IMac freeze issue - Genius Bar

I took my iMac in which has frozen over 20 times in 2 days. This makes my computer nearly unusable (and I only use it about 4-5 hours a day).
I went to the store at the Beverly Center in Los Angeles, CA. The Genius named Mindy said she never heard of the issue and that without replication, she wouldn't be able to help me. She ended up setting up a standard Apple diagnostic test for me (basic hardware test for any computer brought in) but that required my computer to be left there for 2 days. I decided to pass (an when I run the hardware tests, everything passes fine.)
Here are a few things she said:
-I pointed out the discussions and she said, well you can never go by those because people will complain for anything.
-She kept insisting this issue was specific to Leopard even though I had the issue with Tiger. Everytime I reminded her she said Apple will release a patch to fix it.
-She said it was a coincidence that so many people were complaining at once, and if anything, it was a software issue from Leopard.
-She said if it was a hardware issue, it was most likely bad RAM. I then said or a bad video card and she said, no because that is attached to the logic board. What the ?? Didn't make sense to me either.
I don't think she really cared to help me out and sounded robotic with her responses.
Anyways, I'm going to have to find a store where they have "heard" of the issue and don't deny it. It might be easier than trying to replicate a nasty random bug.

Wow! You got one of the few bad iMacs AND one of the few bad genius'. Now THAT's unlucky!
I just took my freezing iMac to Apple at Yorkdale in Toronto Canada. The young lady tech was very nice however hadn't heard of the issue. I had anticipated this so beforehand I took the liberty of formatting the hard drive and installing ONLY Leopard (no 1.3 update, no apps). I verified the freeze on next restart then packed up the machine and took it in. The aim was to demonstrate how a) the virgin installation freezes, and b) the update 1.3 actually makes it worse (knowing they'd try the update). Everything went like clockwork, froze on cover flowing the apps folder, then she installed the update and I could barely GET to the apps folder. I explained I get artifacts when watching movies then often either freezes or goes to black screen. She promptly ordered a new graphics card and I left the machine with them. Will chime in with the results next week when I get it back.
It took so long waiting for my appointment I was able to rigorously test every iMac in the store. They all worked just fine and seemed zippier than I expected (significant?). So if I got lines like that Genius Mindy in LA I'd be use that to illustrate your iMac must work with Leopard so it's their problem. But happily my Apple genius was A-O-KAY.

Similar Messages

IMac Freezing Issue -Need Confirmation...

Hey all,
I need confirmation on whether or not zapping the PRAM seems to stop the iMac freezing issue. I have had 3 freezes within 10 minutes. I restarted after my last preparation to installing Leopard and the screen saver kicked in, which is the 'Cosmos' slide show and the graphics froze up. Screen went black and I left it for a couple of minutes. I came back to it, and had an image on the screen, but it was still locked up. So I restarted it. After boot up, I opened Activity monitor, and locked up again.
So I zapped the PRAM on this 3rd restart and have not locked up since. I'd bet 100 to 1 that if I were to restart, without the PRAM reset, I would crash within 5 minutes of the start up.
I really believe without a doubt these iMac reboot issues are related to specific EFI versions failing to initialize graphics correctly.
Can anyone confirm this? If your iMac crashes, does Zapping the PRAM fix it?
I'll be calling Executive relations contact and telling her the bad news.
Okay, so first off, this isn't a solution to this iMac plague, but it should prevent the freezing and NO, it does not have to do with removing the ATI drivers.
I was asked to install Leopard by Executive relations at Apple and told her that, as soon as I do, my iMac will freeze. So, I have been preparing the Leopard install and have crashed 3 times, in a row... at that point I said, Leopard is going to be a no go but I needed to use my iMac without it crashing. So, zapped the PRAM like I did before and immediately the graphic freezes went away.
So

Here is my experience, iMac 24:
I bought in JR NY 2 weeks ago. I had to use it without internet connection (so no updates) and no freezes.
Then I connected to internet and installed the available updates and start to get the freezes, even trying the PRAM reset.
I tried to remove the extra memory, change memory slot but no lucky, video artifacts (like pixels not refreshing) when moving the mouse over the dock icons then freeze.
I had no other softwares installed at all, only the OS applications.
I formatted the HD and reinstalled the Tiger and didn't accepted any update, so I could use the imac for 2 days without a single freeze, but some black screens when screen saver starts.
Since no freezes, I decided to update the OS again and after the first boot the freezes came back very fast, I could start a freeze in about 10 seconds.
I tried the PRAM reset without sucess and my machine was ready to go to a tech person.
Yesterday I updated the OS to 10.4.11 and did a PRAM reset after the update and tested the machine for 2 hours without a freeze or video artifacts, looks very stable, but I have to test it more.
You guys tried the Tiger last update ?
Ulisses

