Excel causes system freeze

[Kevin...@officeformac.com]

Excel is causing the whole system to freeze -- requiring a restart. Seems to be related to maximizing the document window.

MacBook Pro 15" C2D 2GB RAM
MacOS X 10.5.2

We have:
- archive / installed OSX
- applied all OS updates
- reinstalled Office 2008
- repaired permissions

Problem is reproducible, though not every time.

While Excel is running, we see the following message repeated in the log multiple times per second:

2/21/08 5:15:22 PM Microsoft Excel[214] CGBitmapContextGetData: invalid context

Right before the freeze, we usually get the following message one or more times in the log:

2/21/08 4:57:25 PM kernel NVChannel(GL): Graphics channel timeout!

[Jer...@officeformac.com]

I've just started having freezes as well, but not only when maximizing the window. It's also happened to me when I'm printing and scrolling. I've been using Excel 2008 heavily since mid-January w/o any problems until a recent upgrade of Keyboard firmware from Apple. Hum?

I'm running the same configuration as you -- a MacBook Pro 2GB RAM, 10.5.2 w/ all updates.

BTW, what log are you referring to and how do I look at mine?

[Kevin...@officeformac.com]

For us, as long as the Excel windows are not maximized, we are not having freezes.

Applications / Utilities / Console displays the logs.

[Unknown]

Hi everyone,

I´m experiencing the same effects : freezing system when maximizing excel workbooks.
I can´t tell if the keyboad-update has had any influence because I installed Excel2008 last week after the Keyboard-Update was already installed.
My config is : MacBook Pro 15", 4GB Ram, 10.5.2 with all updates....

I also found the same errors as you mentioned,(Microsoft Excel[281] CGBitmapContextGetData: invalid context) but not only when excel caused these freezes but also when an empty woorbook is maximized and minimized. The error message appears per maximization 20 times. And not only excel seems to be affected... I get the same error messages from word when minimizing/maximizing documents... but then around 100 times per maximization.

rgds
Joachim

[Bers...@gmail.com]

same here
MacBook Pro 15"
2G
All updates
Found Solution-Stretch the Excel
went to Genius Bar-they "never heard",said to try to re-install
Office... BS-they know

[ggub...@gmail.com]

Hi, same problem here... I found that symptoms appear more likely if I
open an xls saved with Excel 2000 rather than Excel 2008.

OS X 10.5.2, all updates, MacBook Pro 2,6 GHz, 4 GB RAM

[Pat McMillan]

Hi,

We are looking into the CGBitmapContextGetData: invalid context output to
the console. But the system freeze looks like it may be an OS issue. You
might want to check out this discussion:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6706148

Thanks,

Pat

On 03/03/2008 18:47, in article
678153c7-38e1-49bc...@d62g2000hsf.googlegroups.com,
"ggub...@gmail.com" <ggub...@gmail.com> wrote:

--
Pat McMillan
Macintosh Business Unit
Microsoft Corp.
This posting is provided ³AS IS² with no warranties, and confers no rights.

[thor...@gmail.com]

Sorry, the other thread does not seem related to the problem : posters
in the other thread get random system freezes, I only get them with
Excel. Maximizing windows within Excel is mostly the problem, but also
adding to a custom menu bar caused a freeze here.

System : Mac Pro with 10Gb ram / 8800GT / MS Office 2008

Solution upon a freeze is hard reset. By the way : freeze means :
beachball of death, mouse still moves, but no forced quit possible.

I'm hoping for a quick fix, cause I'm on the brink on going back to
office X here. My business cannot function on 3-4 freezes a day.

On 3 mrt, 23:35, Pat McMillan <patmc...@online.microsoft.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> We are looking into the CGBitmapContextGetData: invalid context output to
> the console. But the system freeze looks like it may be an OS issue. You
> might want to check out this discussion:
>
> http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6706148
>
> Thanks,
>
> Pat
>
> On 03/03/2008 18:47, in article

> 678153c7-38e1-49bc-b5cf-ec15d2273...@d62g2000hsf.googlegroups.com,

[usene...@gmail.com]

Same problem and console message here on new Mac Pro 3.0, 8800,
10.5.2, 4 GB RAM

[Pat McMillan]

Thank you. Would you be able to send me a System Profile? It would be a big
help in narrowing this down, since we have several systems here running
Parallels and Excel 2008 and have not seen this. If so, please send to
patm...@microsoft.com.

Thanks,

Pat

On 05/03/2008 07:23, in article
958f0343-51ba-4616...@s19g2000prg.googlegroups.com,

[Pat McMillan]

Thank you. I would ask you the same favor. If you would be able to send us a
System Profile it would be a great help: patm...@microsoft.com.

Thanks,

Pat

On 05/03/2008 08:22, in article
60c63fa4-c36f-4dd1...@59g2000hsb.googlegroups.com,

[thor...@gmail.com]

Hi, also running parallels 3,0 here, could be related. System profile
on its way.

[usene...@gmail.com]

On Mar 6, 8:39 am, thorga...@gmail.com wrote:

> On 6 mrt, 01:13, Pat McMillan <patmc...@online.microsoft.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > Thank you. Would you be able to send me a System Profile? It would be a big
> > help in narrowing this down, since we have several systems here running
> > Parallels and Excel 2008 and have not seen this. If so, please send to

> > patmc...@microsoft.com.

>
> > Thanks,
>
> > Pat
>
> > On 05/03/2008 07:23, in article

> > 958f0343-51ba-4616-86fd-e84295fb0...@s19g2000prg.googlegroups.com,

No parallels here, using vmware.

[Pat McMillan]

Thanks. Could you provide details on your system config or send me a system
profile (patm...@microsoft.com)?

Thanks,

Pat

On 06/03/2008 09:52, in article
364235e3-614e-4a5b...@c33g2000hsd.googlegroups.com,

[Pat McMillan]

One question for anyone who's been encountering this issue: Has anyone run
into this issue who has *not* installed the "Leopard Graphics Update"?
(Check the Installed Updates tab in the system's Software Update pref.)

Thanks,

Pat

On 06/03/2008 09:52, in article
364235e3-614e-4a5b...@c33g2000hsd.googlegroups.com,
"usene...@gmail.com" <usene...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Chet]

I am running into the System Freeze Issue when using EXCEL... has
happened consistently when attempting on of the following:

a. maximising the window,
b. opening a file created in XL 2007 on a PC with .xlsx extension
c. customizing teh toolbar by adding teh Freeze Panes Icon.

Had no issues with Office 2004... Upgrade path to Office 2008 was to
remove Office 2004 and clean install Office 2008.

I am runing a Macbook Pro 2.4 Ghz, 4 GB RAM....

On Mar 6, 5:18 pm, Pat McMillan <patmc...@microsoft.com> wrote:
> One question for anyone who's been encountering this issue: Has anyone run
> into this issue who has *not* installed the "Leopard Graphics Update"?

> (Check the Installed Updates tab in thesystem'sSoftware Update pref.)

