alxsha

Q: Screen froze, purple lines, three beeps. Help!

I was using my computer to watch a movie, when suddenly it froze and purple lines appeared on the screen. The purple lines seemed to glitch, and the sound of the movie sounded like a broken record. In a panic, I held the power button to turn it off. The screen went black, but the fan was still going, and the computer was emitting three beeps. I held the power button again, and it finally completely shut down. I did some research, and it says the three beeps are a problem with the memory, but what about the lines? What does that mean?

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Oct 5, 2014 4:06 AM

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Q: Screen froze, purple lines, three beeps. Help!

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  • by rwhitley45,

    rwhitley45 rwhitley45 Aug 18, 2015 12:40 PM in response to space fountain
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 18, 2015 12:40 PM in response to space fountain

    That is what I'm thinking as well.  So far, I received this issue while my laptop was on my lap, so the air ducts could have been partially covered.  Since then, I've been keeping my mac only on my desk and no reoccurrence (yet).

     

    Still, I will still say that Apple screwed up here.

  • by rwhitley45,

    rwhitley45 rwhitley45 Sep 25, 2015 7:37 AM in response to rwhitley45
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 25, 2015 7:37 AM in response to rwhitley45

    Issue is back.  Mid 2012 MacBook Pro: i7 2.9 Ghz.  8GB RAM.  $1350.  Any hacks that fix it are only temporary it seems.  Thanks Apple.  :-|

     

    IMG_0578.JPG

  • by luanqiu,

    luanqiu luanqiu Dec 25, 2015 8:33 AM in response to tcalvin08
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 25, 2015 8:33 AM in response to tcalvin08

    I am having the same issues. Was there a solution. Apple admit there was a issue with video board for 15" and 17" MBP, but did not mentioned 13". It looks like I am having the same issue with 13" , 2012 model .

  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Dec 25, 2015 9:44 AM in response to luanqiu
    Level 9 (52,281 points)
    Mac OS X
    Dec 25, 2015 9:44 AM in response to luanqiu

    The recognized problem with the 15" and 17" models is the discrete GPU (not the integrated one) which a 13" MBP doe not have.

     

    Ciao.

  • by Will Rosenberg,

    Will Rosenberg Will Rosenberg Dec 27, 2015 9:45 AM in response to alxsha
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 27, 2015 9:45 AM in response to alxsha

    I had the same problem over two years. The customer service said that we have to pay out of pocket. Apple ***** !!

  • by mjk15,

    mjk15 mjk15 Dec 27, 2015 10:26 AM in response to alxsha
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 27, 2015 10:26 AM in response to alxsha

    I also have the same model (Mid-2012 13" MBP) and the same issue. Mine first happened 8 months after purchase, and they replaced the Logic Board and hard drive. Then 10 months after the first repair, the same problem occurred so they replaced the Logic Board and RAM. That didn't fix it either because 13 months later the same problem is happening. With two new Logic Boards, a new hard drive AND new RAM, obviously there is something clearly wrong with the actual manufacturing of this model rather than the individual parts. I would not bother paying $280 to replace/fix anything for the laptop as the problem will probably persist again eventually.

  • by luanqiu,

    luanqiu luanqiu Dec 27, 2015 11:53 AM in response to Will Rosenberg
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 27, 2015 11:53 AM in response to Will Rosenberg

    Had an online chat with Apple support and was directed to a senior adviser.  I was advised and quoted roughly $280 to mail my laptop in for further diagnostic and possible repair.  I cannot believe it. Apple is only addressing the 15" and 17" models due to the class action lawsuit.

  • by h.gouveia,

    h.gouveia h.gouveia Dec 30, 2015 1:45 PM in response to luanqiu
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Dec 30, 2015 1:45 PM in response to luanqiu

    Hi. I was experiencing this problem after I upgrade my Mac OS X to Yosemite.

    I went through all those symptoms and managed to get rid of it by downgrading Yosemite to Mountain Lion (this was my original OS when I bought my MBP).

     

    To downgrade, wipe out all your hard drive - including the Recovery Partition. You cannot downgrade if you still have a Recovery Partition.

     

    I am willing to upgrade to Mavericks next week and see if the problems still occurring.

  • by h.gouveia,

    h.gouveia h.gouveia Dec 30, 2015 1:47 PM in response to alxsha
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Dec 30, 2015 1:47 PM in response to alxsha

    Hi. I was experiencing this problem after I upgrade my Mac OS X to Yosemite.

    I went through all those symptoms and managed to get rid of it by downgrading Yosemite to Mountain Lion (this was my original OS when I bought my MBP).

     

    To downgrade, wipe out all your hard drive - including the Recovery Partition. You cannot downgrade if you still have a Recovery Partition.

     

    I am willing to upgrade to Mavericks next week and see if the problems still occurring.

  • by Figuermex,

    Figuermex Figuermex Jan 6, 2016 9:06 PM in response to alxsha
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 6, 2016 9:06 PM in response to alxsha

    Hi everybody. I have a MBP Mid-2012, I bought it 1 year ago. I upgraded from 2 to 8 GB (4 GB x 2 SODIMM), and everything flawless. But 2 days ago, my MBP started with this issue. The color lines suddenly appear, the mac freezes and reboot. Even with a little knock anywhere, the same happened again. I read somewhere it could be a memory issue because of the 3 beeps (I got 'em too), and a "temporal solution" was to use only one memory slot, the one closer to the cover. I did it so, and 10 hours later the issue seems to be gone. It's ridiculous to use just one memory slot, but up to now, it's the unique solution worked for me.

  • by russ0858,

    russ0858 russ0858 Jan 7, 2016 5:58 PM in response to alxsha
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 7, 2016 5:58 PM in response to alxsha

    I took my MBP mid-2012 13" to the Genius bar. He unscrewed the back and picked up the RAM cards and put them back in. He told me that I could do this myself or just knock on the back because they may have been jostled.


    The knocking hasn't seemed to help and I haven't tried taking the back off yet. It happens every couple of days and seems to be more and more frequent. I'm planning to use a dust blower to clean up in there and also replace the RAM cards. I don't know if this will work.

     

    Someone mentioned the left command button. I believe the RAM was located underneath that. I think it may have to do with carrying it around.

  • by russ0858,

    russ0858 russ0858 Jan 16, 2016 6:35 PM in response to russ0858
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 16, 2016 6:35 PM in response to russ0858

    I believe the problem is solved.

     

    I bought 16 GB RAM (8x2) from crucial. They were a little tighter to replace than the sample videos online. Nevertheless, once they were in, I've had no problems. The price was great and the performance is double.

  • by h.gouveia,

    h.gouveia h.gouveia Jan 16, 2016 7:58 PM in response to russ0858
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jan 16, 2016 7:58 PM in response to russ0858

    I did the same thing last week and it worked excellent!

     

    I bought 16 GiB TAM (8x2) Corsair 1600 mhz and replaced the old ones.

     

    Now I'm running El Captain and move my Mac to anywhere without worrying if any bump would freeze it.

     

    I totally recommend the upgrade.

  • by russ0858,

    russ0858 russ0858 Jan 16, 2016 9:41 PM in response to h.gouveia
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 16, 2016 9:41 PM in response to h.gouveia

    That's such good news! Same for me.

     

    Was yours kind of tight going in? The videos made it seem so easy but it took me awhile to get a good fit for the RAM cards in the slot.

  • by h.gouveia,

    h.gouveia h.gouveia Jan 18, 2016 6:03 AM in response to russ0858
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jan 18, 2016 6:03 AM in response to russ0858

     

     

    I had no problem fitting the cards in the slot... Well, at least nothing that I'd noticed.

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