Artevino

Q: MacBook Pro screen goes black at random ... does anyone have this resolved?!?!

I know there are multiple discussions out there dealing with this problem, but I have yet to see one of them resolved.  I'm hoping someone out there has a real resolution to this problem, and would be willing to post it here.

 

I'm running an Intel Core i7 2.66 GHz MacBook Pro (video card: NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M), often with a Dell external monitor---either with the laptop clamshell open or closed;  however, this problem happens whether the monitor is connect or not, clamshell open or closed . . .

 

Seemingly at random, the screen (both screens if the external monitor is connected) goes black.  It can happen when very little software is running, and I am doing something as simple as just moving a Finder window from one location to another.  It also happens when I am working in Photoshop and other software.  There doesn't seem to be a specific task that brings on the black screen.  Even tho the screen is black, the computer is still audibly running, and the ONLY thing that brings it back is a hard shut down by holding down the power button for several seconds, and then pressing the power button again to start up.  I then get a automatic report generated to send to Apple (I've sent them about 100 by now).

 

I do not have "hot corners" activated, I have unchecked "Automatically adjust brightness as ambient light changes" in the display prefs, and I've unchecked "Automatic graphics switching" and "Automatically reduce brightness" in the energy saver prefs, since these were some of the suggestions I had read in previous posts.  None of this has made a difference.

 

I have spoken to Apple support, who suggested this could be a problem with over-heating.  I've installed iStat Pro to monitor the temps, but they don't seem out of whack at all.  I can go days without the screen going black at all, and then I can have a day where it happens several times.  I'm trying to avoid bringing the computer in to a technician because, inevitably, I won't be able to replicate the issue in the shop, and then I'll be paying $150/hr. for nothing.

 

Does anyone out there have a resolution for this problem?  I'd be eternally grateful for a post.  Thank you.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on May 2, 2013 2:29 PM

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Q: MacBook Pro screen goes black at random ... does anyone have this resolved?!?!

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  • by daisy55555,

    daisy55555 daisy55555 Dec 12, 2013 10:29 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 12, 2013 10:29 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    Thanks Grant...what I meant by "work my way through these discussions" is that I've never used this platform before. Sorry for the confusion.

  • by tellefsenfrank,

    tellefsenfrank tellefsenfrank May 6, 2014 10:16 AM in response to daisy55555
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 6, 2014 10:16 AM in response to daisy55555

    undefined

  • by tellefsenfrank,

    tellefsenfrank tellefsenfrank May 6, 2014 10:19 AM in response to Artevino
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 6, 2014 10:19 AM in response to Artevino

    So what's the deal, there's really no way to fix this? My warranty just expired so I'm all outta luck.

     

    I'm on a 2011 MacBook Pro with an NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M.

     

    I've been running Windows 7 w/ BootCamp for a long time. First I got this black screen like once a month. Usually when starting my laptop after it's been asleep, or when using Photoshop, forcing me to do a hard reboot to get my system back up. Then months later, it started happening once a week, then once a day, then as of yesterday -- several times an hour.

     

    So I installed Windows 8.1 hoping that would fix things, but it just made things worse. Now it happens almost every time I open up a new tab in Chrome or Firefox. At least this time though, my display is successfully recovered most of the time so I don't have to reboot and lose all my work. 

     

    This seems to be a common problem on other forums too:

     

     

    Display driver NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 332.28 stopped responding and has successfully recovered.

  • by jobefromfl,

    jobefromfl jobefromfl May 7, 2014 5:31 AM in response to Artevino
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 7, 2014 5:31 AM in response to Artevino

    I have a MBP with the Apple 24 Monitor.  I had this problem and I took out a USB peripheral device that was plugged into the MBP, re set PRAM and I have had no problem.  No techical explaination, but I have no time to try some of the "stuff" that was discussed in this post.

