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From Apple Support: Issue with 2011 BTO iMac

djc6 said:
Can you access the imac over the network when it crashes from another machine? SSH, file sharing, etc?

I went through the same issue with (now sold) my Mid-2007 iMac - it would 'freeze', but the machine was still alive... I could SSH in and run programs, etc. It ended up getting fixed by an ATI graphics card firmware update, but I had it replaced twice (to no avail) before the firmware update came out.

The reason it impacted only SOME systems was that it was dependent on which manufacturer the memory used on the video card itself came from.
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No, and actually this was how I first discovered the issue. I was attempting to start a VNC session from the office, and it wouldn't connect. Same for accessing Plex media. Wondered why it wasn't working, and then realised when I got home.

I also installed Windows 7 on bootcamp last night to see if the issue affected Windows too, and surprise surprise, it does.

What was weird though was at the exact time that OS X crashed again last night, it actually knocked out the whole wireless network at home. DHCP on the router didn't seem to be issuing IP addresses. Any suggestions for what might have caused that?!
 
hmmm, I'm crossing my fingers now.

My iMac doesn't seem to have any problems so far, but I'll be keeping an eye on it and the forums to see if this is a serious problem or a bad luck story.
 
white dust was ?

I too had the white dust dropping out of my 3.02 Core2 Duo, 27" iMac.

The imac was in for repairs six times before the store refunded the purchase price. All its internal parts- HD, "motherboard", graphics card, power supply were replaced at least once. Thank goodness for Apple Care.

What that dust was I don't know or if it was related to the faulty graphics, kernal panics, and other problems the computer presented. However, in retrospect, I maybe should have treated it as a toxic substance as I would advise you to do.

The "bad apple" was bought online from a well known retailer but the replacement iMac I got at my local apple store. No dust and no more problems.
 
Apple would never, ever, initiate a full-scale product recall, it would erode the air of infallibility that exists around their products. It's also unlikely they'd readily admit hardware problems, even if they existed or not, as it's not something that can be easily sorted -- software update on the other hand, piece of piss.
 
So my third iMac arrived yesterday. I had high hopes, but it is having the exact same issues straight out of the box!

This MUST be a problem, and not just my bad luck - but I really don't know how to resolve it. They can keep sending me iMacs until they run out, but if they all have the same issue, there's not much point. I also intend to be using the computer pretty heavily for my business, and am not too keen on the idea of downgrading it.

Does anybody have any suggestions?
 
mdmoran said:
So my third iMac arrived yesterday. I had high hopes, but it is having the exact same issues straight out of the box!

This MUST be a problem, and not just my bad luck - but I really don't know how to resolve it. They can keep sending me iMacs until they run out, but if they all have the same issue, there's not much point. I also intend to be using the computer pretty heavily for my business, and am not too keen on the idea of downgrading it.

Does anybody have any suggestions?
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Your experience with the 2011 iMac is very disppointing to hear. How is it possible that so many iMac buyers have had to return their new iMacs multiple times to get a working unit. These stories really worry me. It seems like now is not the time to purchase a BTO iMac. I'm looking to buy a 27" BTO, but Im still hearing and reading about some seriouis issues that have not yet been remedied from the last refresh.

What are you going to do now that you've been sent 3 defective iMacs? It would seem a full refund is in order. Personally, if the first two machines werent working, Id be hesitant to trade it in for a third one.
 
I don't know what I'm going to do...

It's doubly frustrating, because I am waiting to start a new business. Waiting on the iMac behaving itself - and it's obviously not! At least it's happened right at the beginning, and not when I'm deep into a project, as that would be a nightmare!

I need a computer, obviously, so I feel stuck. I really don't want to downgrade the iMac specs, A mini isn't powerful enough, and a Mac Pro is far too expensive for me right now!

Any ideas anyone?
 
mdmoran said:
Any ideas anyone?
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The common denominator here is you. Three stock iMacs sent to you with the exact same problem, but not a universal problem with other users is too much to be luck/coincidence in my opinion. At this point you need to start looking at outside catalysts specific to your environment that might be triggering the problem, e.g. Power, network, peripherals. Try using a UPS (or a different UPS) and keeping it offline and see if the problem still occurs. Are you in an environment with florescent lighting or near other sources of RF? If so, try a different location, these have been known to cause issues in some computers due to poor shielding. Something has to be the trigger here. Find the trigger, and perhaps you can work around it until apple can address the issue.
 
I've got one of the BTO iMacs. 2 gig VRAM, i7, etc. Came with 4 gig RAM, I added 8 gig OWC RAM. Also bought AppleCare.