Apple and ATI aware of iMac freezing issue

Now they just need to figure out how to fix it.
Here is a post from today by one of the Blizzard mac techs on the Mac Support forum of the World of Warcraft forums:
There are at least two sides to customer support.
One is, identifying issues that need to be fixed. In this case (ATI
driver bug) that task is done. ATI and Apple are aware of the issue and
working on it, I confirmed that with them today.
Two is, finding a way to provide short term relief of the issue if at
all possible.
Since we can't make a driver update appear in seconds, bear with us if
we make suggestions that may in fact improve stability for you until a
more lasting fix is available.
"

wawalulu,
If you can wait a few weeks for Apple and ATI to sort out the graphics driver problems, that might be your best bet. With any new model it does take Apple a couple months to iron out the glitches so when this happens, you will have a pretty solid Mac.
I work supporting both Macs and PC's where the user base is in the thousands and I will tell you on the whole, Macs are definitely more trouble-free than PC's. However, I won't candy coat things like some of the posters on this forum. There WILL be issues that will crop up but usually Apple does the right thing and fixes them. Sending feedback and patience is the key. When the new Leopard OS (10.5) comes out this month, I guarantee there will be issues due to it's newness and lack of maturity. However, if Apple's past track record is any indication, it shouldn't have anywhere near the issues Windows Vista has. We won't even support Vista where I work because it's so troublesome!
BTW, my 20" late 2006 iMac I use at work has been rock solid. This is because it's a revised version of the original intel iMac Apple released so most of the bugs were worked out. The G5 tower I had before that was perfect as well as the G4 and G3 towers I used before that. All of these Macs were at least second revision of their respective model lines. If memory serves, all of them has some teething pains in their first revisions.
I have a new 20" aluminum iMac at home, breaking my cardinal rule to never buy the first revision of a new product and it does have the graphics freezing issue talked about in these threads but it's only happened twice. So, I knew full well what I was getting into and am patiently waiting for Apple to release an update and fix the issue. Why did it have to be so... darn... sexy?!
I'll end this post on the following note: I use Macs at home precisely because I don't want to spend time fixing things... because I do that all day at work! If there was a better computer and OS out there, I'd be using it!
Message was edited by: Martek

Another iMac Freezing Issue - pls help a newbie out

I understand this problem is not uncommon - I've been trying to read the many threads I see on the issue. However, most posts outline problems, suggestions are made, but then reported to not work. Also, many threads are 2 years old.
Could someone please suggest a step-by-step troubleshooting solution?
Here are my pertinent facts:
* Bought 20" iMac in July 07.
* Processor: 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* Memory: 3GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
* Hubs installed the second memory stick a while ago (over a year and i don't remember this problem correlating with the new memory).
* Video: ATI Radeon X1600
* OS: Mac OS X 10.6.2
* HD: 250GB capacity, 31GB available
* I am using an external harddrive to back up my stuff (LaCie, connected by firewire)
* Frequently used apps: Firefox, iPhoto, Photoshop Elements, Parallels (Quicken for PC), MS Office for Mac, etc.
The problem starting occurring several months ago, while I was still running Tiger. Have since upgraded to Snow Leopard, with no improvement, in fact, things are getting worse.
I get display distortion ("artifacts"?) - horizontal lines, blocks of the screen distort, usually clearing after dragging that part of the app off the screen of view and then back.
Typically, if I start seeing display issues, a freeze up is imminent.
Sometimes I get a sense it's coming soon - things run more slowly. Other times, it seems without provocation. I click on a window and nothing happens.
Sometimes it's the wheel of death other times screen completely locks up with no spinning wheel. No option to force quit. Mouse is unresponsive. Keyboard appears to be, although I can toggle the Caps lock button on and off (light toggles). If I am streaming video, the screen will lock up, but the audio continues. If I wait (have gone to bed and come back in the am) it is still frozen.
If I am streaming video (i.e Hulu on Firefox) or working in memory intensive applications (Windows, Parallels, Photoshop Elements, etc.) Problem is more frequent.
I can go a day or so without problems, but if I am doing anything slightly involved, it happens much more frequently, as often as every 10 minutes or half hour or so.
Steps I have taken:
I always have to do a hard reboot. I have run disk utility multiple times, occasionally it finds and corrects stuff, but no fix seems to be permanent.
I have seen suggestions of resetting PRAM as well as doing a clean re-install, but also seen that those fixes haven't endured.
I don't have Apple Care and I'm not sure what steps I should be taking to fix this. Is there hope? I mostly see lots of problems reported, but not successful resolution.
It's aggravating because I can't use the system for the stuff I bought it for (ex: digital scrapbooking) without worrying about losing my data. I switched to a Mac because I heard they ran so great and were "cool" to boot. While there have been many features of the Mac i enjoy, *if this kind of performance is typical after 2 yrs of use, I will not remain loyal to Apple.*
If you have been successful in resolving the issue with Apple, what did you tell them and what did they do?
I am competent system "user", but not as good when it gets into the weeds. Would appreciate any advice, feel free to spell it out as tho I were an idiot.
I would appreciate a "try this, then try this" approach, especially if you have tried it and it has worked for you.
Thanks for the help,
Kendra