>
> Thanks,
>
> Pat
>
> On 06/03/200809:52, in article

> 364235e3-614e-4a5b-95da-98198465f...@c33g2000hsd.googlegroups.com,

>
>
>
> "usenetn...@gmail.com" <usenetn...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Mar 6, 8:39 am, thorga...@gmail.com wrote:
> >> On 6 mrt, 01:13, Pat McMillan <patmc...@online.microsoft.com> wrote:
>

> >>> Thank you. Would you be able to send me aSystemProfile? It would be a big

> >>> help in narrowing this down, since we have several systems here running

> >>> Parallels and Excel2008and have not seen this. If so, please send to
> >>> patmc...@microsoft.com.
>
> >>> Thanks,
>
> >>> Pat
>
> >>> On 05/03/200807:23, in article

> >>> 958f0343-51ba-4616-86fd-e84295fb0...@s19g2000prg.googlegroups.com,
>
> >>> "thorga...@gmail.com" <thorga...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>> Sorry, the other thread does not seem related to the problem : posters

> >>>> in the other thread get randomsystemfreezes, I only get them with

> >>>> Excel. Maximizing windows within Excel is mostly the problem, but also
> >>>> adding to a custom menu bar caused afreezehere.
>
> >>>>System: Mac Pro with 10Gb ram / 8800GT / MS Office2008
>

> >>>> Solution upon afreezeis hard reset. By the way :freezemeans :

> >>>> beachball of death, mouse still moves, but no forced quit possible.
>
> >>>> I'm hoping for a quick fix, cause I'm on the brink on going back to
> >>>> office X here. My business cannot function on 3-4 freezes a day.
>
> >>>> On 3 mrt, 23:35, Pat McMillan <patmc...@online.microsoft.com> wrote:
> >>>>> Hi,
>
> >>>>> We are looking into the CGBitmapContextGetData: invalid context output to

> >>>>> the console. But thesystemfreezelooks like it may be an OS issue. You

> >>>>> might want to check out this discussion:
>
> >>>>>http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6706148
>
> >>>>> Thanks,
>
> >>>>> Pat
>

> >>>>> On 03/03/200818:47, in article

[joel....@gmail.com]

On Mar 6, 5:18 pm, Pat McMillan <patmc...@microsoft.com> wrote:

> One question for anyone who's been encountering this issue: Has anyone run
> into this issue who has *not* installed the "Leopard Graphics Update"?
> (Check the Installed Updates tab in the system's Software Update pref.)

My Leopard Graphics Update was installed on Feb 27, 2008. I was
running into this issue before then. Before that this crashing problem
I had originally had a problem where Excel was suddenly quiting. Now
it just does this dead hang thing. I can send you the spreadsheet that
is the culprit if you want to see if it happens on your side.

joel....@gmail.com
203-933-6777
MacBook Pro.

[Pat McMillan]

Thanks Joel. Yes, a specific file would be a great help.

Thanks,

Pat

On 12/03/2008 11:15, in article
f65d0d92-d9ea-4336...@n58g2000hsf.googlegroups.com,
"joel....@gmail.com" <joel....@gmail.com> wrote:

--

[jonatha...@gmail.com]

On Mar 13, 4:39 am, Pat McMillan <patmc...@microsoft.com> wrote:
> Thanks Joel. Yes, a specific file would be a great help.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Pat
>
> On 12/03/2008 11:15, in article

> f65d0d92-d9ea-4336-871c-f1ae01165...@n58g2000hsf.googlegroups.com,

>
>
>
> "joel.lov...@gmail.com" <joel.lov...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Mar 6, 5:18 pm, Pat McMillan <patmc...@microsoft.com> wrote:
> >> One question for anyone who's been encountering this issue: Has anyone run
> >> into this issue who has *not* installed the "Leopard Graphics Update"?
> >> (Check the Installed Updates tab in the system's Software Update pref.)
>
> > My Leopard Graphics Update was installed on Feb 27, 2008. I was
> > running into this issue before then. Before that this crashing problem
> > I had originally had a problem where Excel was suddenly quiting. Now
> > it just does this dead hang thing. I can send you the spreadsheet that
> > is the culprit if you want to see if it happens on your side.
>

> > joel.lov...@gmail.com

> > 203-933-6777
> > MacBook Pro.
>
> --
> Pat McMillan
> Macintosh Business Unit
> Microsoft Corp.
> This posting is provided ³AS IS² with no warranties, and confers no rights.

There is a software update (release date is Tuesday, March 11, 2008)
on Microsoft web site at the following address:

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.mspx?pid=Mactopia_Office2008&fid=31BC88ED-DF2D-471A-B4B5-66C2A51C8BEA#viewer

Problem does not seem to occur anymore since I installed it.

Jonathan

[ebe...@mac.com]

> http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.mspx?pid=Mactopia_Office2008&f...

>
> Problem does not seem to occur anymore since I installed it.
>
> Jonathan

Tried the update and the problem still exists. I have the actual
Excel file that always causes a crash. It was actually created on
PC. Let me know if anyone is interested from Microsoft...

[Pat McMillan]

Thanks. Yes, I'm from Microsoft and I would love to see the file and a
system profile from you. We know the problem still happens after the 12.0.1
update. It definitely only happens on some hardware configurations, but we
haven't yet completely nailed it down.

Thanks,

Pat McMillan
Macintosh Business Unit
Microsoft Corp.

patm...@microsoft.com

On 13/03/2008 20:38, in article
23de3df7-5ff1-48ea...@f63g2000hsf.googlegroups.com,

[Todd Aton]

Yes, please send me a copy of the file directly. Also, if you haven't
already, would you include a copy of your system profile of the machine that
crashes?

Todd Aton
Microsoft Corporation
todd...@microsoft.com

On 3/13/08 8:38 PM, in article
23de3df7-5ff1-48ea...@f63g2000hsf.googlegroups.com,

[jeffr...@unielec.com]

I have the same problem but my error message reads:
CGPathCloseSubpath: no current point.

I can duplicate this problem by opening 2 spreadsheets. When I open
the first spreadsheet it will take up the whole screen or the size I
left it when last opened. Then as I open the second one the first one
gets shrunk to a small window in the background while the 2nd
spreadsheet takes up the entire screen. At this point if I close the
second spreadsheet (the one in the foreground) the first (was in the
background) will automatically expand to the original window size. It
is at this point my computer will freeze. Actually, the mouse pointer
still moves but no clicking or typing does anything. Force-quit does
not work either. The only thing I can do is holding down the power
button to shutdown the computer then press the power again to boot.

I will email you guys a copy of my system profile.

On Mar 14, 1:14 pm, Todd Aton <todda...@microsoft.com> wrote:
> Yes, please send me a copy of the file directly. Also, if you haven't
> already, would you include a copy of your system profile of the machine that
> crashes?
>
> Todd Aton
> Microsoft Corporation

> todda...@microsoft.com

>
> On 3/13/08 8:38 PM, in article

> 23de3df7-5ff1-48ea-aa27-0fe382992...@f63g2000hsf.googlegroups.com,

[Rob M]

I actually am experiencing the same above.

System hangs, beachball of death, and only occurs with Excel.

12.0.1. update applied, all patches applied for 10.5.2 including Graphics update.

Logs indicating

3/14/08 11:11:43 AM Microsoft Excel[317] CGBitmapContextGetData: invalid context

3/14/08 11:07:25 AM kernel NVChannel(GL): Graphics channel exception! status = 0xffff info32 = 0x3 = Fifo: Unknown Method Error

The NVChannel exception occurs ONLY when Excel has "crashed" and my MBP is locked up.

Again this does not happen with any other application, has happened with multiple different excel spreadsheets, all created by PC users running 2003 and 2007 Office.

Also, along with the 12.0.1 update, all Hyperlinks in my workbooks have been broken and are no longer recognized as links, but just plain text.

To reiterate about the lockup - this happens when either

1) copying and pasting between workbooks, or between spreadsheets

2) Maximizing the spreadsheet by either the green +, or dragging the window

3) Even have had it crash in this manner saving a workbook.

Like Joel above I experienced these issue prior to the 12.0.1 update.

[Pat McMillan]

Hi,

I want to give everyone an update on this. We've looked at about two dozen
logs sent to us by customers on this. In *every case* the customer's
hardware included an Nvidia GeoForce Graphics card. If you are encountering
this problem and *don't* have an Nvidia GeoForce Graphics card we would
really like to know. Also, although some people have told me that they've
seen the problem even though they have not installed the Leopard Graphics
Update, every system profile except one indicated that that update was
installed on the system (and I had reason to suspect that particular
profile).

We've gathered all the information we've collected so far and posted a bug
in the Apple bug database that we use for reporting issues to them. This
isn't to say that is definitely an Apple bug, but the fact that this only
seems to happen with certain hardware makes that quite likely.

I'd also like to point people again to this thread on the Apple MacBook Pro
discussions list:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6706148. The reports
there look very much like people are reporting with Excel. I will let you
all posted if we get any information from Apple that will help resolve this
problem.

