What does it mean if my Mac Pro laptop keeps freezing?

My laptop has been freezing a lot lately; especially locks up when using Microsoft applications (word, excel) but also freezes when online. What would cause this?

taraphd wrote:
What would cause this?
It's rather difficult with the information provided, it could be network related issue, a router issue, a Mac issue or a software issue.
Your going to have to procced in a process of elimination to try to narrow down the cause.
Can you further describe the freezing? Do you get a spinning beachball only on the Internet or if totally disconnected too?
You can look through these user tips of mine
Why is my computer slow?
Step by Step to fix your Mac
WiFi, Internet problems, possible solutions

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Mac Pro (2009) keeps freezing

Alright so I have a 2009 Mac Pro 4,1 desktop with a 2.66GHz Xeon processor. I'm having this ongoing issue (for the past 2-3 weeks) where after anywhere from a minute to say 20 minutes or so the desktop completely freezes. No kernel panics, just a frozen desktop. Keyboard & mouse are both completely useless & my monitor no longer goes into sleep mode after 7 minutes like I've set, so I have to hold down the power button on the front of the machine to shut it off. I brought it into apple and they kept it over night and ran all the tests they could throw at it. When I got it back they said my boot drive (a WD 2TB 7200RPM 64mb cache) was bad, and that was why it was freezing. They told me besides that the machine is 100%. So I went out and bought a brand new Seagate 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB cache drive, installed it in bay 1 then installed OS X Mavericks and did all the updates. That fixed the problem (or so I thought), so I put my Windows Drive (bay 2), iTunes drive (bay 3), & my time machine drive (bay 4) back in. Again all was well. Until today (little over a week since the last batch of freezes) when it started to freeze again. It never freezes for any specific reason or on any specific application.. It just randomly freezes. I've tried reinstalling mavericks at least a dozen times... No dice. I've tried different ram.. Again, didn't change anything. I even removed all my drives except my OS X boot drive (from bay 1) still freezes. Part of me thinks I might need to replace the Backplane Board.. I'm thinking it might be a SATA issue.. But I'm not sure enough to order the part. So if anyone with some more knowledge or experience with this sort of issue could help me out, that would be fantastic. To add to this, I've ran many different tests, all say my machine is issue free. I've also repaired and verified permissions many times. And before anyone says try safe mode.. I have & it still freezes.
Thanks

I ran EtreCheck and this is what I got.
Hardware Information:
Mac Pro (Early 2009)
Mac Pro - model: MacPro4,1
1 2.66 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon CPU: 4 cores
16 GB RAM
Video Information:
NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 - VRAM: 512 MB
System Software:
OS X 10.9.3 (13D45a) - Uptime: 0 days 0:0:54
Disk Information:
HL-DT-ST DVD-RW GH41N
ST1000DM003-1CH162 disk1 : (1 TB)
EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB
Mac Pro HD (disk1s2) / [Startup]: 999.35 GB (905.68 GB free)
Recovery HD (disk1s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB
WDC WD6400AAKS-41H2B0 disk0 : (640.14 GB)
Windows 8 HD (disk0s1) /Volumes/Windows 8 HD: 639.66 GB (595.23 GB free)
ST3000DM001-1CH166 disk3 : (3 TB)
EFI (disk3s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB
disk3s2 (disk3s2) <not mounted>: 3 TB
Boot OS X (disk3s3) <not mounted>: 134.2 MB
ST4000DM000-1F2168 disk2 : (4 TB)
EFI (disk2s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB
disk2s2 (disk2s2) <not mounted>: 4 TB
Boot OS X (disk2s3) <not mounted>: 134.2 MB
USB Information:
Dell Dell AC511 USB SoundBar
Razer Razer Abyssus
Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub
Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Logitech USB Receiver
Thunderbolt Information:
Gatekeeper:
Mac App Store and identified developers
Kernel Extensions:
[kext loaded] com.Logitech.Control Center.HID Driver (3.9.1 - SDK 10.8) Support
[kext loaded] com.Logitech.Unifying.HID Driver (1.3.0 - SDK 10.6) Support
Launch Daemons:
[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support
[loaded] com.ea.origin.ESHelper.plist Support
[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist Support
Launch Agents:
[running] com.Logitech.Control Center.Daemon.plist Support
User Launch Agents:
[loaded] com.leadertech.PowerRegister.LGT2.c59807af95d10663 9fca8f10676ced62.plist Support
[loaded] com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist Support
User Login Items:
iTunesHelper
Solar Service
Internet Plug-ins:
Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 3.2.0.16 - SDK 10.8 Support
FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 13.0.0.206 - SDK 10.6 Support
QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3
Flash Player: Version: 13.0.0.206 - SDK 10.6 Support
Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9
SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.1.0 Support
Silverlight: Version: 5.1.30317.0 - SDK 10.6 Support
Audio Plug-ins:
BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.9
AirPlay: Version: 2.0 - SDK 10.9
AppleAVBAudio: Version: 203.2 - SDK 10.9
iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3 - SDK 10.9
iTunes Plug-ins:
Quartz Composer Visualizer: Version: 1.4 - SDK 10.9
3rd Party Preference Panes:
Flash Player Support
Flip4Mac WMV Support
Logitech Control Center Support
Time Machine:
Skip System Files: NO
Mobile backups: OFF
Auto backup: NO - Auto backup turned off
Volumes being backed up:
Mac Pro HD: Disk size: 930.71 GB Disk used: 87.23 GB
Destinations:
Time Machine HD [Local] (Last used)
Total size: 4
Total number of backups: 6
Oldest backup: 2014-05-01 19:09:57 +0000
Last backup: 2014-05-05 01:44:33 +0000
Size of backup disk: Excellent
Backup size 4 > (Disk size 930.71 GB X 3)
Time Machine details may not be accurate.
All volumes being backed up may not be listed.
Top Processes by CPU:
2% mds
1% WindowServer
1% fontd
0% mds_stores
0% SystemUIServer
Top Processes by Memory:
49 MB Dock
33 MB mds
16 MB LCCDaemon
16 MB com.apple.dock.extra
16 MB storeagent
Virtual Memory Information:
14.47 GB Free RAM
594 MB Active RAM
150 MB Inactive RAM
822 MB Wired RAM
210 MB Page-ins
0 B Page-outs
I notise that for some reason my Drive(s) 3 (iTunes) & 4 (Time Machine) are not mounted... this has me thinking maybe it's a sata problem?

