Wifi, put airport on the top so it finds the network in the first place it looks.

In my case, Bluetooth DUN was listed first, and Airport (what I use) was second to last. I rearranged the list to put Airport at the top. This seems to have helped because I have not seen any such delay in the week or so since I have made the change.

Ruahrc

 

[mikepro]

@Rhuahrc: I had Bluetooth DUN first too. Reordered to put Airport first, and even disabled Bluetooth. Thought it had fixed it at first, but the delay happened twice.

Next I changes the hibernatemode. Still testing it, but I don't think that's fixing it either. Doing SuperDuper clone now, and contemplating reload. Also, pretty sure I'm going to do an exchange...

 

[mikepro]

Had it happen once after reload. Going to return today. :-/

 

[eaf7s]

If you're having unfixable problems, the returns window doesn't really apply to you--warranty/AppleCare will cover it.