Thanks,

Pat

On 3/14/08 9:35 AM, in article ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw, "Rob M"
<robe...@gmail.com> wrote:

--

[Robert McB]

Just a quick update from a few things I tried this weekend:

Regarding the system hanging from Excel:

I removed the Leopard Graphics Update 1.0 from my MBP and so far so good. I have not had any lock-ups as of yet, and I have been using the spreadsheets that were causing my problems.

Will update later after I get some more work in and see how everything responds without the Graphics Update.

[Donald]

Thanks, Pat. This weekend I had my Service Provider install an NVIDA GeForce
6200 AGP graphics card on my PC. I then logged into Excel and freeze-up
occurred immediately and continually. I also lost the sound in my system.

Regarding hardware, I use an ACPI Multi-ProcessorPC x86 Family6 Model
Stepping Stone8. That has 2 Intel Pentium III's.

Thank you for your research.

[Todd Aton]

Are you using a late-model MacBook Pro with an NVIDIA graphics card? If not,
will you send me a copy of your system profile?

Thanks,

Todd Aton
Macintosh Business Unit
Microsoft Corporation

Microsoft makes no warranties, express, implied or statutory, as to the
information in this post.

On 3/18/08 5:51 AM, in article ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw,
"pau...@officeformac.com" <pau...@officeformac.com> wrote:

> I also get the freeze on excel 08. Am on version 12.0 (07113). The freeze
> seems to be prompted by customising the toolbars. I also have the 'freeze the
> panes' tool which someone referred to as causing the problem. I know that if I
> move the toolbars or customize them i can almost surely get the freeze. I have
> an otherwise stable system. I also kept the old version of excel and that
> works fine (had to keep it to run visual basic macros).

[Jim Rattray]

I also have been unable to use Excel 2008 because it causes freezes.

MacBook Pro 17
Graphics: GeForce 8600M GT

I have been forced to revert back to 2004.

- Jim

[Pat McMillan]

Did you see Robert McB's post on this thread from Monday this week?

"I removed the Leopard Graphics Update 1.0 from my MBP and so far so good. I
have not had any lock-ups as of yet, and I have been using the spreadsheets
that were causing my problems."

You might want to give that a try.

Thanks,

Pat

On 18/03/2008 09:44, in article
180d9ef2-9c04-47ab...@b64g2000hsa.googlegroups.com, "Jim
Rattray" <rattr...@gmail.com> wrote:

--

[pau...@officeformac.com]

Todd,

I am using a 2.6GHz macbook pro (feb 08 vintage). i have reproduced the freeze a couple of time by maximizing the page. I then tried removing the 'freeze the panes' button from my toolbar and then maximising and that solved the issue. It's very strange because i remember years ago, with excel Mac there was also a system freeze issue with pasting in ppt a graph that was coming from a work book with freeze the panes activated.

will send you my system profile.

thanks for helping.

> Are you using a late-model MacBook Pro with an NVIDIA graphics card? If not,
> will you send me a copy of your system profile?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Todd Aton
> Macintosh Business Unit
> Microsoft Corporation
>
> Microsoft makes no warranties, express, implied or statutory, as to the
> information in this post.
>
>
>

> On 3/18/08 5:51 AM, in article ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw,

> "pau...@officeformac.com" wrote:
>
> &gt; I also get the freeze on excel 08. Am on version 12.0 (07113). The freeze
> &gt; seems to be prompted by customising the toolbars. I also have the 'freeze the
> &gt; panes' tool which someone referred to as causing the problem. I know that if I
> &gt; move the toolbars or customize them i can almost surely get the freeze. I have
> &gt; an otherwise stable system. I also kept the old version of excel and that
> &gt; works fine (had to keep it to run visual basic macros).
>
>

[Jer...@officeformac.com]

I couldn't find anything on Apple.com or Google, so how do you remove a Software Update?

-Jerry

>
> "I removed the Leopard Graphics Update 1.0 from my MBP and so far so good. I
> have not had any lock-ups as of yet, and I have been using the spreadsheets
> that were causing my problems."
>
> You might want to give that a try.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Pat
>
>
> On 18/03/2008 09:44, in article
> 180d9ef2-9c04-47ab...@b64g2000hsa.googlegroups.com, "Jim

> Rattray" wrote:
>
> &gt; I also have been unable to use Excel 2008 because it causes freezes.
> &gt;
> &gt; MacBook Pro 17
> &gt; Graphics: GeForce 8600M GT
> &gt;
> &gt; I have been forced to revert back to 2004.
> &gt;
> &gt; - Jim
> &gt;
> &gt; On Mar 18, 12:10&#65533;pm, Todd Aton wrote:
> &gt;&gt; Are you using a late-model MacBook Pro with an NVIDIA graphics card? If not,
> &gt;&gt; will you send me a copy of your system profile?
> &gt;&gt;
> &gt;&gt; Thanks,
> &gt;&gt;
> &gt;&gt; Todd Aton
> &gt;&gt; Macintosh Business Unit
> &gt;&gt; Microsoft Corporation
> &gt;&gt;
> &gt;&gt; Microsoft makes no warranties, express, implied or statutory, as to the
> &gt;&gt; information in this post.

>
> --
> Pat McMillan
> Macintosh Business Unit
> Microsoft Corp.

> This posting is provided &#65533;AS IS&#65533; with no warranties, and confers no rights.
>
>
>

[Robert M]

There are a few ways to get the "updates" off or rather remove them. Unfortunately there is no real Apple-Uninstall utility that i am aware of.

What I personally did to "remove" my Leopard Graphics Update was do an Archive and Install from my Mac OS X startup disk. I selected preserve Users and Settings.

This sets you back to 10.5.1, and you will need to re-apply all the updates from Apple at this point, but ignore the Leopard Graphics Update 1.0

This worked for me personally, and Excel has been stable since. Also, I have not had any OpenGL errors since my removal of the update.

Now, please also note that I have seen other people {although not related to Excel} report that removing then re-applying the update addressed their Video issues and fixed them. I have not tried this yet, but I will.

there is an "un-official" package to do the update removal for you, without doing either

1) complete re-install of Leopard
2) Archive and Install

Please see the below Macrumors.com forum post and notes. Please be advised that some people reported some quirks with this method, related to menu bar and transparency.

Good luck. I am actually thinking about re-applying the update again and testing the waters. Please note though, that the above worked for me personally, and it could just be unique to me, so no guarantees. I do highly suggest you do a backup before doing this. Better safe than sorry.

<http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6669894>

Link Dupont wrote:
... Here's hoping Apple get's a fix out soon though, or at least a "rollback" package.

So, this got me thinking, why isn't there a rollback package? What's stopping me from going into the 10.5.1 update, taking out the files that the Leopard Graphics update replaced, and bundling them into a "rollback" package. So that's exactly what I did. The only file I did not roll back was the glFrustum man page, but since it's a man page, it doesn't matter. All the rest of the drivers and the OpenGL framework are included in this package.

As Mati mentions above, this worked on my computer, and should work on yours, but proceed at your own risk! I wouldn't recommend installing this unless you're experiencing these weird graphics errors.
<http://files.linkdupont.com/UnofficialLeopardGraphicsUpdateRollback.zip>

<http://www.hurrikenux.com/Testing/UnofficialLeopardGraphicsUpdateRollback1.2.zip>

done! It does leave the extra 78xx kext but it will not be loaded as it is not referenced by any other kexts. (Based on testing)

Thanks to Link Dupont and Mati!

[R...@officeformac.com]

I've been following this tread for a week or two. I also have a MacBookPro3,1 with NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT that started to freeze after installing the Leopard Graphics Update. Today I did an archive and restore back to 10.5.1, then updated everything except LGU. The Excel freeze on window maximize is gone! Everything seems to be working fine again.

I've also been following the tread at:
<http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1065674&tstart=30>

several people there have also reported a "fix" to the problem with an archive and restore w/o LGU. It also appears that Apple has not yet decided if this is really a problem with LGU or a hardware problem.

