Mac: it just works - or does it?

I'm on my first ever Mac (iMac 24", 2.33Ghz, 2GB, 500GB, Nvidia 7600) and already some niggles are eating away at my initial euphoria. On a computer which I primarily bought for its much renowned stability, I experienced no less than 4 software crashes, all within the first 24 hours of booting the system for the first time, and all with software from Apple.

I'm not a troll and while this may seem like a bit of a rant, it's actually just a bit of frustration from a new kid on the block, so please bear with me.

First, when playing around with a very small test project in iMovie HD, the application quit on me unexpectedly. Fortunately, no data was lost but still, it came as some of an unpleasant surprise.

Next up was Aperture, which is the only application I installed on my virgin OS X configuration. While it was creating thumbnails in the background and I was browsing through some photos: boom.

The third one to go was a Dashboard widget of all things. I was trying if the sticky notes widget would resize its font when I typed more text than the note could hold. I did that by repeatedly pasting some boilerplate text in it and thar she went.

And the final crash was especially disheartening. I was copying some files over from my PC to the Mac using my wireless network. For some reason the connection was lost but the copy dialog didn't budge: it just stopped reporting progress. I tried to cancel it by clicking on the small x, but no response. I then tried to reboot OS X (old habits die hard) but it wouldn't let me because the Finder was still busy copying files (or so it thought). I then tried force quitting the Finder (remembering all the hype about being able to do that without affecting OS stability). I didn't get a Quit, but Relaunch option which seemed logical because the Finder is always active. The Finder did quit alright, only to relaunch in its same unresponsive state. It also took down the menu bar with it, so the Apple system menu was gone. Luckily, there were still some stray icons in the upper right hand corner and I managed to launch an application using Spotlight which restored the menu. I then tried to reboot the system using the Apple menu but... no response.

Even though Spotlight still worked and OS X didn't crash technically, it might as well have because for all intents and purposes, it's quite useless if one of its core components (the Finder) stops working and the system can no longer be shut down.

I didn't expect my PC to Mac transition to be all smooth sailing, and fully realize that no system is entirely flawless, but 4 crashes on a Mac that came out of the box just 24 hours before... man, that doesn't sit well with me...

Is this something I'm supposed to live with? Can anyone relate to my experiences, or is this actually as unusual as I would like it to be?

it's weird. when i first used my macbook, the first day or two i experienced a few crashes, even basic programs, safari, finder... but the system seemed to stabilize over time. i've seen some similar anecdotal evidence of this from other users here, but am not really sure of why this would be.

my advice. reboot a couple times over a couple days. try a program called onyx, to clean your application and system caches (it's free). you should see programs become more stable. at least that's what i've experienced.


btw, welcome aboard, congrats on the new mac, and i hope it starts to turn around for you!

zeppelin said:

Is this something I'm supposed to live with? Can anyone relate to my experiences, or is this actually as unusual as I would like it to be?

Click to expand...

Actually that is very unusual. I suggest that before you go any further you do a completely clean install (i.e format the HD and then install) because something is very wrong there.

I have had to do this in the past, sometimes the factory installed image is a bit flaky.

If that doesn't fix things I'd take the thing straight back to Apple and get a new one!

I've just thought of something else - check that you have the latest firmware updates.

Amen-Moses

It would not hurt to test your memory.

Sine you installed aperture, it could be that aperture is causing the problems as it may need updating. Did you run software update for OSX before installing Aperture? Have you updated Aperture since putting it on?

Have you run disc permissions etc? Are you quiting programs when you have finsihed with them? Unlike Windows, programs do not quite by simply pressing the x in the corner, you have to ensure they are fully quit from the dock. (As a new user it is not easy to realise this.)

I would try these first, and if it is still the same, then I would do a clean install (not archive and install) and do not install anything else until I had updated and tested the clean install.

If everything is fine once you have updated and tested, and then you install aperture and the same happens again, then you have your culprit. Aperture is very intensive in that it takes a lot of resources, so if it was not quit properly then it is possible that it caused a memory leak.

It is also possible you could have a RAM issue, and you need to run the hardware test from Apple (should be on your discs that came with the machine) to see if there is a hardware problem.

I had a very similar problem with my 24" iMac. I had only had mine about 24 hours and I had hardly installed anything on it when I had four or five serious crashing problems. I had the Kernal panic about 6 times while I was just web browsing. I phoned my Apple dealer straight away, and they said that something was very wrong. They came out to my house, collected the iMac and tested it for 24 hours. They then phoned me and said that they would bring me a brand new one that day - which they did. Apparantly it was faulty memory that caused all the problems, but they did a sterling job in sorting the problem out...so my advice to you is send it back and get an exchange.
I too was very disappointed with the problem as I had read so much about Apple's stability, and could not believe how unlucky I was. I had used a PC for the last 6 years, and during that time, I had only ever had one crash....which I guess is lucky, but to have the iMac less 24 hours, and to have so many crashes was devastating - and all my partner could say was "You told me that these things were bomb proof", and as my partner had just forked out the £1350 for the computer for my birthday....at my request....I felt such a sh*t.
Happily though the new one has been fantastic, and I don't miss my PC.

Send it back and get a new one.

Philip

I tend to agree ^^^. If you have just bought your Mac and live not-too-far from the AppleStore, take it back and let them know you're not happy. After spending that amount of money it should work "Out of the Box".

It is vital that you update to 10.4.8 first.

Welcome to Mac-Forums, zeppelin.

Yep, like yogi says make sure that all your apps and system are up-to-date before making your mind up.

