Q: Strange vertical stripes

Hi,

Got the same problem, for the second time, this morning. Got my Macbook Pro since 3 days.
This time it was at the wake up. Restart the computer and it disapeared...

Had my 15" MBP for a week now. Love it! Saw these strange lights once that I can remember and snapped a photo http://flickr.com/photos/clintus/2368803669

Everyone said the same thing, that's not right and I should take it back. Since then I haven't seen them again. Now that I have read through this thread I'm really not concerned with it. For all we know this could be some new powersaving/LED reserve feature that Apple rolled out and didn't tell us. It's just too random for anyone to pinpoint.
If it were happening all the time and was annoying me I would probably take it back. But taking it back doesn't really seem to solve anything because people have done that are still having issues. I'll be watching the thread for any updates.

My question is has anyone left the screen on with these vertical stripes and the other LED's come back on? Or do they stay off until the next time you close your display?

That's the same as I have seen maybe half a dozen times. I have not left on to see if clears itself, 'cos it's too easy to close the lid, re-awaken and hey presto no stripes. I brought mine into Apple inside 2 weeks, debated the DOA procedure with them, found out that I could be without my MBP for up two weeks (BTO 250GB HD)... and even then no assurance the replacement machine would be defect free. And then I figured I had up to 12 months to get the defect repaired if and when Apple have a repair protocol. It's not annoying enough at this time, I just watch and wait to see what happens with the rest of the affected machines... Maybe next time I see it I will leave and see what happens...

For the record, I haven't left it on. The last couple times this has happened to me, the LEDs are completely off (though I can see the screen still on).

Same thing happened to me. After waking my brandnew MacBook Pro from the sleeping mode these "strange vertical stripes" appeared. After closing and reopening the lid the stripes were gone. Since then it never happened again... I also didn't take a picture but here you can see how it looked:

http://www.fscklog.com/2008/04/penryn-macbook.html

HOLY CRAP.

This is LITERALLY EXACTLY what is happening on mine. It has happened twice that I can recall.

Unbelievable. $2000 for a machine, and this is what we get.

Good work Apple.

Update on my situation: Apple exchanged my MBP for a new one without any argument. After installing all my stuff, I replicated my previous activities: I used the MBP for a couple of hours on battery power, then slept it by closing the case, then woke it. +On the first try+, I got the dreaded stripes. Sleeping (without closing the case) and waking made the stripes go away.

I can't keep playing the "return the computer" game. I'm going to sit tight for awhile and hope that Apple does right by all of us. But I think I will call Apple just to let them know that I am seeing the problem again. Indeed, I recommend anyone who hasn't called yet to do so.

Roberta

I got a replacement MBP for an entirely different reason (DVD drive went screwy), and the replacement has not shown the issue. However, my original MBP only showed it once, so I'm not saying it's fixed or anything since it may be that I'm not doing whatever exactly triggers it.

BTW, that EFI update is for Mac Pros, not MBPs.

I received my 2nd replacement just the other day. Unfortunately, THAT one also had a buzzing issue with the HD (just as the 1st replacement did). One of the reps speculated that the buzzing may be the result of bad built-to-order HD's... So, I called Apple and very politely talked through things (I think that this is essential), telling them that I can't keep getting replacements, getting on the phone for an hour (or more) with tech support, etc, etc. We decided it would be best to send back the 2nd replacement and that I would hang onto my original MBP in hopes that the screen issue would be resolved in a future update. In light of all my troubles (two exchanges, multiple unresolved issues, time spent on the phone and on-line trying to resolve things) Apple gave me a very satisfactory credit refund on my mastercard. Lesson learned: these difficulties, when pursued through the proper channels (and with patience) can turn into something good. Now let's just hope 10.5.3 has some screen resolutions for us...

Yesterday, I changed my MBP!
This is my 2nd replacement, too!
Hopefully, the third one works proper!
The system and the machine are really great,
but i'm wondering a bit about the Apple quality.

Do you guys know, if apple sends out refurbished
notebooks for replacements?
My first replacement looked a bit used (clearance
between plastic and aluminium at top left of the display;
battery clamps while taking out) and the
power adapter was clawed.

I hope I will receive a brand new one in the next week,
it is send from Shanghai to Germany...

Cheers

I have the same problem too, It happens eveyday now. I was just wondering if the opening and closing is the reason. I am going to test out , leaving it opening for the next 2 days and see if it happens again.

I haven't seen the dreaded stripes on rewaking for almost a week now. The only thing I did different is crank the brightness up slightly from factory settings, as I thought it may be a threshold problem when it didn't happen every time on rewaking. Don't even no if I have stumbled across the fix, but daily I do ~3 rewakings and that means at least 18-20 times and no occurrence. May be I'll reset to factory brightness and see if stripes returns... Since yours happens every day, maybe you can try increasing bightness and see if helps at all.

I will try that tonite and see if it works.

I have the exact same problem. Just noticed it today for the first time. I can't be sure, but I think I just woke up the computer immediately after the display went to sleep. But, I closed the lid for a few seconds and it was gone.

This really seems like the kind of thing that could be fixed with a software/firmware update. At least I hope so.