Q: display anomalies

I too swapped the HD (WD Scorpio Black 7200rpm) 320GB August 2009 and had no major problems prior to that, or immediately after that I can recall. (Amended)

I think I have had a lot more trouble getting a clean 10.6.x system than 10.5.x system. No doubt that if you see display artefacts at any time, a crash will come eventually. Repetive 10.6.x logout/login without doing anything will result in different patterns of artefact on the login screen until returning to clean temporarily.

I think deleting a wider range of recently written prefs files helps. I would still say it is possible to get your system to boot up with a clean login screen and clean desktop. Perhaps a combination of marco's fix and my longer software recipe could work.

Wondering at this point if the PRAM battery may be causing problems. Failing PRAM batteries are famous for causing weird errors. Maybe that's why they have been banished inn favor of capacitors. I read somehere that leaving a machine without all power for an extended period (?30mins) and seeing if the clock got reset was a test for a failing PRAM battery. In my reading I note that the CR2025 lithum specs say it tends to run about 2.8V. The BR-series high reliability batteries appear to run a higher voltage closer to 3V. I have a new battery to put in (hope it fits since I upsized it guesstimating based on pictures from iFixit).

I never tested my PRAM battery. And my main battery is always attached, although often ran pretty low. My guy still says its the PRAM thats at fault too. It holds video settings for sure. As for testing, yes, pulling all power and letting it sit can drain it too. But if its a good battery, it can go for a very long time (months, years) before the PRAM clears out. Maybe not so much on newer machines, but on some old 68k Macs I know how long they can last.

As for fit, there is some wiggle room on the MacBook Pro 1,1. It may not fit in the holder, but double-sided tape could replace that. Or some hot glue.

I've gone from 80 original to 160 and now 500GB WD drive and problem has remained consistent with display, though kernel panics have increased (more heat?).

So I tried this 3 or 4 more times... and I can't get it to work.  perhaps my system is hosed in some other fashion.  it was even freezing/artifacting with the ATI extensions blown away.  oh well.. it was worth a shot.  thanks everyone for your input - I'm throwing in the towel.

loupalladino wrote:

 

So I tried this 3 or 4 more times... and I can't get it to work.  perhaps my system is hosed in some other fashion.  it was even freezing/artifacting with the ATI extensions blown away.  oh well.. it was worth a shot.  thanks everyone for your input - I'm throwing in the towel.

One other thought:

http://coolbook.se/CoolBook.html

http://www.machive.com/2008/6/23/pro-tip-undervolt-that-macbook-and-turn-down-th e-heat

loupalladino - did you do the basic diagnostic steps?

1. Reset SMC

2. Zap PRAM

3. Run Apple Hardware Test

4. Safeboot

Other problems the the ATIdriver bug should reveal themselves still.

So after using the MacBook Pro for an extended period of 30+ minutes to browse the web, single line artifacts will appear in Safari, Firefox, and Chrome; the more tabs, the more frequent the single line artifact will appear...even during typing. OS X 10.7.2 will also freeze with the cursor still able to move but unable to interact with the OS. Closing the lid to put the system to sleep and waking it causes no changes. Only a hard reset will do.

I tried resetting SMC and PRAM, neither fixes the issue mentioned above. I also tried playing the trial version of SPORES. Triangular/square artifacts will appear as the program is launched, then the system freezes after arriving at the login screen.

So while it was an attempt worth to try for anyone seeking to resolve the artifacts; The solution devised by Marco...POLLO! did not resolve the issue on my system.

I hate to disagree at this time, but you are running 10.7.2, not 10.6.8. I would rather see how some systems fair using the exact steps I did, no deviation from that. There is a chance that something is not quite right again with Lion, afterall its graphics core has been changed a lot. And remember, resetting the PRAM is not the same and hard reseting by pulling the battery, which seems to have much more of an effect.

Perhaps running 10.7.1 (correction) may be an issue, but I'm wondering why they would release something that came so close after 10.6.8 that would screw things up again; that's a BIG if though.

Nonetheless, I did unplugged the PRAM before following your steps to get up to 10.7.1 from 10.4. Just yesterday, I went back to the original factory version of 10.4 the system came with after unplugging the PRAM, always booting from the disc, etc. But once the system starts getting hot, the anomalies returned, and often would freeze (without anomalies).

So yes, the fix you suggested might have worked for your machines, but just didn't work for mine. I'm not suggesting others don't give it a try; simply stating my experience after following those steps is all.