I've had it for a couple of weeks now and I've been totally satisfied. Then I started noticing a slight screen flicker. I would play Starcraft II for a couple of hours. Then when I exited, if I had a full screen of solid white (like an email or a text web page) it would seem like there was a very faint pulse or flicker. I even considered that it might be my 49 year old eyes. Sort of a afterimage thing from staring at Starcraft. I was a little concerned but it seemed to go away after a time away from the game. My thought was that maybe the video card was getting too hot or something and then it cooled down in normal use.

Then I got up this morning and my daughter was using the iMac with iPhoto. And when I tried to use it, I couldn't get anything to happen. The cursor on the screen would move with the mouse. And F9 would work and flip the screen to where I'm supposed to be able to pick another app. But clicking on any one of them did nothing. The Dock would sort of pop up but immediately get stuck. Right clicking on things in the Dock still wouldn't let me quit anything. I fussed with it doing every Mac OS trick I could think of but finally had to push the button. Told myself my daughter had somehow told the iMac to do some crazy thing.

But then it happened again not an hour later and I was the only one on the iMac. I played Starcraft for maybe an hour. Exited. Had Mail and Safari and Firefox running. Launched Toast 11 Titanium Pro to burn a DVD. And that was that. Basically the same thing. Toast was on top and I couldn't get any other app (including Finder) to come up. I couldn't actually do anything with Toast. Couldn't quit, menus wouldn't drop. Same nearly broken Dock. Had to push the power button again.

So then I came here. And now I'm worried!!

Gregg

Edited to add: since it was brought up, I have two APC UPS's.
 
Omniver said:
The common denominator here is you. Three stock iMacs sent to you with the exact same problem, but not a universal problem with other users is too much to be luck/coincidence in my opinion. At this point you need to start looking at outside catalysts specific to your environment that might be triggering the problem, e.g. Power, network, peripherals. Try using a UPS (or a different UPS) and keeping it offline and see if the problem still occurs. Are you in an environment with florescent lighting or near other sources of RF? If so, try a different location, these have been known to cause issues in some computers due to poor shielding. Something has to be the trigger here. Find the trigger, and perhaps you can work around it until apple can address the issue.
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I've eliminated as much as I can. These machines are clean installations, fresh from the box, with no additional software/peripherals. Network connection is only by WiFi.

There aren't really any other environmental factors that I'd easily identify - no real sources of RF interference - All lighting in the house is filament-type, and there isn't anything else nearby that could interfere. I don't use/have UPS, but I am running it through power conditioners. I don't think having to buy a UPS should be a prerequisite to buying an iMac!

There are other issues with BTO iMacs, and Apple half-confirmed it on the phone by saying that the engineers wanted to capture as many of these as possible.
 
mdmoran said:
I've eliminated as much as I can. These machines are clean installations, fresh from the box, with no additional software/peripherals. Network connection is only by WiFi.

There aren't really any other environmental factors that I'd easily identify - no real sources of RF interference - All lighting in the house is filament-type, and there isn't anything else nearby that could interfere. I don't use/have UPS, but I am running it through power conditioners. I don't think having to buy a UPS should be a prerequisite to buying an iMac!

There are other issues with BTO iMacs, and Apple half-confirmed it on the phone by saying that the engineers wanted to capture as many of these as possible.
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I agree you *shouldn't have to*, but there is likely something different about your environment that the iMac just isn't dealing with well, some variation of external factors that were never tested. If you can find it, you can fix it or give the information to apple so that they can fix it. As you stated, these were three clean installations fresh from the box, therefore whatever is triggering the problem is not likely "in the box".

I'd start first with the network and then the power. I'm not sure how long it usually takes before you experience the problem, but take it off Wi-Fi completely for an appropriate time. If the problem still occurs, you can rule out wi-fi as the trigger and move on to checking the power by trying an active UPS or even trying without your power conditioner. If the problem doesn't happen when the wi-fi is out, then we can look at the wi-fi settings.

You asked for ideas, these are ideas and given the information you've provided, the best course of action I can think of if you don't want to just ditch the iMac line.

I had a similar stumping issue last year with a Dell XT2 Tablet (nice computer btw), occasionally my cursor would move by itself to the top right of the screen intermittently and then stop. After three motherboard, screen, trackpad, and network card replacements by Dell to no effect I was stumped until at one point I heard my daughters baby monitor buzzing at the same time the cursor was moving. Turns out after some trial/error there is one particular frequency used by AT&T that interferes with the tablet digitizer (as well as my baby monitor) and causes internal electrical crosstalk and 'touch' events to be received by the digitizer. I switched carriers to Verizon and now no problems. Who would of thought what appeared to be a mouse interrupt issue was caused by a cellular signal from my BlackBerry.