What does it mean that my macbook pro freezes until i smack it lightly in the bottom right hand corner by the trackpad???? is this specifically a hard drive problem? I don't know what to do.....

its' been happening a year now maybe?
i have a macbook pro 17" from 2008 or 9.
been a great computer but little things are going now....
for some reason my firewire ports don't like to work and randomly tell me my external drives are disconnected. my firewire 800 doesn't work at all..
my lcd is getting dim.
and the latest thing is my computer will freeze when you're doing something simple like googling something and it will stay frozen until you smack it on teh lower corner next to teh trackpad on the right hand side.
more than annoying.
what can i do?
i was going to try to repair this one, but it seems like it would be more cost efficient to just get a new one...
OH and my keyboard gets more than hot now
AND i can't, for whatever reason, burn any dvds or cds in my drive.. it gives me some random error..
my $h*t$ jacked up.
HELP!

Why did you put up with all those issues for a year?

TS1365 What does it mean when my Macbook pro displays a question mark at startup, and won't boot?

My MacBook Pro won't start up. It displays a Question Mark for a while, and you can hear the HDD spinning, as well as some clicks, but nothing happens. It started after I accepted and began a recommended upgrade download and install. I started the upgrade install, rebooted, and walked away. An hour later, it displayed the progress bar as about 50% complete for the install. 24 hrs later, it was still at the same status. Several hours later, still no progress, so I hit the on/off button, shutting down the computer. After that, it would not restart...it gives the start-up chime, I hear the HDD spinning, and also hear some ominous "click click" sounds. Then a question mark pops onto the screen, and that's all. Any suggestions?

It means that it cannot find certain startup files. In your case it's probably because you interrupted the installation or the installation failed and files were corrupted or lost. Do the following:
Reinstalling Lion/Mountain Lion Without Erasing the Drive
Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

What does it mean when my macbook pro says startup disk is full?

When im on my macbook pro a message keeps poping up that says my startup disk is full.

First, reboot. That will temporarily free up some space. According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB free for normal operation. You also need enough space left over to allow for growth of your data.
Use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper to explore your volume and find out what's taking up the space.
Proceed further only if the problem hasn't been solved.
ODS can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To really see everything, you have to run it as root.
First, back up all data if you haven't already done so. No matter what happens, you should be able to restore your system to the state it was in at the time of that backup.
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ If you’re running Mac OS X 10.7 or later, open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the page that opens.
After installing ODS in the Applications folder, drag or copy — do not type — the following line into the Terminal window, then press return:
sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up.
I don't recommend that you make a habit of this. Don't delete anything while running ODS as root. When you're done with it, quit it and also quit Terminal.

What does it mean when my Mac won't turn on and it's charging low?

My MacBook suddenly just turned off and won't turn on anymore. There's just a blank screen and when I charge it, the green light is low.

Resetting SMC could solve the problem.
Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)

What does this mean? (pic) macbook pro

So I've decided to update to Yosemite, and now I keep getting this:
I've already installed it, but it still comes up. Can anyone let me know please? thank you

Downloading this may help, if you have not alrady.
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1572

Does my mac book pro 13" (mid-late 2010) have 16bit high color? The specs only say "millions of colors" - what does that mean???

what does "16bit" mean? millions of colors?
What is the "bit" spec for my mac book pro? - the specs only say "millions of colors"!
thanks!

