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jableskg

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 19, 2008
158
6
I have a brand new MBP 13' 2.26 with 2GB of ram. Its only a week old. Just today i noticed i've had a few beach balls spin while i was using Firefox. I'm new to Mac so i have no idea if this is a software problem perhaps with Firefox or Mac OSX or a potential hardware problem. Any suggestions on what i should do when this happens?
 
If they aren't spinning for a long time then don't worry about it. Those are simply like saying system processing.
 
If they aren't spinning for a long time then don't worry about it. Those are simply like saying system processing.

They spin for like 30 seconds. I have Firefox minimized on the dock streaming Sirius radio right now and i'm using Safari to browse.
 
Do you have the 5400 RPM model?

I am having freezing/beachballing problems on my 5400 rpm mbp 17 (3.06, 4 gb).

It freezes for 1 minute at a time, roughly 10-20 times throughout the day.

If you put your ear close to the computer, you can hear the HDD sputter when it unfreezes.
 
This happens quite a bit to me too using Firefox 3.5.1.

Sometimes a message appears saying a script is hung, etc. But that never happened in the beta builds. Weird.
 
I'm noticing it happening a lot when i click on hyperlinks or type.. It just happened a few more time while using Safari now. This is the EXACT reason why i tossed my Dell laptop in the trash and was hoping my problems were over. :confused:
 
I am pretty sure it is an HDD problem. Next time it beachballs, listen closely to see if the HDD makes anoise when it unfreezes.

I thought Apples were "just supposed to work".

This is the worst computer I have EVER had in terms of problems. I am on my replacement computer, and it still doesn't work nominally.

Apple needs to dump whomever is supplying these HDDs and get something that works.
 
I am pretty sure it is an HDD problem. Next time it beachballs, listen closely to see if the HDD makes anoise when it unfreezes.

I thought Apples were "just supposed to work".

This is the worst computer I have EVER had in terms of problems. I am on my replacement computer, and it still doesn't work nominally.

Apple needs to dump whomever is supplying these HDDs and get something that works.

Well is this a widespread problem?? Should I take it in to the Apple store?
 
Well is this a widespread problem?? Should I take it in to the Apple store?

Time to troubleshoot. Use Firefox and make sure the issue still persists. If it does, use Safari for a day. If it happens in Safari, it may be hardware related.

If it doesn't happen in actual OSX applications, games, etc., I think it's a Firefox issue (as it happens to me also, and ONLY in Firefox!)

Just make sure you troubleshoot it before the return/exchange window closes!
 
I've already done this, and it happens whether or not I am using FFx, Safari, or no browser at all (just don't other stuff on the computer).
 
Time to troubleshoot. Use Firefox and make sure the issue still persists. If it does, use Safari for a day. If it happens in Safari, it may be hardware related.

If it doesn't happen in actual OSX applications, games, etc., I think it's a Firefox issue (as it happens to me also, and ONLY in Firefox!)

Just make sure you troubleshoot it before the return/exchange window closes!

Well, like i said it happened while using Safari too.. I'll monitor the situation and perhaps just wait till the weekend to have Apple check it out.
 
I had this problem too and it kept getting progressively worse. I took it to the Apple store, they said it was early sign of HD failure and replaced it. Mine was really bad though...it would take 2-4 min to boot up from a cold start
 
Weird - it's intersting that this slightly parallels the 7200rpm Seagate G-Force HD problems - some having big beachballing - but this thread is about non- click beeping drives...

Wonder if some 5,400rpm drives are having issues as well, and Apple needs to sort firmware for all new MBPs?
 
Weird - it's intersting that this slightly parallels the 7200rpm Seagate G-Force HD problems - some having big beachballing - but this thread is about non- click beeping drives...

Wonder if some 5,400rpm drives are having issues as well, and Apple needs to sort firmware for all new MBPs?

So far so good today. Only seen once beach ball pop up.

Who makes the hard drives for Apple?
 
Yes this sounds very much like the click + beep + freeze issue that people are ranting about on official apple discussion forums. (and Apple is doing their best to nothing other than normal operating performance)

Interesting because until now it seemed consensus was the 7200 RPM drives were the only ones affected by this issue.

Good luck getting this problem solved. :)
 
So far so good today. Only seen once beach ball pop up.

Who makes the hard drives for Apple?

Try copying a large file (or several large files) to your hard drive and see if the machine locks up during the transfer.

If you don't do anything to hard drive intensive you can get away with less frequent lock ups. But it's far from acceptable for such an expensive piece of equipment.
 
I noticed a bit of beachballing under Safari when launching the Top Sites screen, with my stock 5400rpm drive. After I upgraded to my 7200rpm one, everything is so much faster.
 
Yes this sounds very much like the click + beep + freeze issue that people are ranting about on official apple discussion forums. (and Apple is doing their best to nothing other than normal operating performance)

Interesting because until now it seemed consensus was the 7200 RPM drives were the only ones affected by this issue.

Good luck getting this problem solved. :)

+1

This is what I think too. Apple secured a bad batch of HDDs to include in the June MBPs. The problem is not necessarily limited to the 7200 RPM drives.

Although my 5400 RPM drive does not beep, it still clicks and freezes. In fact, it freezes for longer periods of time than my 7200 rpm drive did and does so more frequently.

If Apple would just acknowledge the problem, and fix it, I'd be fine with it. By not returning my calls/emails, and denying the existence of the problem, I am really losing faith in them as an upstanding company. I can't believe I paid 2500+ for what is essentially the worst computer I have owned in terms of reliability.

I need a working computer right now, and I can't even order a new one from Lenovo because Apple has not agreed to give me a complete refund yet. Getting a replacement from them seems to be like a dice-roll; who knows what I am going to get.

I just don't have any more time to waste on them. It has been almost a month since I first paid them for a nominal computer--they have failed twice to deliver and have treated me like garbage the entire time.
 
I noticed a bit of beachballing under Safari when launching the Top Sites screen, with my stock 5400rpm drive. After I upgraded to my 7200rpm one, everything is so much faster.

Was it easy to install?
 
Could this be related to the 1.7 firmware? There is lots of discussion over at Apple about this. We have three Macbook Pro 13" models and although the three have the firmware, one has the freezing happening.
 
Could this be related to the 1.7 firmware? There is lots of discussion over at Apple about this. We have three Macbook Pro 13" models and although the three have the firmware, one has the freezing happening.

Are they saying it happens when using Firefox or Safari??
 
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