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lorenzo · Jan 31, 2009, 08:01 PM

Hello,

I've experienced 3 hard crashes in a day on my mbp...
It's a 2.2ghz version, upgraded to 4gb of ram. It never had any problem, and after the update I carefully run many a times memtest, with no problem whatsoever. The mac has been used extensively, with loads of apps open, and for days, and never a problem.

Now, using aperture, I got 3 hard crashes (total freeze, plus the mac didn't want to restart afterwards...)

Can I have a failed gpu (aperture should use it extensively, and mbp are known to have weak geforces), or something I don't even imagine?

Mac runs fine as always after the recovery, the usual amount of apps (now it's a demo of lightroom, photoshop cs3, mail, safari, skype, word'08, preview, vlc...), and not a single problem... So I'm quite frustrated, I have no idea where to start from.

Any help would be *very* well accepted!

Lory

Simon · Feb 1, 2009, 05:55 AM

Run Apple Hardware Test (boot from the install DVD holding d) and make sure you run the extended memory test. What errors does it report?

I'm not sure I understand properly though. Everything was fine until you installed the new memory? If so, remove the new memory, re-install the old DIMMs and try it again. If it's your GPU you will experience crashes regardless of the memory config. Also, should you have to hand it over to Apple for a GPU replacement make sure you install the original DIMMs and not the third-party DIMMs.

lorenzo · Feb 1, 2009, 06:04 AM

thanks for the answer.

My mbp has always run fine. Even with the new dimms, it's been able to stay turned on for days, running multiple programs at once using all and more of the 4gb, and never experienced a single crash in months.

And as soon as I bought the dimms, I ran memtes86 from a cd, and tested the ram some 5 times (it takes... many hours!

and never a problem.

Yesterday, I had a hard crash using aperture.
Rebooted 3 times to get the mbp up (wouldn't want to launch), use it normally, played with aperture some time. Closed it. after some time, again bang. But I didn't associate...
Now, I did it again later on, played with aperture (yes, have *lots* of photos to fix

and I had another hard crash, and needed install dvd to clear the disk to make it boot again...

So, Aperture seems to be the culprit. Mbp has staied up all night with the usual array of apps loaded, downloading etc., and it runs as smooth as ever. Memtest redone 2 this morning says mem is perfectly fine (and afaik, it's the most realiable mem checker out there).

Uff! Long explanation!

Maybe someone else got hard crashes with aperture?
I have *no* other signs of gpu fatigue whatsoever to make me think it's failing me...

Lory

Simon · Feb 1, 2009, 06:16 AM

So what does AHT say? And have you checked your disk's SMART status?

lorenzo · Feb 1, 2009, 06:23 AM

I'm running AHT now that I'm going out, so it can chug along without me sipping tons of coffe...

Will update once it's finished, thank you.

Lory

lorenzo · Feb 1, 2009, 08:57 AM

...and everything is fine.
I've run the complete test (took more almost 3 hours), and no error reported.
I'm inclined to believe it's really aperture frying my mac.
I'm trying it again, but am a little scared by the "chances" of it freezing it hard enough to ruin some system file...

Lory

Simon · Feb 1, 2009, 09:58 AM

How about you try running Aperture from a brand new user account. Juts to make sure it's not crashing because of some kind of pref problem.

lorenzo · Feb 1, 2009, 06:01 PM

Run aperture from brand new account.
Closed it.
Had a 1h videocall on skype, and bang, hard freeze...

Now, it had happened also another time (2?) that I had the crash while skyping (and aperturing)... Maybe it's a skype thing?

I'm at a loss... the damned laptop simply crashed cheerfully, all of a sudden. And memtest says it's ok, and apple hardware test too...
Trying another hour of videoskyping is a torture...

Am stuck in the mistery...

Simon · Feb 2, 2009, 05:41 AM

Well if you get to the point where you can trigger a crash just by running Aperture or Skype you should definitely show it to an Apple technician.

AKcrab · Feb 2, 2009, 06:27 AM

I don't care what memtest says.. Can you put the original RAM back in it?

lorenzo · Feb 2, 2009, 07:19 AM

I've recovered the old ram, and I'll stick it in the mbp this afternoon after work.
Then I'll try some torturing with aperture and such.
Optionally, aperture and skype, which seem to be the two main culprits...

I'll report later on as to the results.
Thanks.

Lorenzo

lorenzo · Feb 3, 2009, 03:36 AM

What seemed erratical behaviour turned out to be a lot worse... it crashed again yesterday with the "old" (default) ram. And again, it didn't want to restart.
But popping MacosX disc inside and starting from cd resulted in troublesagain: only once I could access the installer, andI saw artifacts in the graphics, and it froze again. Different ram, same result...
Now, this morning, all of a sudden, it's here and starting. I tried to reset Pram, rebooted and off it went.

I am at a *complete* loss... Apple's hardware test run just yesterday in complete mode didn't show a single glitch...

It's getting tough...

Lory

Simon · Feb 3, 2009, 03:44 AM

If it crashes with the stock RAM or shows graphics glitches just take it to an Apple tech and have them replace the MLB.

lorenzo · Feb 3, 2009, 03:58 AM

I'm scared to death by costs... my mbp is over 1 year old, and this means no warranty.
Good call... already a broken battery, now a broken logic board. Loving macosX asks for sacrifices...

Thanks anyway, Simon, gotta vent by myself now...

Lory

Simon · Feb 3, 2009, 04:04 AM

If you can convince them it's the GPU it'll be free.

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377

lorenzo · Feb 3, 2009, 04:12 AM

ok... where do I start from? :-)
last freeze happened like this:

skype froze it's window, some glitches on the screen, then audio went on like 1, 1.5seconds, then hard freeze.
The, the dreaded procedure: reboot.... "You have to reboot your computer. Please press reset or hold the power button".
It was a freaking nightmare.

How do I "push" them towards a defective gpu?
And do you suggest I re-fit stock hd?

I'm writing from the wicked now, which all of a sudden decided a tuesday morning is a nice time to start working again perfectly...

Thanks a lot, really, Simon!

Lory

lorenzo · Feb 6, 2009, 03:31 PM

Hello everybody,
just want to share that after the failure of my macbook pro at the beginning of this week, I took it to a apple center, and they confirmed my (our... friends of the forum helped!

) diagnosis: graphic card was the issue.
So, in just 2 days they replaced the entire logic board under the extra-year warranty apple granted to early santa rosa macbookpros, and I'm picking it up tomorrow morning!

So far, so good!
Thanks all for the help,

Lory