"Barcode" lines on mouse cursor and on desktop screen

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"Barcode" lines on mouse cursor and on desktop screen

Went for a short break earlier today. Came back and the screen saver was on. Moved the mouse a bit and all of a sudden the screen was full of "barcode-like" little lines around all the desktop icons and the mouse cursor.

When opening a window (such as this website), that window is clean. But the toolbar at the bottom and the "file, Edit, etc." bar at the top have these tiny grey dots all over.

Searched a bit for a previous case but wasn't able to find anything similar. Can anyone help?

Txs!

iMac G5, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Aug 22, 2008 5:25 AM

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Answer 1

Aug 22, 2008 6:04 AM in response to auefamily

Sounds like an overheating graphics board. Does the board have a stuck fan?

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Answer 2

auefamily Author

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Aug 22, 2008 7:01 AM in response to Malcolm Rayfield

Well there is air coming out from the bottom of the Mac, so I'm assuming its on; Now it's 10pm and the weather has cooled down - still the same issue though. Also, if it was the graphics card, wouldn't it be all over the screen? Opening any window will not have this effect.

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Answer 3

Aug 22, 2008 7:52 AM in response to auefamily

Many graphics cards have their own fans, and if they are ATI cards, the fans often fail. Overheated cards can generate the bar-codes for just certain grahics operations, so some windows may be unaffected.

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Answer 4

BDAqua

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Aug 22, 2008 10:49 AM in response to auefamily

Boot off your Install Disk while holding down the *d key*, (not c key), then run the extended Apple Hardware Test.

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Answer 5

auefamily Author

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Aug 23, 2008 8:31 AM in response to BDAqua

Guys, thank you all for your help. Indeed the video card is faulty. Now I just have to go and find out if it makes sense to get it repaired or just simply trade in the 4 year old machine and go for a new G5....

Thanks everyone!

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Answer 6

BDAqua

Level 10

245,489 points

Aug 23, 2008 11:09 AM in response to auefamily

Good news that you solved it.

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Answer 7

Aug 29, 2008 10:55 AM in response to auefamily

Got exactly the same issue with an Imac 20".
Not mine, sadly, a friend of mines. I say sadly as he hasn't bought applecare and can't afford it right now!

I'd installed 10.5, and it kept not booting (with the sold blue screen appearing), then sometimes it would freeze with grey 'barcode' like lines and graphical distortion behind the mouse.

So I reformatted it with 10.4 and the same thing happens, except without the freezing on startup.

Now there is a difference; Apple hardware test comes up fine. So does techtool.
No fault found.

Are we sure this is the graphics cards?

Any ideas? Literally he's at the end of his tether living with the issue.

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