2011 MacBook Pros Crashing Under Load?

[Blipp]

My brother is having the issue. When he plays starcraft and quits the app, 90% of the time the system will freeze. He has the 17" model. Just got it last week.

I've only had SC2 crash once but it was this exact case. The game played fine for hours on extreme settings but then locked when trying to exit the game and return to OS X...

 

[kavlo26]

Anyone install 10.6.7 (just released) and see if the issue still persists? I am planning on getting the new mbp 2.2ghz next week.

 

[csHokie]

How long do you need to run the 8 terminals and photo booth to show this problem? I ran it for a few minutes before deciding that I should go back to work. 🙂

I will say I had a freeze up the first week I received this laptop (15" 2.2GHz, 6750M) when I was playing around with the nBody simulation openCL example. I kind of chalked that up to being bad drivers after reading this thread and reading footnote #14 here. It sounds kind of similar to the problems others are having and would kind of make sense if you have to stress the GPU and CPU.

 

[Tyrion]

How long do you need to run the 8 terminals and photo booth to show this problem? I ran it for a few minutes before deciding that I should go back to work. 🙂

Yeah, it's weird - I've experienced this problem under heavy load, but I could NOT reproduce it using the Terminal plus PhotoBooth method (that is, I ran more than ten instances of the dev null process alongside PhotoBooth for about ten minutes and didn't experience any crashes).

 

[Benzyl]

I've only had SC2 crash once but it was this exact case. The game played fine for hours on extreme settings but then locked when trying to exit the game and return to OS X...

I have seen World of Warcraft do the exact same thing. If I refrain from switching apps and stay in full screen mode in WoW, then the rate of failure drops (especially if I set the maxfps setting to 50 " /console maxfps 50 " ) but when I try exiting to the finder it locks up. That kind of symptom indicates it is a software issue not a heat issue since the lockup should have happened when the card was maxed out playing the game, not switching to the desktop.

 

[MPB11]

well apparently a fix has already been released....maybe it'll fix the issue?
http://www.9to5mac.com/57136/mac-os-x-10-6-7-released-with-2011-macbook-pro-fixes-more/

 

[Acorn]

I read somewhere that when ifixit took apart the new mbp 15 inch it had gobs and gobs of thermal paste. This actually was a problem in the past with older mbp. If this is true no software update will fix, but they could fix future laptops. it makes sense why a small number does not have this problem. they just have less paste.

someone needs to crack a beer and open a mac pro up and put some artic silver or something on there ( the proper amount ) and see if the issue is still present.

 

[gohanmzt]

really in Maya? must be low polies cause I can crash a BOXX 8400s with an NVIDIA 5600 and 16GB of RAM in Windows 7 64bit edition 🙂 But then, I feed Maya 2011 with 1.5mill polies for breakfast 😉
Seriously though, if your not crashing it then consider yourself lucky or your not putting that app to its potential.

1.5mill polies??? That is insane. Yes, I model in low-mid polies, and I guess that's why I haven't had any problems. Man you need a monster of a machine to do what you do.

 

[Tyrion]

Engadget claims 10.6.7 fixes the problem. Any trip reports?

 

[lewi]

Just tried option 1 on my 15" 2.2 6750m with Crucial C300, on 10.6.6. First time I did it, fans spooled up pretty rapidly but no problems, no freezing. Then got cocky, thought I'd try it again for good measure, froze after about 3 seconds, surely not enough time to overheat dramatically, even with apparently poor thermal paste application.

Having said all of this, I've not had exactly the same thing happen running normally, though I have experienced two occasions where the computer locked after going to sleep (running nothing aside form iTunes in the background), and wouldn't wake from a black screen. The problem with an SSD is that I wasn't even sure if the screen was just black (ie brightness down to zero) or whether it had completely locked, due to no HD sounds!

Love my MBP for the record, brilliantly quick (when not locked) after my late 2008 13" macbook.

Anyone had a similar sleep issue?

 

[LionHeart1]

10.6.7 fixed the problem for me

Hi All,

I have tried to reproduce the problem with 10.6.7 with the test recommended by wiki; the mac (MBP 2.2 15" 2011) doesn't flinch. The fans spin up, but otherwise everything is stable. Previously (10.6.6), it was freezing right away.

 

[soooren]

I have seen World of Warcraft do the exact same thing. If I refrain from switching apps and stay in full screen mode in WoW, then the rate of failure drops (especially if I set the maxfps setting to 50 " /console maxfps 50 " ) but when I try exiting to the finder it locks up. That kind of symptom indicates it is a software issue not a heat issue since the lockup should have happened when the card was maxed out playing the game, not switching to the desktop.

this happened all the time on my MacBookPro2,1 2.33GHz from 2006 when playing WarCraft III.. one in maybe 50 games it would freeze in game and only sometimes quit and go to desktop after maybe 5 minutes, but 50% of the times when i hit the 'quit' button, the game would freeze or go to black screen and freeze the entire computer.. my way to work around this was to press  + M to window-mode it and then force-quit the application - i still do this today on the same machine.

 

[serenesam]

Waiting for Lion to be released before I jump on these new MacBook Pro's. Hopefully all of the kinks will be worked out by then.

Waiting for Lion too plus a new series processor and graphics card both CPU and GPU with no reported glitches or issues WHAHAHAHAHA! 😀

 

[serenesam]

So much for that old phrase that "Macs just work" 😛

It sounds like the issue is when the OS has to switch graphics chips which could very well be a driver issue with the new AMD GPU's and the new style Sandy Bridge GPU's, AMD/ATi has never had as good of driver support as nVidia. I wonder if the problem occurs in Windows or Linux. I hope it's simply a driver issue or their could be a recall.

