3 beeps and freeze becoming more frequent

[megadice]

Hi Everyone,
I'm experiencing the 3 beeps and freeze. Only fix is a reboot. Basically had become a daily+ problem.

I've see the other threads on this forum however they basically all point to the ram.

When this originally happened I took it to Apple, they found nothing wrong, said it was maybe the ram (since it's second party) and maybe it's the logic board.

I used it as an excuse to upgrade my ram. Was previously using OWC ram and upgraded again buying from OWC. Even with the new ram I'm still experiencing the problem. (pretty sure there was nothing wrong with the original ram, did a "rember" test on it).

Updated to 10.8.2 in desperation, and it actually seemed to fix it for a couple weeks. Now the beeps and freeze are back. They seem to be getting worse (more frequent) is that possible. Just had it happen 4 times w/i the last hour...

Anyone have suggestions aside from replace ram? Seems to be seated fine too...

Thanks a ton for any advice,

Joe
MBP 8,2 *Just* outside of warranty :/
Intel Core i7
2 x 8gig ram. OWC (also happened with my previous 2 x 4 gig from OWC)

 

[jcampbell1070]

use the application install disk that came with your mac. press D on startup and then select extended test. it will take an hour or more but it should find whats wrong.

 

[megadice]

install disk

use the application install disk that came with your mac. press D on startup and then select extended test. it will take an hour or more but it should find whats wrong.

Do I need an install disk that came with the Mac (not sure if I'll be able to find it) or do I need it to be Mountain Lion? (and if so can I make that somehow? can't for the life of me see how via app store or apple.com)

thanks in advance,
Joe

 

[jcampbell1070]

if your mac came with a disc u will need it. i think all new macs that dont come with disc can do it by holding the D key at startup and it will download from the internet. i don't think the internet way works on the older ones that have disc. unless someone else knows a way.

 

[Interstella5555]

Does putting your own RAM back in work? You can definitely get bad sticks (though twice in a row would be pretty unlucky). Additionally, I would try using them one at a time and see what happens, it sounds like it's slowly getting unseated in there or is just bad ram.

 

[Weaselboy]

Three beeps means memory has failed power on self test (POST). It would be odd to have two sets of memory bad back to back though.

 

[DewGuy1999]

Are the 3 beeps and freeze only when booting or when using the Mac after it's booted up?

 

[megadice]

Are the 3 beeps and freeze only when booting or when using the Mac after it's booted up?

Never on boot.
Always after I've been using it.

Everything was fine for ~2 years (incl with the first set of OWC ram), then about 3 months ago started beep+freeze started... maybe once a week for a while... (first time was middle of the night when I wasn't working on the computer) I could live with it... then started about once a day... annoying but I was gonna ignore it... then it became several times a day. Got the new RAM and updated to Mountain Lion, was fine for ~2.5 weeks then started again, now up to 4 times a day....

 

[DewGuy1999]

Never on boot.
Always after I've been using it.

Everything was fine for ~2 years (incl with the first set of OWC ram), then about 3 months ago started beep+freeze started... maybe once a week for a while... (first time was middle of the night when I wasn't working on the computer) I could live with it... then started about once a day... annoying but I was gonna ignore it... then it became several times a day. Got the new RAM and updated to Mountain Lion, was fine for ~2.5 weeks then started again, now up to 4 times a day....

The reason I asked is because to the best of my knowledge the 3 beeps indicating bad RAM, etc. is done during bootup. I don't think I've ever heard of it happening while using the Mac. Intel-based Mac Power On Self Test RAM error codes explains what is supposed to happen. I'm wondering if it might be something that is running on your Mac that is making an alert/attention sound and locking it up.

 

[Inside_line]

Have you ruled out overheating? Computers do weird things when they get too hot.

 

[megadice]

Hi,
Thanks for your advice. I'm not sure how to "test" for overheating... MBP runs hot but always has and I'm not sure that it's excessively hot. Makes no difference if it is sitting on the 'rain' stand either.
Recently things have been getting worse. Now sometimes just shuts down and boots up immediately (no beeps, no freeze).
Happens at least 12 times/day.
I know there are major problems and likely need to take it in to get serviced, however wondering if these symptoms indicate anything else to anyone? (virus? software vs hardware?)
(often upon book I get the grey screen that says, "your computer shut down because of a problem. press any key or wait to continue"

As an aside, this all started happening 15 months after purchase. (3 months too late to buy Apple Care) I actually thought you could buy Apple Care anytime w/i the first two years (my bad), but it still infuriates me that it's "OK" that a computer could essentially become useless after 15 months and Apple's OK with that. Has anyone had any success getting Apple to help in a similar situation? ... ie allowing the purchase of Apple Care after 12 months or something?

Thanks again,
J