Late 2011 MacBook Pro Freezes

Hello!

I have an issue with my MacBook Pro freezing up. I'll do my best to explain all the symptoms.

First of all, I think it only happens when i'm plugged in, as in I have my power cord in and both my USB ports used. My first USB port connects my studio monitors, and my second connects my powered USB hub which connects to my vented desktop wedge, my mouse, a Bluetooth headset I use with my PS3, and my Canon Printer. I don't recall the freeze ever happening while unplugged, but if it does occur I will post it in an update here.

When the freeze occurs, multiple things happen. It normally happens while I'm browsing Chrome, and I know it's about to happen because when I try loading the next page, the status bar reads "Waiting for Cache." At that point, I get the loading mouse icon in Chrome, and within a couple seconds I cannot access any programs in my dock, and I cannot click anything in the toolbar. The odd thing is that I can still interact with apps running in the top right toolbar (e.g. AirPlay, WiFi, Volume, etc.) If i'm playing a song in iTunes and the freeze occurs, the song finishes playing, then does not proceed to play the next song. I can still move the mouse with the trackpad and my USB mouse no problem. The freeze usually lasts a couple minutes, then when it becomes unfrozen, it fast-forwards and completes every command I've input between the time the freeze started and the end.

The apps I normally have running are iTunes, Mail, Chrome, and TeamViewer. I'm running OSX Maverick 10.9.2.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thanks.

sl3nd3rman said:

First of all, I think it only happens when i'm plugged in, as in I have my power cord in and both my USB ports used. My first USB port connects my studio monitors, and my second connects my powered USB hub which connects to my vented desktop wedge, my mouse, a Bluetooth headset I use with my PS3, and my Canon Printer. I don't recall the freeze ever happening while unplugged, but if it does occur I will post it in an update here.

Click to expand...

If you have never experienced a freeze-up while unplugged (no peripherals plugged in)...then the test you must do is...use your MBP plugged in with no peripherals (no external monitors, nothing plugged into the USB ports, etc.).

Nothing plugged into the MBP other than the power cord. If you get no freezes with this setup...then you know you have an issue with one of the peripherals.

I'm going to guess it's not the monitors or the printer (but I could be wrong). By the way...I'm thinking that your monitors are not plugged into a USB port (as mentioned above)...they're probably plugged into the Thunderbolt port (which is also a video port).

The problem is probably one of the other items (the USB hub itself, the headset, the desktop wedge, etc.). But start with nothing plugged in except the power cord.

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

If you have never experienced a freeze-up while unplugged (no peripherals plugged in)...then the test you must do is...use your MBP plugged in with no peripherals (no external monitors, nothing plugged into the USB ports, etc.).

Nothing plugged into the MBP other than the power cord. If you get no freezes with this setup...then you know you have an issue with one of the peripherals.

I'm going to guess it's not the monitors or the printer (but I could be wrong). By the way...I'm thinking that your monitors are not plugged into a USB port (as mentioned above)...they're probably plugged into the Thunderbolt port (which is also a video port).

The problem is probably one of the other items (the USB hub itself, the headset, the desktop wedge, etc.). But start with nothing plugged in except the power cord.

- Nick

Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback Nick. Thought I replied days ago but I guess not.

So running with everything plugged in, I'll get the freezes. With no power and no peripherals I have no problems. I tried running with power and no peripherals, but didn't get enough time to test in this configuration.

However, the last time it started to freeze up (20 min ago), I took the power out and everything instantly went back to normal. Maybe a power problem, or an interference with power and one of my peripherals?

Sam

More Freezing

Well, I got a couple freezes while unplugged from everything, it last happened when I went to go preview a song and it opened Spotify in my browser, and everything froze, including my mouse, but the audio continued to play. Waited for a while to see if it would unfreeze, but no luck and had to force shutdown. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Sam