MacBook Pro Uptime Problems/Migration Assistant

[sh0vel]

The maximum time I have been able to have it on is ~ 8 days. It either hangs, gets stuck on a blue screen or something. I've tried resetting the PRAM, checked the permissions and ran Onyx nothing helps. Every week I have to force a shutdown. Any ideas on something else I should try?

Also I bought a new MBP (not because of this issue) should I use Migration Assistant or should I manually install the applications? I wouldn't want to transfer whatever problems this MBP has to the new one.

MBP is a 13" 2009 with 10.6.3, everything up to date.

Thanks.

 

[Makosuke]

Given that you're actually having problems, it might be best to only use Migration Assistant to migrate your users, not apps--that will reduce the chance of bringing something untoward over without the massive hassle of a manual user file transfer (which if anything is more likely to cause problems than solve them, if you're moving most of the ~/Library files anyway). Not that most apps that would get moved could cause any system problems, but the more fresh the better.

If you never reinstalled the OS on the problem Mac that's another thing that might be tried--clone the installation to an external drive, wipe the drive and completely reinstall the OS from scratch, then Migrate your users back over (or even migrate everything)--if something got corrupted in the OS or was weird on the factory install, that might clear it up. It certainly won't hurt anything other than wasting some time, and since you can disable optional installs you won't use (mostly language translations) it'll save a little space, too.

If that doesn't help I'd probably start looking at hardware--the problems you're describing sound a little like a flaky hard drive (or corrupt one, though checks would usually find that, and reformatting as above would fix it if anything is hidden and wrong). Certain peripherals could also cause behavior like that, though I'd expect bad RAM to just cause kernel panics, not hangs. Have you run the long Hardware Test from the original install discs?

 

[sh0vel]

Well the hard disk needed to be repaired last week, popped in the original disks and it went fine but I've had force a shutdown since then.

I have run the Hardware Test (short, looping) and that checked out fine. I plan to give this one to my sister but I'll do an erase and install.

For the most part the computer has been great but there are a few niggles

- When opening Terminal the command prompt isn't there (Standard and Admin accounts) even after restarting the app and sometimes the computer.

- Excessive parking of the hard drive head (results in really bad sounding screeches - but the hard drive always checks out fine)

- the inability to stay on for more than a week

- and disappearing widgets

The new MBP should be arriving day after tomorrow. I was thinking that the problems could be cause by some user setting but a reinstall sounds like a good suggestion. Unfortunately there are some apps (quite a few) where Migration assistant is really useful, I can't afford to lose any data. Considering all these problems does it sound like the problems lie in the user account or with just a faulty factory install?

 

[Makosuke]

That sure sounds like hardware problems to me, but if full-disk surface scans aren't turning up anything there isn't really any way to be sure apart from a completely clean install. Note, for what it's worth, that even if you DO use migration assistant to bring over apps, there's still a chance that a reinstall/migrate will clear up some issues, depending on the root cause.

Other questions to ask would be if you've got any low-level system modifications installed and/or have messed with your environment configuration in the default terminal shell. If yes to the former, that would be the one other area to check out. And if the answer is NO to the latter--you haven't done anything to your terminal environment--and you're getting command prompt failures, then there's something seriously wrong with either software, configuration, or hardware that definitely should not be happening on a "clean" system.

You could always try booting from the install discs and testing out Terminal from there (pretty sure it's one of the apps available in the menu)--if you get prompt failures or misbehavior in that situation, it's a hardware issue. If not it's either software or your internal hard drive.

 

[sh0vel]

I see what you are saying, tomorrow I will do a clean install to the new MBP instead of a migration.

I haven't altered terminal in anyway and for the most part I don't use it. I do backups everyday so I will assume (for now) that the problem is a software one since none of the tests I have done seem to indicate no hardware problems (hard drive or ram).

I will monitor the 13" after the clean install to see if any problems arise hopefully it is just a flaky factory install.