OK, Mean, I mean Meanest, we have the same system (mine was purchased late 2006), and I can say we have identical symptoms. I agree with Paul_31 regarding disk space, but in addition, from all the posts on various Apple forums, it seems clear that the problem is due to the Radeon X1600 graphics card AND heat. These elegantly-designed Macs that we all love have a lot of stuff packed into a small package. Consequently they run hot, and over time the result is components bake and deteriorate. In our case, the weak link seems to be the Radeon card and since it’s not easily replaced, repair costs are nearly as much as the cost of a new iMac. A contributing factor is that over time dust will build up inside your Mac, and this serves as insulation, retarding heat transfer, and causing components to run hotter still.
OK, so that’s the sad tale, but what can you do? Assuming your system is not too far gone due to the ravages of heat over time, there are things you can do to help prolong it’s life, and hopefully get it to behave itself better until the time it finally fails completely.
In my case, the steps I’ve taken have resulted in a system that now “generally” runs for days at a time without locking up/crashing. A caveat: these are bandaids, not true fixes. I’m convinced the Radeon card will eventually fail and I’ll be faced with shopping for a new Mac – I’m only hoping the steps taken will give me a few more years of use before that happens. So, here’s my suggestions (basically they all have to do with getting your Mac to run cooler and being able to monitor temps so you know just how hot things are getting):
1. First of all, if you don’t already have one, get one of the free programs available to monitor your Mac’s internal temperatures. One of the most popular ones is a widget, iStat Pro. As I type this iStat Pro is showing my temps are as follows:
Hard Drive 92 deg. F
CPU 85 F
Ambient Air 69 F
GPU Diode (graphics card) 92 F
Hard Drive Bay 95 F
Memory Controller 90 F
Optical Drive 81 F
If you have iStat Pro and see that your temps are about the same as these, I would say don’t bother to read further – you may have a different set of problems. If your temps are 10-20 F (or more) higher, keep reading.
2. Try to clean out the internals of your Mac with compressed air. After 3+ years of use, I used an air compressor with an air gun attachment and blew through the vents at the back and bottom of my Mac with 60-80psi and actually saw a cloud of dust come out of my Mac. A more effective approach would entail cracking open the case of the Mac so you could really blow directly on the different boards/components. I haven’t done that, but I’m tempted to give it a try. Note: Some have suggested vacuuming and/or using a can of compressed air. I don’t think that approach is all that effective. You need a really strong flow of air to get that dust out of the inards.
3. Download the free program SMC Fan Control (v 2.2.2). It will allow you to adjust the fan speeds higher for each of the 3 internal fans. The Mac has firmware that ramps up the speeds of these fans as internal temps rise, but the general consensus is the Mac firmware is “too little, too late”. With the standard Mac firmware, the fans will run at their default settings well beyond the point where the components are already way too hot. SMC Fan Control allows you to set the minimum fan speeds higher than the Mac default.
Once you've done these steps, I'd suggest doing a SMC reset, then re-boot while keeping your fingers crossed.
This is getting too long so I’ll stop for now. Good luck...

Screen issues after Genius Bar repair

I had to have the ODD replaced in my 2010 27" iMac. The Genius Bar experience was, erm, an experience.
I got my iMac back today and, after turning it on, discovered what appear to be dead pixels on my screen. They definitely weren't there before I left the machine with them. From briefly looking around the web, it appears it may be (i.e. I hope it is) dust that's trapped behind the screen. Surely Apple have the equipment to allow them to prevent such occurances?
Should I demand they do the job properly, or am I expecting too much?
Had I ben told about this before hand, I might not have opted to have the ODD replaced (as I only did it because it's still under warranty).

It's just very frustrating as the Apple Store is not local, and the 27" iMac isn't the easiest thing to carry around.
The pixel anomalies weren't there before I took it in to have the ODD replaced. I expected that Apple, of all companies, would have done the best job possible. I hope it is just dust, and not newly dead pixels.
I'm sure Apple will do the right thing, but it's just such a pain to have to take it back to them again (it will be my third journey there in a week).
Thanks for the responses.

Random Kernel Panics even after Clean Install from Genius Bar

Despite being "all apple" I'm about fed up with these kernel panics and ready to convert!
I believe these started with Lion... I'm now fully updated on Maverick.
Nothing has seemed to change.
I took my iMac to the Genius Bar after I finally figured out a way to replicate a panic.
After all sorts of memory, and other hardware tests they suggested and performed a clean sweep.
I came home, restored with Time Machine, and thought all was well...
Now, a week later I'm back to having restarts in the middle of extensive projects.
I've had two in the past two hours.
I initially diagnosed it as anytime a large file (2GB+) was being moved, saved, or when a back up or virus scan was being performed.
Then it happened at other times and proved that wrong.
Then I assumed it was RAM. I took it out, cleaned, and performed multiple tests. All was good and up.
Then I could reproduce it while working with a LARGE file in iMovie.
Thats when I took it to the Bar.
Now, I'm long out of iMovie and working mainly in Google Chrome with nothing else opened, but Evernote, and FileZilla, which I have used for years.
The last two panics have included the : 0xdeadbeefdaadbeef
Could it be the grapics drivers? Using
NVIDIA GeForce 9400
Type:          GPU
Bus:          PCI
VRAM (Total):          256 MB
Vendor:          NVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID:          0x0869
Revision ID:          0x00b1
ROM Revision:          3454
Any Help?
I can post the panics if needed...

