display anomalies

Ok i'm not sure if anyone remembers me but I had the same problems like you guys regarding my Macbook Pro, I went to the Apple Store and got it fix for $300+.

As of today, a month later, my computer crashed again. i was like wth!?!?!?!?
i was only surfing the net and all of the sudden this message pops up which says, I needed to restart my computer. SO i did. but after it keeps doing the same thing. I was able to go the desktop but then the message appears again a minute later. now I doesn't even get to pass the apple logo and the message appears. I tried reinstalling the MacOsx but it failed because the message appeared yet again.

I can't believe this! i refuse to pay more money as I dont have anymore. lol.
but I have an appointment tomorrow at the Genius Bar, hopefully they can fix it without pay.

Message was edited by: joyce_antonette

Joyce, do you know that you have a 90 days warranty on replaced parts?

Joyce, as the above poster said you'll have 90 days warranty on the repair.
Please let us know the outcome. Hopefully you point out all of us users all over the world who are having problems with this GPU and perhaps we'll be lucky enough to at least get them to have a record of these issues in their answerbase. Currently they claim to have no knowledge of anyone having problems.

I have to give credit where it's due and thank Apple for agreeing to replace my battery now that it has started to bulge. This is the second replacement battery.
I also spoke at length to the Apple guy on the phone about the X1600 problem. He suggested that I respond to the apple feedback website with a link to this discussion. I am going to go ahead and do that and I urge all of you to do the same thing.
Also, as NVIDEA themselves prompted the "other" computers repair program it seems that we need to get AMD/ATI to concede a fault. Therefore petitioning them would seem to be a sensible thing too. The only problem is that I could not find a way via the web to do that. I got as far as finding a web form but there was no X1600 card listed in the drop down menu. So if anyone knows how to get in touch with them please let me, and the rest of us know.

I'm sorry it took me long to reply.
Well, I went to the Genius Bar and they inspected my laptop, I asked if this is a common problem. They said its not. I added a 2 gig ram there and they wanted me to replace it with the original one that came with it because maybe that's the problem, so I had to come back the following day.
I put the original ram which is the 1 gig ram. Now, the computer doesn't turn on at all.
The lady said I had to pay $310 flat rate to have it shipped in Texas for repair. If i used the onsite repair I have to pay $600+. Which I didnt do.
I told her that I already paid before so she checked and I didnt have to pay again. Thank goodness. She said that the repair center changed a lot of stuff in my computer and that its weird that it got damage again. Obviously, there was a defective part they put in my computer.
now I have to wait for 1-2 weeks to have my computer again.

Same here!
MBP with freezing screen, by following the advice on this thread (coolbook, Fan control SMC Etc) i've been able to use the Laptop for simple web browsing, emails etc. but if i start trying to use youtube or something more intensive the temp heads north, the screen pixalates and freezes - i know its gone when the dock dosen't do anyting when i hover over it. (anything above 60C)

The only other issue i'm having (not sure if its linked) is that when i boot its being a pig to get booted. I get the gray screen with the apple logo, then the blue screen which comes up prior to my wall paper, but i dont get my wall paper. just the blue screen!

The only way i've found to get it to boot 1st time is to boot in safe mode, afteer this a restart sometimes works.

COME ON APPLE! Admit there's an issue with the ATI card in these machines! 28 pages of users with this issue must be miore than a coincidence!!
Plus it saddens me that the most reliable machine i have is the XP laptop provided by work - and thats just wrong!!

Chiefwiggum, have you posted on the Apple feedback form with a link to this thread?
That's what everyone needs to do.

I sent in my feedback just now. We all need to do that. It only takes a few minutes....

Geez, this is crazy. Unfortunately the x1600 problem isn't limited to laptops. I have 2 iMacs at the office with the x1600s, and both have this problem as well.

I agree, send in as much 'feedback' as possible. We all need to keep this well documented. Also, don't forget to sign up here as well:

http://www.sfmslaw.com/pages/cases.php?id=779

It isn't a 'fix' but might bring about a cure?

Actually, given Joyces' and others dramas with 'fixes' (flat rate or otherwise) i wonder if there is a lasting fix possible at all!?!? And yes, not just laptops!

Cheers, John0

Adding myself to the list. So far, the smc Fan Control is keeping me ahead of the issue, but it started to show up when I had PhotoShop running, which always makes it run hot. I've been watching this thread for a while, thought I should probably add myself to the list and send in the feedback form, esp since the fan control doesn't appear to be a permanent solution for a lot of you.