[Robert M]

Just to update:

After having removed the Leopard Graphics Update 1.0 - {as of today}

the following occurs {more so with Excel}

3/24/08 10:44:57 AM [0x0-0x38038].com.microsoft.Excel[383] Mon Mar 24 10:44:57 xxxxx.macbookpro.local Microsoft Excel[383] &lt;Error&gt;: CGGStackRestore: gstack underflow.

And then generates a multitude of

3/24/08 10:45:09 AM Microsoft Excel[383] CGBitmapContextGetData: invalid context

{the gstack underflow is generated whenever Excel seems to hang - see below for how I got it to "hang" and repeatedly today}

This happens when I try to copy and paste data from one workbook to another. Excel takes its time calculating and pasting, after it appears the data is pasted into my new workbook, Excel becomes non-responsive. CPU util is 100+% {with MS being the cuplrit}, and Temperature gets to dangerous levels {Setting Fan speed to MAX with smcFanControl is saving me here}

Has happened a few times today, and this is using two workbooks that I opened and created with Excel2008.

Now, previously with the LGU 1.0, my MBP would actually Freeze and lockup, and the only responses I could get would be mouse movement, and ssh.

[A Malakoff]

I've been having this type of problem too with maximizing Excel - finally got frustrated enough that I came looking to post or find a discussion.

On a MacBook Pro with 10.5.2. Does have a built in Nvidia card. I also believe I have the LGU installed.

Problem only started after I went to Excel 12.0.1 - since it only happens occasionally and I don't do that much maximizing, maybe the problem existed earlier too.

My observation is that it only happens right after I've closed another Excel window. In addition, I literally have to pull the battery to get the computer to restart.

At least I'm glad to see that it isn't only me or my machine.....

[Pat McMillan]

Thanks for the update. Have you installed the Office 12.0.1 update? The
Excel hang you refer to sounds like something we fixed in that update.

Thanks,

Pat

On 3/24/08 8:10 AM, in article ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw, "Robert
M" <robe...@gmail.com> wrote:

--

Pat McMillan
Macintosh Business Unit
Microsoft Corp.

This posting is provided ³AS IS² with no warranties, and confers no rights.

[Robert M]

Pat

Yes I have applied the 12.0.1 update and all apps are reporting 12.0.1. as their version #.

/Rob M

[TryingToUseO...@officeformac.com]

> Pat
>
> Yes I have applied the 12.0.1 update and all apps are reporting 12.0.1. as their version #.
>
> /Rob M

Many times Excel has freezed my system. I have become compulsive about saving every few minuets. I have been developing the hypothesis that this occurs most often when I give commands in a quick sequence (e. g. close the formula bar and a Tool Box in quick succession), but haven't tested this as much as I'd like. [I am more interested in getting results then acting as a bug checker.])

Frankly, Excel for Mac does not seem reliable in a production environment. I'm thinking of going back to Excel on a cheap XP machine. Anyone have thoughts on this?

Ed

[Sukaina]

Hi,

I do not have an Nvidia Card. On MBP 1.83 Ghz 2GB.

I did not have the problem of opening csv files and CGBitmapContextGetData: invalid context until I applied the 12.01 update last week. now my excel constantly crashes when openeing csv files and I continuously (like 30 every minute) have the CGBitmapContextGetData: invalid context error in my console log.

I do have the leopard graphics update but that was applied in early Feb and not recently and i did not have these errors or crashes. And for me excel is usually open 20 hrs a day.

[JE McGimpsey]

In article <ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw>,
TryingToUseO...@officeformac.com wrote:

Only that I can and do perform commands like closing the formula bar and
toolbox in quick succession all the time, and have never had a system
freeze.

For me, with all its many shortcomings, XL08 is remarkably difficult to
crash.

[Pat McMillan]

To reply to Ed's comment. I have said many times in this newsgroup that the
system freeze issue is caused by an Apple bug! Please see this thread:
http://www.officeformac.com/ProductForums/Excel/822.

We've actually now received confirmation from Apple that this is caused by a
bug in one of their drivers. There's nothing more that Microsoft can do
about this issue. Apple is working on a fix. I can't speak for them as to
when they will release an update that fixes the problem.

Thanks,

Pat

On 3/26/08 6:09 AM, in article
jemcgimpsey-0EE8...@news.microsoft.com, "JE McGimpsey"
<jemcg...@mvps.org> wrote:

--

[Gary Simpson]

I haven't seen anyone using Tiger on a G5 here so just so you know, it is happening on a G5 PowerPC running Tiger 10.4.11.

> One question for anyone who's been encountering this issue: Has anyone run
> into this issue who has *not* installed the "Leopard Graphics Update"?
> (Check the Installed Updates tab in the system's Software Update pref.)
>

> Thanks,
>
> Pat
>
>
> On 06/03/2008 09:52, in article
> 364235e3-614e-4a5b...@c33g2000hsd.googlegroups.com,
> "usene...@gmail.com" wrote:
>
> &gt; On Mar 6, 8:39&#65533;am, thorga...@gmail.com wrote:
> &gt;&gt; On 6 mrt, 01:13, Pat McMillan wrote:
> &gt;&gt;
> &gt;&gt;
> &gt;&gt;
> &gt;&gt;&gt; Thank you. Would you be able to send me a System Profile? It would be a big
> &gt;&gt;&gt; help in narrowing this down, since we have several systems here running
> &gt;&gt;&gt; Parallels and Excel 2008 and have not seen this. If so, please send to
> &gt;&gt;&gt; patmc...@microsoft.com.
> &gt;&gt;

> &gt;&gt;&gt; Thanks,
> &gt;&gt;

> &gt;&gt;&gt; Pat
> &gt;&gt;
> &gt;&gt;&gt; On 05/03/2008 07:23, in article
> &gt;&gt;&gt; 958f0343-51ba-4616-86fd-e84295fb0...@s19g2000prg.googlegroups.com,
> &gt;&gt;
> &gt;&gt;&gt; "thorga...@gmail.com" wrote:
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; Sorry, the other thread does not seem related to the problem : posters
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; in the other thread get random system freezes, I only get them with
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; Excel. Maximizing windows within Excel is mostly the problem, but also
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; adding to a custom menu bar caused a freeze here.
> &gt;&gt;
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; System : Mac Pro with 10Gb ram / 8800GT / MS Office 2008
> &gt;&gt;
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; Solution upon a freeze is hard reset. By the way : freeze means :
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; beachball of death, mouse still moves, but no forced quit possible.
> &gt;&gt;
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; I'm hoping for a quick fix, cause I'm on the brink on going back to
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; office X here. My business cannot function on 3-4 freezes a day.
> &gt;&gt;
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; On 3 mrt, 23:35, Pat McMillan wrote:
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; Hi,
> &gt;&gt;
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; We are looking into the CGBitmapContextGetData: invalid context output to
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; the console. But the system freeze looks like it may be an OS issue. You
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; might want to check out this discussion:
> &gt;&gt;
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; <http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6706148>
> &gt;&gt;
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; Thanks,
> &gt;&gt;
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; Pat
> &gt;&gt;
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; On 03/03/2008 18:47, in article
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; 678153c7-38e1-49bc-b5cf-ec15d2273...@d62g2000hsf.googlegroups.com,
> &gt;&gt;
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; "gguba...@gmail.com" wrote:
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; Hi, same problem here... I found that symptoms appear more likely if I
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; open an xls saved with Excel 2000 rather than Excel 2008.
> &gt;&gt;
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; OS X 10.5.2, all updates, MacBook Pro 2,6 GHz, 4 GB RAM
> &gt;&gt;
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; --
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; Pat McMillan
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; Macintosh Business Unit
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; Microsoft Corp.
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; This posting is provided &#65533;AS IS&#65533; with no warranties, and confers no
> &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; rights.
> &gt;&gt;
> &gt;&gt;&gt; --
> &gt;&gt;&gt; Pat McMillan
> &gt;&gt;&gt; Macintosh Business Unit
> &gt;&gt;&gt; Microsoft Corp.
> &gt;&gt;&gt; This posting is provided &#65533;AS IS&#65533; with no warranties, and confers no rights.
> &gt;&gt;
> &gt;&gt; Hi, also running parallels 3,0 here, could be related. System profile
> &gt;&gt; on its way.
> &gt;
> &gt; No parallels here, using vmware.