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder May 7, 2014 7:05 AM in response to tellefsenfrank
    Level 9 (61,170 points)
    Desktops
    May 7, 2014 7:05 AM in response to tellefsenfrank

    The 2011 models have an AMD graphics chip. GeForce GT330M is a 2010 model, and subject to TS4088.

  • by tellefsenfrank,

    tellefsenfrank tellefsenfrank May 7, 2014 9:06 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 7, 2014 9:06 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    > The 2011 models have an AMD graphics chip. GeForce GT330M is a 2010 model, and subject to TS4088.

     

    You're right, my bad.

     

    Anyway I ended up just disabling my GeForce card, using the default Windows display driver and now everything is fine.

     

    I'll keep updating my GeForce driver though, maybe Nvidia will fix this at some point in the future.

  • by philfromhorw,

    philfromhorw philfromhorw May 13, 2014 6:57 AM in response to Artevino
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 13, 2014 6:57 AM in response to Artevino

    for me it helped if i turned the birghtness to 100%, or all the way down. in this two settings, the screen never turned black again. if i had it somewhere in between, it would radomly turn balck.

  • by btbowen,

    btbowen btbowen Jul 17, 2014 8:29 PM in response to philfromhorw
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 17, 2014 8:29 PM in response to philfromhorw

    I noticed that this problem kept happening more as the weather got hotter... so eventually I experimented and shoved a cold pack under the left hand side of the laptop... I guess where the hard drive is (?), and PRESTO, within maybe 20s the screen comes back on and is FINE again pretty much permanently! cheaper than a $900 screen replacement for sure!

  • by ResetIDAgain,

    ResetIDAgain ResetIDAgain Jul 30, 2014 12:56 AM in response to Artevino
    Level 1 (2 points)
    Jul 30, 2014 12:56 AM in response to Artevino

    On my MacBook Pro it happens randomly (because it can sometimes go for ages without doing it). Screen goes blank; can still see the mouse cursor but it's not gone onto standby. The only short term fix is close the macbook for a moment; wait; re-open and log in.

     

    No hot corners and no standby mode engaged.

  • by Human.6,

    Human.6 Human.6 Aug 8, 2014 7:26 PM in response to fernlo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 8, 2014 7:26 PM in response to fernlo

    Hello, I live in Egypt and in Egypt there are no geniuses that I can find. It is basically a complete mess. My warranty is expired, and when I tell anyone about the problem that I know is a manufacture issue I am expected to pay... I don't think it is fair. I don't know what to do, all I know is owning a Mac product in Egypt is a liability, because I know that this problem that I have been trying to solve since forever will not be solved, without me paying a whole lot of money and waiting for a very long time. Isn't it the ethical thing to do, to return all flawed machines or to fix them regardless time or warranty, if it is not the consumer's fault?

  • by CHCOM,

    CHCOM CHCOM Aug 25, 2014 5:28 PM in response to Human.6
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 25, 2014 5:28 PM in response to Human.6

    I have had my MacBook Pro since 2011. This problem started about a month ago (Aug 2014). I tried everything suggested in the Support Community. Somewhere I read the problem was caused by overheating. I had noticed that every time the problem occurred, the back of the computer was hot. What I did was install an external fan (USB powered), and the problem has not come back.

    For now, if you have not tried so, you should give it a try. Best regards!!!

  • by mathewfrommount lawley,

    mathewfrommount lawley mathewfrommount lawley Apr 4, 2015 1:04 AM in response to CHCOM
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 4, 2015 1:04 AM in response to CHCOM

    This is happening to me with a brand new 2015 Mac Pro without using an additional display and with the computer clearly not overheated.

