David Portela

Q: NVIDIA GeForce GT 130 Kernel Panics/Freezes in Lion & late Snow Leopard

I've found some other reports of these freezes scattered about the forums, but usually other people come in and post something about unrelated video cards. So this thread is specific to NVIDIA GeForce GT 130 running OS X Lion (10.7-10.7.3), to avoid confusion and cross-polination of different issues.

 

Hardware Overview:

 

  Model Name:          iMac

  Model Identifier:          iMac9,1

  Processor Name:          Intel Core 2 Duo

  Processor Speed:          3.06 GHz

  Number of Processors:          1

  Total Number of Cores:          2

  L2 Cache:          6 MB

  Memory:          8 GB

  Bus Speed:          1.07 GHz

  Boot ROM Version:          IM91.008D.B08

  SMC Version (system):          1.37f3

 

NVIDIA GeForce GT 130:

 

  Chipset Model:          NVIDIA GeForce GT 130

  Type:          GPU

  Bus:          PCIe

  PCIe Lane Width:          x16

  VRAM (Total):          512 MB

  Vendor:          NVIDIA (0x10de)

  Device ID:          0x062e

  Revision ID:          0x00a1

  ROM Revision:          3370

 

 

Since upgrading to Lion I have had many issues with crashes and kernel panics characterized by the following symptoms, listed here in detail so that people can find them when they search:

 

  • Pixellation - colored pixels appear in different areas of the screen, in seemingly random bunches.
  • Mosaics - squares appear redrawn in the wrong part of the screen. Sometimes these squares are large, other times tiny.
  • Recovery - sometimes the system recovers once it starts doing these. Other times it just keeps going until it freezes/panics.
  • Kernel Panics - I've only had the "grey screen" appear once or twice. Usually there is a complete system lockup before this can happen, and I have to reboot the system manually.

 

Some solutions/attempts to solve:

 

  • Turn off Energy Saving - This is horrible for the monitor and can lead to burn-in, but I found that many of my crashes occured when the system was trying to recover from "screen sleep". So now I run a screen saver instead, which doesn't seem to trigger it as much.
  • Screen Saver - Sometimes I can "refresh" the system by turning on the screen saver and then coming back. Other times, this doesn't work and the pixellation/mosaic remains. Sometimes I can't even initialize the screen saver at all (in which case a total freeze usually occurs right after).
  • Rebooting - seems to clear things up for a while, but inevitably, the problem resurfaces.
  • Running Windows - Not really a solution, but I have had absolutely no issues with this behavior while running Windows 7 on this same machine (under Bootcamp).
  • Downgrading to Snow Leopard - I have not attempted this, but I've read others say that their crashes went away when they did. I would like some more concrete evidence on this if anyone has it.

 

My diagnosis so far:

 

  • OS X Lion's NVIDIA driver kernel extensions (kexts) seem to be faulty with this GPU. The Windows drivers for this GPU work better on Apple's own hardware than OS X Lion's. Anectodal evidence indicates that Snow Leopard's drivers (at least up to 10.6.3 – more confirmation needed) do not display this issue. I can confirm that this never occurred in Snow Leopard until Lion was released and I upgraded to it.

 

My request for help and information:

 

  • If you are running this GPU (GeForce GT 130) and OS X Lion, please contribute to this thread offering any solutions you may have or, at the very least, listing your hardware and GPU profile.
  • If you can, post crash logs so that we can compare common issues (NVDA Resman seems to be a huge recurring kext in the crash logs, for instance).
  • Post screen shots or pictures taken of the pixellation (colored pixels) and mosaic (squares drawn in the wrong place) phenomenon, so we can build a body of evidence regarding this issue. I will continue to update this thread with the same.

 

I feel Apple has ignored these issues for far too long, and required too many people to simply purchase new computers and new GPUs. If we can build a solid body of evidence regarding this specific issue, it will be a thread that Apple Support can be referred to.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.3), 3.06 Ghz (Early 2009 – iMac9,1)

Posted on May 9, 2012 8:29 AM

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Q: NVIDIA GeForce GT 130 Kernel Panics/Freezes in Lion & late Snow Leopard

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  • by David Portela,

    David Portela David Portela Aug 25, 2012 9:31 AM in response to David Portela
    Level 1 (30 points)
    Aug 25, 2012 9:31 AM in response to David Portela

    Another lovely crash last night (in the middle of a long upload, of course). Check out the cubist art Apple was able to render with my video card:

     

    apple_junk.JPG

  • by brianhlarose,

    brianhlarose brianhlarose Aug 27, 2012 11:37 AM in response to brianhlarose
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 27, 2012 11:37 AM in response to brianhlarose

    3 more crashes since my last post.