These will help explain "what does "16bit" mean? millions of colors?"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_depth
http://www.astropix.com/HTML/J_DIGIT/MON_RES.HTM
http://etc.usf.edu/techease/mac/images/what-is-bit-depth/

When Mac Pro pro stops having wireless and says no hardware installed what does that mean. I try to turn it on and it doesn't work. Does that mean it dies. IT is a macbook pro from June 2009

when Macbook pro- sudeenly stops working on wireless and says there is no hardware installed- what does that mean. I tried to click turn wirless on and it says no hardware installed.
Thanks

Reset PRAM. http://support.apple.com/kb/PH4405
Reset SMC. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
Choose the method for:
"Resetting SMC on portables with a battery you should not remove on your own".
If this does not help, contact Apple.
Best.

I ordered my macbook pro online along with the apple care but apple says that the apple care with not physically be delivered. does this mean that my mac is already registered and covered? What do i need to do?

I ordered my macbook pro online along with the apple care but apple says that the care will not be phyically sent. What does this mean? Is there something I need to do?

Since you're ordering both the computer & AppleCare directly from Apple, Apple Care will automatically be registerd. Thus, nothing for you to do other than enjoy your computer.

My macbook pro displays a folder with a question mark on it when it turns on. What does this mean and how do I fix it?

My macbook pro displays a folder with a question mark and won't open. What does this mean and how can I fix it?

it means your HD and the software can't find each other, the following article tells how to troubleshoot this issue:
https://support.apple.com/kb/TS1440
hopefully you have backup of your data since sometimes this means the HD is crashing.
if the article doesn't resolve the issue i would take the mac to apple store or service provider and have it looked at, the following link tells how to find one close to you:
https://locate.apple.com
good luck!!

The battery icon on my (old) MacBook Pro turned red. Then black. What does this mean?

The battery icon on my (old) MacBook Pro turned red for a few moments, then black. What does this mean?

penny41,
Thanks, glad it helped you to check your battery status.
Something else to look at would be the cycle count, as you mention that your computer is "ancient". If you have a high number of cycles, it may also be a sign that the battery is tired and possibly nearing it's life span, and may possibly need to be replaced soon. If you see that again you may try a SMC reset to see if that helps, but if it continues you may need a new battery at some point. The battery icon will usually say needs service, or something to that effect. For the later MBP's Apple claims a life span of up to 1000 cycles, of this also will be dependent on who the battery is used, on the older ones I'm not quite sure what the claims were, and I don't know how old "ancient" in your case actually means.
I provide this for your info, so that you understand what may possibly be occurring.
I wish you the best.
SMC reset:
Follow directions for what applies to your machine, a battery you can remove, or a battery you should not remove yourself.
Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) - Apple Support

HT1338 i purchased dvd studio pro and im trying to install it but when i go to click continue it gives me this "you cant open the application gestalt tool becasue powerpc applications are no longer supported" what does that mean and how can i fix this ?

i purchased dvd studio pro and im trying to install it but when i go to click continue it gives me this "you cant open the application gestalt tool becasue powerpc applications are no longer supported" what does that mean and how can i fix this ?

I note this information from Wikipedia: "DVD Studio Pro was a high-end software tool published by Apple Inc. to allow users to create DVD masters to be sent out for replication at production houses. Its tight integration with other Apple applications allows users to take Final Cut Pro and Motion projects and render them into the DVD format without encoding to intermediary formats. This streamlines the production workflow and reduces overhead."
If that is your intent, finding a substitute program that will run on your Mac may not be as efficient. Others can advise you on alternatives, or you can post a new thread specifically with that question.
BTW: what Mac and what version of OS X?
If it is important to you to continue to use DVD Studio Pro, consider the option of installing Snow Leopard (with Rosetta) into Parallels on your Mac:
[click on image to enlarge]
Full Snow Leopard installation instructions are here.

My mac made a heating noise, what does that mean?

I woke up this morning to my macbook pro making this loud heating noise, like an exhaust fan. What does that mean?

More Information on your Mac would be great, thats kind of vague.
But Macbook Pro's do have a (all i can really speak of) exhaust on the back right where the screan attaches to the body of the mac, and some times when running certain processor intense programs like games, or Photo / Movie editing programs will make this turn on, and yes it can be loud and anoying, but its nothing really to worry about.
Hope this helps you.

MacBook pro repair cancelled? What does this mean?

Hello!
I got my Macbook pro to the Apple Store to get it repaired due to a logic board failure. The repair status was normal until today that shows that it is cancelled. My MacBook is a preowned Mac core 2 duo mid 2009 and it is out of warranty. what does it mean that it is cancelled?

It is better to call AppleCare and find out.
AppleCare: 1-800-275-2273
Best.

What does it mean if my Mac Pro laptop keeps freezing?

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