>
> --
> Pat McMillan
> Macintosh Business Unit
> Microsoft Corp.

> This posting is provided &#65533;AS IS&#65533; with no warranties, and confers no rights.

[Pat McMillan]

Thanks. Do you have an Nvidia graphics card?

On 4/4/08 12:59 PM, in article ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw, "Gary
Simpson" <gs...@verizon.net> wrote:

This posting is provided ³AS IS² with no warranties, and confers no rights.

[Campbell]

On Apr 4, 3:09 pm, Pat McMillan <patmc...@microsoft.com> wrote:
> Thanks. Do you have an Nvidia graphics card?
>

> On 4/4/08 12:59 PM, in article ee8e637...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw, "Gary

>
>
>
> Simpson" <gs...@verizon.net> wrote:
> > I haven't seen anyone using Tiger on a G5 here so just so you know, it is
> > happening on a G5 PowerPC running Tiger 10.4.11.
>
> >> One question for anyone who's been encountering this issue: Has anyone run
> >> into this issue who has *not* installed the "Leopard Graphics Update"?
> >> (Check the Installed Updates tab in the system's Software Update pref.)
>
> >> Thanks,
>
> >> Pat
>
> >> On 06/03/2008 09:52, in article

> >> 364235e3-614e-4a5b-95da-98198465f...@c33g2000hsd.googlegroups.com,

I am also having this problem with Excel, but I am on a Macbook Air
with the Intel chipset. Very frustrating.

[she...@officeformac.com]

I have a similar problem. Excel is basically useless because it is so slow and stalls. I have Powerbook G4 with all OSX updates including the Leopard Graphic update. But I have ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 graphics. I can send you a system profile if you like.

[gizmatage]

Hi Pat,

I've been using Excel 2008 since last week with no issues, and half an hour ago I encountered the same issue the users here have. I did just check my Software Updates preference, and saw that just today, the "Leopard Graphics Update" was just installed today.

I have Mac Book 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, OSX 10.5.2, and do NOT have Parrallel installed. At the time this happened, I only had Entourage 2008, Safari, and Excel 2008 running.

Let me know if there's any other information you want me to give you that might be of help.

Cheers!

> One question for anyone who's been encountering this issue: Has anyone run
> into this issue who has *not* installed the "Leopard Graphics Update"?
> (Check the Installed Updates tab in the system's Software Update pref.)
>
> Thanks,
>
> Pat
>
>
> On 06/03/2008 09:52, in article

> 364235e3-614e-4a5b...@c33g2000hsd.googlegroups.com,

> "usene...@gmail.com" wrote:
>
> > On Mar 6, 8:39&#65533;am, thorga...@gmail.com wrote:
> >> On 6 mrt, 01:13, Pat McMillan wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>> Thank you. Would you be able to send me a System Profile? It would be a big

> >>> help in narrowing this down, since we have several systems here running

> >>> Parallels and Excel 2008 and have not seen this. If so, please send to

> >>> patmc...@microsoft.com.
> >>
> >>> Thanks,
> >>
> >>> Pat

> >>
> >>> On 05/03/2008 07:23, in article

> >>> 958f0343-51ba-4616-86fd-e84295fb0...@s19g2000prg.googlegroups.com,

> >>
> >>> "thorga...@gmail.com" wrote:
> >>>> Sorry, the other thread does not seem related to the problem : posters

> >>>> in the other thread get random system freezes, I only get them with

> >>>> Excel. Maximizing windows within Excel is mostly the problem, but also

> >>>> adding to a custom menu bar caused a freeze here.
> >>

> >>>> System : Mac Pro with 10Gb ram / 8800GT / MS Office 2008
> >>

> >>>> Solution upon a freeze is hard reset. By the way : freeze means :

> >>>> beachball of death, mouse still moves, but no forced quit possible.
> >>

> >>>> I'm hoping for a quick fix, cause I'm on the brink on going back to

> >>>> office X here. My business cannot function on 3-4 freezes a day.
> >>

> >>>> On 3 mrt, 23:35, Pat McMillan wrote:

> >>>>> Hi,

> >>
> >>>>> We are looking into the CGBitmapContextGetData: invalid context output to

> >>>>> the console. But the system freeze looks like it may be an OS issue. You

> >>>>> might want to check out this discussion:
> >>

> >>>>> <http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6706148>
> >>
> >>>>> Thanks,
> >>
> >>>>> Pat

> >>
> >>>>> On 03/03/2008 18:47, in article

> >>>>> 678153c7-38e1-49bc-b5cf-ec15d2273...@d62g2000hsf.googlegroups.com,

> >>
> >>>>> "gguba...@gmail.com" wrote:
> >>>>>> Hi, same problem here... I found that symptoms appear more likely if I

> >>>>>> open an xls saved with Excel 2000 rather than Excel 2008.
> >>

> >>>>>> OS X 10.5.2, all updates, MacBook Pro 2,6 GHz, 4 GB RAM
> >>

[Pat McMillan]

Thanks very much for your offer of help! At this point, though, we have
reported a bug to Apple and they've told us they are working on a fix for
it. Unfortunately, I don't know when they will release an update that fixes
the problem. Hopefully soon!

Pat

On 4/16/08 9:59 PM, in article ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw,
"gizmatage" <is...@mac.com> wrote:

This posting is provided ³AS IS² with no warranties, and confers no rights.

[Pat McMillan]

Hi,

The problems you're reporting here don't sound like the system freeze
problems others are reporting. Would you be able to send me a system profile
and explain in more details exactly what behavior you're seeing? Also, it
would be helpful to know if you're experience the slowness and stalls in
other Office 2008 applications, or just in Excel.

Thanks,

Pat McMillan
patm...@microsoft.com

On 4/13/08 3:59 PM, in article ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw,
"she...@officeformac.com" <she...@officeformac.com> wrote:

--

[fontace]

Hello everyone,

I own a brand new MacBook Pro with a Penryn processor, so a GeForce 8600M GT. And guess what!? I have exactly the same problem as reported: a nice system freeze when maximizing the document using the green button.

BUT WAIT... I HAVE FOUND A WORKAROUND!

Yes, after many tries and system freezes, I have found the exact steps to follow to change the default behavior of Excel when it opens a document, here they are:

1) Open Microsoft Word
2) Open Microsoft Excel
3) Open any existing XLS document, a simple one without macros, etc.
4) Change the size of the document window manually by dragging its lower right corner
5) Navigate through the document, do at least a Page Down then a Page Up
6) Click on the green button to maximize the document window
7) Close Excel
8) Close Word

After that, any Excel document will be opened into a maximized window by default and will not produce a system freeze. That's it!

FYI, I have reinstalled my system two times after having found this solution and it has worked each time. Also, here is how I have installed Office, note that I did not start any application before the final step:

1) Installation of Microsoft Office 2008
2) Reboot
3) Installation of the 12.0.1 update
4) Installation of the AutoUpdate 2.1.1 update
5) Reboot

I hope that all of you will fix this issue like I did... I cross my fingers for you! :smile:

[she...@officeformac.com]

Pat you are right! I posted to the wrong thread. I will email an example file with the problem. Basically its when I try to make a simple line chart with froma data sheet with 622 rows by 13 columns of data. Pretty simple and worked fine in 2004 but in 2008 once the chart is FINALLY finished drawing (get the beachball for a long time) then if you try to do anything like open/close the gallery, resize the chart, even just select a menu Excel hangs for a long time (beachball). I will send you example file, samples of the running excel process using Activity Monitor and also the Profile of my system. Thanks.

