Macintosh freezes

gabrielleitao

gabrielleitao

Issac Newton loves Apple
Hello,

I realized, that since I got my Intel iMac, sometimes, when the computer was too loaded (or not), it freeze and I could not do absolutely anything. I tried the mouse, but no sign of the pointer. I tried the CAPS LOCK key on my keyboard, but It won't turn on. So I guess I had to shut down my computer and restart the system, and lost my e-mail, documents, that where unsaved.

This has happened several times with me, specially sometimes opening game, and others when sereval of programs where open.

Im a bit concerned about it, and I don't think Macintosh freezing is a good thing. My PC used to freeze a lot, but my Mac I never thought I would have the same problem, on on the beginning.

My questions are: What may be the cause of making my Macintosh freeze that way? What should I do to prevent my Mac of freezing? And... what do yo think, any ideas how to fix this and prevent from hapenning again?

Thanks a bunch, once again to MacOSX.com.... that as of today, has free suppport to almost all OS: Linux, Mac OS X and Windows. WoW!!!

Gab
 
Yeah, lol... Thanks NixGeek... my System Specs are right down on my name... What? Now we can have signatures... Im gonna put my Sistem specs over there, then.
 
Try now, Fryke, they are in my signature... if you can`t see them... here they are...


iMac 20" --> Intel Core Duo 2Ghz
512 MB DDR2 SDRAM, 128MB ATI Radeon X1600
1TB of Hard Drives, Mac OS X v10.4.7
 
No, nothing... I didn't install any memory yet... but Im thinking about upgrading my iMac to 1GB or 2GB.... Il would be much better for applications performances... specially with Mac OS X on an Intel ship needs the Rosetta emulation software build-in the OS.
 
Today, I was installing Soundtrack Pro (about 7-8GB) on my Mac, and I had Mercury Messenger (www.mercury.to), Skype (www.skype.com), Apple Mail and Firefox opened. I was surfing the Internet, then I just did a right click over Firefox... and.... freeze, police!.... no.... my Mac froze... and I couldnt move a finger. I tried checking again if my Mac had REALLY froze by hitting the Caps Lock key on my keyboard, but the light of the Caps Lock key didnt turn on. So my Mac froze... and I was like... Omg... this must be serious... I just swiched from Windows to Mac and my Mac freezes... I bought the Mac brand new, I dont know what may be the cause of that... I was installing a huge application and running the Firefox on the same time.... Any ideas what should I do and make those freezing moments to stop, also how to prevent them from happening?

Also, today I was downloading about 5-6 games (demos from www.Apple.com/games) and big video files, about 6-7 (about 400MB, from my friend's website, and I was playing Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets Macintosh game. The downloads where downloading on the same time I was playing... Then, while I was playing, after about 20 minutes playing the game... the game froze, and the Caps Lock didnt work... so my Mac froze again... I freaked out again.... Can someone help me?

Everytime it froze, I had to force my Mac to shut down by pressing the Power Buttom. :(... then I waited a minute to turn it back on again...

Thanks a lot for the support, ask me questions if you dont quite understand my problem.

Gab
 
Greetings, and impressive system.

I have a similar system processor-wise (g5 though) but 2 gigs of ram, and I sometimes notice it will "freeze" while running many tasks, especially when you switch between them often. I can only assume it's to load pagefile (virtual memory) from the hard disk.

It doesnt happen very often with me, but you have only 512 mb, which is substantially less, and could be prompting more frequent recurrance.

Either way.. it can at times take up to a full minute for the system to respond again, but simply leaving it be for that minute usually lets it uncork itself. At times I have patiently waited as long as 2 and a half minutes, but I have not seen a permanent freeze up since X.3.4.

Try patiently waiting.. you might be pleasently surprised ; )

EDIT:
after seeing your last post it's quite clear to me this is exactly what's happening.

internet browsers on mac tend to have a LOT of caching in them. when I run safari for long periods it will have as much as 2 full gigs of virtual memory. I would suggest upgrading ram, emptying browser caches often, and relaunching firefox often to help cut down on this, but being patient and aware that the web browser will want to take its time reloading virtual memory from the hard disk will go a long way to increasing efficiency.
 
Plasmacutter,

That is a great reply for yours... and It makes totally sense... the next time my Macintosh freezes that way, I am going to go... take a cut of coffee... and take a shower... :D :)... I thought I had to wait too... I did wait only one minute... but maybe I shaw wait more than just one minute... I am glad you seem to share the same kind of problem with me. Yes, wow... 2GBs of RAM is my dream... I want to upgrade soon my mac to more memory RAM. I think my Mac is fast, but the memory makes a big difference, and 512 is not very appropiate, since even Intel Based macs need even more memory for the Rosetta emulation. I didnt know about the Internet caching on Macs that you just told me, but Im sure I learned something new today, :)

EDIT: I would like to add something else that is very important: Macintosh running Mac OS X should NEVER FREEZE! :) That problem is Bill Gates' problem with their unstable crappy operational system, that loves to show you a ugly Blue Screen of Death right down your nose... lol :D:D:D.... Now, with my observation, I think you can see that I totally had to change my life to a Mac, and leave PC... That is why I freaked out when my Mac froze. The next time it freezes (I hope it doesnt happen again, though, lol)... I will let it come back again... now that you told me it is not permanent.

Gab
 
glad to be of help.

I have noticed with the upgrade from X.3 to X.4 that the memory exchange is less efficient than it was before in demanding tasks.

While irksome to me, I can only assume it was for a good reason, and hopefully it will be fixed in leopard.
 
plasmacutter said:
glad to be of help.

I have noticed with the upgrade from X.3 to X.4 that the memory exchange is less efficient than it was before in demanding tasks.

While irksome to me, I can only assume it was for a good reason, and hopefully it will be fixed in leopard.
Click to expand...

Yeah, and talking about Leophard, do you know when it will be released? Will that be in the beginning of 2007? Another stupid question, sorry but I am kind of a swicher of Windows... we have do buy the Leophard, the upgrade is not free of course, right? Anyway... Mac OS X is even less expensive than Windows... Bill Gates stupid virus-lover, bugger-and-always-crashing Operational System is more expensive than the best Operational System on the world... lol :D.. that is simply not right.... Apple is more fair... lol!
 
leopard is entering beta phase.. I can assume it will be available within the next year.

If youre a student you can get a student copy (only difference is package is marked "student") for about 75 bucks.

You don't have to upgrade, but I find it helps out a lot for power users and people who use open source as far as compatibility and stability are concerned.

personally i dont think the new features are a compelling sell, but i will have access to the betas as part of an ADC membership program my friend participates in. I should have a better clue as to weather its worth it or not once i see later betas.
 
plasmacutter said:
leopard is entering beta phase.. I can assume it will be available within the next year.

If youre a student you can get a student copy (only difference is package is marked "student") for about 75 bucks.

You don't have to upgrade, but I find it helps out a lot for power users and people who use open source as far as compatibility and stability are concerned.

personally i dont think the new features are a compelling sell, but i will have access to the betas as part of an ADC membership program my friend participates in. I should have a better clue as to weather its worth it or not once i see later betas.
Click to expand...

oh, that is cool, I cant wait
 
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