Cosmic dolphin
Level 1 (2 points)

Q: Macbook Pro (15" early 2011) horizontal lines on screen and not booting...?

Hi there,

 

I have a Macbook Pro (15" early 2011).

 

Last night something weird happen. My MBP (screen closed) was connected to my Cinema Display, then all of the sudden out of nowhere the Cinema Display showed black and white vertical bars. I waited a while, but nothing changed, it froze.

 

I decided to restart with the Cinema Display disconnected. As soon as I did I noticed something wasn't right. The MBP screen looked dull, it also had staggered grey horizontal lines at the Apple logo on startup. Nevertheless it started, the dullness went away, and everything worked properly. Later, I shut it down and didn't think much of the encountered problem.

 

However, when I started it again, the horizontal lines appeared again, this time in a slight red colour, but it still started up fine and everything worked properly.

 

This went on for maybe another 2 or 3 restarts until it stopped starting up altogether. It would just stop and freeze at the Apple logo and remain that way.

 

Please help , what's going on? Anyone experience anything similar?

 

Thank you for any help,

Ray

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Mar 2, 2014 9:44 PM

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Cosmic dolphin

Q: Macbook Pro (15" early 2011) horizontal lines on screen and not booting...?

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  • by griff w,

    griff w griff w Mar 5, 2014 8:25 AM in response to Cosmic dolphin
    Level 4 (3,489 points)
    Mar 5, 2014 8:25 AM in response to Cosmic dolphin

    Hi there Cosmic dolphin ,

     

    You may find the troubleshooting steps in the articles below helpful.

     

    Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup

    http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2570

     

    Apple computers: Troubleshooting issues with video on internal or external displays

    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1573

     

    -Griff W. 

  • by Dibenkorn,

    Dibenkorn Dibenkorn Mar 5, 2014 9:23 AM in response to Cosmic dolphin
    Level 2 (405 points)
    Mar 5, 2014 9:23 AM in response to Cosmic dolphin

    After you follow the instructions above will it boot normally?  If not will it boot in Recovery Mode?  (Boot and hold down the Command and R keys.)

     

    Do you have a backup?

  • by Cosmic dolphin,

    Cosmic dolphin Cosmic dolphin Mar 12, 2014 7:46 PM in response to griff w
    Level 1 (2 points)
    Mar 12, 2014 7:46 PM in response to griff w

    Hi there,

     

    Thank you for your help

     

    I went through the steps mentioned in both articles you provided, unfortunately there was no improvment and the problem persists.

     

    I've been reading through other threads on this site, in particular:

     

    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4766577?start=0&tstart=0

    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4637833?start=0&tstart=0

    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2768351?start=2040&tstart=0

     

    I am experiencing exactly what these people are going through. My problem is identical, and it looks like I'm in the same boat. It absolutely frustrates me and, honestly, makes me feel sick.

     

    It's out of warranty now by 9 months. It cost me $2500 brand new. With it I also purchased a Cinema Display for over $1000, as well as, a number of other Apple specific items amounting to appproximately another $1000.

     

    It is honestly unacceptable that this product has lasted me under three years. Fixing is expensive, but worst of all, it's well documented that even after repair the problem reoccurs.

     

    Thank you for your help anyway.

     

    Cheers,

    Ray

  • by Cosmic dolphin,

    Cosmic dolphin Cosmic dolphin Mar 12, 2014 8:02 PM in response to Dibenkorn
    Level 1 (2 points)
    Mar 12, 2014 8:02 PM in response to Dibenkorn

    Hi,

     

    Thanks for your help

     

    No, it won't boot at all, not in recovery, nor safe. Resetting PRAM and SMC doesn't do anything either.

     

    Yes, I've backed everything up.

     

    It's the same thing over and over again:

     

    Start up > Apple logo with coloured horizontal staggered lines on screen > Spinning gear under logo > Hangs on white screen.

     

    mac 001.jpg

    mac 007.jpg

     

    Cheers,

    Ray

  • by entreprenerds,

    entreprenerds entreprenerds Mar 25, 2014 9:31 PM in response to Cosmic dolphin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 25, 2014 9:31 PM in response to Cosmic dolphin

    Hi Ray,

     

    I feel your frustration. I had the exact same problem with what sounds like the exact same MacBook Pro - the staggers horizontal lines on start-up leading to the grey screen, which prevented me from booting up for hours at a time.

     

    I went to the Genius Bar and of course, the problem seemed to have disappeared. They ran their hardware test and found no problems, so said it was likely software, and to reinstall OS/X. Many hours later, with a fresh version of Mavericks, the problem persisted.

     

    This time, the Genius checked the logs, and whilst they weren't conclusive, the error did show up that time, and it was decided that it was indeed a hardware problem. The part being replaced is:

     

    Item Number: 661-6160

    Description: Board, Logic, 2.2 GHz

     

    I hope this helps you find a solution to your problem.

