Q: Strange vertical stripes

I just got mine today and I've got this problem too. It seems that anything that restarts the screen(going in and out of sleep or ctrlshifteject) fixes the problem temporarily.

Add me to BUG ID# 5751843.
SMC Version: 1.27f1
Boot ROM Version: MBP41.00C1.B00
GeForce 8600M GT: ROM Revision: 3212
Screen Model: 9C82
OS X 10.5.2, Build 9C7010
MacBook Pro in use since 03-17-2008
First time this error was seen on this machine: 05-20-2008

My MBP (Penryn) was in normal working mode (not in sleep, power connected, no external display connected) when the error set me in panic.
The display showed up the stripes and was darker as if it was dimmed - like it used to be when you do not touch the keys or move the mouse for a while. This was what I thought at first - but the vertical stripes shocked me and let me think this is a hardware error. Closing and reopening the lid fixed the problem (I did not know about the ctr-shift-eject hotkey at that moment).

After reading this thread I't seems obvious that it is firmware/software related. At least i keep my fingers crossed that apple will bring a fix to this bug soon.

BTW: I have also the "Display freezing - NVChannel(GL): Graphics channel exception"
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6781434
problem that I only can avoid, when I keep my external display unpluged (I work on the internal display for weeks and never had the Graphics channel exception again. But I doubt that those two problems are related.

Just my 0,02$: My old PowerBook G4 was much more stable. Apple, please don't let us down and bring back again more reliable products to your consumers. Perhaps it would be a nice idea to hire some forum moderators to keep us informed with official statements from apple about those bugs that makes users filling up these forums/thread and their blogs.

ok... i didn't look through the number of replies to see if anyone already noticed this, however... when your disconnected from the AC adapter, what is everyone's power management config? when mine is set to BETTER BATTERY LIFE, it seems to produce the alt light banding. When it is set to NORMAL or BETTER PERFORMANCE it seems to not produce the light banding... just an observation... probably already on this somewhere.. but thought i'd just say... anyhow i've set mine to NORMAL... so far (knock on wood) no problems...

Today I made a phone call to Apple Care Germany regarding this bug filed under bug ID#5751843. First person did not know anything about this problem and connected me to a better informed person. Mr. Anweiler told me that "stripes on the display" are listed in the internal knowledgebase. He adviced me to do the usual procedure (pram/nvram and smc reset). But as we all know this will not solve the stripes issue. His knowledbase says that replacing the machine will not solve the problem. So he adviced me to wait for the next update (OS X 10.5.3 and/or firmware upgrade). But he could not say IF this will solve the problem or when the next update will be released. A case number was attached to my request.

And another one here, noticed it a couple of times, and then would use the laptop a few hours later to notice it was gone. Wasn't quite sure what was going on.

Shall give apple a call in the morning and find out what they think currently about the issue, as it's fairly unacceptable for a 2.5k machine.

We are having the same problem with a Peryn MacBook pro. Shift-Control-Eject clears the problem but I hope a permanent fix is on the way from Apple.

^ thanks for that quick fix, I'm currently having this problem too - seems to be when I change locations with the screen open then plug the power adapter back in though.

I have a SOLUTION, or at least one that works for me.

I should begin by saying that I only had the problem on start up, never when waking from sleep.

Note the past tense.

I've found that when shutting down I should have the display brightness set five clicks or higher from the maximum brightness. (i.e. sixteen brightness points -- set it to eleven OR ABOVE).

The only time I saw the stripes in the last two weeks was when I forgot to do this (I usually have the screen set around the brightness level anyway, so it's not a hassle.

Still not an ideal solution, but it works for me. I'd be interested in hearing from others who've tried this to see if it works for them too.

Jake

PS Now I have a problem with a squeaky spacebar!

This is the "horizontal stripes" that I am talking about.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6941136

It is typical of the new Macbook Pros.

shellylh wrote:
This is the "horizontal stripes" that I am talking about.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6941136

It is typical of the new Macbook Pros.

Yes have seen them as well.

Peter

I'm a new mac user after almost 20 years of using PC. For almost a month, I became a mac "believer"....until I started getting the black vertical stripes.

It happened once. It went away. Then it happened again. I checked this forum and found out others had the same problem.

I called tech support and the guy tells me a it's a "known" problem and that it may be due to defective LCD from a specific LCD manufacturer. He assured me that it would get replaced.

I went to a "genius" at an apple store. The genius girl tells me she has seen this 3 times already. She tried to reproduce the stripes even though i tell her that I haven't been able to reproduce it and it only has happened randomly.

She assures me that the LCD will get replaced.

5 days later i call the apple to find out the status and they tell me that they need more information because they can't reproduce the problem!

WHAT?!?!?

All I could do is direct them to this forum so that they can see hundreds of people are having the same problem and that no one has yet to find a way to reproduce the stripes in a regular fashion.

I'm guessing it's something to do with the LED backlit that is happening unevenly.

bottom line is that this is a problem. Tell APPLE you want this problem fixed!

If more people share this problem, maybe Apple will believe us and not ask us to try to reproduce the stripes on command.

Just chiming in here to add another identical case to this issue listed in this thread. Among other problems with this machine, it has proved to be the worst Mac I have owned (after 7 previous machines).

Sparing you the other problems with this machine, after a month of owning it these black bars turned up today after sleeping overnight. I tried to take a screen grab of it - didn't work. A restart fixed it. I put it back to sleep to try to recreate the problem, left it for about 30 seconds - woke it up and there they were again. I took physical pictures of it this time, with this thread on the screen (will post at a later date if it is useful to more of these images). On the advice of someone in this thread, I set an expose corner to 'Sleep Display' which resolved the second occurrence in approximately 4 seconds. Though temporarily, undoubtedly...

I was actually in an apple store looking to purchase a MacBook Pro and I experienced the issue you are all talking about within just minutes of taking a look at it. I closed the lid for about 30 seconds and then felt how heavy it was because I need to use it for school. It turns out that it didn't wake from sleep when I opened the lid, so I pressed the space bar and that is when the issue occurred. I'm going to talk with my friend who currently has one and see if he can duplicate the issue on his. Hardware or software, it seems like an annoying thing to encounter, especially when working on it. Hopefully it can be fixed with a software or firmware update. I would hate to see so many people going back to the store and waiting for their MBP display repairs. Best of luck to everyone and I hope the issue will be resolved by the time I place my order.

Add me to the "me too" list. Exactly the same problem as others have described.

The ctrl-shift-eject temporary fix worked for me for about 5 mins in battery mode. Then the problem returned.

Add me to the list too. Anyone noticed that this problem mainly occurs on 15"s?? Other than the vertical stripes and the bluish tint issues, i've got myself a pretty good machine. I don't want to waste my time getting my set replaced and having the same problems occur with the new one. Can't believe this is happening.

Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro4,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.5 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MBP41.00C1.B03
SMC Version: 1.27f1
Serial Number: W88***YK0
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Enabled

Message was edited by: The Egyptian Magician

<Edited by Moderator>