Ever since updating firmware to EFI version 1.7, my MacBook Pro has issues with hard drive performance. In addition to the 30-60 second hangs under moderate load, the CRC error count for the drive increases.
Not just my hardware, though, there's a very long thread regarding the issue in the Apple support forums (discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2054387).
Update (10/14/09): Some people say "Performance Update 1.0" resolves this issue. It does not.
vimeo.com/7078172
Update (11/28/09): After replacing my hard drive cable (Apple Part #: 922-9034), I have been unable to get this failure to show up again. I don't want to claim success yet, but it looks pretty good so far.
Note: I believe the video clip used falls under fair use, as its only purpose here is to illustrate the problem at hand in an educational manner.
