Posted: 10/9/2012 7:58:38 AM EDT
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I have a first generation Macbook Pro from 2006. It's 2ghz Intel Core Duo with 2gb ram. The Macbook Pro is not my primary computer, but I just got it back from a family member and did a wipe/fresh install of 10.6.8.
I keep getting the "spinning pinwheel" a LOT when I go to enter text into a text field. I'll try to start typing, but it will hang and no text will show even if I start typing, the spinning wheel will spin for 2-5 seconds, and then the text will show up. Does this sound like the HD is going bad or some other issue? I'm just wondering if it's worth replacing the HD or if something else on it is going out. I have already done the repair permissions and that didn't help. I've heard others refer to this symptom as "kernal panic" but I'm not sure if that's what this is or not. |
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Kernel Panics usually make the kernel stop completely. Since everything requires the kernel to run, it would stop the whole works and your shit would 'purple screen'.
I would lean more toward a software issue, more specifically to something either utilizing a lot of RAM or keeping the processor interrupts busy. For more specifics, I'd just take it to an Apple store. If they can't quickly figure it out, have them nuke and pave it in store. |
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I've got the same machine... Sorry, we both are SOL. Can't run the last 2 versions of the OS, and won't run a large number of apps.
The good news is that it is very easy to upgrade the HD. I've swapped the old 100GB one for a 320GB 7200 Fujitsu, and more recently a 1TB 5400RPM Caviar Blue. Both are much, much faster then the old 4200RPM 100GB. The price has come down enough that it is an easy and good upgrade. Are you still on the original 100GB drive? |
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I had one as well, and it sounds like a HD issue to me. Yep. Google uses standard consumer hard drives and have done extensive testing. http://static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/untrusted_dlcp/research.google.com/en/us/archive/disk_failures.pdf http://storagemojo.com/2007/02/19/googles-disk-failure-experience/ Basically, drives go bad! 
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I have a first generation Macbook Pro from 2006. It's 2ghz Intel Core Duo with 2gb ram. The Macbook Pro is not my primary computer, but I just got it back from a family member and did a wipe/fresh install of 10.6.8. I keep getting the "spinning pinwheel" a LOT when I go to enter text into a text field. I'll try to start typing, but it will hang and no text will show even if I start typing, the spinning wheel will spin for 2-5 seconds, and then the text will show up. Does this sound like the HD is going bad or some other issue? I'm just wondering if it's worth replacing the HD or if something else on it is going out. I have already done the repair permissions and that didn't help. I've heard others refer to this symptom as "kernal panic" but I'm not sure if that's what this is or not. Found your problem. 
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I have a first generation Macbook Pro from 2006. It's 2ghz Intel Core Duo with 2gb ram. The Macbook Pro is not my primary computer, but I just got it back from a family member and did a wipe/fresh install of 10.6.8. I keep getting the "spinning pinwheel" a LOT when I go to enter text into a text field. I'll try to start typing, but it will hang and no text will show even if I start typing, the spinning wheel will spin for 2-5 seconds, and then the text will show up. Does this sound like the HD is going bad or some other issue? I'm just wondering if it's worth replacing the HD or if something else on it is going out. I have already done the repair permissions and that didn't help. I've heard others refer to this symptom as "kernal panic" but I'm not sure if that's what this is or not. Found your problem. This is just plainly stupid. I'd do a format and see if that fixes your problem. If not, HDD and fresh install of OSX |
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I have a first generation Macbook Pro from 2006. It's 2ghz Intel Core Duo with 2gb ram. The Macbook Pro is not my primary computer, but I just got it back from a family member and did a wipe/fresh install of 10.6.8. I keep getting the "spinning pinwheel" a LOT when I go to enter text into a text field. I'll try to start typing, but it will hang and no text will show even if I start typing, the spinning wheel will spin for 2-5 seconds, and then the text will show up. Does this sound like the HD is going bad or some other issue? I'm just wondering if it's worth replacing the HD or if something else on it is going out. I have already done the repair permissions and that didn't help. I've heard others refer to this symptom as "kernal panic" but I'm not sure if that's what this is or not. Found your problem. This is just plainly stupid. I'd do a format and see if that fixes your problem. If not, HDD and fresh install of OSX He been did this, according to the OP. What version of OSX shipped on the computer? |