Here's the EtreCheck... looks like I have a lot more 3rd Party stuff than I realized...? Probably some of the problem?
Hardware Information:
          iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2009)
          iMac - model: iMac10,1
          1 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2 cores
          8 GB RAM
Video Information:
          NVIDIA GeForce 9400 - VRAM: 256 MB
System Software:
          OS X 10.9.1 (13B42) - Uptime: 0 days 6:23:1
Disk Information:
          ST3500418ASQ disk0 : (500.11 GB)
                    EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB
                    Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 499.25 GB (78.52 GB free)
                    Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB
          HL-DT-ST DVDRW GA11N disk1 : (661.8 MB)
                    disk1s1 (disk1s1) <not mounted>: 576.2 MB
                    disk1s1s1 (disk1s1s1) <not mounted>: 32 KB
                    Cooper Family (disk1s1s2) /Volumes/Cooper Family : 566 MB (Zero KB free)
USB Information:
          Apple Inc. Built-in iSight
          Apple Internal Memory Card Reader
          Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub
                    Apple, Inc Apple Keyboard
          Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
          Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub
                    Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
FireWire Information:
Thunderbolt Information:
Kernel Extensions:
          org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv          (4.2.18)
          org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB          (4.2.18)
Startup Items:
          VirtualBox: Path: /Library/StartupItems/VirtualBox
Launch Daemons:
          [System] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [System] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [System] com.ciscosystems.ciscoconnectupgrade.daemon.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [System] com.fitbit.galileod.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [System] com.gopro.stereomodestatus.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [System] com.leapfrog.connect.shell.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [System] com.line6.l6ksettingmgr.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [System] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [System] com.rim.BBDaemon.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [System] org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist 3rd-Party support link
Launch Agents:
          [System] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [System] com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [System] com.rim.BBLaunchAgent.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [System] com.wacom.pentablet.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [System] org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist 3rd-Party support link
User Launch Agents:
          [not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [not loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist 3rd-Party support link
          [not loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [not loaded] com.spotify.webhelper.plist 3rd-Party support link
User Login Items:
          iTunesHelper
          Google Drive
          Launch Nikon Message Center 2
          CFAgent
Internet Plug-ins:
          DirectorShockwave: Version: 11.6.4r634 3rd-Party support link
          WacomNetscape: Version: 2.1.0-1 - SDK 10.8 3rd-Party support link
          LogMeInSafari64: Version: 1.0.497 3rd-Party support link
          Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9
          WacomTabletPlugin: Version: WacomTabletPlugin 2.1.0.2 3rd-Party support link
          AdobeAAMDetect: Version: AdobeAAMDetect 2.0.0.0 - SDK 10.7 3rd-Party support link
          AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 10.1.9 3rd-Party support link
          LogMeIn: Version: 1.0.497 3rd-Party support link
          Silverlight: Version: 5.1.10411.0 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link
          QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3
          LogMeInSafari32: Version: 1.0.497 3rd-Party support link
          iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.8
          SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.3.1 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link
          AdobePDFViewer: Version: 10.1.9 3rd-Party support link
          JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 14.9.0 - SDK 10.7 Outdated! Update
Audio Plug-ins:
          BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.9
          AirPlay: Version: 1.9 - SDK 10.9
          AppleAVBAudio: Version: 2.0.0 - SDK 10.9
          iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3 - SDK 10.9
iTunes Plug-ins:
          Quartz Composer Visualizer: Version: 1.4 - SDK 10.9
User Internet Plug-ins:
          CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: Version: 1.0.94 3rd-Party support link
3rd Party Preference Panes:
          Flash Player 3rd-Party support link
          GoPro 3rd-Party support link
          Growl 3rd-Party support link
          Line6AudioMIDI 3rd-Party support link
          Perian 3rd-Party support link
          PenTablet 3rd-Party support link
Old Applications:
          Nikon Message Center 2:          Version: 2.1.1 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link
                    /Applications/Nikon Software/Nikon Message Center 2/Nikon Message Center 2.app
          /Applications/iWork '09
          /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MERP2.0
                    Microsoft Error Reporting:          Version: 2.2.8 - SDK 10.4 3rd-Party support link
                    Microsoft Ship Asserts:          Version: 1.1.3 - SDK 10.4 3rd-Party support link
          Microsoft AutoUpdate:          Version: 2.3.6 - SDK 10.4 3rd-Party support link
                    /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0/Microsoft AutoUpdate.app
          SLLauncher:          Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link
                    /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Silverlight/OutOfBrowser/SLLauncher.app
          Preschool Animal Match:          Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.0 3rd-Party support link
Time Machine:
          Time Machine not configured!
Top Processes by CPU:
               3%          WindowServer
               2%          Google Drive
               1%          Core Sync
               1%          EtreCheck
               0%          coreservicesd
Top Processes by Memory:
          172 MB          com.apple.IconServicesAgent
          123 MB          softwareupdated
          115 MB          Google Chrome
          90 MB          mds_stores
          82 MB          Google Drive
Virtual Memory Information:
          4.95 GB          Free RAM
          1.75 GB          Active RAM
          321 MB          Inactive RAM
          755 MB          Wired RAM
          514 MB          Page-ins
          0 B          Page-outs
Thank You ALL !
Any direction is better than frustration!

