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Mac OS X Snow Leopard Random 'Beachball Freeze' for 10 to 30 seconds

A

Appelsap

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 28, 2008
64
0
Hi,

Since i use Snow Leopard i get randomly (around 1 to 10 ) freezes. When i get it i can click some applicaties but can't make changes in it. the beachball keeps spinning for some seconds and after the wait i can just continue working.

I first thought it was Firefox, because it almost everytime happens when im browsing the web, but i get the same with Safari.

It's getting verry annoying now :-(

I already checked:
- Repair disk
- Repair disk permissions
- Run Apple diagnostics

Repairs my 1.5 year old mbp already had:
- 2x keyboard
- Topcase
- Logicboard
- Superdrive


Anyone has some suggestions?
 
A

Appelsap

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 28, 2008
64
0
Hm, i just had another Beachball moment, and the swap file was at zero! Think i have a different problem
 
tongteh

tongteh

macrumors 6502
Aug 16, 2008
415
4
do you have techtoolpro? i am suspecting bad sectors? or defective harddisc.. :(
 
HLdan

HLdan

macrumors 603
Aug 22, 2007
6,383
0
Lemme guess, the OP went the fast route and did the upgrade to Snow Leopard rather than a clean install and manually installing his applications? If he did in fact do the latter then it sounds like a failing hard drive.
 
0

00christian00

macrumors newbie
Oct 11, 2009
24
0
pprior said:
that does not sound like a very good idea - such sensor is there to protect the hard drive! I guess if it solve the problem, then you could just put an SSD in there....
Click to expand...

Well,if it worked like it should then I wouldn't be forced to disable it.
Also it's pure gimmick,notebook hd are made to resist strong and prolonged shocks.I've a car pc and mine is a sport car with strong suspension so it's not exactly the best environment,still the hd function well for 2 year already.

A big SSD cost like half the price of the macbook itself,not really an option I think,for most.
 
A

Appelsap

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 28, 2008
64
0
HLdan said:
Lemme guess, the OP went the fast route and did the upgrade to Snow Leopard rather than a clean install and manually installing his applications? If he did in fact do the latter then it sounds like a failing hard drive.
Click to expand...

I Did an clean install and reinstalled all my software manually :)


@tongteh tried the TechTool full system check 0 errors were reported.

i am thinking of reinstalling the OS again, or maybe call apple cause i still have AppleCare
 
mgamber

mgamber

macrumors 6502a
Jun 12, 2008
817
0
1966
HLdan said:
Lemme guess, the OP went the fast route and did the upgrade to Snow Leopard rather than a clean install and manually installing his applications? If he did in fact do the latter then it sounds like a failing hard drive.
Click to expand...

Wasn't Slow Leopard supposed to be an upgrade and not a clean install, hence the low cost?
 
HLdan

HLdan

macrumors 603
Aug 22, 2007
6,383
0
mgamber said:
Wasn't Slow Leopard supposed to be an upgrade and not a clean install, hence the low cost?
Click to expand...

I don't think you understand how the system works based on your post. Before you make passive jokes about SL, make sure you get the grasp on how the system works first.
 
L

leodavinci0

macrumors 6502
Jan 26, 2006
323
0
This is a common symptom I've seen in the past with a HDD beginning to fail. Try to listen to the HDD area of your computer in a quiet room. If you hear a repetitive sound, like a repetitive click but it doesn't have to be, then it sounds like your HDD is having a read problem with the heads. The spinning beach ball will occur when it is trying to read a sector(s) but can't, then keeps trying until it gets it. I had a failing HDD like this that still passed the SMART test (didn't use Tech Tool Pro though). As Tongteh said, is could also be bad sectors, but in that case the slow down should happen only when you perform a specific task, or tasks that are somehow related.

If you have a network drive, it could be a result of the computer needing to access it for some reason, and the network is just slow.

It could also be a RAM issue, but this type or problem is usually associated with many other symptoms, such as frequent system crashes, chimes on startup, or problems with startup in general.

