[SOLVED] New 21" iMac Freezes, Mouse Moves, but can't interact

[ThirdMarioBro]

We just opened a brand new iMac 21" literally yesterday (purchased within the last three weeks). It was on for about an hour with no problems whatsoever. Then, while transferring photos to iPhoto, the OS just froze. You can move the mouse around the screen, but it does nothing. You can't click anything. Hard resets/shutdowns result in the system rebooting back to the desktop like normal, but the mouse stays in this perpetual semi-frozen state. You can move the pointer, but you can't actually interact with anything to fix the problem. Nothing brings it out of this state. We're not terribly experienced with Macs (new owner) and also snowed in to boot.

Has anybody encountered problems like this before? How do I fix this freeze?

 

[Ijack]

Could be a faulty mouse. Do you have another USB mouse that you could try? If not, as it's brand new, I would contact the retailer.

 

[daship]

Return it and get a PC.

 

[roagie]

Hold down Cmd + Option + P + R right as you restart. Keep holding down the key combination until you hear the boot tone 3 total times. Let us know if that works

 

[Zoron]

You could also reload the OS.

 

[mavroxur]

Return it and get a PC.

Normally, you get what you pay for. In the case of Apple, you get 1/2 of what you paid too much for. Get a PC

 

[Ijack]

Come on guys, don't just knock people's choice. If you can't offer constructive suggestions just keep quiet.

I would have thought people were more intelligent here than to indulge in silly fanboy wars.

 

[nukemaster]

Does the keyboard still work. It does in fact sound like the mouse is defective. I have seen this happen in older mice. Just get any old mouse(usb) and try it.

 

[danieliasbeck]

roagie, you saved my life! Just wanted to thank you! That was my exact problem, that's the exact solution, folks!

Daniel

Hold down Cmd + Option + P + R right as you restart. Keep holding down the key combination until you hear the boot tone 3 total times. Let us know if that works

 

[JustSomeJoe]

@OP, make sure you allow the machine to apply all software updates; I just set-up a new iMac for a friend, there was over 1.5 Gig of updates waiting, if you still have a problem after that it's time to call Apple.

 

[tasnimkhairi]

To roagie...
thank you! you save my life too. it really works! thank you very much!

"Hold down Cmd + Option + P + R right as you restart. Keep holding down the key combination until you hear the boot tone 3 total times. Let us know if that works "