Latest iMacs Suffer From Graphics Freeze

Polaris573 · Oct 4, 2007, 04:19 PM

Apple's latest iMacs suffer seem to suffer from a graphics card problem that causes the computer screens to lock up. Numerous discussion threads on Apple's support forums report that, while the iMac display becomes unresponsive, the Mac itself appears to work normally. Apparently indicating the fault relates to the iMac's ATI Radeon HD card. iMac users suffering the screen freeze can get their Mac working again with a hard restart. Some users claim the fault appeared after they had installed recent software drivers (v1.1) for the Radeon HD card -- others claim that restoring the iMac to factory settings fixes the machine. While Apple is alleged to be aware of the issue, no fix for the flaw has yet been made available.

Source: PC World

WarEagleAU · Oct 4, 2007, 04:26 PM

I would point to the mac drivers personally. Im not familiar with macs or ATI cards and their drivers with macs, but it seems like a driver conflict or miscall to me.

Fuse-Wire · Oct 4, 2007, 04:42 PM

i would have to say it must be the mac drivers too, ive never had a problem with any ATI card i have came across especially drivers, almost all my friends have got ATI cards at never heard a problem, mind you none of them have one in a mac so i cant pinpoint any problems. one way or another it seems to only be on macs

newtekie1 · Oct 4, 2007, 04:57 PM

Definitely sounds like a driver issue.

Ravenas · Oct 4, 2007, 05:01 PM

Apple has offically said this problem is caused by the ATI Raedon HD. This is apparent from the fact that the OS still runs, but the display is frozen. Sounds to me like this is a graphics driver problem conflicting with UNIX OS X drivers.

TheMailMan78 · Oct 4, 2007, 05:19 PM

I use a G5 everyday for work. Iv been using Macs for well over ten years and I can tell you the drivers have ALWAYS sucked. Nothing beats OSX for stability but if you want to do anything other than Photoshop and Freehand you better get a PC.

DMSMac_Consult · Oct 4, 2007, 06:12 PM

Wouldn't be the first time an embedded Radeon chip had a problem in a Mac though ... tons of dual-USB iBooks had problems with the Radeon graphics chip that caused a massive motherboard recall.

And I have a Radeon 2400PRO from MSI in my PC, and occassionally I get screen freezes and activating the VPU recovery feature is the only thing that brings it back. So it could be inherent to the 2400 chipset. It'd be interesting to know whether the both the 2400 and 2600 equipped iMacs are having problems, or just one or the other.

kwchang007 · Oct 4, 2007, 09:23 PM

Oh man that sucks for people that happens to. Also considering they have to use special drivers.

3991vhtes · Oct 5, 2007, 12:12 AM

That's why I would rather use a PC

xylomn · Oct 5, 2007, 02:14 AM

so much for the so called 'it just works' computer lol

Ravenas · Oct 5, 2007, 03:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3991vhtes

That's why I would rather use a PC

It's no better on a PC; people experience the same problems frequently just not necessarily with their OS, but rather a software based app.

Oct 4, 2007, 04:19 PM	#1
Polaris573 Senior Moderator Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Little Rock, USA Posts: 3,284 (1.09/day) Thanks: 68 Thanked 765 Times in 451 Posts System Specs	Latest iMacs Suffer From Graphics Freeze Apple's latest iMacs suffer seem to suffer from a graphics card problem that causes the computer screens to lock up. Numerous discussion threads on Apple's support forums report that, while the iMac display becomes unresponsive, the Mac itself appears to work normally. Apparently indicating the fault relates to the iMac's ATI Radeon HD card. iMac users suffering the screen freeze can get their Mac working again with a hard restart. Some users claim the fault appeared after they had installed recent software drivers (v1.1) for the Radeon HD card -- others claim that restoring the iMac to factory settings fixes the machine. While Apple is alleged to be aware of the issue, no fix for the flaw has yet been made available. Source: PC World

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Oct 4, 2007, 04:26 PM	#2
WarEagleAU Bird of Prey Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Gurley, AL Posts: 9,994 (3.98/day) Thanks: 3,810 Thanked 557 Times in 521 Posts System Specs	I would point to the mac drivers personally. Im not familiar with macs or ATI cards and their drivers with macs, but it seems like a driver conflict or miscall to me. __________________ =-TheEagle-= http://www.heatware.com/eval.php?id=62454 “You crazy? Surfing any website without an antivirus is like freaking with a dirty woman without protection” -OzzmanFloyd120 - Edited for content and clarity