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I have a first generation Macbook Pro from 2006. It's 2ghz Intel Core Duo with 2gb ram. The Macbook Pro is not my primary computer, but I just got it back from a family member and did a wipe/fresh install of 10.6.8. I keep getting the "spinning pinwheel" a LOT when I go to enter text into a text field. I'll try to start typing, but it will hang and no text will show even if I start typing, the spinning wheel will spin for 2-5 seconds, and then the text will show up. Does this sound like the HD is going bad or some other issue? I'm just wondering if it's worth replacing the HD or if something else on it is going out. I have already done the repair permissions and that didn't help. I've heard others refer to this symptom as "kernal panic" but I'm not sure if that's what this is or not. Found your problem. This is just plainly stupid. I'd do a format and see if that fixes your problem. If not, HDD and fresh install of OSX He been did this, according to the OP. What version of OSX shipped on the computer? 10.4 Tiger |
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I have a first generation Macbook Pro from 2006. It's 2ghz Intel Core Duo with 2gb ram. The Macbook Pro is not my primary computer, but I just got it back from a family member and did a wipe/fresh install of 10.6.8. I keep getting the "spinning pinwheel" a LOT when I go to enter text into a text field. I'll try to start typing, but it will hang and no text will show even if I start typing, the spinning wheel will spin for 2-5 seconds, and then the text will show up. Does this sound like the HD is going bad or some other issue? I'm just wondering if it's worth replacing the HD or if something else on it is going out. I have already done the repair permissions and that didn't help. I've heard others refer to this symptom as "kernal panic" but I'm not sure if that's what this is or not. Found your problem. This is just plainly stupid. I'd do a format and see if that fixes your problem. If not, HDD and fresh install of OSX He been did this, according to the OP. What version of OSX shipped on the computer? 10.4 Tiger 10.4 should have been named "good buddy". Given he's on a newer version I'm going to reiterate my request to see screen shots of the activity monitor tabs. Disk utility isn't a bad idea either. |
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It's not a kernel panic, it's likely not the OS, it's possible you've got either bad RAM or a bad hard drive. Easiest thing to do if you're not sure how to deal with it is take it in to an apple store, they'll help you figure out what the problem is and what it will cost to fix.
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It's not a kernel panic, it's likely not the OS, it's possible you've got either bad RAM or a bad hard drive. Easiest thing to do if you're not sure how to deal with it is take it in to an apple store, they'll help you figure out what the problem is and what it will cost to fix. That's what I thought too, but I decided to troll before helping
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I was going to reply individually but that's a lot of cop/paste. :)
Thanks for all who replied. I have been pricing HDs, so I might do that after I take it to apple to rule out bad ram or anything else that might cause the issue. It originally shipped with 10.4. Has the original 80gb HD. I'll get some screenshots here shortly as requested. |
| I have the same Mac book pro and also a 2008 MBP. Usually the beach ball means high disk activity. You see it in some older Mbps with ssd drives. Fresh install of snow leo? That's a bad disk drive. You see similar behavior in win 7 machines when the hdd is going. Cheap and easy fix on the mbp. |
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I was going to reply individually but that's a lot of cop/paste. :) Thanks for all who replied. I have been pricing HDs, so I might do that after I take it to apple to rule out bad ram or anything else that might cause the issue. It originally shipped with 10.4. Has the original 80gb HD. I'll get some screenshots here shortly as requested. Dude, go with the 1TB Blue. Great drive and you'll only run out of space in about three-six months!
