Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

2011 iMac Freezing

gmanist1000

gmanist1000

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Sep 22, 2009
2,882
936
I have been having freezing problems with the new 2011 iMac. I have the 27-inch 3.4GHz i7 model, and it is on almost all day, constantly being used.

It seems to freeze at least once per day, while doing normal use, or while gaming or encoding video. When it freezes it makes a clicking sound, and requires me to push the power button until it turns off, then I turn it back on.

Anyone else having this problem with their iMac's? Should I restart the computer more often to keep it fresh?
 
  • Place the restore DVD in the DVD drive.
  • Restart the computer, and hold down the 'D' key as it starts up.
  • This will bring up the Apple Hardware Test. Run the Extended Test. Yes, it will take a while.
  • If there are errors reported, call Apple.

As other posters have mentioned, odds are good there's a disk failure in your future. Alternatively, there may be an outstanding issue that may be fixed in a firmware update.
 
It appears almost certainly to be a hard disk problem. Check your system with the Apple Hardware Test as suggested in the previous post.

I twice had problems of this kind with my Linux systems. It turned out that the hard disks had many bad sectors.
 
Was the clicking sound coming from your Speakers or from near the center of the iMac?

Did you ever get this resolved?

my 2011 iMac occasionally still locks up/freezes -- I'm not 100% sure why as all diagnostics clear of it any hardware issues.
 
my friend too had this problem with his new 27" imac, of which he returned for a replacement.

i have had external seagate drives in the past and the majority of them have suffered the 'click of death', some within months, some days! i think western digital would be a better choice for apple
 
spooktheherd said:
my friend too had this problem with his new 27" imac, of which he returned for a replacement.

i have had external seagate drives in the past and the majority of them have suffered the 'click of death', some within months, some days! i think western digital would be a better choice for apple
Click to expand...

yeah seagates have been troublesome the past few years -- not for everyone but overall.

I ask, because when my iMac locks-up/freezes while watching a video (itunes, qt or youtube), or music it will start 'skipping' and just play garbled stuttery audio through the speakers and no mouse movement or ability to turn on/off the caps lock key.

Im not sure if this is an SSD issue or a Logic Board....this has happened under both stock and upgraded RAM.
 
gmanist1000 said:
I have been having freezing problems with the new 2011 iMac. I have the 27-inch 3.4GHz i7 model, and it is on almost all day, constantly being used.

It seems to freeze at least once per day, while doing normal use, or while gaming or encoding video. When it freezes it makes a clicking sound, and requires me to push the power button until it turns off, then I turn it back on.

Anyone else having this problem with their iMac's? Should I restart the computer more often to keep it fresh?
Click to expand...


EDIT: Question applies to Appleton, as well.

Gmanist, does this occur only after your computer wakes from sleep? If so, there are many users having this problem with macs that have Lion installed. It's discussed more at length here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1196262/

It seems, whenever the computer wakes from sleep (full sleep, as in your HD goes into sleep, not just your display), the mac will freeze whenever attempting to run videos (be it Flash, QuickTime, or iTunes videos). The mouse cursor can move, but it can't click anything, and Activity Monitor and Force Close are inaccessible. The only solution is a hard reset via the power button. No clicking sound is involved in this freeze-issue.

Is this what you're experiencing as well?


AppleNewton said:
Was the clicking sound coming from your Speakers or from near the center of the iMac?

Did you ever get this resolved?

my 2011 iMac occasionally still locks up/freezes -- I'm not 100% sure why as all diagnostics clear of it any hardware issues.
Click to expand...
 
onthecouchagain said:
EDIT: Question applies to Appleton, as well.

Gmanist, does this occur only after your computer wakes from sleep? If so, there are many users having this problem with macs that have Lion installed. It's discussed more at length here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1196262/

It seems, whenever the computer wakes from sleep (full sleep, as in your HD goes into sleep, not just your display), the mac will freeze whenever attempting to run videos (be it Flash, QuickTime, or iTunes videos). The mouse cursor can move, but it can't click anything, and Activity Monitor and Force Close are inaccessible. The only solution is a hard reset via the power button. No clicking sound is involved in this freeze-issue.

Is this what you're experiencing as well?
Click to expand...



No mine has no mouse movement at all. and its not a drive clicking. its a total lock up. screen freezes no spinning wheel just a total lock up.
 
iMac 2011 Freezing

My 2011 i5 iMac with SSD and 1TB secondary disk also freezes intermittently. Its quite random but the end result is a freeze that can only be recovered by holding the power switch on the back. I also hear the secondary 1TB disk clicking as it wakes up but I also hear it click when I am not accessing it as I only have a DATA folder on it that is accessed occasionally. Not sure if this is related but it doesn't sound right. I have not received the Apple email recalling the Seagate drive yet, as I have friends that purchased the same non SSD 2011 model who have received the email.
I am thinking of ringing Apple. Of course they will ask for it to be repaired and then I need to wipe disks clean as not to leave my personal details on it. What a pain. I rely on this machine daily.
Anyway, who else is having the same experience?
 
Im having this same damn problem... still happening after Apple replaced my HD,

@gmanist1000 have you upgraded your ram at all?

gmanist1000 said:
I have been having freezing problems with the new 2011 iMac. I have the 27-inch 3.4GHz i7 model, and it is on almost all day, constantly being used.

It seems to freeze at least once per day, while doing normal use, or while gaming or encoding video. When it freezes it makes a clicking sound, and requires me to push the power button until it turns off, then I turn it back on.

Anyone else having this problem with their iMac's? Should I restart the computer more often to keep it fresh?
Click to expand...
 
HDD. Had this problem with my 24".

Ran Disk Utility, didn't help. I re-installed OSX and nothing.

After a week it completely crashed, spent $240 for 1TB HDD replacement.

3/4 of our iMac's HDD crashed. Now I run Disk Utility every month checking/repairing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back