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Oct 4, 2007, 04:42 PM	#3
Fuse-Wire Join Date: May 2007 Location: Scotland, Far away from normality as possible Posts: 624 (0.29/day) Thanks: 42 Thanked 43 Times in 40 Posts System Specs	i would have to say it must be the mac drivers too, ive never had a problem with any ATI card i have came across especially drivers, almost all my friends have got ATI cards at never heard a problem, mind you none of them have one in a mac so i cant pinpoint any problems. one way or another it seems to only be on macs __________________ Great thing about getting older is that you try harder and harder to stay young

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Oct 4, 2007, 04:57 PM	#4
newtekie1 Semi-Retired Folder Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 17,747 (6.48/day) Thanks: 780 Thanked 5,115 Times in 3,706 Posts System Specs	Definitely sounds like a driver issue. __________________ Rig1: System Specs. Rig2: A8-5600K@4.4GHz / AsRock FM2A75 Pro4 / 8GB Corsair DDR3-1600 9-9-9-24 / HD7560D / Samsung DVD-Burner / 1.5TB WD Green + 3x3TB WD RED in RAID5 Rig3: Athlon X2 4200+ / M4A79 Deluxe / 4GB G.Skill Pi DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 / GT430 / Sony DVD-Burner / 500GB WD Rig4: Phenom II x6 1605T @ 3.6GHz / Asus M5A99X Evo / 8GB PNY DDR3-1600 9-9-9 / GTX470 & GTX470 / Samsung DVD-Burner / 1.5TB Seagate

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Oct 4, 2007, 05:01 PM	#5
Ravenas Join Date: May 2007 Location: Tennessee Posts: 3,984 (1.82/day) Thanks: 387 Thanked 312 Times in 242 Posts System Specs	Apple has offically said this problem is caused by the ATI Raedon HD. This is apparent from the fact that the OS still runs, but the display is frozen. Sounds to me like this is a graphics driver problem conflicting with UNIX OS X drivers.

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Oct 4, 2007, 05:19 PM	#6
TheMailMan78 Banstick Dummy Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Crystal River, FL Posts: 15,109 (6.93/day) Thanks: 1,337 Thanked 6,829 Times in 3,739 Posts System Specs	I use a G5 everyday for work. Iv been using Macs for well over ten years and I can tell you the drivers have ALWAYS sucked. Nothing beats OSX for stability but if you want to do anything other than Photoshop and Freehand you better get a PC.

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Oct 4, 2007, 06:12 PM	#7
DMSMac_Consult Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 28 (0.01/day) Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Wouldn't be the first time an embedded Radeon chip had a problem in a Mac though ... tons of dual-USB iBooks had problems with the Radeon graphics chip that caused a massive motherboard recall. And I have a Radeon 2400PRO from MSI in my PC, and occassionally I get screen freezes and activating the VPU recovery feature is the only thing that brings it back. So it could be inherent to the 2400 chipset. It'd be interesting to know whether the both the 2400 and 2600 equipped iMacs are having problems, or just one or the other.

Oct 4, 2007, 09:23 PM	#8
kwchang007 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Severn, MD, USA. Posts: 2,949 (1.28/day) Thanks: 72 Thanked 189 Times in 185 Posts System Specs	Oh man that sucks for people that happens to. Also considering they have to use special drivers. __________________ Power User Teenager Club Laptop Overclocking club Thanks button....hit it if someone helped you, not a difficult concept really. [img disabled]http://www.hwbot.org/signature.img?t=1&uid=8351&iehack=.jpg[/img]

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Oct 5, 2007, 12:12 AM	#9
3991vhtes Banned Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: My house. Posts: 1,584 (0.71/day) Thanks: 426 Thanked 126 Times in 116 Posts System Specs	That's why I would rather use a PC

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Oct 5, 2007, 02:14 AM	#10
xylomn Join Date: May 2006 Location: Swindon, England, United Kingdom Posts: 538 (0.21/day) Thanks: 4 Thanked 18 Times in 17 Posts System Specs	so much for the so called 'it just works' computer lol __________________ Bsc(Hons) Computer Science Software Engineering MSc(Hons) Computer Game Engineering

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