     

    Cheers,

    Andrew

  • by AyushN21,

    AyushN21 AyushN21 May 14, 2014 11:06 AM in response to entreprenerds
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 14, 2014 11:06 AM in response to entreprenerds

    Hi Andrew,

     

    I seem to be having the same issue. It does seem rather intermittent and hasn't happened for 2 weeks but I think I'm going to get it checked out because my AppleCare is about to run out. I just wanted to know how long did Apple take to replace your logic board? And did they only do that after they had seen that the problem does exist? Because I can't seem to reproduce the issue at will, although I do have several pictures of the problem.

     

    Thanks in advance,

    Ayush

  • by entreprenerds,

    entreprenerds entreprenerds May 18, 2014 5:10 AM in response to AyushN21
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 18, 2014 5:10 AM in response to AyushN21

    Attached is a photo of what my screen looked like - exactly the same as the previous example. To answer your questions:

     

    I took the MacBook Pro in on a Tuesday and expected I wouldn't see it again until Saturday, but it was fixed by Thursday.

     

    Also, because I had returned with the same complaint, I think they were taking it more seriously. It was convenient that they actually saw the problem while I was there, but the Genius did check through the system logs and noticed there was definitely something wrong. Like I said earlier, the log wasn't conclusive, but it was enough to show them that there was a problem. Then seeing it confirmed things.

     

    Hope this helps!

    IMG_6225.jpg

  • by authenticgirl_1000,

    authenticgirl_1000 authenticgirl_1000 May 28, 2014 8:34 PM in response to Cosmic dolphin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 28, 2014 8:34 PM in response to Cosmic dolphin

    Hi! I had the same problem of horizontal red lines on my screen during startup. I tried a lot of things including disk repairs http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1417 which said it cleaned up the disk, but still didn't fix my startup problem. So I reset my NVRAM http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379 which seems to have fixed the problem. I guess we'll see if this is permanent. Cheers!

  • by Altered_MS,Helpful

    Altered_MS Altered_MS Jun 6, 2014 7:15 PM in response to Cosmic dolphin
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jun 6, 2014 7:15 PM in response to Cosmic dolphin

    Hi, I had the same problem of horizontal lines on my screen during startup that would not progress past a blank gray screen. I had the logic board and memory replaced, and the problem came back just 2 days after getting the computer (15" MBP late 2011) back. I brought it back to the Apple store where it (of course) did not reproduce the problem, and the computer passed a complete stress test.

     

    Tonight, the problem started up again, and I did a SMC reset which resolved the problem! Instructions are here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

     

    Briefly: hold down the left sided shift, control, option, and the power button for 5 seconds. Release all 4 at the same time. Nothing should happen. Now tap the power button to turn on the computer normally! Good luck!

  • by rockbert77,

    rockbert77 rockbert77 Jun 10, 2014 4:58 AM in response to Altered_MS
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 10, 2014 4:58 AM in response to Altered_MS

    I tried all of the possible key-combinations to reset my smc and the nvram/prma. Also tried to boot into safe mode and also tried a disk utility, repair disk option. Nothing helped.

     

    But I finally got my mac started by pressing in the power button and keeping it pressed in.

     

    Now, I´ll just have to wait and see if this was a permanent solution or not...

  • by vernonlloyd,

    vernonlloyd vernonlloyd Jun 19, 2014 5:50 PM in response to rockbert77
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 19, 2014 5:50 PM in response to rockbert77

    I just experienced this last night. Pressing in the power button works! Thanks.

     

    What does pressing the power button do? Does it reset everything to defaults?

  • by Mackintosh_User,

    Mackintosh_User Mackintosh_User Jun 29, 2014 1:00 AM in response to Cosmic dolphin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 29, 2014 1:00 AM in response to Cosmic dolphin

    I have exactly the same problem as you.. Were you able to resolve it? It is so frustrating that it might have something to do with the logic board. I hope' not, coz it will cost a lot if I will send it to the apple service center. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks.

  • by clintonfrombirmingham,

    clintonfrombirmingham clintonfrombirmingham Jun 29, 2014 1:10 AM in response to Mackintosh_User
    Level 7 (30,009 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 29, 2014 1:10 AM in response to Mackintosh_User

    Mackintosh_User,

     

    You're having the same problems as discussed in this -> https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4766577?tstart=0 - thread. While a logic board may (or may not) temporarily 'fix' the problem, the best thing that you can do is to have your CPU BGA reballed onto the logic board. Many reballers offer a years warranty on their work and it's the only true 'fix' that I know of.

     

    Read a few of the articles on the thread and see if you've similar symptoms.

     

    Clinton

     

    MacBook Pro (15-inch Late 2011), OS Mavericks 10.9.3, 16GB RAM, 960GB SSD, 27” Apple Thunderbolt Display

  • by Mackintosh_User,

    Mackintosh_User Mackintosh_User Jun 29, 2014 2:20 AM in response to clintonfrombirmingham
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 29, 2014 2:20 AM in response to clintonfrombirmingham

    Thanks for the info Clinton. Guess what'  I've tried many possible steps to fix it and the only solution was to Press the Power Button several times until you see the Gray apple logo. *whew! It was a relief! I just hope it'll continue to work fine. If the problem comes back .. then another experimental moves. Lol.

     

    *cheers

     

    btw' do you think there's something to do with the new OS? Mavericks? coz before upgrading it was all working fine.

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