2011 MacBook Pros Crashing Under Load?

[aimbdd]

2.3 here and i have that problem... even if i disable auto graphics switching.Computer crashes playing video games... repeatedly.

 

[kuwisdelu]

Which iTunes bugs??

The Home Sharing / Remote.app can't connect to library one, plus another one where I get glitchy playback with videos. For some reason, a lot of my movies are playing pixelated during certain scenes and the subtitles aren't obeying the sizes I set in Subler. They play fine in iTunes on my 2007 MacBook, so it must be something different with the new MBP. They play fine if I use QT 7, so I'm guessing it's a software issue with how iTunes uses its hardware acceleration. Sadly, no one else has chimed in on any of my threads with any "me too"s or ideas to fix it.

Well, in some senses, this is important. For me, the problem occurred simply as part of the normal transfer of data from my old machine to the new one. An occasional "glitch" is expected, particularly with new product. But after four hangs in several hours, each requiring a hard reset, one begins to wonder if there's a problem. That's what led to the various diagnostic tests to see if the problem could be reliably demonstrated.

I'd LOVE for the vast majority to be saying, "There's no problem at all -- these are isolated cases." That would give me confidence that I simply got a bad machine. But when I read about people getting two and three replacements from different locations, and still being able to reproduce the freezes, it begins to look much more like a systemic problem. Remember, we're not talking at all about over-taxing machines here... true, the dev/null test and the major compilation tests DO tax the machines, but the vast majority of freezes I (and others) have experienced happened randomly, when the machine was essentially sitting idle -- no exceptional heat, no out-of-the-ordinary activities -- just switching between windows, running a screen saver, waking from sleep, or just sitting around with the 8 threads contemplating a restful snooze on the beach (ok, so it's a silicon beach!)

Apart from a few people who HAVE chimed in and said "I don't have a problem", many, many others have been able to reproduce the issue when they've tried one or other of the methods to recreate the issue. So, maybe it's truly the case that there are a few, isolated issues, and these are the ones getting the press -- but every day we see more and more people highlighting this, thinking that "they were the only one seeing this"...

This.

Personally, I couldn't replicate the yes > /dev/null freezing, and I'm very happy about that, but it still sucks for those affected. I don't feel like giving up most of my CPU to Handbrake at the moment, but I'll certainly be using it sometime in the future, and I'm currently installing MacPorts to see if I can replicate the issue.

I've only had this machine four days so far and I certainly haven't done everything on it I plan to do in the future, but I want it to hold up when I need it to.

ETA: Having gotten mine so recently, I wonder if it is a new batch? I've yet to try every test, but so far mine's been okay. How long have those affected by this had their machines? Is there a way to tell when it was manufactured by the serial number or anything?

 

[kntgsp]

The CPU heatsink on my mac pro makes that thing look pathetically small

No, it does not. Unless you've replaced the stock Apple heatsink.

 

[sasasule]

Never had mine under load yet, but not going to bother trying it otherwise i'll end up OCD about it.

Also, its funny seeing all the 2010 owners constantly looking for excuses not to upgrade. Just **** and enjoy your mac ffs, you probably dont use half the power the dual core i's give, never mind the SB quads.

You should test your machine to the limit so you can actualy see what is limit that you can achive. Then decide is it worth or not to replace or keep unit.

 

[kntgsp]

Temperatures hitting 90C? That's a thermal trip, not normal operation.

I've done 2-day Minecraft map renders, as well as 4-hour HandBrake encodes (man this thing is fast!), and my CPU and GPU temperatures never exceed 65C. Granted, I've set my fans to be a bit more aggressive with Fan Control.

This sounds like poor thermal paste application ala the iFixit teardown, than just drivers. Drivers may be a part of it, but drivers aren't going to result in 25C higher temps than what should be seen.

My first reaction was that it has to be the god awful thermal paste application (which is par for the course with Apple and most other big box names). A simple application of AS5 will drop temps significantly in the new MBP. But if people like Koinu are getting these lockups even at low temps/load or simply at idle, then there's something else at play.

Whether the cause of his low temp/idle lockups is something unrelated to the others entirely (lemon perhaps?) I'm not sure on. I do think stuffing the quads plus the 6750 into the 15" is going to cause some thermal issues even with an application of AS5. That's just a lot of power being stuffed into what is an extremely thin enclosure (for a 15"-sized laptop). If there's a large difference in the number of lockups being reported (as % of total units) between the 15" and 17" models then there is something to be said about thermals.

But if some of these lockups are occurring during idle or low load/temps then there may be an underlying issue with PWM, or two separate issues causing the same lockup.

 

[Forkaster]

My 2.7 GHz 13in never locked up, I have for two or three weeks now.

 

[d0minick]

no issues here. 13'. vmware runs fine.

 

[frocco]

using 17" mbp 2.2 quad.

No problems so far.

+1

 

[ksgant]

This is Apple we're talking about here. AntennaGate and iOS 4.0 for iPhone 3g.

I know! And I can't believe that I can't put OS X Snow Leopard on my original Mac 128! Way to support your products Apple. Sheesh. You know how much I paid for that thing? And I can't even put the latest OS on it! That's a bunch of BS.

 

[Koinu]

Quote:
Originally Posted by consultant
using 17" mbp 2.2 quad.

No problems so far.
+1
__________________
Regards, Frank
__________________________________
Mackbook Pro 17" 2.2 Glossy

Well, that's great to see... Mine is (was) the 2.2 GHz 17" Quad with 8GB memory... Maybe the replacement will be fine, then. I'll be just as quick to post a "good news" story when it happens...

