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Random beach-balling.

Relznuk

Relznuk

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 27, 2009
391
0
UT, USA
I recently got a new uMBP 15" 2.66, and have found that, every once in a while, the computer hangs for up to 5 seconds intermittently. I have been watching episodes of TV shows in iTunes that last about 50 minutes each. I cannot even make it through an entire show without the 5 second hang. This is irritating, because when the computer comes back to speed, the TV show is five minutes ahead and I have to rewind.

It also happens whenever I start a session in firefox, where it has to load 15-20 or so tabs at one time (I have a session saver.)

I'm not sure what's going on here. The late '07 2.4ghz 15" that this machine is replacing never even stuttered, even while doing the exact same tasks I am currently having problems with.

My instinct leads me to start thinking that it might be some type of imminent hardware failure. I've heard of people having these symptoms shortly before a logic board dies or HDD crashes.

What are your opinions? I'd really hate to have to send this in for repairs so very soon, having only owned it for a few days... but might the circumstances merit it? I also seem to have a loose hinge... Perhaps I should just try to get it replaced?

Thanks,
Relznuk

**Update: This now happens periodically at random intervals in any application I am using, no matter if I have one app open or many. Further more, it's frequency seems to be increasing, for example, it has happened twice while typing this update.

**Update: Firefox is now crashing periodically, although with much less frequency than the beach-ball attacks.
 
Bump. By any chance are you using Snow Leopard? My MBP was flawless on Leopard but now I keep getting the beach ball (even with simple tasks like Safari and Mail). Very annoying...
 
Ann P said:
Bump. By any chance are you using Snow Leopard? My MBP was flawless on Leopard but now I keep getting the beach ball (even with simple tasks like Safari and Mail). Very annoying...
Click to expand...

Interesting that you would mention this. I am, indeed, using Snow Leopard. However, I'm unconvinced this is the source of the problem. I had SL loaded on my previous MBP as well, and it did not have these symptoms.
 
heres the plan. i got a 2.26ghz mbp on S-leopard, beachballs like jailbait at the movies on friday nights. Now ive heard of the fix being a reflash back to efi firmware 1.6, theres a thread couple pages back. Lets all go over there and read up try random **** ( like turning off the sudden motion sensor etc..) and meet back here in 1hr?

synchronize your g-shocks, go.
 
tsa1 said:
heres the plan. i got a 2.26ghz mbp on S-leopard, beachballs like jailbait at the movies on friday nights. Now ive heard of the fix being a reflash back to efi firmware 1.6, theres a thread couple pages back. Lets all go over there and read up try random **** ( like turning off the sudden motion sensor etc..) and meet back here in 1hr?

synchronize your g-shocks, go.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I want to ply around with things that are there for a reason, like the sudden motion sensor. Additionally, I don't really want to do things like flash my EFI firmware - a move that could potentially go very sour and harm my computer. I think I'll wait for a suggestion that is a bit more certain and straightforward, and that involves less risk.
 
Snow Leopard still has some glitches and problems that haven't been ironed out. There will be patches and updates eventually to prevent to glitches and problems...

Its just that Snow Leopard is still quite new and lots of problems in it haven't been sorted...:(
 
It's unlikely to be a SL issue, beings I didn't have the issue on my previous SL machine. And unlike the folks having trouble with the EFI upgrade 1.7, I do not have an aftermarket HDD - my hardware config is factory standard.

Any other ideas on this? Will AppleCare repair this?
 
I've been getting random beachballs like you for a few weeks, running 10.6.1. My beachballs last 20-45 seconds, and it's doing nothing most of the time, like I'll just scroll down a page in Safari. My stock HDD also has a
gurgling noise, and I'm going in today to Apple to see if they'll just replace the harddrive, cause this performance is so mediocre for a $1200 machine.
 
Relznuk said:
My instinct leads me to start thinking that it might be some type of imminent hardware failure. I've heard of people having these symptoms shortly before a logic board dies or HDD crashes.
Click to expand...
It might just be related to SL and the different graphics on your new machine. Who knows?

Have you tried going to the same media sites using Safari? Is there any change?

While I think your problems are SL related I'd still exchange it just for the loose hinges (and while you still have that return window open).
 
I've noticed beachballing too. Mostly in Safari - if I load a webpage that has lots of stuff in it (i.e. images) Safari will just beachball rather than let me scroll through the page while the images are loaded.
 
Relznuk said:
It's unlikely to be a SL issue, beings I didn't have the issue on my previous SL machine. And unlike the folks having trouble with the EFI upgrade 1.7, I do not have an aftermarket HDD - my hardware config is factory standard.

Any other ideas on this? Will AppleCare repair this?
Click to expand...

If Apple Care can find out what it is maybe they will be able to repair it in some way:D
 
I ask that you please update this thread with the solution you use or how you solve the problem...I just got my very first apple on wednesday night and suffered the very same problems! Please keep us updated!
 
jediistar said:
I ask that you please update this thread with the solution you use or how you solve the problem...I just got my very first apple on wednesday night and suffered the very same problems! Please keep us updated!
Click to expand...

Nothng odd in my console log at those times. I'm contacting Customer Relations Monday, as per the advice of the AppleCare agent I spoke with.
 
I get the same thing during startup, when MBP loads the desktop and I try to open safari and look at something else at the same time. It seems to me that it's similar to the sandclock in the old windows and like the spinning circle in vista and win7.
 
Relznuk said:
Nothng odd in my console log at those times. I'm contacting Customer Relations Monday, as per the advice of the AppleCare agent I spoke with.
Click to expand...

Well definitely let me know what you come up with, I have only had it happen to me twice and not since then but most mac users I've talked to are surprised at my instances and are puzzled by them occuring so new out of the box.
 
jediistar said:
Well definitely let me know what you come up with, I have only had it happen to me twice and not since then but most mac users I've talked to are surprised at my instances and are puzzled by them occuring so new out of the box.
Click to expand...

I'll certainly do that.
 
I've had the same experiences with my new MBP with SL and the beachball. I decided to fall back to Leopard with the uMBP.

The older one is the 2.33ghz MBP 15". Even my wifes black Macbook hasn't had this problem.
 
Perhaps it's an app you installed? Have you tried uninstalling any extra apps and seeing if the problem persists? Basically just remove anything that didn't come with the Mac right out of the box including Firefox.
 
mpuck972 said:
Perhaps it's an app you installed? Have you tried uninstalling any extra apps and seeing if the problem persists? Basically just remove anything that didn't come with the Mac right out of the box including Firefox.
Click to expand...

I admit I did have firefox running with about 6 tabs at the time of my itunes freezing with the same problem the OP did, the 5-15 second skip so I don't know. I've gone back to safari full time and I haven't had the problem since. Then again, I haven't really recreated the problem so I don't know. Just a little concerned in my own right, I've waited for a long time to purchase my brand new mac, I want the experience to shine!
 
Yeah I had that problem and now it's coming back...I did a list of things don't know which worked but verified & repaired disk, reset pram and some other stuff. It's happened on my 13" pro (2.26) stock HDD on leopard and snow leopard. :mad:
 
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