Good luck in either case.
 
I noticed there is one variable that hasn't changed, WIFI. Shut office WiFi and ,if possible connect through Ethernet. Your router could be the trouble.
 
Omniver said:
I agree you *shouldn't have to*, but there is likely something different about your environment that the iMac just isn't dealing with well, some variation of external factors that were never tested. If you can find it, you can fix it or give the information to apple so that they can fix it. As you stated, these were three clean installations fresh from the box, therefore whatever is triggering the problem is not likely "in the box".

I'd start first with the network and then the power. I'm not sure how long it usually takes before you experience the problem, but take it off Wi-Fi completely for an appropriate time. If the problem still occurs, you can rule out wi-fi as the trigger and move on to checking the power by trying an active UPS or even trying without your power conditioner. If the problem doesn't happen when the wi-fi is out, then we can look at the wi-fi settings.

You asked for ideas, these are ideas and given the information you've provided, the best course of action I can think of if you don't want to just ditch the iMac line.

I had a similar stumping issue last year with a Dell XT2 Tablet (nice computer btw), occasionally my cursor would move by itself to the top right of the screen intermittently and then stop. After three motherboard, screen, trackpad, and network card replacements by Dell to no effect I was stumped until at one point I heard my daughters baby monitor buzzing at the same time the cursor was moving. Turns out after some trial/error there is one particular frequency used by AT&T that interferes with the tablet digitizer (as well as my baby monitor) and causes internal electrical crosstalk and 'touch' events to be received by the digitizer. I switched carriers to Verizon and now no problems. Who would of thought what appeared to be a mouse interrupt issue was caused by a cellular signal from my BlackBerry.

Good luck in either case.
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Thanks!
I really appreciate your time & input.

It just seems strange that this is the exact same setup than with my 2010 MBP that this iMac is replacing. I'll definitely try tonight to isolate a couple more things. Question though - in what way could WiFi cause a computer to stop responding?
 
Sorry, I didn't see the post when I went to write about the issue, because I was delayed in sending it off my phone. I guess OMNIVER had the same idea I did about the WIFI router problem. Sometimes routers can lock up a computer either by software or hardware issues. I had an old linksys router that kept locking up my Windows computer and I couldn't for the life of me, figure out why it was doing this. I called Linksys and they couldn't explain it. I bought a new router and my computer was fine after switching.

Also, he might right about the power supply. Try plugging it in a different plug in your house. For me, I had a problem where the original plug I was using for my computer wasn't putting out enough voltage, because of everything that was going through the circuit was overloading it. I ended up getting an electrician to put in a new outlet with it own current directly from my panel. I haven't had a problem since.
 
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dfine1966 said:
Sorry, I didn't see the post when I went to write abobe, because I was delayed in sending it off my phone. I guess OMNIVER had the same idea I did about the WIFI router problem. Sometimes routers can lock up a computer either by software or hardware issues. I had an old linksys router that kept locking up my Windows computer and I couldn't for the life of me, figure out why it was doing this. I called Linksys and they couldn't explain it. I bought a new router and my computer was fine after switching.

Also, he might right about the power supply. Try plugging it in a different plug in your house. For me, I had a problem where the original plug I was using for my computer wasn't putting out enough voltage, because of everything that was going through the circuit was overloading it. I ended up getting an electrician to put in a new outlet with it own current directly from my panel. I haven't had a problem since.
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Thank you. I will try both of these ideas this evening, and see what happens. I've reset the router a few times since the problems started, but will see what difference hard-wiring into it makes. Will also try some other sockets.
 
3rd iMac has same issue? I think you have issues with you AC power. Get a new UPS.

I got my BTO iMac yesterday and it's awesome, with no issues.

I can't believe they actually keep sending Imacs to you.
 
mdmoran said:
Question though - in what way could WiFi cause a computer to stop responding?
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The Wi-Fi adapter in the computer might cause issues if it started behaving in a way that the drivers/OS doesn't expect. It might put bad data on the bus, might stop playing nice with other devices, might get in some state that it can't get out of, etc. Stranger things have happened.

This is a brand-new hardware configuration, there are bound to be firmware/driver issues that didn't surface in testing, there always is.

My money is on the Wi-Fi or Power.

Keep us looped on how it goes. Good luck.
 
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