     

    I am starting to think that it's time to upgrade.  Here's what I am looking at since the Apple OS developers are doing such a poor job supporing us.

     

    http://shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Laptops/HP-ENVY/A9P83UA?HP-E NVY-17-3290nr-3D-Edition-Notebook-PC&aoid=44661&ci_sku=A9P83UA#ABA&ci_gpa=pla&ci _kw={keyword}

     

    Does anybody else have any positive experiences with HP Laptops?

  • by Ramona Adams,

    Ramona Adams Ramona Adams Aug 27, 2012 11:56 AM in response to David Portela
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Aug 27, 2012 11:56 AM in response to David Portela

    This morning, I re-formatted the drive and re-installed Leopard...not Snow Leopard, just the original Leopard that came with the computer.  So far, it has not crashed.  I can even watch YouTube videos....kind of ***** that most of my software won't run, but at least I can browse the web and listen to Pandora....waiting for the next iteration of the iMac and I will trade this one in. 

  • by Eclipsethegalaxy,

    Eclipsethegalaxy Eclipsethegalaxy Aug 27, 2012 11:57 AM in response to brianhlarose
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Aug 27, 2012 11:57 AM in response to brianhlarose

    I replaced my NVIDIA GeForce GT130 six months ago with a replacement card-same make and model.

    I was made to understand that it is a revised card by NVIDIA. I have had no problems with this card. I have upgraded through Lion and now to 10.8.1 without any hick-ups. Don't throw out the computer.

  • by Ramona Adams,

    Ramona Adams Ramona Adams Aug 27, 2012 12:06 PM in response to Eclipsethegalaxy
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Aug 27, 2012 12:06 PM in response to Eclipsethegalaxy

    What did it cost to replace the card?  I don't want to spend a lot of money since they will have a new one out soon.

  • by Eclipsethegalaxy,

    Eclipsethegalaxy Eclipsethegalaxy Aug 27, 2012 12:14 PM in response to Ramona Adams
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Aug 27, 2012 12:14 PM in response to Ramona Adams

    It was replaced under Apple Care. I was lucky enough to have an Apple store with a very good technician and he recomended correctly that the card was overheating, probably due to the demands placed on it by the Mac OS upgrades. My early 2009 iMac still has some life left in it. Although I don't think the card itself is expensive, I do think it is a bit involved replacing it. I think he said it took a few hours.

  • by Ramona Adams,

    Ramona Adams Ramona Adams Aug 27, 2012 12:30 PM in response to Eclipsethegalaxy
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Aug 27, 2012 12:30 PM in response to Eclipsethegalaxy

    Maybe, I can do it myself.  I was able to replace the hard drive in both my iMac and my husband's and on several MacBook Pro laptops.  If there is a video showing how, I could probably manage it...don't really have much to lose.  It's almost worthless as it is.  

  • by Eclipsethegalaxy,

    Eclipsethegalaxy Eclipsethegalaxy Aug 27, 2012 12:36 PM in response to Ramona Adams
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Aug 27, 2012 12:36 PM in response to Ramona Adams

    There is a uTube video on how to replace the card. I remember watching it. The guy made it look easy.

  • by brianhlarose,

    brianhlarose brianhlarose Aug 28, 2012 7:44 AM in response to Eclipsethegalaxy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 28, 2012 7:44 AM in response to Eclipsethegalaxy

    3 more crashes this morning -- ALWAYS the same kernel panic and ALWAYS the same module.

     

    I am no longer using the "energy saver" option (trying to use the 2nd graphics card option), and I am no longer on the big external monitor.

     

    Just sitting on the laptop now..

     

    Still blowing up regularily.  I can barely work at this point.

     

    Thanks apple!