> Hi,
>
> The problems you're reporting here don't sound like the system freeze
> problems others are reporting. Would you be able to send me a system profile
> and explain in more details exactly what behavior you're seeing? Also, it
> would be helpful to know if you're experience the slowness and stalls in
> other Office 2008 applications, or just in Excel.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Pat McMillan
> patm...@microsoft.com
>
>
> On 4/13/08 3:59 PM, in article ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw,

> "she...@officeformac.com" wrote:
>
> > I have a similar problem. Excel is basically useless because it is so slow and
> > stalls. I have Powerbook G4 with all OSX updates including the Leopard Graphic
> > update. But I have ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 graphics. I can send you a system
> > profile if you like.
>
> --
> Pat McMillan
> Macintosh Business Unit
> Microsoft Corp.

> This posting is provided &#65533;AS IS&#65533; with no warranties, and confers no rights.
>
>
>

[Pat McMillan]

That would be great. I'll watch for your mail and file.

Pat

On 4/20/08 3:20 PM, in article ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw,
"she...@officeformac.com" <she...@officeformac.com> wrote:

This posting is provided ³AS IS² with no warranties, and confers no rights.

[Nico...@officeformac.com]

Hello,

I can confirm the Excel freezes.
On two Macbook Pro's running MacOSX 10.5.2 I have encountered the same problem: complete system freeze on opening Excel files and also when maximizing the window.
In one occasion the problem seemed to be solved after flushing the fontcaches.

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi Nico,

Microsoft has hinted that a service update is on the horizon for Office
2008. Is that the version of Office that you are running? If so, use
Help > Check for updates once or twice a week so that you get the update
as soon as it is released (could be a while before it comes out, who
knows?) Whether the update fixes your problem or not, please reply with
a follow-up message with the results.

If you are using Office 2004 make sure that your copy of office is up to
date. There have been many updates. Use Help > Check For Updates and
keep checking until you have installed all of the updates.

-Jim

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are independent experts who are not affiliated with Microsoft.
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/

[fontace]

I know that there is no official fix yet... but did someone try my workaround posted 5 posts above?

Just to confirm that it does work because you could forget about system freezes while Microsoft works on this issue.

[dave....@googlemail.com]

On Apr 28, 8:27 am, fontace <font...@skynet.be> wrote:
> I know that there is no official fix yet... but did someone try my workaround posted 5 posts above?
>
> Just to confirm that it does work because you could forget about system freezes while Microsoft works on this issue.

Like many others here I am having repeated problems with Excel
freezing when trying to maximise or re-size the screen. System is a
new MacBook Pro running OSX 10.5.2 and Office 2004.
I've tried this workaround from fontace - unfortunately it didn't work
for me. I'd be interested to know if anyone else has had any success
(or otherwise) with this suggestion. If others get it to work I'll try
it a few more times.
I've also tried re-installing Office, setting up new user profiles, re-
installing OSX.
Frequently I change something (re-installing, changing the dock
settings, only using previously saved workbooks...) and for a few
minutes I think it's worked but then the same old freeze. Any
workaround that seems to give an improvement may last a short while
but then gets worse again - almost like a virus.
I've contacted both Apple and Microsoft. Apple weren't interested -
it's not their problem! Microsoft have been very helpful and at least
score some points for attempting a good customer service but have no
fix.
Any more bright (or dim) ideas out there? A sledgehammer or the office
window may be my next attempt at a fix.

- Dave

[Bob Greenblatt]

On 4/30/08 9:57 AM, in article
3237de01-e2e2-4d8b...@x41g2000hsb.googlegroups.com,
"dave....@googlemail.com" <dave....@googlemail.com> wrote:

These are known issues. Microsoft is aware of them. Expect some changes and
fixes when an update is released. Make sure you have autoupdate set to check
for updates. Also periodically check Mactopia for the latest news.

--
Bob Greenblatt [MVP], Macintosh
bobgreenblattATmsnDOTcom

[D McClain]

I was having the same issue on a new MacBook Pro running Mac Office 2008. I found most of the files causing the issue were 2004 or earlier and when trying to maximize, system would freeze. I started saving the files upon opening into the latest Office format (.xlsx) and the maximizing issues went away.

> Excel is causing the whole system to freeze -- requiring a restart. Seems to be related to maximizing the document window.
>
> MacBook Pro 15" C2D 2GB RAM
> MacOS X 10.5.2
>
> We have:
> - archive / installed OSX
> - applied all OS updates
> - reinstalled Office 2008
> - repaired permissions
>
> Problem is reproducible, though not every time.
>
> While Excel is running, we see the following message repeated in the log multiple times per second:
>
> 2/21/08 5:15:22 PM Microsoft Excel[214] CGBitmapContextGetData: invalid context
>
> Right before the freeze, we usually get the following message one or more times in the log:
>
> 2/21/08 4:57:25 PM kernel NVChannel(GL): Graphics channel timeout!

[Jim Rattray]

That's of no help when you need to share Excel files with those who
CANNOT open .xlsx format.

I've been waiting for a fix since January and have reverted 100% to
2004. All the other 2008 Office apps are fine and stable.

- Jim

[dave....@googlemail.com]

On May 2, 9:48 pm, "D McClain" <dan2...@cox.net> wrote:
> I was having the same issue on a new MacBook Pro running Mac Office 2008. I found most of the files causing the issue were 2004 or earlier and when trying to maximize, system would freeze. I started saving the files upon opening into the latest Office format (.xlsx) and the maximizing issues went away.
>
> > Excel is causing the whole system to freeze -- requiring a restart. Seems to be related to maximizing the document window.

Have tried saving files as .xlsx but unfortunately (and inevitably)
the freeze issue remains. Also, I think I was having the problem
before I reverted to using .xls files.
Spoke to someone from microsoft yesterday who assures me they have
booted this up the priority ladder and are taking it seriously.

- Dave

[Thomas Frank]

I have the same problem. Excel Mac 2008 crashers EVERYTIME I try to maximize a window. Here is the weird thing that may help figure this out. Not sure if this will matter, and I will continue to experiment, but when I have only ONE spreadsheet open, I can minimize, maximize, window, up, down, and all around, and no crashes. But, with TWO windows open, I can change windows states about 2-5 times, and I get the kernel panic of death (entire Mac OS crashes). This is with Mac OS Leopard with the most recent updates, and Excel 2008 with the most recent updates.

This is getting rediculous. I cannot believe that M$ and Apple cannot solve this sooner than this!!!!!!

I hope this info helps. I will keep testing...

[Joey T]

Same issue here. Before I loaded Office 2008, my non MSFT mac has been a absolute dream machine. No lockup's, no problems, then I load one stupid MSFT product and it messes up my entire machine. The hour a week I saved in productivity is now lost, I have to hard boot to exit excel. On a side note, I am very happy to see their market share drop like a rock, that's what they deserve for making such a crappy product.

My 2 cents

[Jeff Hancott]

> Same issue here. Before I loaded Office 2008, my non MSFT mac has been a absolute dream machine. No lockup's, no problems, then I load one stupid MSFT product and it messes up my entire machine. The hour a week I saved in productivity is now lost, I have to hard boot to exit excel. On a side note, I am very happy to see their market share drop like a rock, that's what they deserve for making such a crappy product.
>
> My 2 cents

Dude, this issue is with Apple's Display (nV) drivers. It's not the MacBU's fault in any way whatsoever. I have a new MacBook Pro and it has the same exact problem, but mirrored throughout the OS and multiple applications. Expect a fix in 10.5.3 or a supplementary graphics update.

[Pat McMillan]

Thanks Jeff for chiming in! You're right that we've identified this as an OS
driver issue and there are many reports on the web of this exact same
problem affecting multiple applications -- not just Excel. It happens that
there are a set of steps in Excel that consistently cause the problem. If it
made sense for Microsoft to fix the problem, it would. But in this case, the
problem is very fundamentally a driver problem, so we think the right thing
to do is to let Apple and Nvidia provide a fix. We are doing everything we
can to help and encourage Apple to provide a fix. We're as hopeful as all of
you that a fix will be coming soon.

