Q: display anomalies

i agree of course - but would add that i prefer to use FanControl - as opposed to SMC FanControl - because it does the same thing but is a 'set and forget' Pref Pane rather than an application which must be tweaked continually.
look into it - you'll see what i mean.
also, if you're looking for strategies to keep your MBP usable (i.e. cool) - do a search in this thread for my posts and see the big one i wrote re: coping strategies.
cheers,
b

I've also been experiencing this issue starting at least 6 months ago. I have the 2006 17" model, 2.16 ghz. I've been monitoring the temp w/ smc fancontrol for a couple months and it runs very hot -- CPU temp is usually 95-99C, GPU usually hits about 70. The blips and such don't happen a whole lot, but running Windows 7 is where it gets really shaky. I'm getting the blinking pixel thing booting up, but fire up a game (HL2, Mount&Blade, low graphics settings) and pretty soon textures start popping out of their boxes and streaking across the screen. I've been using InputRemapper to crank up the fans (otherwise it just overheats right away), but usually it'll burn out and crash within 45 minutes.

It's not like I have a warranty left anyway, so I'll prop try re-applying the thermal paste (http://www.segaretro.com/?p=774) when I have time. Seems like the heat is the primary culprit here, and given the other quirks this computer has displayed -- expanding battery (twice), crashed hard drive, and of course that high pitched whine -- it could easily be that some heat thing is at the root of this.

Has anyone had success with one of those laptop cooling stands with a heat-sink? I've gotten a slight bump from just standing the back of the computer up on a book to get some air underneath.

Im glad I was able to find this thread, and find out that Im not the only one experiencing these issues. I have been having problems with my display giving strange artifacts, or green stripes here and there.

I just installed smcFanControl, and was able to drop my temp down from 65 to the low 50's. This seems to have fixed the problem for the time being.

Im going to have to stop by the Apple Store and see if there is anything they can do to help.

ATI graphics card Radeon x1600

I have had this problem for over a year now. I have a first generation machine 1.83 Ghz Core Duo Macbook pro. May motherboard had issues after 1.5 years with a known clicking sound and apple generously replaced the logic board (unfortunately didn't have applecare, God what a mistake) About 3 months later the fans on the new one went and had to be replaced and again fortunately they fixed. 6 months after that I started noticed little visual glitches, lines across the screen, weird coloration of certain program boxes (magenta was popular)

It's only gotten worse and now gets regular distortions and regularly freezes up completely so that I have to do a hard reset. It's getting more a more unbearable to the point where sometimes I can't really use it effectively. Other times with low usage, it's find with no problems. Video seems to really make it crazy.

Any ideas or hope that this can be fixed? I've called and reported to apple a couple times and havent really pushed it as they were pretty generous with the last fix....I just wish I had gotten applecare because it seems like a lot of bad luck. How often do you get these many problems over two logic boards.

hi there cybermorph,
yeah - welcome to the club... sorry to hear it. as i'm sure you're aware, you've been extremely lucky so far in your relations with Apple - perhaps you could post some tips lol! i wouldn't let their previous generosity stop you from trying to get them to fix this problem tho - after all, this is a legitimate manufacturer's defect - what's more, if the logic board was replaced *within the last year* then it is *still in warranty*...
all that being said, as far as coping strategies go - do a search on this thread for posts by me (bennett von bennett) - a few months ago i posted a rather long list of things that have worked for me - they haven't totally done away with the problems but it has made my MBP usuable most of the time now...
good luck and let us know what happens.
b

Cybermorph, So u found the thread finally..... well sorry to say there are no real solutions, ppl keep trying to find some way to make it work, but the bottom line is that you are gonna need a new machine eventually, and sooner than later I would guess. Get some fan control up the minimum running speed to about 4000 rpm (that's 4 times the normal speed), and don't run anything graphic intensive, and you should be able to write emails for another 6 months or so.

The real problem is the graphic card logicboard combo and the assembly of the machine. No matter how much you fiddle with software, and dummy the cpu/gpu down, there is still a problem that software and fidgeting cannot fix. So if you follow what bennettvonbennet list to do, you can have a semi functional computer, but how long it will go for is unknown.

Good luck with your computer

Ok hello ppls, haven't updated any details in a long time. So here goes.

I am unable to run any program without the fans running at a minimum of 4000 rpm.
I have had boot camp installed since it came out.
Windows crashes even faster than OSX because the fans are not running at super speeds, and I don't know how to force them to.
Any video or graphics program such as watching tv through eyetv will glitch the crap out of my screen.
I can play games from 1990s if the base fan speed is set to 6000 rpm base.
I have tried anything listed here and other stuff, and there is nothing that will stop these problems from progressing, once they start they get worse no matter what.
I now get graphical error at below 50 celsius, sometimes even below 45 celsius.
Basically the thing is dying slowly for the last 2 years or more.