I prefer NVIDIA over AMD/ATI. Both Intel and NVIDIA are like soulmates and more compatible in my opinion. AMD/ATI tends to get really really hot. Apple made a HUGE mistake here - should have gone with a 1GB NVIDIA graphics card instead of a 1GB AMD graphics card.

 

[DarwinOSX]

I read somewhere that when ifixit took apart the new mbp 15 inch it had gobs and gobs of thermal paste. This actually was a problem in the past with older mbp.

Baloney. Even ifixit said they couldn't tell if it would be an issue but every internet forum commenter suddenly became an expert in the application of thermal paste.

I hope this fixed the problems some people were having with their 2011 MBP's so I can get one.

 

[bigpics]

Quote: Originally Posted by emaja
You're also not supposed to buy a car built on a Monday or Friday.

My dad was a mechanic too and said, "Sometimes you just get a piece of *****."

Apparently that information used to be listed somewhere around the door on a metal plate or sticker. I'm pretty sure that they don't offer that information any more though. Too bad.

I think your Father was correct about that. Sometimes you do get a lemon! It just happens.

Here's another clue for you all: The same logic applies to hospital care. Whenever possible, try to have elective surgery Tuesday or Wednesday when the docs are fresh (but warmed up) and the best post-op care staff are most likely to be on duty and not hung-over through the most critical first few days after.

 

[calderone]

Baloney. Even ifixit said they couldn't tell if it would be an issue but every internet forum commenter suddenly became an expert in the application of thermal paste.

I hope this fixed the problems some people were having with their 2011 MBP's so I can get one.

It is an issue.

 

[nec207]

I want to get the new Macbook pro but with this problem and the bad sandy bridge chipsets that effect the SATA controllers ,I don't think I will get the new Macbook pro to a fix comes out.

Why is apple not saying what this problem is and what they are going to do about it? This is so strange.

When is Lion coming out that is going to replace snow leopard?

 

[AidenShaw]

I'm so happy that Dell has a beta testing program so that most issues are found and fixed before a new laptop design is released.

 

[greytmom]

This is really easy.

All you need to do is:

1. Open Photobooth
2. Launch Terminal
3. Input yes > /dev/null
4. Repeat number 3 up to 7 more times

Failure will likely be swift.

I did this, and let it run about 15 minutes. Top temp was 82 C. Fans did rev up to about 5000 rpm (it's the first time I've actually heard them!) and things got slow, but it didn't crash.

*edit*

Did the software update, ran the processes again. Top temp 80, fans at about 4800. So not much change there, but system didn't slow down like it did the first time. So, I guess I was one of the lucky ones who didn't have the crashing issue in the first place, but the software update did improve things.

Hope everyone else has good results too!

(By the way, I have the 2011 15" 2.2ghz i7)

 

[aiqw9182]

Waiting for Lion too plus a new series processor and graphics card both CPU and GPU with no reported glitches or issues WHAHAHAHAHA! 😀

If you are willing to wait until 2012 for the next update then more power to you. I on the other hand need a new laptop this year.

 

[nec207]

I'm so happy that Dell has a beta testing program so that most issues are found and fixed before a new laptop design is released.

Well becuse businesses need computer that will last more than 5 years before braking down and do not need pretty little OS like snow leopard but use simple basic OS look and feel and do not need OS for edication and multimedia so those things are stip from windows.

Than have Acer, Gateway and HP that will not less more 3 years for the public to get.


Now that apple is using PC parts not making their own like before you are getting PC with OS X on it .

Intel ,AMD ,nvidia and ATi is PC .

The + side more games now play on Mac and more windows software the - side you getting PC with OS X on it .

So many people I know are just getting Dell or building their own and putting Linux on it.

If apple keeps doing this the Macs will be like windows.


Plaese make your own hardware and build it and text it and stop this windows support of games and software.But stick to what Macs where like before.

 

[Nein01]

glad i'm not the only one.

i've been on the phone with apple about this issue. mine has crashed a few times while playing half life 2, usually when i try to command+tab switch to another application.

 

[cmaier]

So far so good with the OS update. No problems since I installed it.

Edit: Oh, and for some reason handbrake rips to the apple tv 2 profile are now 10 fps faster for me (mid-80's to high-90's)

 

[nec207]

Windows 7 has been and is a solid OS. MS can't be criticized for other companies build quality. Apple can be ridiculed because they control the entire process of all their machines.

Apple is not the exception anymore. They've had numerous problems especially this past year of a time frame. One can look at even the new iPad to see how their Q&A process has been lacking.

Windows does not make PC parts .They make OS and it is target to businesses and they want OS that look and feel for business than education and multimedia so they strip this in windows.

There are good PC parts and bad PC parts out there .If you a gamer it up to you to read the review of parts before you buid your computer.The computers you get in store will not less more than 3 years they are junk.

The Unix ,Linux and Mac OS x base on Linux is more secure than windows do to windows is base on NT now than DOS before.

The Mac OS X do not have malware problem do to 99% malware is for windows and Mac OS X is base on Linux .

The reason why Microsoft is not being sued by businessess is they are not internet surfing like people so are not drowning in malware like people are.Most IT people monitor employee web use for profit for businessess .No non businessess use on the internet,

That is why Microsoft to this day will not build OS from scrach or base on Unix than NT.

Apple is not the exception anymore. They've had numerous problems especially this past year of a time frame. One can look at even the new iPad to see how their Q&A process has been lacking

They are using PC parts now and not building their own hardware.


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