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 Drunken Hobo,

    Drunken Hobo Drunken Hobo Mar 17, 2014 1:00 AM in response to Drunken Hobo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 17, 2014 1:00 AM in response to Drunken Hobo

    Still getting kernel panics. Took back to apple bullring. Having a replacement GT130 graphic card installed. Apple would not install a better card. Can't understand why it has to be the GT130 card only? Had a email to say its ready. Will try to collect this week & let you know if its solved the problem. I'm not confident that a new graphic card is the answer. I still think its a driver / softwear issue.

  • by Will Moindrot,

    Will Moindrot Will Moindrot Mar 17, 2014 2:21 AM in response to sgadsby
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 17, 2014 2:21 AM in response to sgadsby

    I was going to ask this question too with regard to Windows 7. We had a few warm days a week or so ago and started to again experience screen lock ups (now running Snow Leopard). From memory when I first experienced my imac's fault in 2012 (permanently burned in bad pixel pattern after upgrade to Lion/ML) I think that I tried booting into Windows and these dissappeared. I think that others in thread also reported this but was seeking any updates as I hope this will be my fix in a few weeks time.

     

    This isn't my sole mac now - I built my own 4.5ghz quad core tonymac (http://www.tonymacx86.com/user-builds/92633-success-another-slugnet-clone-ga-z77 x-ud5h-i7-3770k-660ti-msi-power-ed-500r.html) for video work in FCP etc. - but useful as a goto computer  in the living room.

     

    Ironically my dad's white bezelled G5 imac is still going strong 10 years on - Apple must have done a good thing when they stopped supporting PowerPC chips with Snow Leopard.

     

    If Apple have branched this thread and are working on a resolution with mavericks will they compensate us for damage caused to their hardware by their software? Will they also refund me for the replacement GT130 they made me pay (that also become corrupted)?

  • by Zahori,

    Zahori Zahori Mar 20, 2014 12:05 PM in response to Scott Hannahs
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 20, 2014 12:05 PM in response to Scott Hannahs

    I don't want to say too loud (it wouldn't be the first time I think this is fixed and it is not actually), but since I installed 10.9.2 I've not seen any crash. Hopefully this time it is really fixed, or at least improved. The changes in the drivers as well as the branched discussion could be at least a good sign that Apple is working on this (better late than never...even being too late I think).

  • by Brekka,

    Brekka Brekka Mar 20, 2014 12:33 PM in response to Zahori
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 20, 2014 12:33 PM in response to Zahori

    Too late indeed for some of us.  I finally gave up and sold mine used 4 mos ago for $500 after giving Apple $230 to replace the graphics card out of warranty.  Another $1200 on a certified refurbed '13 iMac.

     

    What a shame for those of us who couldn't wait.

     

    A very disappointing experience.

  • by waif69,

    waif69 waif69 Mar 20, 2014 5:51 PM in response to Zahori
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 20, 2014 5:51 PM in response to Zahori

    As much as I want to go back to a modern OS, I will have to wait and let others test the waters first.  Dropping back to 10.5 was painful.   On the plus side, I haven't had a single crash since going back to 10.5 about 6 months ago.

  • by Joris Sewandono,

    Joris Sewandono Joris Sewandono Mar 20, 2014 11:51 PM in response to Zahori
    Level 1 (26 points)
    Mar 20, 2014 11:51 PM in response to Zahori

    Nice,

    Mine is boxed away, but it would be so much fun to start using the big screen again

    When I've time next week I'll try to install a clean 10.9.2 !!

     

    Let me know how its going Zahori!!

  • by Drunken Hobo,

    Drunken Hobo Drunken Hobo Mar 21, 2014 1:35 AM in response to Zahori
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 21, 2014 1:35 AM in response to Zahori

    http://www.nvidia.co.uk/Download/Find.aspx?lang=en-uk still list no driver updates to the GT130. Are you sure there changed in 10 .9.2?

     

    As a side note i collect my imac with new graphic card back from the Apple store this

    Saturday. I hope i've not wasted my money.

  • by Scott Hannahs,

    Scott Hannahs Scott Hannahs Mar 21, 2014 6:32 AM in response to Drunken Hobo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 21, 2014 6:32 AM in response to Drunken Hobo

    @DH

    No, I am not sure if they changed anything.  That was why I asked.  The release notes for 10.9.2 implied that they patched a security hole for NVidia drivers to prevent someone crashing and running code on the GPU.  Does this translate to a change in the loaded driver for a GT130 card from 5 years ago?  I don't know.

     

    I do know that under Mac OS X 10.8.5 the driver is version 8.1.6 or 8.16.74 310.40.00.10f02 dated 7/29/2013

    com.apple.nvidia.nv50hal

     

    If anyone has 10.9.2 installed under Mavericks please check the version of the kext with the terminal command:

    kextstat | grep nvidia

    Or get the file date with

    ls -l /System/Library/Extensions/NVDANV50Hal.kext/Contents/MacOS/NVDANV50Hal

     

    This is still very odd.  I bought a bunch of these at work (about 6 of this) and one at home.  Only the home one has shown this problem.  One of the work systems did have a bad video card and little pink dots all over the screen and the mother board was replaced after a couple of years.