  • by dutch81,

    dutch81 dutch81 May 8, 2015 2:26 PM in response to peachy MBP
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 8, 2015 2:26 PM in response to peachy MBP

    Hardware Overview:

     

      Model Name: MacBook Pro

      Model Identifier: MacBookPro6,2

      Processor Name: Intel Core i5

      Processor Speed: 2.53 GHz

      Number Of Processors: 1

      Total Number Of Cores: 2

      L2 Cache (per core): 256 KB

      L3 Cache: 3 MB

      Memory: 8 GB

      Processor Interconnect Speed: 4.8 GT/s

      Boot ROM Version: MBP61.0057.B0C

      SMC Version (system): 1.58f17

      Hardware UUID: 1166147B-DF5D-5598-8ACD-86470D60380F

      Sudden Motion Sensor:

      State: Enabled

     

    I'm out of luck, right? No AppleCare, warranty probably expired. It fades to a blank screen and is unresponsive, forcing me to hold down the power button to get back up and running. At first I thought it was my hardware for dual monitors but I wasn't sure, so I tried to isolate the issue by ditching the dual 27" for my Samsung 45" TV to see if would only happen w/ my monitors but it happens on the TV as well very randomly, I just started using my TV since Tuesday and yesterday it happened once and also today. A few weeks ago it was 4-6 times a day, maybe once every few weeks to a month for the past 3 months (roughly guessing). The frequency doesn't seem as bad as some cases read here. This is exactly why I failed to update to Apple's Mavericks and everything else, don't fix it if it ain't broke type of mentality after so much stress from other Apple devices.

     

    I've had so many issues w/ their software updates effecting my devices in different ways depending on device (Ipod2, 32GB, iPad2)  over the years that I told myself I wouldn't let that happen to my MBP that upgraded from the stock MBP 15" so I'm still running 10.6.8. I have all my music apps like Logic and ProTools AND my poker programs and settings saved and I can't afford to mess that up and cost me time which is money plus fees for repair and new parts (not cheap at all). To be fair they were mostly issues w/ syncing properly and not functioning all the time but if I pay top $ for devices, I shouldn't have to deal with so many problems. Just the thought of having to send this off to get fixed makes me mad, and that's IF they'll do it, which I doubt. So I'm going to have to spend $350-$800 to repair this? I can't have the MBP crashing on me during sessions and I'm afraid it'll only get worse if I update any software.

     

    I haven't tried using the MBP on it's own but I'm not interested in using it solo, I need my monitors. I read someone posting that overheating had to do with it and I would agree that being the culprit for a few reasons, but another posted his 2015 MBP was not hot at all and still faded. So confused and frustrated. Backing up all my files preparing for the worst. Always been a PC user pre-MBP, I wanted Apple for it's stability and it was worth every penny, until I had software, syncing and other issues w/ my devices. My MBP crashed maybe twice since now and has been a rock up until the last few months. If not for this issue, I would've been a MBP user for life, but now I'm not so sure. Probably not buying anymore Apple products either way. If Apple loses it's stability either in the software or hardware, the price tag is not worth paying IMO. The iphone didn't have any issues, flawless. The ipod has syncing issues like the ipad2, I can't put new files on them. Now this?

  • by Ned Block,

    Ned Block Ned Block May 31, 2015 2:20 PM in response to dutch81
    Level 1 (19 points)
    May 31, 2015 2:20 PM in response to dutch81

    I have this problem too and it seems to be a magnet issue.  It only happens when the laptop is resting on a case with a magnetic latch.

  • by rtp544,

    rtp544 rtp544 Sep 16, 2015 2:38 AM in response to Artevino
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 16, 2015 2:38 AM in response to Artevino

    Hi,

    My Mac Pro (Mid 2010) has been running through the random black screen issue for quite a long time. I've sent hundreds of reports to Apple anytime it happened and NO answer has been received.

    I´ve just seen your post saying an Apple recall was in place to deal with the issue. Unfortunately, it is today that I am aware of it so the recall is no longer active. I wonder how to get Apple involved in this problem so I could get my laptop repaired for free ASAP. It is interesting to know that I stopped by an Apple Shop long time ago and no word was given as to the recall you mentioned in your post....

     

    Thanks

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