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I've had the spinning beachball of death as they like to call it. I thought macs are free from troubles ;) Computers are like cars. Macs have way less problems than others, but there is no such thing as trouble free. I use MacKeeper. My sister purchased a family version and let me register my laptop so I got it for free. It seems to work well and has some nice features. |
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I have a first generation Macbook Pro from 2006. It's 2ghz Intel Core Duo with 2gb ram. The Macbook Pro is not my primary computer, but I just got it back from a family member and did a wipe/fresh install of 10.6.8. I keep getting the "spinning pinwheel" a LOT when I go to enter text into a text field. I'll try to start typing, but it will hang and no text will show even if I start typing, the spinning wheel will spin for 2-5 seconds, and then the text will show up. Does this sound like the HD is going bad or some other issue? I'm just wondering if it's worth replacing the HD or if something else on it is going out. I have already done the repair permissions and that didn't help. I've heard others refer to this symptom as "kernal panic" but I'm not sure if that's what this is or not. 2GB RAM is NOT enough to run OS X 10.6.8 smoothly. Double it to 4GB, or if your version can take 8GB, go ahead. It's under $40 to get 8GB. Once you install new memory, don't forget to zap the pram. Once you've done that, hold down the power button for 5 seconds (when it's off). |
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I have a first generation Macbook Pro from 2006. It's 2ghz Intel Core Duo with 2gb ram. The Macbook Pro is not my primary computer, but I just got it back from a family member and did a wipe/fresh install of 10.6.8. I keep getting the "spinning pinwheel" a LOT when I go to enter text into a text field. I'll try to start typing, but it will hang and no text will show even if I start typing, the spinning wheel will spin for 2-5 seconds, and then the text will show up. Does this sound like the HD is going bad or some other issue? I'm just wondering if it's worth replacing the HD or if something else on it is going out. I have already done the repair permissions and that didn't help. I've heard others refer to this symptom as "kernal panic" but I'm not sure if that's what this is or not. 2GB RAM is NOT enough to run OS X 10.6.8 smoothly. Double it to 4GB, or if your version can take 8GB, go ahead. It's under $40 to get 8GB. Once you install new memory, don't forget to zap the pram. Once you've done that, hold down the power button for 5 seconds (when it's off). I'm not sure what he's got running but sitting idle he's got 3/4 of that mem unused. Not that adding mem is bad but I doubt his issues would be alleviated by doing so. |
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I have a first generation Macbook Pro from 2006. It's 2ghz Intel Core Duo with 2gb ram. The Macbook Pro is not my primary computer, but I just got it back from a family member and did a wipe/fresh install of 10.6.8. I keep getting the "spinning pinwheel" a LOT when I go to enter text into a text field. I'll try to start typing, but it will hang and no text will show even if I start typing, the spinning wheel will spin for 2-5 seconds, and then the text will show up. Does this sound like the HD is going bad or some other issue? I'm just wondering if it's worth replacing the HD or if something else on it is going out. I have already done the repair permissions and that didn't help. I've heard others refer to this symptom as "kernal panic" but I'm not sure if that's what this is or not. 2GB RAM is NOT enough to run OS X 10.6.8 smoothly. Double it to 4GB, or if your version can take 8GB, go ahead. It's under $40 to get 8GB. Once you install new memory, don't forget to zap the pram. Once you've done that, hold down the power button for 5 seconds (when it's off). I'm not sure what he's got running but sitting idle he's got 3/4 of that mem unused. Not that adding mem is bad but I doubt his issues would be alleviated by doing so. 2GB is the max for the 1st gen MBP. |
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I have a first generation Macbook Pro from 2006. It's 2ghz Intel Core Duo with 2gb ram. The Macbook Pro is not my primary computer, but I just got it back from a family member and did a wipe/fresh install of 10.6.8. I keep getting the "spinning pinwheel" a LOT when I go to enter text into a text field. I'll try to start typing, but it will hang and no text will show even if I start typing, the spinning wheel will spin for 2-5 seconds, and then the text will show up. Does this sound like the HD is going bad or some other issue? I'm just wondering if it's worth replacing the HD or if something else on it is going out. I have already done the repair permissions and that didn't help. I've heard others refer to this symptom as "kernal panic" but I'm not sure if that's what this is or not. 2GB RAM is NOT enough to run OS X 10.6.8 smoothly. Double it to 4GB, or if your version can take 8GB, go ahead. It's under $40 to get 8GB. Once you install new memory, don't forget to zap the pram. Once you've done that, hold down the power button for 5 seconds (when it's off). I don't think the first gen Macbook Pros can take 4GB or 8GB. |
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I think it sounds like a ram issue. Especially if you've installed programs with a lot of fonts. That's what my old apple LCIII did when I put font heavy programs on it. Also if there are a lot of fonts in the document, it would go slower the more that was added. There is no reason to run any computer on the least amount of ram. When I had my mac there was a problem with memory card glue and it was very expensive. Now it's just silly not to just max it out. |
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Thanks again everybody.