Thanks,

Pat

On 5/6/08 9:05 AM, in article ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw, "Jeff
Hancott" <JHan...@gmail.com> wrote:

--

[fontace]

Can someone confirm that this issue has been resolved by the Office 2008 SP1 published yesterday?

It seems to be fixed on my machine, but I would like to get a confirmation by others...

[Bob Greenblatt]

On 5/14/08 6:05 AM, in article ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw, "fontace"
<fon...@skynet.be> wrote:

Did you read the release notes? It is supposed to be fixed.

[Bradford Chang]

Unfortunately, both Word & Excel are still polluting my console log:

5/14/08 6:59:21 AM Microsoft Excel[18127] CGBitmapContextGetData: invalid context ...etc.

I was hoping the SP1 update would fix this. I haven't had a crash yet, but I haven't had a chance to really put it through its paces. It is not a good sign, though, that the same error is appearing in the system logs.

> On 5/14/08 6:05 AM, in article ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw, "fontace"

[Pat McMillan]

As I said in this thread a few posts ago, the system freeze bug is *not* an
Excel bug! We did not provide a fix in SP1 and are still waiting on a fix
from Apple or Nvidia.

We did not fix the issue of CGBitmapContextGetData messages in the console
in SP1, but are tracking it for a possible fix in the future. But it is
completely unrelated to the system freeze issue, and as far as we are aware
the only user impact of the messages is that it clutters up the console log.

Thanks,

Pat

On 5/14/08 7:03 AM, in article ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw, "Bradford
Chang" <super...@gmail.com> wrote:

--

[dave....@googlemail.com]

On May 14, 11:05 am, fontace <font...@skynet.be> wrote:
> Can someone confirm that this issue has been resolved by the Office 2008 SP1 published yesterday?
>
> It seems to be fixed on my machine, but I would like to get a confirmation by others...

Likewise, SP1 seems to have fixed it on my machine.

[PJ van Dyk]

Hi,

I still have the freezing issues even after the SP1 update. I use a MacBook Air with a Intel GMA X3100 GPU and Mac OS X 10.5.2.

I highly doubt that this is Apple / Nvida Driver issue as I have seen this issue on mac's with various GPU's.

PJ

[Pat McMillan]

Are you talking about the bug where clicking on the maximize window bug
causes a system freeze? If so, this has been tracked to an OS/driver bug and
affects many different applications. We have posted a bug with Apple about
it. Or are you talking about another issue?

On 5/22/08 5:22 PM, in article ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw, "PJ van
Dyk" <pj.v...@mac.com> wrote:

--

[PJ van Dyk]

Hi Pat,

I am talking about the issue where performing some actions in Excel causes constant system freeze's. This mostly happens when trying to scroll through a spreadsheet.

I noticed that when Excel is maximized its still useable, but slow. When not maximized its not useable at all as it constantly freezes.

PJ

> Are you talking about the bug where clicking on the maximize window bug
> causes a system freeze? If so, this has been tracked to an OS/driver bug and
> affects many different applications. We have posted a bug with Apple about
> it. Or are you talking about another issue?
>
>
> On 5/22/08 5:22 PM, in article ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw, "PJ van

> Dyk" wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > I still have the freezing issues even after the SP1 update. I use a MacBook
> > Air with a Intel GMA X3100 GPU and Mac OS X 10.5.2.
> >
> > I highly doubt that this is Apple / Nvida Driver issue as I have seen this
> > issue on mac's with various GPU's.
> >
> > PJ
>
> --
> Pat McMillan
> Macintosh Business Unit
> Microsoft Corp.

> This posting is provided &#65533;AS IS&#65533; with no warranties, and confers no rights.
>
>
>

[Pat McMillan]

Hi PJ,

There were many manifestations of the system freeze issue that were found
when investigating this bug, so it's hard to say for sure what you're
experiencing. But I've been tracking this newsgroup closely since we shipped
12.0 and I haven't seen another class of bugs besides the one affecting
computers with Nvidia video cards in which Excel causes system freezes. I
collected system profiles from about 25 people and of those 23 or so had
machines with Nvidia video cards and were running Leopard. There were a few
reports on other environments, but we haven't been able to reproduce them.
Our developers looked into this and the other reports with other
applications and have determined that it's a driver issue. If you would like
to send me your system profile and a file that repros this consistently, we
can look into it. But we've spent a lot of time investigating this and keep
coming to the same conclusion -- that this isn't a flaw in Excel. Honestly,
if we thought it was our bug, we would be all over it. We fixed hundreds of
bugs in SP1. If we felt like this was our bug it would have been near the
very top of that list of SP1 bugs. If you would like to send me a profile
and/or files, please send directly to patm...@microsoft.com.

Thanks,

Pat

On 5/22/08 6:02 PM, in article ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw, "PJ van
Dyk" <pj.v...@mac.com> wrote:

This posting is provided ³AS IS² with no warranties, and confers no rights.

[Howard Yen]

I have Macbook Pro 2.2 Santa Rosa model.
I've been experiencing with system crash when excel worksheet is being maximize.
After Leopard 10.5.3 update, this issue has been resolved along with a faster application launch time. :smile:
afterall, I think it was Apple's problem.
Good job on both Apple and Microsoft. :smile:

[Pat McMillan]

Thanks for letting us know! That's great news. I look forward to other
reports. I hope they have the same luck you did with 10.5.3!

Pat

On 5/28/08 5:56 PM, in article ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw, "Howard
Yen" <howar...@gmail.com> wrote:

--

[Sergio Banchelli]

The problem exist also after 10.5.3. Excel freezes the system. Reboot needed. (Macbook Penryn 2.4). Please solve this issue.

Sergio

> Thanks for letting us know! That's great news. I look forward to other
> reports. I hope they have the same luck you did with 10.5.3!
>
> Pat
>
>
> On 5/28/08 5:56 PM, in article ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw, "Howard

> Yen" wrote:
>
> > I have Macbook Pro 2.2 Santa Rosa model.
> > I've been experiencing with system crash when excel worksheet is being
> > maximize.
> > After Leopard 10.5.3 update, this issue has been resolved along with a faster
> > application launch time. :smile:
> > afterall, I think it was Apple's problem.
> > Good job on both Apple and Microsoft. :smile:
>
> --
> Pat McMillan
> Macintosh Business Unit
> Microsoft Corp.

> This posting is provided &#65533;AS IS&#65533; with no warranties, and confers no rights.
>

[Pat McMillan]

Several people who were encountering this consistently have told me that
they no longer see the problem after upgrading to 10.5.3. If you would be
willing to send me a system profile it would really help me investigate.

Thanks,

Pat
patm...@microsoft.com

On 5/31/08 7:01 AM, in article ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw, "Sergio
Banchelli" <sergiopier...@tin.it> wrote:

This posting is provided ³AS IS² with no warranties, and confers no rights.

[fontace]

Hello Pat,

I had the problem with Excel and could reproduce it whenever I wanted to. My MBP is a Penryn 2,4 GHz model.

I confirm that it does not happen anymore since I have applied the Office 2008 SP1. Still OK after the 10.5.3 update.

But there are a lot of lines like "CGBitmapContextGetData: invalid context" written into the system log by every Office 2008 applications... when I say "a lot", it's really filling the log file! I guess that you are aware of this issue but is there a fix on the way?? Thanks.

[Pat McMillan]

Thanks. Yes, we are aware of the CGBitmapContextGetData: invalid context
spew to the console. I'm not sure when we'll be able to provide a fix for
that, but I'm keeping track of the number of reports we get on it.

Thanks,

Pat

On 6/5/08 2:11 PM, in article ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw, "fontace"
<fon...@gmail.com> wrote:

--

[Keith Sterling]

June 5th is the last response and guess what Microsoft are doing nothing about it. The only app to crash on my Mac is Excel.

So easy to reproduce, just open a Workbook that was saved as Maximised and boom Microsoft kills my Mac, cheers guys

Started opening all my Workbooks with NeoOffice now, opens everytime, never crashes, never kills my Mac.

