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Question

Macbook early 2011 Crashing/White Screen

Jun 21, 2015 1:44PM PDT

I have early 2011 macbook , i upgraded to yosemite 6 months ago it has been running fine however the last week it has started being a little slow and now whenever I open garageband or any other programme that requires a bit of CPU the system just crashes and then like the above user on start up it just freezes on a white screen after apple logo.... the only way to combat this is to let the battery drain out and then restart and it will let me back in.... however the same sluggishness and crashing if I open something like garageband remains and then were back to the white screen on restart.

I have ordered an external hard drive so I can back up everything in case it is on its way out.

Any ideas ? Would a fresh reinstall of Yosemite get this back? This was my next step once Ive backed up the files.

I have done disk permission repairs, cleared cache, resest the prag? where you press CMD SHIFT P & R on start up. I have scanned for viruses and malware, cleaned up system and tried to minimize CPU use.

Any other advice would be much appreciated.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
try removing the battery,
Jun 21, 2015 5:35PM PDT

if this model has a removable battery.
Boot it from the power adapter only.
Any difference?

Bob, who may be along shortly, always recommends the use of canned air in the vents to clear them out.
Usually gets rid of most of the heat related problems.

I would say a shade late on ordering the external but better late than never. OS X has a good backup system called Time Machine which all Mac users should be using, rather than relying on luck.
Let us know how you get on

P

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Answer
On cue.
Jun 21, 2015 6:35PM PDT

One of my favorite tips to avoid repair counters is the 1st of the month canned air routine. Get used to it. I've seen folk that do and don't with the don't crowd burning though laptops and cash at the repair counters.

Nod to the battery. At 2011 it's most likely a drag on the power supply doing no good.
Bob

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cheers
Jun 21, 2015 11:50PM PDT

Thanks for replies guys, Im about to head to work so will look into this battery this evening along with a good compressed air session.

So even though i have the macbook in at the mains so its not using the battery, the battery can still be affecting the performance? I seem to get a good amount of time from my battery so i don't think it is running poorly.

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Old batteries
Jun 22, 2015 6:34AM PDT

Do very strange things. Even what you noted. It's become such an issue that I no longer call a 2+ year battery good when there is even a hint of troubles. Mind you I have finicky clients that insist the machine get fixed. Not that we save the battery.

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battery
Jun 22, 2015 7:01AM PDT

Ive just tried to take the battery out and I need a darn Tri Wing screwdriver so I have had to order one so it will be a few days before I can get it out. From what I've read when you run the macbook without the battery in the processor speed is half of what it usually is.... so I will not be able to gauge if the sluggishness I am experiencing is fixed by removing the battery.

Surely the fact that the only way to get past the white screen crash on restart is to let the battery drain , plug in at the mains and it will work on next boot up (until i open garageband again when system crashes and white screen starts again) is a good sign that the battery is off?

I have found some system information regarding my battery can any pros tell me if this info suggests a replacement battery?

Many thanks

Battery Information:

Model Information:
Serial Number: D86122501BWDGDLA5
Manufacturer: SMP
Device Name: bq20z451
Pack Lot Code: 0
PCB Lot Code: 0
Firmware Version: 406
Hardware Revision: 2
Cell Revision: 158
Charge Information:
Charge Remaining (mAh): 135
Fully Charged: No
Charging: Yes
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 5574
Health Information:
Cycle Count: 509
Condition: Normal
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 3582
Voltage (mV): 11311

System Power Settings:

AC Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 60
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 15
Wake on AC Change: No
Wake on Clamshell Open: Yes
Wake on LAN: Yes
Current Power Source: Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes
GPUSwitch: 2
Hibernate Mode: 3
PrioritizeNetworkReachabilityOverSleep: 0
Standby Delay: 4200
Standby Enabled: 0
Battery Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 6
Wake on AC Change: No
Wake on Clamshell Open: Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes
GPUSwitch: 2
Hibernate Mode: 3
Reduce Brightness: Yes
Standby Delay: 4200
Standby Enabled: 0

Hardware Configuration:

UPS Installed: No

AC Charger Information:

Connected: Yes
ID: 0x0100
Wattage (W): 85
Revision: 0x0000
Family: 0x00ba
Serial Number: 0x00d2b112
Charging: Yes

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This is very odd in that report.
Jun 22, 2015 10:27PM PDT

"Charge Remaining (mAh): 135
Fully Charged: No
Charging: Yes
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 5574"

The battery is at some single digit of a full charge. Weird things may happen.