It might not actually be the X1600 chip itself that is the problem. It could be the video RAM, the PCB that the X1600 and the video RAM are soldered to, (the "logic board,") or the solder connections themselves. In any case, Apple still needs to fix this problem, and replacing the logic board with an identical one is not an acceptable solution.
The useful life span of a computer is supposed to be limited by obsolescence. If these laptops weren't supposed to last until they were obsolete, Apple should have made appropriate indications in their marketing or sales literature. Any reasonable computer user would have assumed that the life span would be limited by obsolescence unless otherwise noted when they made the decision to buy one of these.

update:
I got my computer back yesterday free of charge because I paid before. Thank goodness it was included in the 90 day warranty. I got this repaired last July so I have 2 more months to have this repair for free just in case its doesn't work again.

I asked them what they repaired and they said the replaced the Logic Board. So now my computer is working fine. They didnt reinstalled my operating system so i still have my files intact. Thank goodness. They said that mostly everything in mac was changed so it should last me forever. lol. there is no such thing as forever.

Now i guess, i'm kinda traumatized with everything that happened to my computer that I imagine it being blacked out in a minute. right now nothing so far.

I did contact AMD / ATI and what I was told was that it was apple's fault basically, and they most likely they didn't follow the specs that were given to them.

AMD website info for X1600 mobility, for mac:

AMD Radeon™ graphics drivers are included as part of the Apple Mac OS X installation. Please update or restore your Mac OS X installation to ensure you have the latest available drivers

AMD Customer Care for ATI products does not provide direct technical support for laptops/notebooks at this current time (telephone or email). If you require direct technical support please contact the system manufacturer of your laptop/notebook.

AMD / ATI do not recognize any flaws, and say that they have never heard of any problems. They have the same response as apple does with this problem. So since there is no problem and nobody but me has the problem it won't get fixed. So you guys can try to talk to AMD / ATI, but it don't know if it will help.

Hello All,

I've been following this topic for quite a while and wanted to post my experience.

I too had been experiencing the problems that everyone else here is having: horizontal lines, CMYK blocks, display black-outs, freezing, and the most annoying little burn spots on my display (presumably from overheating.) I bought my MacBook Pro 2GHz in July 2006 and did not purchase any sort of Apple Care. I started having the problems around November of 2008 and didn't think much of it. After it got worse I reinstalled OS X and then eventually still had the exact same problems, of course. I made several calls to Apple Customer Care and they all told me the same thing, go see a Genius and since I live in College Station, TX, I decided to put it off for a while. I installed SMC fan control and that seemed to help. Eventually I got fed up with it and decided to take my computer to the genius bar (early August of 2009.)

*Let me summarize at this point: My computer is 2 YEARS out of warranty, I have a dying logic board, and dark splotches on my display. Oh, that and the fact that I am NOT paying 800 to have my logic board replaced, forgot about that.*

So I went into the Apple Store in the Woodlands and sat down with a genius for about an hour and half and left with an agreement that it would be fixed for FREE, contingent upon me putting the original HD back in (I had done an upgrade.) I drove home to College Station, replaced my HD, and brought it back to the Woodlands. I received my computer back today (2 weeks later) and saw the most beautiful bill ever:

*Tier 4 Accidental Damage: $0.00*
*Labor: $0.00*

*And in the notes: Replaced logic board, Display.*
It's like a new computer!

Now, I didn't do anything terribly special to convince the Genius of the fact that I shouldn't pay for this repair, but I think a few things did help.

1) I was extremely polite. I told him that I knew it wasn't his fault and I'm sorry if I made it sound like I was blaming him. I apologized for making him miss his lunch break. I made small talk while he ran tests.

2) I wouldn't take "no" for an answer. About 5 seconds in he told me he couldn't do anything for me because I was out of warranty, to the tune of 2 years. I then explained that I was indeed out of warranty, but believed that this was a manufacturer's defect as opposed to user error. Eventually, I got him to admit that I had chosen a lemon, a defective computer. At that point, it was fairly simple.

3) I knew what I was talking about, as does everyone here. But don't attack them.

4) I shut up. I told him everything I knew, what I thought the problem was, and how I wasn't really responsible for this problem, and then I shut up. I was silent for about 3 or 4 minutes as he did tests, and it got pretty awkward. But sometimes, silence is incredibly powerful.

5) I was polite. He got paid the same amount whether he helped me or not, so what's in it for him? Why on earth would he feel inclined to help someone who is rude? Just be nice to the poor Geniuses.

6) I got lucky.

I hope this helps someone, but please know that Apple does take care of its customers. I am sitting here with a new logic board, display, and all my money still in my pocket to prove it.

Please feel free to ask any questions.