I was running for several hours until kernel panic power down message screen - here is report detail if anyone wants to analyze:

panic(cpu 0 caller 0x001AB0FE): Kernel trap at 0x0013e92f, type 14=page fault, registers:

CR0: 0x8001003b, CR2: 0x00000008, CR3: 0x00f8c000, CR4: 0x000006e0

EAX: 0x00000001, EBX: 0x00000000, ECX: 0x0321d998, EDX: 0x00522b20

CR2: 0x00000008, EBP: 0x2a72fee8, ESI: 0x00000001, EDI: 0x00000001

EFL: 0x00010002, EIP: 0x0013e92f, CS:  0x00000004, DS:  0x2a72000c

Error code: 0x00000000

Backtrace (CPU 0), Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)

0x2a72fd28 : 0x12b4c6 (0x45f91c 0x2a72fd5c 0x13355c 0x0)

0x2a72fd78 : 0x1ab0fe (0x469a98 0x13e92f 0xe 0x469248)

0x2a72fe58 : 0x1a1713 (0x2a72fe78 0x0 0x2a72fe88 0x13703a)

0x2a72fe70 : 0x13e92f (0xe 0x48 0x52000c 0xc)

0x2a72fee8 : 0x8079d5 (0x0 0x9 0x2a72ff18 0x807a50)

0x2a72ff18 : 0x426bfb (0x3226800 0x0 0x10 0x19fed4)

0x2a72ff68 : 0x425d58 (0x3385080 0x321e128 0x2a72ff98 0x136efd)

0x2a72ff98 : 0x425a3a (0x33aed00 0x3240bc0 0x34cc9e8 0x0)

0x2a72ffc8 : 0x1a14fc (0x33aed00 0x0 0x1a40b5 0x3396410)

Backtrace terminated-invalid frame pointer 0

      Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):

         com.apple.driver.AppleUSBEHCI(3.4.6)@0x804000->0x815fff

            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.6)@0x63e000

            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily(3.5.2)@0x60d000

BSD process name corresponding to current thread: kernel_task

Mac OS version:

9L31a

Kernel version:

Darwin Kernel Version 9.8.0: Wed Jul 15 16:55:01 PDT 2009; root:xnu-1228.15.4~1/RELEASE_I386

System model name: MacBookPro1,1 (Mac-F425BEC8)

System uptime in nanoseconds: 7122892800673

unloaded kexts:

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBEthernetHost          2.1.2 - last unloaded 394118134397

loaded kexts:

com.apple.filesystems.afpfs          9.0.2 - last loaded 2123376098235

com.apple.nke.asp_tcp          4.7.1

com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothSerialManager          2.1.9f10

com.apple.filesystems.autofs          2.0.2

com.apple.driver.AppleHDA          1.7.1a2

com.apple.driver.AppleUpstreamUserClient          2.7.5

com.apple.Dont_Steal_Mac_OS_X          6.0.3

com.apple.driver.AirPort.Atheros          320.16.2

com.apple.driver.SMCMotionSensor          2.1.1d2

com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireIP          1.7.7

com.apple.driver.AudioIPCDriver          1.0.6

com.apple.kext.AppleSMCLMU          1.4.5d1

com.apple.driver.AppleIRController          113

com.apple.driver.ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin          3.4.0a17

com.apple.driver.AppleLPC          1.3.1

com.apple.driver.AppleBacklight          1.6.0

com.apple.driver.AppleHDAController          1.7.1a2

com.apple.driver.CSRUSBBluetoothHCIController          2.1.9f10

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBMergeNub          3.5.2

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTrackpad          1.7.4f1

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTCKeyEventDriver          1.7.4f1

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTCKeyboard          1.7.4f1

com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIMultimediaCommandsDevice          2.1.1

com.apple.iokit.SCSITaskUserClient          2.1.1

com.apple.driver.XsanFilter          2.7.91

com.apple.iokit.IOATAPIProtocolTransport          1.5.3

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBHub          3.4.9

com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIBlockStorage          1.2.2

