iMac lockups/freezes/slowness

JustJ · 10-04-2009, 05:27 PM

Hello all, before I get into the nitty gritty specs of my iMac I would like to just take a moment to explain what has happened, and how it came about.

I've had my iMac since Christmas just gone, unboxed and ran for the first time on Christmas day.
Ever since, it has been perfect, a perfect machine.
I use this machine for my obsession of World of Warcraft (i know, i know!) and my college work, Graphic Design & Photography, so using Adobe Photoshop.

It is usually great, sometimes gets quite hot and i'll tend to give it 15 mins to cool down. However, last night I went on a 40 man raid on WoW and the system began to freeze up from around 30 seconds to 1 minute, sometimes only a few seconds. Typically I thought it was because there were 40 players at one given time spamming their spells and the like, so I just passed it off as a one off issue. After the raid, I turned the iMac and went to bed.
The next morning, I turn on my iMac and it's running slow. Opening Finder takes around 20 seconds, iTunes around 30-40 seconds. Just clicking on Applications or Macintosh HD in the Finder window it will freeze up for around 10 seconds or more. Playing WoW it tends to freeze up for 30 seconds to a minute, at random times.

Also, when playing WoW, it sometimes takes a long time to load the games log in screen initially. When actually logging into the game, it will take a very long time to load, around 1 to 2 minutes. When zoning out so i have to load a certain zone, i will again take around 1 minute.

I turned up the volume a bit, to see if it was just a display issue or whether the sound froze too. I discovered that the sound infact begins looping before the actual display locks ups (about 3-5 seconds prior). When the system freezes/locks up, sometimes I am unable to do anything other than move the cursor. Sometimes it lets me use the Expose feature, or the dashboard feature.

Here are some of the specs of my iMac, if it is of any help:
GENERAL:
Version: 10.5.8
Model Identifier: iMac8,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.66 GHz
L2 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: IM81.00C1.B00
SMC Version (system): 1.29f1
GRAPHICS:
Chipset Model: ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro
RAM (x2):
Size: 2 GB
Type: DDR2 SDRAM
Speed: 800 MHz

If there is anything more you would like to know, then please just let me know and i will do my best to provide such information.

Thanks alot,
Justj.

sinclair_tm · 10-04-2009, 09:54 PM

How large is the hard drive and how much free room is on the hard drive? Also, when was the last time you opened the Disk Utility to check on the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive? Your Mac seems to be showing the classic signs of a full drive, or failing drive. Also, while on topic, when was the last time you backed up your important files?

JustJ · 10-05-2009, 03:08 AM

Hello sinclair, thank you for your reply.
The drive is 416GB in total, 247GB free. I also run boot camp with Windows XP, which holds 49.5GB, 1.83GB free.
I am going to backup my files tonight on my external harddrive, but haven't backed up before (yes i know, naughty naughty!).

I have no idea what the S.M.A.R.T is all about, i'm quite a newbie when it comes to things such as this. Sorry.

Thanks,
JustJ

sinclair_tm · 10-05-2009, 05:26 PM

If you open the Disk Utility, found in the Utilities folder in the Applications folder, select your hard drive in the list of drives in the left and at the bottom it will give info on the drive, one being the heath of the drive, which S.M.A.R.T. is suppose to tell you.

JustJ · 10-06-2009, 09:48 AM

S.M.A.R.T Status: Verified
Is this what you're looking for?

sinclair_tm · 10-06-2009, 10:51 PM

Yes, and that is the answer I expected. Every hard drive I've had fail says verified, even as the disk died. But you never know. I still think it's the hard drive. Better get it to Apple before your warranty is up for the free repair.

JustJ · 10-08-2009, 05:25 AM

Thank you Sinclair.
I am sorting out getting it back to them this week/next week. We are hoping that we have it under warranty still.
When I find out what the problem was I will post it here to let others of the same issue know, and in case you're curious :)
Thanks again,
Jack.

10-04-2009, 05:27 PM	#1 (permalink)
JustJ Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 60 OS: Windows XP Home	iMac lockups/freezes/slowness Hello all, before I get into the nitty gritty specs of my iMac I would like to just take a moment to explain what has happened, and how it came about. I've had my iMac since Christmas just gone, unboxed and ran for the first time on Christmas day. Ever since, it has been perfect, a perfect machine. I use this machine for my obsession of World of Warcraft (i know, i know!) and my college work, Graphic Design & Photography, so using Adobe Photoshop. It is usually great, sometimes gets quite hot and i'll tend to give it 15 mins to cool down. However, last night I went on a 40 man raid on WoW and the system began to freeze up from around 30 seconds to 1 minute, sometimes only a few seconds. Typically I thought it was because there were 40 players at one given time spamming their spells and the like, so I just passed it off as a one off issue. After the raid, I turned the iMac and went to bed. The next morning, I turn on my iMac and it's running slow. Opening Finder takes around 20 seconds, iTunes around 30-40 seconds. Just clicking on Applications or Macintosh HD in the Finder window it will freeze up for around 10 seconds or more. Playing WoW it tends to freeze up for 30 seconds to a minute, at random times. Also, when playing WoW, it sometimes takes a long time to load the games log in screen initially. When actually logging into the game, it will take a very long time to load, around 1 to 2 minutes. When zoning out so i have to load a certain zone, i will again take around 1 minute. I turned up the volume a bit, to see if it was just a display issue or whether the sound froze too. I discovered that the sound infact begins looping before the actual display locks ups (about 3-5 seconds prior). When the system freezes/locks up, sometimes I am unable to do anything other than move the cursor. Sometimes it lets me use the Expose feature, or the dashboard feature. Here are some of the specs of my iMac, if it is of any help: GENERAL: Version: 10.5.8 Model Identifier: iMac8,1 Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor Speed: 2.66 GHz L2 Cache: 6 MB Memory: 4 GB Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz Boot ROM Version: IM81.00C1.B00 SMC Version (system): 1.29f1 GRAPHICS: Chipset Model: ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro RAM (x2): Size: 2 GB Type: DDR2 SDRAM Speed: 800 MHz If there is anything more you would like to know, then please just let me know and i will do my best to provide such information. Thanks alot, Justj. Last edited by JustJ; 10-04-2009 at 05:31 PM. Reason: Added another missing point

10-05-2009, 03:08 AM	#3 (permalink)
JustJ Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 60 OS: Windows XP Home	Re: iMac lockups/freezes/slowness Hello sinclair, thank you for your reply. The drive is 416GB in total, 247GB free. I also run boot camp with Windows XP, which holds 49.5GB, 1.83GB free. I am going to backup my files tonight on my external harddrive, but haven't backed up before (yes i know, naughty naughty!). I have no idea what the S.M.A.R.T is all about, i'm quite a newbie when it comes to things such as this. Sorry. Thanks, JustJ

10-06-2009, 09:48 AM	#5 (permalink)
JustJ Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 60 OS: Windows XP Home	Re: iMac lockups/freezes/slowness S.M.A.R.T Status: Verified Is this what you're looking for?

10-08-2009, 05:25 AM	#7 (permalink)
JustJ Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 60 OS: Windows XP Home	Re: iMac lockups/freezes/slowness Thank you Sinclair. I am sorting out getting it back to them this week/next week. We are hoping that we have it under warranty still. When I find out what the problem was I will post it here to let others of the same issue know, and in case you're curious :) Thanks again, Jack.