How about treating us as customers who actually paid money for a product which doesn't work. Can I have my money back please, or shall I just continue to use NeoOffice and bin Excel

[rob...@officeformac.com]

Keith Sterling asked:
"How about treating us as customers who actually paid money for a product which doesn't work. Can I have my money back please, ... "

Yes, you can. I did. There is a form somewhere on the Microsoft site that you fill out and send in.

[Jonathan Robinson]

Hi Pat
Just opening Excel 1008 caused 97 lines of:

"06/06/2008 07:00:38 Microsoft Excel[8279] CGBitmapContextGetData: invalid context"

I get thousands when I am using the application.

I am running 10.5.3 and Office 2008 SP1.

Would you like me to send you a system profile (I have the NVIDA graphics card).

If this is an Apple bug as you wrote further up this thread do you have a Bug ID that I can chase Apple about. I paid a fortune for a top of the range Mac pro and am very unhappy about this.
Thanks for your help.

[CyberTaz]

Here ya go Keith - but we have nothing to do with refunds or anything of the
like here. We're just users like everyone else, so if you have any corporate
policy issues you'll find what you need on the MS site, not in a newsgroup:

http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/productrefund/refund.mspx

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

On 6/6/08 11:09 AM, in article ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw, "Keith

[Pat McMillan]

Keith,

I appreciate your frustration. But perhaps you've misunderstood the previous
discussion on this. Microsoft worked hard for several months to gather data
on this system freeze bug, posted a bug to Apple since we determined that it
was an OS bug, and checked in regularly with Apple over the last few months
letting them know how painful this bug was to our customers.

Via the channels we have with Apple, they told us that the bug was fixed in
10.5.3. Once 10.5.3 was released, I sent mail to this newsgroup as well as
to a couple of dozen customer who had reported this bug to us directly
asking them to let me know if upgrading to 10.5.3 resolved the bug for them.

So far, 99% of the people who have replied to me have told me that the
10.5.3 update has resolved the problem for them.

So, if you are still experiencing this system freeze after upgrading to
10.5.3, we certainly want to know.

Now, if just Excel is crashing (not the system), we want to help. But I will
need more information. Could you explain the scenario in which Excel is
crashing? Could you click on More Information in the Microsoft Error
Reporting tool, then copy and paste the crash log and email it to me
(patm...@microsoft.com)?

I hope it's clear from this that Microsoft is listening and wants to help.

Thanks,

Pat

On 6/6/08 8:09 AM, in article ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw, "Keith
Sterling" <ke...@keithsterling.com> wrote:

--

[Pat McMillan]

Hi Jonathan,

The CGBitmapContextGetData: invalid context messages in the console do not
have any negative functional impacts on the Office applications. We do have
a bug tracking this and hope to fix it in a future release. Just to be sure,
outside of cluttering up your console, are these messages causing other
problems for you?

Thanks,

Pat

On 6/6/08 8:21 AM, in article ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw, "Jonathan
Robinson" <li...@jebr.net> wrote:

--

[Jonathan Robinson]

Hello Pat

Thanks for the follow up - Its very much appreciated that someone is listening to customers issues.

To be honest I though this error and the system freeze were the same bug, I was still getting the errors after 10.5.3 so assumed the worst.

I have used Excel over the last few days and have not had any freezes, so for me 10.5.3 seems to have worked.

Looking forward to the "stop writing 10 of thousand of lines in my console log!

Thanks

[dave....@googlemail.com]

Have you installed office SP1 and Mac 10.5.3? - it cured my freeze
problems with Excel

[Vasil]

Now in response to this message I can say from my experience that despite Mac 10.5.3. and SP 1 installed on my iMac which has an ATI Radeon card, Excel continue to freeze happily over and over. As you can imagine for those of us who rely on their computers to do some significant job this is really frustrating.

> Keith,
>
> I appreciate your frustration. But perhaps you've misunderstood the previous
> discussion on this. Microsoft worked hard for several months to gather data
> on this system freeze bug, posted a bug to Apple since we determined that it
> was an OS bug, and checked in regularly with Apple over the last few months
> letting them know how painful this bug was to our customers.
>
> Via the channels we have with Apple, they told us that the bug was fixed in
> 10.5.3. Once 10.5.3 was released, I sent mail to this newsgroup as well as
> to a couple of dozen customer who had reported this bug to us directly
> asking them to let me know if upgrading to 10.5.3 resolved the bug for them.
>
> So far, 99% of the people who have replied to me have told me that the
> 10.5.3 update has resolved the problem for them.
>
> So, if you are still experiencing this system freeze after upgrading to
> 10.5.3, we certainly want to know.
>
> Now, if just Excel is crashing (not the system), we want to help. But I will
> need more information. Could you explain the scenario in which Excel is
> crashing? Could you click on More Information in the Microsoft Error
> Reporting tool, then copy and paste the crash log and email it to me
> (patm...@microsoft.com)?
>
> I hope it's clear from this that Microsoft is listening and wants to help.
>

> Thanks,
>
> Pat
>
>

> On 6/6/08 8:09 AM, in article ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw, "Keith

> Sterling" wrote:
>
> > June 5th is the last response and guess what Microsoft are doing nothing about
> > it. The only app to crash on my Mac is Excel.
> >
> > So easy to reproduce, just open a Workbook that was saved as Maximised and
> > boom Microsoft kills my Mac, cheers guys
> >
> > Started opening all my Workbooks with NeoOffice now, opens everytime, never
> > crashes, never kills my Mac.
> >
> > How about treating us as customers who actually paid money for a product which
> > doesn't work. Can I have my money back please, or shall I just continue to use
> > NeoOffice and bin Excel
>

> --
> Pat McMillan
> Macintosh Business Unit
> Microsoft Corp.

> This posting is provided &#65533;AS IS&#65533; with no warranties, and confers no rights.
>
>
>

[Jesse]

Happens here as well using Mac Office 2004 (fully patched) on a Mac Mini with 1GB RAM and Leopard (also fully patched). Excel crashes and system must be restarted. Word also acts flakey, doing a save as to a network volume causes issues. I have tried a clean erase/reinstall of Leopard with no luck... any ideas? :frown:

[Todd Aton]

I can understand your frustration. I have three Macs that I depend on to get
my work done and it's painful when one or more of them aren't cooperating.
Are you getting the spinning ball or the Error Reporting dialog when Excel
freezes? Can you describe to me what you're doing prior to Excel freezing
happily over and over?

Todd Aton
Macintosh Business Unit
Microsoft Corporation

Microsoft makes no warranties, express, implied or statutory, as to the
information in this post.

On 6/21/08 2:08 PM, in article ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw, "Vasil"

[Todd Aton]

Sorry about that. Can you describe what you're doing in Excel prior to the
crash?

Todd Aton
Macintosh Business Unit
Microsoft Corporation

Microsoft makes no warranties, express, implied or statutory, as to the
information in this post.

On 6/23/08 9:43 AM, in article ee8e6...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw, "Jesse"

[n.na...@btinternet.com]

>
> --
> Pat McMillan
> Macintosh Business Unit
> Microsoft Corp.
> This posting is provided ³AS IS² with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Hello Pat,

I'm a new mac user and have just discovered this group.

My problem is similar to that described, but not exactly so. If you
could point me in the right direction for help that would be great.

Basically Excel performs very sluggishly. Excel opens OK, but the
Open Recent... option can take a few seconds to list the files. The
selected file then opens OK, but entering data into a cell and moving
between cells can take seconds (up to 5 or 6) and the spinning ball
appears. Then things speed up a bit, and then slow down. Its very
frustrating.

When troubleshooting I looked at the Console and saw hundreds of
the ... Microsoft Excel[3644] CGBitmapContextGetData: invalid context
error messages, and initially thought this may be the issue. But from
what I read on this forum that isn't the case.

Any thoughts? I have a 6 month old iMac 20" and have 3gig of Ram, so
have ruled this out.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Tosh