My solution is to buy a big external hard drive, back everything up, run the computer till it dies, and get a net book and plug it into my hard drive, monitor, etc.
A netbook is about $350 and a 1 TB hard drive is $200, you can have a choice of linux or windows.

Sorry to say that after all this research, talking to an electronic engineer, IT guys and whoever else I thought might know something, they all say the same thing, there is no permanent fix.

WOW! I've seen this thread go from a couple of pages to a whopping 33 pages! Of course there are some replies from original posters, etc., but still - this is a huge thread. You'd think Apple would respond to it somehow other than deleting and/or editing our posts but nothing so far. I've given up on trying to make my MBP work. I can use it for surfing the web and email but not much else because it freezes up. And because I'm 4 hours at best from an Apple Store I haven't been able to take it in to even see if I qualify for the $310 logic board replacement. So, I'm waiting for the new iMacs to come out and am going to buy one of them and hope that in the near future Apple will decide to fix these defective chipsets.

Thanks for the reply. Looks like it will be at least $300 for a repair. Which I am willing to pay for, I just want my $2400 (CAN) machine to function as it should.....it actually has been ridiculously complicated considering I've had nothing but problems since I bought it over 3 years ago.....so sad as it was my first Mac experience and I was all set to jump aboard the Apple bandwagon after many frustrating years of Windows. I was talked out of buying AppleCare from a friend who said not to bother, blah blah all apple products work.....anyways. As mentioned, I was happy Apple fixed the first defect, however, they just ended up replacing one defect for another....so now I am getting ****** too.

I could dump the machine for maybe $700 if I'm lucky on someone willing, but this would be already after spending $300 on replacing the failed DVD drive, $200 replacing the keyboard, $250 (upgrading) the Hard Drive and another $100 on a diagnostic to tell me that my problem is with the video card and the logic board should be replaced. I'd basically just be recouping what I've had to spend keeping the machine afloat so far.

But still wondering at what point I should just cut my losses on a machine that functions basically as a word processor and net surfing, as anything more taxing (like watching videos) will at times cause it to freeze up. Anyways, I am going to follow up with letters to apple, more calls and sending them links to this and other sites.

If I can get the $300 Depot Repair, at this point I'd be happy. Otherwise I may try this company that say they can repair the video card issue for the same price.


http://cgi.ebay.ca/Original-MacBook-Pro-Whole-Unit-Logic-Board-RepairW0QQitemZ260482582393QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3ca5f8c779&_ trksid=p3286.c0.m14#ht_2341wt1167


I signed up for class action suit website and if there's other info, please let me know.

Or I suppose I could spring for a $650 logic board replacement, but why risk it again eh?

Just spoke to Apple and as expected it's a no go on any repair. However, I suggest everyone who has had a problem with this call in as well to ensure it is all being documented. Book a call back appointment on Apple's site and provide links to this site and all the others regarding this issue (including the Law firm involved in the class action suit) Maybe some more documentation all at one time will push the issue over the threshold that determines whether apple engineers deem this issue is worth addressing. The product specialist implied this is possible. Good luck

now that is a good idea!
i'm going to send out an email repeating that request to everyone i have on the mailing list... perhaps if we flood apple with simultaneous reports they might actually acknowledge this problem.
cheers,
b

Anyone else notice symptoms alleviated past 2 weeks?
This issue is characterized by fluctuating incidence, and autumn seems to correspond with relief from extreme instabilty/artifacts. Location: Vancouver BC; fall temperatures have decidedly taken hold. Everything running ~5C cooler according to iStatPro (I always have FanControl tweaked to max irrespective of season); wondering if summer ambient heat exposes/exacerbates the issue.

For clarity: problem is not "gone", I still get pixel-row artifacts corresponding to intensity of use & correlating to hot case esp in the vicinity of the F1 key, and can still reliably crash my machine by taking it on a video spin. Things are simply alleviated to a tolerable but irritating degree.

Just called apple france...
Say said that it's impossible to ensure the logic board repair.

Still have a glitchy/reboot'y macbook pro

And no money to buy a new one.

Life is hard

For me only with quartz extreme disabled is possible to use my MBP.. have you tried?

To disabling:
defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver GLCompositor -dict tileHeight -int 0 tileWidth -int 0

Then reboot

To reactivate

defaults delete /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver GLCompositor

then reboot