[markw10]

I've wanted to buy a iMac but because of the freezing issue have been holding off. Now that there is a new firmware update does it seem to be fixed? I've heard it may be a hardware issue so I'm concerned about if this truly fixed it.

[KoolKiwi]

Yes! It works for me. My new 24" 2.4Ghz Aluminium iMac would consistently freeze pretty promptly, every time I played a fullscreen DVD Video via Front Row.

In my PC hardware experience this certainly pointed to the issue being graphics card related, where you were using intense graphics processing. Not a heat issue, as it would happen even straight after startup, when everything was still running cool.

I applied the updates, including the firmware update, and now I can play the same DVD in front row full screen with no freezes yet, after an hour of non-stop play!

For reference, the ATI HD2600 Pro ROM revision and EFI Driver Version both ended in 212 before the update, now it ends in 219.
ie. 113-B2250F-219 & 01.00.219

PS: This is my first iMac, and I also nearly held off buying after reading about the freeze issues, but given the description of the problem I was convinced that it was just a graphics driver / firmware issue and Apple would release a fix to resolve the issue relatively promptly... which is what they have now done!

[pk1]

Good to hear that it worked for you! I feel a lot of sympathy for those who had the freezing issues. I too postponed buying my iMac for some time, but I got it this week and I was lucky to see no freezes. Now that the problem is solved I'm relieved that it will not happen in the future. And most of all, at last all those people who suffered from the issue are free to enjoy their iMacs, and they should because they're gorgeous machines!

[Lava Lamp Freak]

I am not able to even run the Firmware update. It says, "You cannot install iMac Graphics Firmware Update on this volume. Your computer does not need the update."

This is driving me freaking mad. My iMac still freezes after all of the other updates, and I have 10.5.1 just like the Firmware update requires.

On top of the freezing, my Airport connection is lost several times a day, sometimes requiring booting into safe mode to be able to get it to connect to it again. I'm getting a lot of "connection timeout" errors when it drops. My PowerBook and other devices stay connected without errors, though.

[pk1]

Originally Posted by Lava Lamp Freak 

I am not able to even run the Firmware update. It says, "You cannot install iMac Graphics Firmware Update on this volume. Your computer does not need the update."

This is driving me freaking mad. My iMac still freezes after all of the other updates, and I have 10.5.1 just like the Firmware update requires.

On top of the freezing, my Airport connection is lost several times a day, sometimes requiring booting into safe mode to be able to get it to connect to it again. I'm getting a lot of "connection timeout" errors when it drops. My PowerBook and other devices stay connected without errors, though.

Do you mean that the update appeared on the Software Update utility, downloaded and then it doesn't let you run it? I assume you have a broken OS because if you really didn't need the update then it wouldn't appear in the new updates.

Maybe you installed Leopard before it's full release, an earlier beta perhaps?

[Raman]

To the OP - I had the same qualms about buying an iMac. Ended up going to the Apple store last thursday and buying a 24" iMac that came with Tiger and a Leopard drop-in upgrade. My iMac never had any freezing issues and the update doesn't show up on my iMac's software update which means my machine wasn't one that was bad. I know my Mac was relatively hot off the presses because they were all out of 24" iMacs a few days before when I went to buy one.

Go for it.

[Lava Lamp Freak]

Originally Posted by pk1 

Do you mean that the update appeared on the Software Update utility, downloaded and then it doesn't let you run it? I assume you have a broken OS because if you really didn't need the update then it wouldn't appear in the new updates.

Maybe you installed Leopard before it's full release, an earlier beta perhaps?

Nope. It is retail Leopard.

It never showed up in Software Updated. I downloaded it from Apple.

My freezing problem may not be what others are experiencing, though. I don't freeze in OSX under normal conditions. I only lock up when gaming for long periods of time under Boot Camp. That is why I think it may be a heating problem.

[pk1]

Originally Posted by Lava Lamp Freak 

Nope. It is retail Leopard.

It never showed up in Software Updated. I downloaded it from Apple.

My freezing problem may not be what others are experiencing, though. I don't freeze in OSX under normal conditions. I only lock up when gaming for long periods of time under Boot Camp. That is why I think it may be a heating problem.

A computer may freeze for several reasons. I understand that indeed what you are describing is NOT the infamous "iMac freezing issue". That explains why you don't need the update. Consider also that playing games for Windows for a prolonged time using probably Direct X, a technology built for PCs, is not what your computer was designed for and therefore may indeed be problematic at times.

This is another issue and I think you're in the wrong thread. I don't want to sound mean or anything, but the iMac freezing issue has been bugging a lot of people, refraining a lot of others from buying and also scaring other iMac owners whose computers did not exhibit the issue. When Apple released the fix, we're expecting from people with the specific freezing issue to inform us whether the fix worked. Posting in such a thread about how it does not fix your computer, while facing a totally different problem is just misleading.