IMAC Freezing continues on leopard

I bought leopard hoping that my IMAC freezing issue would be solved, within 15 minutes of installing my Mac froze!!!!!!!!!!

Come on, we have 2 topics on this already. No need for another?
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1195442&tstart=0
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1196966&tstart=0

Freezing Aluminum iMac - Apple Genius Bar Confirms Hardware Problems

Good morning to all my fellow sad iMac users,
I wanted to post a message to let you all know that I just returned from the Apple Store genius bar, and that they confirmed to me that it was a faulty graphics card.
It was a very pleasant trip to the genius bar that I wish I didn't have to make, as I just don't have that kind of free time. In all, it only took about 15 minutes of the genius trying to recreate the screen artifacts followed by the inevitable frozen state. Once the genius saw the failure, they consulted their knowledge base and told me the video card needed to be replace. I was told that the ATI 2600 HD cards were not in stock, and that it had to be ordered, but that I would be able to pick my system up within 5 business days.
I am still skeptical about the diagnosis, although I have always known it was hardware and not software. I am skeptical due to the good reviews the ATI Mobility 2600 has received in the PC world. However, I am very happy that someone is finally owning up to the fact that 'something' is wrong with the hardware.
I will post again in 5 days to let you all know if the problem was fixed with the new graphics card. And I definitely urge you all to take your iMacs to your local Apple Store (if you have access to one)!
Regards,
Soon to be happy iMac owner (fingers crossed)...

After 3 times on the phone with Applecare and 2.5-3 hours gone, I'm going to see a technician 1/2 hour away. Each rep I asked if they have heard of the "freezing iMac issue" and they said "yes". The second phone call the lady said the previous person didn't document what we had done, even though i had case number, and we had to start over. Well we didn't start over, I explained what we did before. She had me create new account - still could hang it in 5 min or less - then she had me try to reinstall OS. When machine reboots on Leopard DVD I selected English, then the Disk. Then I asked "where is the 'archive' option?" She says, "it is in the sequence somewhere look around" (paraphrase), I was beyond it and hit "install" thinking next step would confirm install options. Luckily it is set to archive users by default, but it about gave me a heart attack. I told her what was happening, that I thought my data may be destroyed, and her response was "good luck". I had to hang up. I should have asked for her supervisor.
Next person was knowledgeable and reasonable. He reassured me data would be there as the default setting was to archive - thank God. I also had set up time machine previously so I was sort-of sure I had data somewhere. Still very uneasy feeling. I got data back and iMac hung 5 minutes or less after startup. Now I have to go to technician. I asked the last guy "what are chances of swapping for a new machine and admitting this thing is hosed?" He explained that it won't work this way as I was out of the return/refund time of 15 days. I explain that this is leaving a real bad impression and that I felt poked in the eye because I waited patiently for Apple's promised update, burning the return time. That was a bad gamble.
We all learn from this stuff. I'm lucky enough to have several macs, so I can keep going, what happens to guy with one mac? Turn around time at apple store is 5 days - from technician, could be couple weeks. Ouch. I'm 3.5hours from Apple store.

IMac way too slow at home, but works perfectly at Genius bar - why?

My iMac is slow when doing things like switching users, waking up from screen saver and switching and/or opening applications. Sometimes the spinning wheel of love will spin for 30 seconds (seems like an hour). I've got a memory monitor and I can see that the memory is getting used up and not released but I don't think that is the problem.
Here's the kicker... when I take it to the genius bar they can never replicate the problem. It runs fine no matter what they do. So, I have to believe it is something going on with home network and/or printer.
My network has the iMac with kodak USB printer, macbook with epson USB printer, AppleTV. The problem is the same when I have everything wireless or using ethernet over AC power outlets. I also have a time machine and airport express which I no longer have hooked up.
Anybody have any clue what could be going on to cause all these problems? BTW, no issues with the macbook or appleTV (or iPhones or iPad for that matter).

I've got a memory monitor and I can see that the memory is getting used up and not released but I don't think that is the problem.
That should really slow it down, but no idea why there & not at the Genious bar, but possibly Networking, or what all you have connected at home.
Open Activity Monitor in Applications>Utilities, select All Processes & sort on CPU%, any indications there?
How much RAM & free space do you have also, click on the Memory & Disk Usage Tabs.
In the Memory tab, are there a lot of Pageouts?

