iMac: How to Resolve Intermittent Pause During Usage

This article documents an iMac issue where the computer appears non-functional though the mouse cursor still moves.
Apple has received reports from customers that their iMac will appear to pause or stall for about 10 seconds during normal use. This has been attributed to a situation where there is no CD in the CD-ROM drive.

Apple has posted a new version of the iMac CD Update which corrects an intermittent delay that can occur on some iMac models when the above situation is encountered. For best performance, all iMac users should install this new update which incorporates the iMac CD Update 1.0.

The iMac CD Update utility is available for download from the Apple Software Updates web site at http://www.apple.com/swupdates. Use "iMac and CD" as your search query.

Another potential cause of pausing is related to using a DHCP and is resolved in Mac OS 9 and later with Open Transport 2.6 and later. Please refer to article 60400: "Mac OS 8.6: Computer Pauses Every Five Minutes On DHCP" for more information.

Published Date: Feb 20, 2012