     

    The home machine had an interesting experience with delicious-library.  When running the latest version, the application would open and the whole machine would go black and shut down about the time that the window came up.  No crash logs no diagnostics, just a sudden shutdown.  The delicious-library folks were great and within the week had an alternate version that did not "weaponize" my desktop!  But they could trigger a graphics problem reliably under Mac OS X 10.8.5.

  • by celloist,

    celloist celloist Mar 21, 2014 6:52 AM in response to Scott Hannahs
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mar 21, 2014 6:52 AM in response to Scott Hannahs

    Running 10.9.2 on the early 2009 with the GT130, I have: com.apple.nvidia.classic.NVD AResmanTesla (8.2.4)

     

    I've only had one freeze after very heavy graphics use but none in the last few weeks. However, I'm still running smcFan with HDD at 3000 rpm and Summer approaches.

  • by Zahori,

    Zahori Zahori Mar 22, 2014 1:49 PM in response to Joris Sewandono
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 22, 2014 1:49 PM in response to Joris Sewandono

    One more time...I should have been more cautious before posting an optimistic message: I've just had a hang. So problem is not fixed in 10.9.2...

  • by Drunken Hobo,

    Drunken Hobo Drunken Hobo Mar 23, 2014 6:38 AM in response to Drunken Hobo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 23, 2014 6:38 AM in response to Drunken Hobo

    Picked up Early 24 inch 2006 imac with new replacement Nvidia GT130 512 MB graphic card yesterday Sat 22nd march. Running 10.9.2 3.06 (13C64) GHZ intel Core 2 Duo

    4 gb 1067 Mhz DDr3

     

    Apple could not recreate kernel panic. After fiting new GT130 card And complete clean install.

     

    Pluged in today. Sunday 23rd March 2014.

     

    30 minutes latter this! after dragging a small folder to the desktop.

    Screen Shot 2014-03-23 at 12.46.42.png

    Screen Shot 2014-03-23 at 12.50.46.png

    So not a good start. The Imac has not restarted itself for no reason yet, or had grey screen with touch any button to restart. Or any panic report. Infact i'm using it with screen graphics distortion now. But I guess it will go in a minute.

     

    Open Apps = Apple Messages & Apple Safari only.

     

    Screen just changed to this

    Screen Shot 2014-03-23 at 13.22.39.png

     

    then seconds latter

    Screen Shot 2014-03-23 at 13.24.52.png

     

    Screen changes to a mad pattern everyy time I  click mouse.

     

    Apple Store Bullring did promise a whole refund if graphic card replacement did not fix problems. So I guess it's going back again. (Another 4 hour round trip from Mid Wales. + car park & fuel costs.)

     

    Even through it crashs less often under Mavericks its still not right.

     

    It is a softwear issue. Something changed in last update of Snow Leopard. It works with no problem if I return to the Snow Leopard cd's and don't update softwear. No Kernel panics no screen distortion, no restarting itself for no reason. No grey screen with touch any button to restart. Everthing just Works!

     

     

    Still no new drivers for Nvidia GT130 512 MB graphic card avalible.

     

    Posting this before it crash's alltogether.

  • by Drunken Hobo,

    Drunken Hobo Drunken Hobo Mar 23, 2014 6:51 AM in response to Drunken Hobo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 23, 2014 6:51 AM in response to Drunken Hobo

    I'm wondering if this is a Ram issue?

    I have

    4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3

    2gb in each slot.

     

    My Itunes collection is a massive 302.26 GB as all this imac is good for at the moment is a jukebox.

     

    Does anybody know if a upgrade to 8 GB Memory would solve this kernel panic thing?

  • by Drunken Hobo,

    Drunken Hobo Drunken Hobo Mar 23, 2014 7:13 AM in response to Drunken Hobo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 23, 2014 7:13 AM in response to Drunken Hobo

    Sorry is a Early 2009 not 2006 imac

  • by Scott Hannahs,

    Scott Hannahs Scott Hannahs Mar 23, 2014 8:57 AM in response to Drunken Hobo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 23, 2014 8:57 AM in response to Drunken Hobo

    Nope. I have a full 8 GB on my March 2009 iMac and the problem exists.  I did have licked by increasing the fan speed to 2000 RPM using iStat Menus.  Only problem was one problematic build of Delicious Libary which had a much better response than Apple on this and is resolved.

     

    I will run my fans at 2000 RPM until the fans die.  Not good, but what am I going to do?

     

    Well we seem to have a firm answer that the Mavericks 10.9.2 update doesn't solve the problem.

  • by Will Moindrot,

    Will Moindrot Will Moindrot Mar 23, 2014 10:01 AM in response to Drunken Hobo
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 23, 2014 10:01 AM in response to Drunken Hobo

    Hi Drunken Hobo,

     

    Please please please do me a favour and take your imac back to the Apple Store.

     

    I had the card replace myself by the Apple Store  I think for £130 - I had downgraded before the work to SL, but about a week afterwards tried to stress test the new hardware by upgrading to Mountain Lion. Needless to stay started to show the same signs of going bad - but my bad is that I did not get round to taking it back to the Apple Store. So I ended up throwing good money after bad. I think the replacement/work is only guaranteed for three months. A real pain to have to get it back I know - I only had to jump on the train from a local station to Liverpool but that was enough to put me off at the time. But if I were you I would do it and then ask what they suggest you do next, otherwise you will only be kicking yourself later.

     

    I haven't got round to installing Windows 7 yet on my imac but this will be my next step.

     

    Best, Will

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