Thanks for the warm welcome and all the swift replies, at least the Mac community spirit makes true on its promise.

All these crashes occurred after I updated all components using the "Software Update" option from the Apple menu. Two or three of the crashes occurred before I had installed Aperture, so I doubt that I should look there for an explanation. Still, just to be sure, I just downloaded and installed the Aperture 1.5.2 and the Camera RAW 1.0.1 updates.

I also downloaded and ran Rember to get at least an indication on whether or not I got a faulty memory bank. And while Rember's results are not 100% conclusive, it did not report any mishaps.

I could go back to my dealer, but given the nature of this issue (not consistently reproducable) I'm not sure what they could do except replacing my unit. Reinstalling the whole shebang is an option, but I'd rather try the waters for a few more days before I take that route.

Years of PC experience have taught me to be pretty self sufficient when it comes to trouble shooting so if there is a comprehensive troubleshooting guide, I'd like to try that before I take the more drastic measures (no, I'm not going to smash it ).

Very unusual, do the format and re-install and if that doesn't work you got a bad machine.

Try reinstalling the update manually. I think this update ought to do, Mac OS X 10.4.8 Combo Update (Intel). Sometimes this will fix a flaky behaviour in a Mac. Sometimes it doesn't take much to make a downloaded update miss its intended purpose of making your computer better: heavy internet traffic, a glitch in the connection for a milli-second, etc.

Make sure your Aperture app is at version 1.5.2 since this is the latest release: if it isn't the latest version, look it up here on this page, Apple - Support - Downloads.

It's weird, but no point in dwelling on the weirdness of it. Let's solve the kid's problem (who am I to call someone else a kid).

1. Download and install MainMenu.
2. The application makes a new item in the Menu Bar (the top right of your screen).
3. Click it and choose to run all batch tasks, repair disk permissions, clean caches. MAybe even rebuild spotlight index, though that basically has nothing to do with it (I think).

If all else fails, try repairing the disk. Can someone else take over and explain tha? I get tired of it.

I reinstalled the 10.4.8 update, then installed MainMenu and ran all batch tasks. The SpotLight index is being rebuilt as I type this.

I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and hope that either those crashes were isolated flukes, or that the aforementioned actions fixed whatever was causing my bane.

Special thanks to yogi for calling me a kid. At 37 (going on 38) I don't get that a lot anymore.

zeppelin said:

I reinstalled the 10.4.8 update, then installed MainMenu and ran all batch tasks. The SpotLight index is being rebuilt as I type this.

I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and hope that either those crashes were isolated flukes, or that the aforementioned actions fixed whatever was causing my bane.

Special thanks to yogi for calling me a kid. At 37 (going on 38) I don't get that a lot anymore.

Click to expand...

As this is a new machine, starting with a factory fresh install and being that you've gotten yourself up to date with Software Updates, I don't know that I'd recommend reinstalling the operating system. The factory uses standardized images to deploy to all machines that leave the factory. Typically these images have been carefully tested and refined to ensure that the resulting machines are very stable out of the box.

As stated by the other posters, I'd suspect a hardware problem - more specifically, I'd imagine you might have some bad memory. The first thing I'd recommend is that you run the Apple Hardware Test. Once you've isolated defective hardware as a potential problem, then I'd start fooling around with the software. If indeed the Apple Hardware test indicates a failure of some sort, your best recourse would be to contact tech support for a replacement or repair.

I've been using my refurbished MacBook Pro since just after Christmas. I've never had a kernel panic and very rarely have to force quit an application (and I've got a ton of stuff installed, including many beta products).

I ran the Hardware Test utility from the OS X installation disc (using the thorough/extensive option) and it came up clean. Based on that, and the result from Member, I suppose it's safe to assume that my hardware is functioning normally.

That leaves me with a potential software issue, but considering that 3 out of 4 crashes occurred in a squeaky clean, fully updated OS X installation, that seems unlikely as well.

The good news is that I haven't had any further crashes or other mishaps. If I should run into any more inexplicable phenomena, I'll contact my dealer for a replacement.

Thanks again for listening and for the troubleshooting tips. I'm going to enjoy my new Mac now!

First of all, thanks to eric for that link to onyx. I just did a bunch of system maintenance stuff yesterday and that would have saved a lot of time. At least I'll have it for next time. As your your issue, zeppelin, I too had some flaky performance out of the box (iTunes in particular), but after letting Software Update run and working a few days with the Mac, it seemed to iron itself out. I used to be a PC user too, and I've had trouble with RAM in the past, so definitely run the memory checking program on your OS X disc (pop in the disc and restart), seems like it could be the root of your problems.

Edit: looks like you already ran that. Well, good to hear you haven't gotten anymore crashes yet!

zeppelin said:

The third one to go was a Dashboard widget of all things. I was trying if the sticky notes widget would resize its font when I typed more text than the note could hold. I did that by repeatedly pasting some boilerplate text in it and thar she went.

Click to expand...

This one I was able to replicate but all it does is cause that one widget to be unresponsive, it looks as if it has a maximum buffer size of a few hundred characters and if you put in more characters it will not allow any more input.

The widget can be quit and another can be created so it's not really a show stopper just a bit of dodgy programming on that widget.

The others I've not come across.

Amen-Moses

I had some similar problems at first, and honestly, I think it was more operator error than anything else.

I have a 17 inch MB Pro and I need to restart the OS about once a day. It seems as if a program had a memory leak because when the machine is left idle for long it will be unresponsive and everything runs much much slower when resuming the OS.

I haven't had the time to trouble shoot which application is causing the perceived error but what bothers me is that I never had daily issues like this on my PC :-/