Freezing and crashing iPhone 5S - What do I need to do before going to Genius Bar

Bought a iPhone 5S in October. Started crashing, slowing down and freezing up 5 days ago. Revived it by hard reset (pressing power and home buttons).
Contacted Apple Support online chat, advised to restore from backup, try to use minimal function, and if it still had the same problem, need to go to Genius Bar.
So it continued to crash and freeze, and all the Genius did was to reset my phone and told me to not restore from backup.
My local Apple Store is difficult to get to - middle of town, difficult to get parking, and if this wasn't the holidays season, I would struggle to get to the Store during it's opening hours. A bit annoyed that I wasted time to go into the Genius Bar today when I could have easily wiped my phone at home!
My question to all of you is, if the phone continues to crash and freeze with the new setup, anything else I need to try before heading back to the Genius Bar? Don't want to waste anyone's time!
Thank you.

PhilipRoy wrote:
crashing and freezing phone is not not NOT related to hardware. It is without dout and with a high level of certainty a SOFTWARE issue which will require restorationg to default settings WITHOUT restoring the backup.
You're still not reading what the OPs are posting.
He has already restored it as new, not from a backup: "all the Genius did was to reset my phone and told me to not restore from backup. "
And, a hardware problem can DEFINITELY cause the symptoms described.
OP, if you have restored the device as new (iOS: How to back up your data and set up your device as a new device - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4137), following those steps exactly, then you've done everything you can do. If the device, in that state, is still freezing & crashing, then it is almost definitely a hardware issue.

Mac book pro 10.5.7 sleep issue..... not even sydney genius bar can help me

ok hey guys, this is my first ever post on a support forum so please help me out!
I'll give any specific hardware info if needed later on but this is the basics:
i have had my mbp for over a year and 6months into it my mbp started going into sleep mode for no reason ...and no im not simple the energy settings are set to never sleep so its not that. Since then i have tried and tested everything under the sun to resolve the issue i have been to the genius bar and booked it in several times, each time they tell me they can not find any problem. I have had the logic board replaced - i have tried removing the p.list files, resetting pram thingy the battery test thing....everything...i have looked on endless forums for a resolution but nothing works!, it will go to sleep at random times generally when im doing alot of things on it it can run fine for days maybe sometime weeks but then its starts playing up again. When it does sleep the screen goes blank and the power light pulses but worst it cuts the internet connection which is terrible coz i have a time capsule and it cuts that link as well and messes that up entirely! sometimes it will just keep cutting out every 20-40 seconds untill i wake it by tapping the space bar or moving my mouse sometimes it just shuts down completely - i have done a compete erase & reinstall but ill b honest i still reinstalled some programs from my backups that cant be downloaded anymore (isquint etc) coz the genius guys said maybe a program is corrupting the hardware but if anyone has any ANY ideas or has the same problem please! tell me - im sure i could add more info n stuff but if u want 2 ask me specifics then i will answer anything to help
thanx again guys.
i should say at this point the only relief im getting to stop it from sleeping is if i disconnect the power adapter and use the battery that seems to stop it, but it has crashed(slept) on battery power as well but as of today doing this seems to help ....hasn't crashed since writting this! LOL

Has anyone got any assumptions on suspect software that may cause my problem??
I see that louie has a possible response for you. I had forgotten about that problem.
lastfm, transmission or handbrake. Can anyone confim issues after installing these apps?
if not these softwares then im convinced im dealing with a power issue.
I would be doubtful (although not completely dismissive) of anything like these being the source of your problem.
the genius bar has said it may b an enviromental issue. this also may be the case, tho not so much recently. They said perhaps magnectic fields may cause it 2 go 2 sleep and its true moving my MBP around does seem to settle it for instance if i move it out of my room im yet to see any of my sleep issues occur
The movement sensor might be involved, as also louie's excellent suggestion of the temp sensor. It is difficult to know how to test these effectively and might need more tools than the GB can muster.
But i dont live in a electricity tower and i did move my MBP to the other side of my room where it worked for a good month - and then started again with the sparatic sleeping.
It is hard to disprove a negative. The only way to bring some sort of evidence to the table if there were some such interference would be to use the computer for an extended period away from where you are using it now. If it works without problem in (say) Starbucks or some other neutral area, and then fails within a few minutes of returning to your home, then there is something stronger to work with. Then you can start to track down some external source, I would guess.
So i will try a safe start as graham had suggetsed as this seems as a simple enough fix - but i do run a time capsule, ext 1TB HD, Wireless mouse etc ..which i presume will not work in safe mode .... and is the idea to just keep safe mode on untill it does crash again or will just starting up on safe mode then restarting solve the issue?
Time Machine ought to work in Safe Mode; and I would not suggest working that way for a lengthy period of time: just to start it up perhaps to clear something that is interfering. But what you write here is of interest: (A) The HD -- what is it (brand, etc, and how formatted) and how connected; plus the wireless mouse? What brand is that (and I presume you mean Bluetooth)?
As for A weak diode..I dunno what that is or how 2 check it
Right. I couldn't either, and most shops won't: they would just replace the board. There is a shop here . . . but that is too far for you.
i think the battery is ok ..as i said it performs better at this point when i disconnect the power...but not always... i had a terrible day yesterday when it would keep going to sleep everytime i reconnected the power, if i try 2 persist it will keep going back 2 sleep ever 30 seconds untill i eaither just leave it be for a while or untill it just turns off completely!
That suggests, as I mentioned earlier, something awry with the battery/power combination; especially if the performance is not consistent. A battery should deteriorate gradually, not come and go.
If it does turn off when i turn it back on it wont even get to the grey apple logo it just keeps turning off after 2-5 seconds (turning off not sleeping)
so im at a loss why that is!
No power. You have to wait a while until the power level is brought up to a workable level.
The power cord seems fine all the pins spring out - the middle spring is smaller than the others tho.
Mine too. That seems OK.
Do post those logs. Someone might see the answer.