Question: Does it ONLY happen when browsing the web?
 
R

reubs

macrumors 68000
Jun 22, 2006
1,866
175
I'm having similar problems in Safari (haven't noticed it in other applications...yet). I don't know what to attribute it to, but it's really annoying. I've restarted, and I've logged out. What I haven't done, though, is clean out my history since I installed SL. Is there any chance that keeping so much back history could be causing it to lag at all?
 
R

reubs

macrumors 68000
Jun 22, 2006
1,866
175
Check Software Update. Apple just posted something that might help this problem.

I just installed and restarted, so I'm waiting to see if the problems return...
 
A

Appelsap

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 28, 2008
64
0
reubs said:
Check Software Update. Apple just posted something that might help this problem.

I just installed and restarted, so I'm waiting to see if the problems return...
Click to expand...

Yeah, just saw it.. Only i have a MacBook Pro (early 2008) and mine isn't supported! Wtf:(

Try'ed to run it, but doens't start.
 
J

johnrs

macrumors 6502a
Jul 7, 2008
528
9
Nottingham - UK
For what its worth I initially did a SL upgrade on my MBP and got the same problem.

I too thought you had to have Leopard installed before you could upgrade but read that this was not the case so did a clean install and all was well again..

Hope this helps
 
W

Warcraft Tauren

macrumors member
Oct 15, 2009
36
0
try disabling tech tool pro in the preference pane. i was having a similar problem with random beach balling and since I disabled it I haven't had a beach ball yet.
 
mgamber

mgamber

macrumors 6502a
Jun 12, 2008
817
0
1966
HLdan said:
I don't think you understand how the system works based on your post. Before you make passive jokes about SL, make sure you get the grasp on how the system works first.
Click to expand...

LOL...Slow Leopard...I just saw that. Must have been a typo. Oh well, at least it wasn't dripping with bullsh*t sarcasm.
 
S

stevemiller

macrumors 68000
Oct 27, 2008
1,984
1,494
i've been getting the same beachballing in safari that i never had before. this is off a reformat/clean install of 10.6. and no its not some "conflicting hack" as i've noticed it straight from the fresh install with nothing else. happens on battery/plug, performance/powersaver, 32/64-bit kernel.
 
smirking

smirking

macrumors 68040
Aug 31, 2003
3,744
3,718
Silicon Valley
If you've got Slow Leopard instead of Snow Leopard, you may find some hints as to what's going wrong by checking your Console.app program in the Utilities folder. View all messages and watch it for a few minutes and see what it's logging.

I was being frustrated by the finder freezing up often and all browsers had a really hard time finding downloaded files. I tried some random tips I found online and most of them did nothing for me.

I opened up Console and notice that Little Snitch and TechTool Pro Directory scanner was erroring out every few seconds. I upgraded both software packages to their current versions and the problems went away. It might not be Snow Leopard that's actually causing the freeze. It might be an app incompatibility causing problems.
 
N

Nickffc

macrumors newbie
Nov 12, 2009
1
0
had the same spinning wheel hell.....!!!

reset my pram and all is fine now so far....!!

restart your machine, as it restarts press; command/option/P/R at the same time until your hear the startup sound twice then release....


:)
 
mgamber

mgamber

macrumors 6502a
Jun 12, 2008
817
0
1966
I tried wiping the PVRam and it worked for a while but it wasn't long before the system was slow and not terribly stable again. Then I tried a utility that ran the system housekeeping stuff, cleared out caches, did all kinds of stuff I've found all over the web and they all helped....for a while. Now I've found a permanent solution by installing Windows 7 on the iMac and Macbook Pro. It works great on the Apple hardware and I can get my work done without the constant stream of pointless interruptions. So long, Snow Leopard, I hardly knew ya.
 
A

Albone

macrumors regular
Jul 22, 2003
120
0
I had a similar problem and it turned out being a failing hard drive. Back your stuff up just in case.
 
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