[Le Flaneur]

I have a MacBook Pro late 2008 unibody, and after 6 weeks of troublefree operation, I just experienced my first freeze, which occurred upon waking from sleep under 10.5.6. What I mean by a "freeze" is: my laptop turned on and the desktop was visible, but it didn't respond to input and the menu bar clock did not advance. I should also add that as soon as my MBP awoke, I plugged in my iPhone.

The extended hardware test revealed no problems. I had no troubles under 10.5.5 and I need a stable computer. Should I revert to 10.5.5? The Safari problem where it repeatedly deletes all cookies and the slow wakeup when an external Apple Cinema display is the sole display (with 2 separate screen refreshes) are also driving me nuts.

[ibook_steve]

As long as the cursor is moving, it is not a "freeze". You can always force quit any applications or try relaunching the Finder. That's probably all that's required. Plugging in USB devices too soon can occasionally cause problems like this. It's no cause for alarm.

I don't know about the Safari thing you mention, but unless the cursor freezes or you get a kernel panic, your machine is not frozen and can be recovered without rebooting (usually).

Steve

[Cold Warrior]

You should reapply 10.5.6. This time download the combo updater and install it. Even if you previously used it, try it again.

Also, in my experience it's occasionally to often problematic to plug in USB devices right at wake up like steve said. Best to wait until it's fully awake. On a Mac that should take only a couple seconds max.

[Le Flaneur]

Originally Posted by ibook_steve 

As long as the cursor is moving, it is not a "freeze".
Steve

Sorry you misunderstood (not responding to input means that the cursor doesn't respond). In fact, there was no cursor. In addition, if the menu bar clock doesn't advance (i.e. show the passage of time), it's a freeze.

As far as the Safari cookie problem is concerned, see this.

[Le Flaneur]

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior 

You should reapply 10.5.6. This time download the combo updater and install it. Even if you previously used it, try it again.

Why? I did the original update using the combo updater. I've never read anything to suggest that applying the same update twice fixes anything.

Do you guys have actual experience with the unibody MacBook Pro (late 2008)? It really is a completely different machine from earlier MacBooks.

[Cold Warrior]

Freezes generally have the same root causes across models. We are trying to help by starting simple and going from there.

Reapplying a combo updater is known to fix issues introduced by updates. Google it or search around here and you'll see. It's not the solution for everything, but it works often enough to make it a good place to start.

Another thing to try is to create a new user account to see if your wake and Safari problems persist. But reinstall the 10.5.6 combo first in order to rule out a botched update.

[Le Flaneur]

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior 

Freezes generally have the same root causes across models. We are trying to help by starting simple and going from there.

Are you aware that late 2008 MacBook Pros appear to have freeze problems of their own?

Reapplying a combo updater is known to fix issues introduced by updates.

I've read that applying a combo updater after a delta updater can fix issues. Not that two successive combo updates do anything.

Another thing to try is to create a new user account to see if your wake and Safari problems persist. But reinstall the 10.5.6 combo first in order to rule out a botched update.

The slow wake with an external display is the same from a guest account.

[Cold Warrior]

If hardware or a specific model is causing the freeze, there's less you can do about it in the near-term. It's more efficient to troubleshoot the common software- or OS-related freeze causes because they are easier to rule out and don't involve hardware troubleshooting. From there it's common to escalate to hardware: swapping RAM, model-specific hardware considerations, etc.

[0157988944]

And the cursor can absolutely be moving during a freeze. Most of the time if the computer freezes for me, the cursor and oly the cursor can move. Doesn't work to click on stuff, but it moves.

[Le Flaneur]

Originally Posted by adamfishercox 

And the cursor can absolutely be moving during a freeze. Most of the time if the computer freezes for me, the cursor and oly the cursor can move. Doesn't work to click on stuff, but it moves.

Point taken, but I had written,

What I mean by a "freeze" is: my laptop turned on and the desktop was visible, but it didn't respond to input and the menu bar clock did not advance."

And what iBook_Steve had written clearly wasn't true of our case:

You can always force quit any applications or try relaunching the Finder. That's probably all that's required.

In the cases Steve describes, I usually see a spinning system cursor when hovering over the frozen app's windows.