Cheers,
S

 

[ksgant]

My 2.7 GHz 13in never locked up, I have for two or three weeks now.

no issues here. 13'. vmware runs fine.

It's pretty clear this is an issue with the models that have two different graphics chips, the 15" and the 17". The 13" only comes with the Intel HD Graphics 3000...and making the 15" and 17" run only that (turn off automatic switching), then it won't lock up.

It's when they're running on the AMD Radeon chips that the lockups are happening, which the 13" doesn't have. Also, for those of you that say their 15 and 17" aren't locking up, check to make sure which graphics chip you're running to test it completely. You may only have it set to the Intel.

 

[lifeinhd]

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Apple doesn't do computers anymore, as evidenced by issues like this, the MobileMe rollout, the MDP->Dual-Link DVI adapter, etc. When the iPhone 4 had it's antenna issues, almost immediately they held a press conference. Whenever Mac hardware has issues, they turn the other way (iMac G5 capacitors anyone?).

Seems to me Apple would rather you forgo the Mac for an iOS device. They would just rather not deal with them anymore.

 

[One Ohm]

Wait till summer!!! first generation winter release....

 

[sasasule]

It's pretty clear this is an issue with the models that have two different graphics chips, the 15" and the 17". The 13" only comes with the Intel HD Graphics 3000...and making the 15" and 17" run only that (turn off automatic switching), then it won't lock up.

It's when they're running on the AMD Radeon chips that the lockups are happening, which the 13" doesn't have. Also, for those of you that say their 15 and 17" aren't locking up, check to make sure which graphics chip you're running to test it completely. You may only have it set to the Intel.

There was reports for 13" with i7 CPU to have same problem like 15 and 17"

 

[kntgsp]

It's pretty clear this is an issue with the models that have two different graphics chips, the 15" and the 17". The 13" only comes with the Intel HD Graphics 3000...and making the 15" and 17" run only that (turn off automatic switching), then it won't lock up.

It's when they're running on the AMD Radeon chips that the lockups are happening, which the 13" doesn't have. Also, for those of you that say their 15 and 17" aren't locking up, check to make sure which graphics chip you're running to test it completely. You may only have it set to the Intel.

If that's true then it's either a PWM issue or a driver issue under OSX for the 6750. Apple does their own drivers in-house if I recall, so the onus falls on them to fix a software issue.

 

[kuwisdelu]

Whether the cause of his low temp/idle lockups is something unrelated to the others entirely (lemon perhaps?) I'm not sure on. I do think stuffing the quads plus the 6750 into the 15" is going to cause some thermal issues even with an application of AS5. That's just a lot of power being stuffed into what is an extremely thin enclosure (for a 15"-sized laptop). If there's a large difference in the number of lockups being reported (as % of total units) between the 15" and 17" models then there is something to be said about thermals.

But if some of these lockups are occurring during idle or low load/temps then there may be an underlying issue with PWM, or two separate issues causing the same lockup.

Currently building boost while playing UT2004 high settings. Temp in the 70C's. Definitely on the discrete GPU for all my tests. No problems so far *knock on wood*.

I *do* however have the base 15" model with the 6490M. Do any others experiencing this have the 6490M or all they all 6750M MBP's?

 

[xh246796]

so good!

Said well

 

[aimbdd]

Graphics switching off, on 6750 playing video games and it freezes a lot. sooo....
i thought it was just me. aha

 

[Soulpictures]

15" 2,2ghz

no problems jet, excluding some with spotlight and the indexing not working right

played crysis für about 4-6 hours without any problems, also no problems with 3d rendering via Solid Works or benchmarking with Cinebench. Temp goes up to 89-91 then slowly drops to around 80 and stays there, but mostly when im doing such stuff i put a pencil under the macbook to lift it up a bit

 

[princealfie]

Wow, Apple quality control down the tubes now? And I was considering getting a MBP soon.

Maybe that HP looks good now (Sarcasm).

 

[w00t951]

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Interesting, must be firmware related. I played about 50 hours of games on my MacBook Pro 15", 2.3 GHz, 6750M under Windows (Bulletstorm, New Vegas, Black Ops, etc). I have never experienced a crash in either Windows or OS X.

 

[Jared-]

I think that it has to do with a combination of both the Sandy Bridge CPU (kernel extensions?) and the AMD Graphic drivers inside OS X 10.6.6. Possibly Apple will fine tune them in 10.6.7?

I hope so, I've got one getting delivered this week.

 

[rhaleuk]

I get this issue.

15" 2ghz, Hi Res, 4GB RAM and with a C300 Crucial SSD.

The machine is shockingly fast, but I convert a lot of video with Handbrake and I had it freeze last night while converting an avi to mp4 and also copying data from a USB hard drive. Total freeze, no mouse or keyboard control at all. The machine was also VERY hot.

 

[odedia]

This has nothing to do with graphics drivers, it has everything to do with build quality and using way too much thermal paste on the CPUs/GPUs, which spikes the tempertures to impossible levels, causing the CPU to stop working in order to protect itself.

I really wanted one of these machines, but I can't possibly buy one if the build quality is so poor.

 

[WeedKiller87]

I have a mid 2009 13" MacBook Pro and recently it has crashed on me 3 times. I can still move the mouse, but everything is unresponsive. However, iTunes was still playing. I have noticed that every time it crashed, iTunes was open. Last night, I only had iTunes and Microsoft Word open. When I tried to use the "highlighter" in Word, it crashed and I had to do a hard reset.

This problem might not just be limited to the 2011 MacBook Pros. I think the problem started since the last iTunes update.