For the second time (I've been to the Genius Bar once already) my WiFi isn't working on my iPhone 4S. This is really infuriating and costly!!! I see others have the same issues. Can't Apple do anything about this? It's obviously a hardware problem!

For the second time (I've been to the Genius Bar already once with this) my Wifi isn't working. They gave me a new iphone last time, but the new one has the same issue as the old one, I'm guessing. I've tried resetting the network but that doesn't work.
I see others have this issue too.
If this is a hardware problem why doesn't Apple fix it? Or do I just have to wait another year for another upgrade?
Currently it's not costing me anything - yet - because I've got the Apple Warranty but this is totally frustating!!! I bought the original phone (which has been replaced in July 2012. The new phone (without working Wifi) is a month old.
Will try Restore via ITunes before (I will invariably) have to return to the Genius Bar for another Iphone 4S unless someone has an ingenius solution here?..?

sematson wrote:
If this is a hardware problem why doesn't Apple fix it? Or do I just have to wait another year for another upgrade?
For what reason, other than making yourself look foolish, would you ask questions that we users could not possibly answer as we're NOT Apple?
Basics from the manual are restart, reset, restore from backup, restore as NEW. Nothing more "ingenius" to suggest than these steps that Apple has outlined in the manual. If these steps don't work, then go back to the Apple store.

Can't Resolve Issue via Phone/Genius Bar/iTunes E-mail-iTunes Authorization

Issue with iTunes authorization - Full Conversation with iTunes tech support. ( Top : Most Recent - Less confusing if you read bottom to top )
*This is still not working, I followed the instructions as well as called Apple Support on the Phone. I visited a Genius Bar today and they too could not fix my issue.*
*When i try to authorize the 'other email address' I get this : "your apple id or password was incorrect". I tried to recover the password and i get: "This apple id doesn't exist."*
On Jan 24, 2009, at 6:27 PM, iTunes Store wrote:
Hey Zach,
Liz here! I now see that you had already tried that. I am sorry about my initial misunderstanding. I have gathered some information, and I will be happy to further troubleshoot this with you!
I found an article for you on the iTunes support website. I am sending you a link to this article, which I believe may help. Please review the article using the link below to troubleshoot this authorization issue, and remove the SC folder from your computer.
iTunes repeatedly prompts to authorize computer to play iTunes Store purchases:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1389
If you are still asked to authorize your computer after following the instructions in the article above, please let me know. I will be happy to help Zach!
I want to thank you once again for being such an extremely valuable member of the iTunes family. I really hope you will continue to be an active iTunes customer. Have a great weekend Zach!
With warm regards,
Elizabeth
iTunes Store customer Support
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to assist you. You may receive an AppleCare survey email; any feedback you provide would be greatly appreciated.
*I do not believe you answered my question correctly, I said in my*
*question how i tried to authorize my music when a differnt email*
*address was in the apple Id field. I changed it to my current apple id*
*and I get the responce from the system with this computer is already*
*althorized, yet the song is still locked*
On 24/01/2009, at 5:00 PM, iTunes Store <[email protected]>
wrote:
Hello Zach,
I understand that you have been unable to authorize the purchases on
your iTunes account "[email protected]" due to three previous
account names not authorizing for you. I am sorry to hear about this
Zach. I can certainly appreciate how eager you must be to have this
resolved. My name is Liz, and I will be more than happy to help you
with this today!
If your computer is not currently authorized to play your previous
account name's purchases, when you double-click an item you
purchased before you renamed the account, the authorization dialog
may show the old account name. If this happens, you will need to
remove the old account name from the account name field, type the
new account name, and click Authorize. This authorizes your computer
to play the account's purchases.
If you are unsure about which account was used to purchase a
particular item, follow these steps:
1) Control-click (or right-click) the item in your iTunes Library.
2) Choose Get Info from the menu that appears.
3) Click the Summary tab. The account name will be listed on the
right.
If you need further assistance in locating the current account name,
please reply with the account name listed in your items' Summary
tab. In addition, please include the order number for those items if
possible.
You can locate order numbers by following these instructions on
reviewing your purchase history:
Seeing your iTunes Store purchase history and order numbers
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2727
I sincerely hope that this helps. Please do not hesitate to let me
know if you have any further questions or concerns. I will be happy
to help. I appreciate your patience.
I want to thank you for being a valuable member of the iTunes
family. I hope you will continue to be an active iTunes customer.
Have a great weekend Zach!
With warm regards,
Elizabeth
iTunes Store customer Support
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to assist you. You may
receive an AppleCare survey email; any feedback you provide would be
greatly appreciated.
*Customer First Name : Zach*
*Customer Last Name : xxxxx*
*email : [email protected]*
*Web Order # :*
*Support Subject : Authorization*
*Sub Issue : I can't authorize my system to play purchases*
*iTunes Account Name : [email protected]*
*Platform : Mac OS X 10.5*
*Country : United States (English)*
*Comments: I have contacted Apple's Phone Support and they could not*
*help me with my issue and referred me to this email address.*
*Problem : I currently have iTunes' Latest Version with a apple id*
*of : [email protected]*
*I've had iTunes for over 3-4 yrs. and over the time i've had changes*
*of email addresses and therefor I would update my itunes info to the*
*new current email address. I noticed how my Apple ID changed to my*
*new email address and proceeded thinking this was normal. Now when I*
*moved my iTunes with the migration assistance built in to Apple's OS*
*- Utilities, I can only play songs with my current apple ID - [email protected]*
*. If i were to play a song i purchased with :*
*"[email protected]" or even recover the password to this Apple*
*ID I get the response telling me "This apple ID does not exist." -*
*After reading online I tried replacing the field with "[email protected]*
*" with my current apple ID : "[email protected]". Once i click*
*'Authorize' the operation goes through and comes back with "This*
*computer is already authorized [ to that Apple ID*
*'[email protected] ]. I still try to play that song and it still*
*requires a authorization.*
*Previous E-mai; / Apple IDs :*
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
*Current Apple ID and E-mail Address :*
[email protected]
*TrackID: 7152211*
Message was edited by: dirty ankle