    Brian

  • by brianhlarose,

    brianhlarose brianhlarose Aug 28, 2012 8:22 AM in response to brianhlarose
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 28, 2012 8:22 AM in response to brianhlarose

    And Another crash.

     


    Just keeping score at this point.

     

    (ps.  and I am losing)

  • by Ramona Adams,

    Ramona Adams Ramona Adams Aug 28, 2012 8:32 AM in response to brianhlarose
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Aug 28, 2012 8:32 AM in response to brianhlarose

    lol...i can make it happen just by opening safari or if safari happens to open without crashing the system, you can just go to youtube...anything that uses video.

     

    I gave up counting...been going on since 2010 for me.  Since I reinstalled Leopard yesterday...haven't had a single crash.  Of course, I have not loaded ANY software other than the original Apple stuff.

     

    I checked the price of a new card...$399...labor would probably be at least $200.  I am not ready to spend that much for a computer whose trade-in/resell value is about $375.  probably just going to trade it on a new one when the new models come out.

  • by Zahori,

    Zahori Zahori Aug 28, 2012 9:16 AM in response to Ramona Adams
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 28, 2012 9:16 AM in response to Ramona Adams

    The main issue here, at least for me, it is not the cost of the card replacement...the main issue is that this problem was surely "present" in our computers when we bought them, but it is now with the new operating systems that the problem appears. If I have something that is working and it crashes, I can assume I've had bad luck and I have to spend the money to fix it, but in this case if I replace the card I would have the feeling of being paying twice for the same thing, because I don't think our graphic cards are in worse conditions than when we bought them...that's the frustrating part of all this.

  • by brianhlarose,

    brianhlarose brianhlarose Aug 28, 2012 9:21 AM in response to Zahori
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 28, 2012 9:21 AM in response to Zahori

    Zahori,

      I agree 100% with your assessment of the situation.  The sad thing is that many of us were told to upgrade to the latest 10.8.1 operating system that it would 'fix' some of the odd behaviors that we were having.  For example, my issues were related to outlook for mac 2011.  The Microsoft people told me that I needed to be sure and be running the latest and greatest OS in order to assure proper performance of their application.

     

    Now, given that Apple and Microsoft are in a holy war against each other, Microsoft telling me to upgrade to 10.8.1 and having outlook perform WELL on the machine, whilst causing the nVidia driver to panic the kernel and now making it Apple's problem certainly SEEMS interesting to say the least.

     

    So perhaps Microsoft will advise everybody running older MacBook Pros to upgrade to 10.8.1 so their products run well (and from my perspective Office is FINALLY stable) -- ha ha, but it causes terminal conditions in the drivers.  I wonder if there is some gamemanship going on here.

     

    I wouldn't put it past Microsoft, they are the axis of evil...

  • by Eclipsethegalaxy,

    Eclipsethegalaxy Eclipsethegalaxy Aug 28, 2012 9:30 AM in response to Zahori
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Aug 28, 2012 9:30 AM in response to Zahori

    The fault is as much NVIDIA's as Apple's. The parts inside of Mac's are no longer made in the USA. The manufacturing of parts is all off shore now.  Macs have been plagued with bad power supplies as well. I have had mine replaced. I would always recommend Apple Care but in my case I had to push pretty hard to have the graphics card serviced under warranty. But as it was explained to me there were some poorly made cards made by NVIDIA. Something about the material the components are mounted on. It is an overheating issue. The technician took readings to prove it.

  • by amandreamartino,

    amandreamartino amandreamartino Sep 2, 2012 6:32 AM in response to David Portela
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 2, 2012 6:32 AM in response to David Portela

    Hey guys! I've an early 2009 3.06ghz iMac with GT130 512MB... If you are interested in my experience with this faulty Lion update, you can take a look on my thread.

     

    https://discussions.apple.com/message/18711606#18711606

     

    The problem is: my Mac didn't crashed with Snow Leopard... I've upgraded to Lion and after few months my gpu started to crash, especially during Minecraft gameplay... So it started to crash with other OS's too (Windows 7 64bit Ultimate, Linux Ubuntu 12.04)... So I downgraded to Snow Leopard but the problem hasn't been solved... I don't know what to do... I don't believe that I have to pay to fix my 2000euros mac 3 and half years old...

     

    Thank you for you help!

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