as the title says, sometimes when i unpack a dmg file my entire computer locks up ... it only happens on some dmg files (especially ones from omni group eg. omniplan beta)

when i say entire computer i mean ENTIRE computer ... everything will freeze except the mouse cursor and music will stop if playing ... it freezes for about 5 - 8 seconds then it unfreezes and all is well ...

anyone know of any reasons why it would be freezing ... and is there a quick fix (hopefully without the need to re-install mac os)

Well, a lock-up like that suggests something hardware-wise is screwed up. Mac OS X truly doesn't like it if it can't read or write from a disk. Could be data corruption on the hard disk, another thing it hates (which is why we have journalling).

When it locks up, do you get anything interesting in the console? (Applications/Utilities/Console.app)

The poster sounds like they are describing a pause (cause I associated a lockup/freeze with a condition that doesn't undo). ie. Power button to restart and recover condition of the freeze/lockup.

I've noticed a pause in certain high load situations personally, and I think I should pay more attention to what else might be happening at the sametime to determine if its a fault or not.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(xfodder @ Sep 15 2006, 04:06 AM) [snapback]214141[/snapback]</div>Could it be as simple as that the system is struggling to multitask?

ilost: It only struggles if it's doing something like writing to disk which it assumes wont be impeded. An example is, try copying a few GB of files between hard disks then go and try and type thing in another app while that's happening. You'll find yourself waiting for the letters to appear on screen. That's why i think it's a problem with the hard disk, either the actual data or the HD itself.

oh noes ! my hard drive might be on the fritz ?

im just going to test it and see if anything comes up in the console ...

ok i unpacked the dmg file twice just to make sure ... 1st time with safari ... second time i used firefox, then manually unpacked it ... i got this in the console both times.

2006-09-15 12:35:19.942 DiskImages UI Agent[2793] Could not find image named 'background'.

i have only unpacked the omniplan dmg file because its the only one i can remember that causes the lockup.

<edit>
i also get this from the system.log

Sep 15 12:41:39 imac kernel[0]: com_lexar_driver_LexarFilterScheme[0x1a92c000]::init(0x2894880)
Sep 15 12:41:39 imac kernel[0]: com_lexar_driver_LexarFilterScheme[0x1a92c000]::start(0x296ef00)
Sep 15 12:41:47 imac kernel[0]: com_lexar_driver_LexarFilterScheme[0x1a96d000]::init(0x4ab7b00)
Sep 15 12:41:47 imac kernel[0]: com_lexar_driver_LexarFilterScheme[0x1a96d000]::start(0x2caba00)
Sep 15 12:41:47 imac kernel[0]: com_lexar_driver_LexarFilterScheme[0x1a92c000]::free()
Sep 15 12:41:47 imac kernel[0]: com_lexar_driver_LexarFilterScheme[0x1a96d000]::free()
Sep 15 12:42:09 imac kernel[0]: com_lexar_driver_LexarFilterScheme[0x1a92c000]::init(0x4a5e240)
Sep 15 12:42:09 imac kernel[0]: com_lexar_driver_LexarFilterScheme[0x1a92c000]::start(0x2b04800)
Sep 15 12:42:10 imac kernel[0]: com_lexar_driver_LexarFilterScheme[0x1a92c000]::free()

The lexar messages, which are possibly unrelated, could be because you've got something plugged in via USB, such as a digital camera card reader. Does the lock-up happen if you have nothing whatsoever plugged into the machine except your mouse?

yep, the lock up happens all the time regardless of what i have plugged in.

should i try a clean install ? see if that fixes the problem ?

I would try to fix it in this order

- Backup backup backup. If you are worried your harddrive is on its way out then this step is urgent
- Repair permissions - though it may not work in this case
- Maybe, if I was feeling keen, download and run a cache cleaning program and clean out some of OS X's caches
- Clean install
- Panic!!!

can someone do me a favor and download the omniplan beta dmg and see if the same thing happens to you ? because i havent noticed it happening with any other dmg files at all ... thanks

Oh well that limits the scope of the problem. I'll try it on my G5. I assume you mean the beta available on Omni's website.

Update:
It worked fine for me. Maybe re-download it and test again. Make sure the complete file is there.