I also found, finally, that selecting "manually manage" for the device on the summary page in iTunes for the helped.

Imac freezes during start-up. Seems to be caused by Airport issue.

My Imac freezes during startup. I have tried starting it in safe mode without any luck. After the initial start sequence when it gets to this point: Airport linkup en1, the computer starts writing the same line endlessly: com.apple.launch [1] (com.apple.mDNSRsponder [2710]): posix_spawnp (“/usr/sbin/mDNSResponder”,...): No such file or directory
I am not a technician and new to Macs too. I have tried almost everything in the supportfile about freeze issues. I am not able to start the Mac in safe mode. I have repaired the disk. I have tried reinstalling the software, but this fails too.
Did a couple of changes on the timecapsule before it happened (creating a network and new security settings and backup settings) and installed Photoshop Elements 9 and did a lot of file restructuring. Left the computer open and came back to a blue screen. Since then I have been unable to start.
My macbook works fine with the changes. I am stuck - what to try now?
I need my files and they are luckily on the timecapsule, but i am not able to open the imac-bundle file on the macbook, why?
Thanks for helping.

did a lot of file restructuring.
In Finder>Go>enter /usr/sbin do you see mDNSResponder listed there?
Try Repairing Permissions for the Volume in Disk Utility (Note: may take a long time in 10.5.8)

Genius Bar Feedback on Battery Issues

Ok..so I know there are hundreds of posts regarding various battery issues. I thought it might be helpful to post feedback on my genius bar visit today regarding my battery.
The issue with my battery is that the meter seems to be stuck at about 80% full, regardless of how much I use the iPhone or how long I charge it. I have no accurate way of knowing how much battery life I have left. I have even played 6+ hours of straight video to drain the batter and the meter never moves.
Fortunately, my lightning bolt icon (upper right corner) does eventually change to an a/c plug which tells me that the battery is fully charged even though the big green battery is always at 80%.
So the guy at the genius bar tried and inquired about all the usual tricks already discussed in this forum (restore, plug AC adapter to wall instead of USB, turn off wifi, bluetooth, etc). and concluded that it's most likely a software issue.
He did say however that the the usage statistics frequently mentioned here are controlled by AT&T and that it's functionality depends on AT&T sending some sort of over-the-air signal. Don't know if I buy that.
So, in a nutshell, they did not offer to replace the phone (not that they had any in stock anyway), but instead made a notation of the problem using my serial number and told me to wait for an Apple software update, which will most likely correct the problem. If it doesn't, then they can assume a hardware conflict and issue an replacement.
I know this is getting long, but I would like to add that my battery life itself seems fine. I just never know what I have left by looking at any of the two meters.
G5 Duo-Core Mac OS X (10.4.10)

My original iPhone had poor battery performance and would not reset the usage stats. There is no Apple Store near me, so Apple support sent a service phone and I sent mine in. The service phone has good battery performance and correctly reset the stats. I was notified that the original phone could not be repaired and a new replacement was sent to me. The new iPhone has great battery performance, but no matter what I try, the usage stats won't reset. Today I was told by Apple support that they believe this is a software issue and a revision would be developed to address the problem. There is no forecast availability date. It doesn't make any sense that a signal from AT&T would have anything to do with the battery stats. The service phone charged and reset the stats before I swapped my SIM into it.

IMac freeze issue - Genius Bar

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