com.apple.iokit.IOUSBUserClient          3.5.2

com.apple.driver.AppleFWOHCI          3.9.7

com.apple.iokit.AppleYukon2          3.1.13b2

com.apple.driver.AppleAHCIPort          1.7.0

com.apple.driver.AppleIntelPIIXATA          2.0.1

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBEHCI          3.4.6

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBUHCI          3.5.2

com.apple.driver.AppleEFINVRAM          1.2.0

com.apple.driver.AppleSmartBatteryManager          158.10.5

com.apple.driver.AppleRTC          1.2.3

com.apple.driver.AppleHPET          1.4

com.apple.driver.AppleACPIPCI          1.2.5

com.apple.driver.AppleACPIButtons          1.2.5

com.apple.driver.AppleSMBIOS          1.4

com.apple.driver.AppleACPIEC          1.2.5

com.apple.driver.AppleAPIC          1.4

com.apple.security.seatbelt          107.12

com.apple.nke.applicationfirewall          1.8.77

com.apple.security.TMSafetyNet          3

com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement          76.2.0

com.apple.driver.DiskImages          199

com.apple.BootCache          30.4

com.apple.iokit.IOSerialFamily          9.4

com.apple.driver.DspFuncLib          1.7.1a2

com.apple.iokit.IO80211Family          216.1

com.apple.iokit.IOAudioFamily          1.6.9fc5

com.apple.kext.OSvKernDSPLib          1.1

com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginFamily          3.4.0a17

com.apple.driver.AppleSMC          2.3.1d1

com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport          1.7.3

com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily          1.7.3

com.apple.iokit.IOHDAFamily          1.7.1a2

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBBluetoothHCIController          2.1.9f10

com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothFamily          2.1.9f10

com.apple.iokit.IOUSBHIDDriver          3.4.6

com.apple.driver.AppleUSBComposite          3.2.0

com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIBlockCommandsDevice          2.1.1

com.apple.iokit.IOBDStorageFamily          1.5

com.apple.iokit.IODVDStorageFamily          1.5

com.apple.iokit.IOCDStorageFamily          1.5

com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIArchitectureModelFamily          2.1.1

com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireFamily          3.4.9

com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIFamily          1.5.0

com.apple.iokit.IOATAFamily          2.0.1

com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily          3.5.2

com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily          1.6.1

com.apple.driver.AppleEFIRuntime          1.2.0

com.apple.iokit.IOSMBusFamily          1.1

com.apple.iokit.IOStorageFamily          1.5.6

com.apple.iokit.IOHIDFamily          1.5.5

com.apple.driver.AppleACPIPlatform          1.2.5

com.apple.iokit.IOACPIFamily          1.2.0

com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily          2.6

hi. marco pollo, are you italian?

Hi Marco...POLLO!,

So, if I am already running on 10.6.8. Is this sequence of actions going to work:

1. Hard reset the PRAM

2. Safe boot and remove all the ATIRadeonX1* and X2*

It should boot right ?

Would there be a need to reinstall from 10.6.x ?

My GPU heatsink can go up to 68 deg C without crashing. Currently using smcFan and have not opened yet the MBP1,2 to check dust and thermal paste.

Thanks

Scoir

Thats a great question that maybe you can help with. I simply do not know for sure. The thought is that the PRAM could be the problem or part of the problem. If its the problem, then I would think it would work. In that case I would just safe boot, remove the drivers to the desktop then power down and hard reset the PRAM. That way you dont risk exposing the drivers to the hardware after the reset. If after re-booting all is well then you made some progress, but witout drivers you can not take screen shots, etc. But since you only moved the drivers, I would put them back again and see what happens.

But if the PRAM is corrupted in addition to other files, it may not work unless those other files are cleaned up/replaced.

So its worth a shot. Worst case you are back to where you started and then you can decide if you want to do the total erasure and clean install/update of the system.

Im sad to report that after long and heavy use of my MacBook, the issue may have returned. Last night I was watching a TV show via VLC as I often do. About 40 minutes in the screen showed artifacts for a brief moment then returned to normal, except the frame was frozen and I had no usable response form the keyboard and mouse. Just the occasional beachball. The audio continued on just fine. After a reboot I watched two more episodes without an issue. This morning I watched another two and there were no issues. I figured it may just have been a codec issue with the file that caused the crash.

Then today I had the laptop doing some heavy network transfers at work. Not much was running and I was no where near the machine. As soon as I woke it the display was littered with small artifacts. I tried to get control of the fans, etc. But quickly the mouse became useless. The drive sounded like it was still transferring stuff just fine, I just had no controls. Again I hard booted.

I will keep an eye on things. As of right now it seems fine. I did not do any software or system updates other than install Suffit Expander. If its going to start a downward spiral to uslessness, I will not be happy.

Marco...POLLO, if the BGA solder joint failure theory is correct, a solder reflow could fix it. Nobody has reported trying that yet.

Still no major problems without ATI, my MBP with 10.5.8 won't run DVD Player but is happy running Quicktime player and VLC and does screen grabs.

(Haven't had time to do the PRAM battery swap yet.)