Videos crashing Macbook

[cheeryble]

Helpiing a friend.

Macbook about 7yo playing 10.6.8

Friend daily watches a yoga class from yogaglo it has been just fine.

Now after a short time it starts stammering then it freezes and crashes the whole computer.

I watched just now and seomthing came up saying to FORCE POWER OFF and restart.

My friends say it happens on other video forms like from stored torrents and Youtube.....however I just played Anthony Bourdain and it worked for 10 minutes.

When i played the yoga class the Bourdain kinda started freezing.

Just played Better call Saul it played 5 minutes then the video froze audio continued.

then it crashed the computer which closed down.

I checked Flashplayer is up to date although I don't believe regular videos use it/

Any thoughts?

Edited April 28, 2015 by cheeryble

[JusMe]

You didn't say which application you were using to watch those videos.

VLC is perhaps the best, although QuickTime can be adequate.

[cheeryble]

I'm pretty sure I saw a VLC logo on the desktop so I'd assume that for playing the stored vids (which btw were being played from an external drive) but of course the two yoga class sites load and play as ordered.(via Firefox) so presumably nothing to do with VLC.

When I tried opening the yoga sites AT THE SAME TIME a stored video was running it tended to make the one running go weird like semi-freeze which tended to clear up when the other one was quit.....well until it ran into problems all on it's own.

Hey said but I didn't confirm that this can happen in YouTube too.

May almost seem like an inability to process information.

Edited April 29, 2015 by cheeryble

[JusMe]

Graphics and video applications take a lot of memory. I know that if I'm doing anything in that field on my desktop iMac, almost everything else turns sludgy. All memory related.

The yoga class stuff on Firefox was probably Flash driven, and Adobe is notorious for bloated and klutzy software. Could it be downloaded as some other format and then played on the MB using specific video software, such as VLC? The logo somewhere on the desktop means that the software is there. Maybe launch and see if you've got the latest version?

Stored videos wouldn't necessarily have been played by VLC unless that software actually opened the specific files, or you find those files, use Cmd-I and select VLC as the application to open them. You'll have the option of making VLC the chosen application for all files of a similar format.

Again, memory could be a reason for some although not al the issues you've outlined. Try closing any other open applications, and if possible, avoid Flash.

[cheeryble]

Point taken Jusme and interesting about Flash being the worst as that's what crashes quickest

Question is, given it's happening in all three video formats.....why was it running OK until now and is there anything could be done to take it back to that state?

[JusMe]

Question is, given it's happening in all three video formats.....why was it running OK until now and is there anything could be done to take it back to that state?

Aaah, the mysteries of Mac. Many times a lot of Mac owners have felt that their machines had distinctive personalities all their own. Mood shifts and changes, obstinate refusal to do something this afternoon that was acceptable this morning. Like living with a teenager, eh?

Taking it back to a previous state is almost impossible, perhaps with a reinstall of an OS or a backup of the initial drive, but even that's no guarantee.

Basically, it's finding a solution to the present difficulty and keeping with that until another issue arises.

Sorry, none of this sounds promising. Maybe someone else can offer suggestions.

[jamesjohnsonthird]

My old MacBook was running 10.5.8 and having problems with videos. Took it to a repair shop & the guy installed 10.9.5 and it works like a charm.

[samuijimmy]

My old MacBook was running 10.5.8 and having problems with videos. Took it to a repair shop & the guy installed 10.9.5 and it works like a charm.

Easy to update yourself, just go to the Apple at the top left corner ... check for updates.... mine running 10.10.3 now... (or you can set to automatic updates) ...

[jamesjohnsonthird]

My 10.5.8 Mac could not download the updates from Apple or Adobe.

When I tried to update from 10.5.8 Apple insisted I buy a hard copy CD of Snow Leopard.

I bought the disc and my computer would not see it. Aargh!

Took the MacBook to a shop, wiped it clean, then installed 10.9.5

Probably should have installed more RAM but the Mac is working adequately as is.

Edited May 1, 2015 by jamesjohnsonthird

[cheeryble]

Thanks for the answers...

How old are those Macs you updated the system for?

As I understand it there's usually a limit to the system that the hardware will run happily.

This one was said to be "about 7 years old" and I saw from "About this Mac" it had 2gb of RAM.

Is it advisable to go past the OS it's been running on (which was 10.8.6 or 10.6.8 I better re-check my own memory's slipping :-0)