Help! Random Crashing

[jonny550]

Hi there, long post apologies but I am hoping someone can help! I can see there are some users posting similar problems but mine seems slightly different.

I am having major crashing issues with my Macbook air (stats below).

Everything was running fine up until I upgraded to Yosemite. Initially the system seemed to be able so cope perfectly well and there were no problems, but after a couple of weeks on Yosemite I started to experience random crashes. after looking around online I decided to do a full system restore and clean OS install but for some reason I could not reinstall Yosemite, then could not recover to Mavericks and could not even reinstall Lion from Internet recovery. After a lot of messing around the only way I have been able to get everything running is by getting to Internet Recovery mode and installing Lion onto a flash drive, then using disk utility to 'restore' and copy the flash drive data onto the hard drive, which has worked.

However Lion also experiences crashing issues when carrying out tasks or after prolonged use. I decided to upgrade to Yosemite again as it seemed to me that the OS can't be the issue as Lion was crashing as well, but I had install onto a flash drive again and restore as the direct install fails every time and puts me back to square one!!

The crashing is difficult to pin down to anything specific. I am using the laptop right now and its running perfectly but then it will just cut out sometimes randomly, the mouse will cease to function and/or the spinning ball will appear and the only way to recover is to power off and on again. It does seem more frequent when downloading files, using online multimedia, carrying out multiple tasks or installing applications.

It has been suggested it may be down to hard drive failure but I have done some disk checks using techtool pro, diskwarrior, and the built in disk utility and everything is green across the board.

I have even disassembled the back panel and checked the vents and state of the insides and its all in great shape and is well looked after

Please assist it is driving me crazy!

Many thanks


Model Name: MacBook Air
Model Identifier: MacBookAir4,1
Processor Name: Intel Core i5
Processor Speed: 1.6 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Boot ROM Version: MBA41.0077.B11
SMC Version (system): 1.74f4

 

[jonny550]

I literally just posted this, opened a new tab in safari and it crashed...!!

 

[honestone]

It looks like you have done just about everything. As a last resort, assuming you have no critical "files" on your internal drive (if you do, copy them to an external device), and if you can boot from an external device, you should try and use Disk Utility to 1) completely Erase everything on your internal hard drive (use the most "Secure/longest" way of doing that), 2) if necessary, partition the drive, and 3) install an OS on it (maybe start with Mavericks (V10.9.5), run it for a while, then upgrade to Yosemite).

I realize you have used TechTool Pro and Disk Warrior to analyze the drive (I have both of those also). When you did that:

1. Did you first launch the eDrive created by TechTool Pro, and then run the diagnostics from there?

2. Did you launch Disk Warrior from an external device, and then let it do its' checking?

 

[jonny550]

Hi thanks for the response.

At the moment I have no files at all on the laptop. Everything is backed up to dropbox because I have done quite a few full system wipes a few times in a hope that it would eliminate the issues which it has not.

I would like to get Mavericks back on if possible since that was the last OS where things were running well, but how can I get it now? The only backup I have been able to get working is Lion on internet recovery mode

With teetotal and disk warrior I did not launch the drive and no I did not use Disk warrior from the external device.

The system ran so slowly when running from a flash drive that downloading, installing and running disk warrior would have taken an age!

Again everything seems to be running fine right now in normal operation...Its just when I start multitasking, downloading and installing software

Regards

 

[honestone]

I don't know what teetotal is, but how exactly did you erase the internal hard drive? If you used Disk Utility and just did a "Fast Erase", there could still be some left over "crap" on the drive. Here is what I suggest you do:

1. Launch Disk Utility externally (from your second paragraph above, it looks like you can do that). When you select Erase for your internal drive, about 2/3rds of the way down on that page, you'll see 3 "boxes": "Erase Free Space...", "Security Options....", and "Erase....". Click on Security Options, and you'll be presented with (I believe) 4 or 5 "ways" of Erasing the drive (It is different with Mavericks and Yosemite (I am using OS 10.10.1), so I can't exactly remember the exact wording of the choices). I believe you need to select the last one on that page. It makes several passes when erasing the drive, and it does take quite a bit of time. If you decide to do that, start it before you go to sleep. It will (most likely) be done by the time you wake up.

2. Run Disk Warrior externally to check out the "completely empty" drive. This might be overkill, but it won't hurt.

3. Re-launch Disk Utility and format the drive (and partition it, depending on your needs).

4. Install a "virgin" version of Lion on the machine. (From a google search I just did, the last version of Lion was 10.7.5. It might be best to use that version).

5. Run that version of Lion for a few days/a week. Keep using Disk Utility to check on the status of "things' while running Lion.

6. If possible, make a bootable backup of your system. SuperDuper! is the best "free" software to use for that, and preferably to an external device.

7. When you are ready, try upgrading to Mavericks. The last version of Mavericks was 10.9.5, so that is the version you want.

You might be able to reverse steps 2 and 3 above (that is, format/partition the drive first with Disk Utility, then run Disk Warrior).

The other thing you can do after formatting/partitioning the drive, and then install Lion, is to install TechTool Pro. Make sure you let it create the (small) eDrive partition on your internal hard drive. You can then launch TechTool Pro, and then click Tools, and select "Restart eDrive". Once you do that, you can run TechTool Pro and do any needed repairs to your primary partition (containing the OS) on your internal drive. That, hopefully, will be a good enough replacement for Disk Warrior (if needed).

Good luck!

 

[Leila Sidani]

My Mac Pro was working fine but stopped suddenly and I cannot reboot.
I get the apple grey logo then the stop sign with the circle trying to reboot Pls help