Tony, I'll look at the blue 1tb. I'm on OWC now and will compare to Newegg. Yes, the original Intel Macbook Pros are maxed out at 2gb. It was fine back when I first got it with 10.4 I'll have the apple store do their test/diagnostics on it and assuming it's not ram, I'll try a new HD. |
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Thanks again everybody. Tony, I'll look at the blue 1tb. I'm on OWC now and will compare to Newegg. Yes, the original Intel Macbook Pros are maxed out at 2gb. It was fine back when I first got it with 10.4 I'll have the apple store do their test/diagnostics on it and assuming it's not ram, I'll try a new HD. Depending on when in 2006 yours is, you might be able to add more mem but that sounds like a solution to a problem you're not having. |
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Thanks again everybody. Tony, I'll look at the blue 1tb. I'm on OWC now and will compare to Newegg. Yes, the original Intel Macbook Pros are maxed out at 2gb. It was fine back when I first got it with 10.4 I'll have the apple store do their test/diagnostics on it and assuming it's not ram, I'll try a new HD. Depending on when in 2006 yours is, you might be able to add more mem but that sounds like a solution to a problem you're not having. It was ordered shortly after the announcement of the original Intel Macs. So it was the first model in the Macbook Pro line that replaced the Powerbook IIRC. |
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I'm using an original Macbook (the black one, aka the Blackbook), which only has 2 GB of RAM and 10.6.8. Great little machine. No delays, not SBOD. With a fresh install there might be some system prefs that got turned on by default, that may be slowing things up. Filevault can cause a slight system drag as it encrypts on the fly. If you feel comfortable doing it, you can turn it off. Universal Access can also work in the background and slow things up a bit. Unless you need 'em, disable all of it. Turn off Bluetooth if you don't need it. Turn off all sharing services. |
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I have a first generation Macbook Pro from 2006. It's 2ghz Intel Core Duo with 2gb ram. The Macbook Pro is not my primary computer, but I just got it back from a family member and did a wipe/fresh install of 10.6.8. I keep getting the "spinning pinwheel" a LOT when I go to enter text into a text field. I'll try to start typing, but it will hang and no text will show even if I start typing, the spinning wheel will spin for 2-5 seconds, and then the text will show up. Does this sound like the HD is going bad or some other issue? I'm just wondering if it's worth replacing the HD or if something else on it is going out. I have already done the repair permissions and that didn't help. I've heard others refer to this symptom as "kernal panic" but I'm not sure if that's what this is or not. 2GB RAM is NOT enough to run OS X 10.6.8 smoothly. Double it to 4GB, or if your version can take 8GB, go ahead. It's under $40 to get 8GB. Once you install new memory, don't forget to zap the pram. Once you've done that, hold down the power button for 5 seconds (when it's off). 2gb of ram is plenty. |
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Verify your disk (on the right side of the Disk Utility for Repair) and see if your drive is "ok"
if it's "ok" it'll show in green and say so If it needs repairing it will show in red and (not permissions repair but disc repair) then you'll need the original system disc or need to repair from another Mac through FW and setup your bad mac as the FW target by holding the "t" key while booting up |
| Thanks for all who responded. I reset PRAM and SMC, but issue is still present. Will head to Apple store to hopefully rule out a bad ram issue and then if nothing else is showing bad, I'll get a new HD. The current one is 6 years old and has been formatted multiple times, plus I don't know how it was used when it was out of my possession, so hopefully that fixes it. Sounds like others have had the same issue. Thanks again. |