Display - NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT problem

I have a very similar problem, frequent freezes, blank screen with streaks on startup or artifacts on screen. GForce 7300.

I get the same problems when booting from an external disk with a clean sysem. Does that mean that the problem wouldn't be fixable by removing the device driver as you describe?

Thanx.

I just started experiencing this last week and started troubleshooting it today after my machine became virtually unusable

See this link:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1934487&tstart=0

I am still testing and so far so good in the past hour.

My problem was so similar to others described here mainly because it worked okay in Safe Mode.

I tried the fix described in the above link and somehow came out with the later kext extensions, that is 08s instead of 07s, don't know how. Perhaps I made a mistake. In any case it didn't fix the problem.

So then I just removed the NVDAResman.kext entirely like the fellow said above and restarted. That seemed to work. However I don't know what functionality that may impair. I'm not getting the frequent freezes anyway and it boots up normally. IF that seems to fix it (i have to see over some time) we should find out what that kext does. He said it was a 'workaround.' I still think there's something wrong with the video card. IF this works of course we'd have to be careful about downloading the same update from Software Update again.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

I notice that although the freezes and bad screens have gone away the function of the video card is impaired and 3D acceleration isn't working without that kext file. The NVDAResman.kext file I removed is 10/29/07, so if that's causing trouble it was before the last update and installing the combo updater won't help. Guess it's a case of good news/bad news. The good news is that at last I know the source of my problem (it was driving me crazy trying to figure out what was wrong), the bad news is that I don't know if I can fix it without buying a new (and different) video card.

Message was edited by: Ken Spiker

Update to my post:

Never mind, it didn't work at all, it all seemed to go well last night but today its all back to ****.

I am now sure I have a defective card

Message was edited by: Tomas Chinchilla

Well, I just came back from the apple store and my appointment with a Genius:

I had a 7300GT that had gone bad. It was going to take them at least a week or two to get the part but I don't have that kind of time and my machine was unusable as it was, so I managed to get them to agree to sell me a 8800GT they had in stock minus what the replacement 7300GT would have costed.

So now its all working and I am a happy camper (for now) -$144

The ATI card was not an option for me as I once had it and had to return it, it was WAY too loud and this machine is working in a Home Recording Studio

Update on removal of the NVDAResman.kext device driver. First and foremost
as the gentleman who posted the initial thread on this hack stated if this
ruins your computer he/I will not be responsible. The original thread
included an additional NVD* driver which was not necessary to remove.

Secondly, it does impact/break other things which would work normally.
Several users have mentioned Windows (which I don't use). I can
attest the VMWare Fusion which I do use to run Solaris and X. I was/am
concerned that the OS might using the removed device driver to monitor
temperatures and control fans inside the Mac to keep heating down. This
could definitely create problems for your computer.

NOTE: Apple Hardware test and the Apple Techtool Deluxe which is used
with AppleCare didn't find any problems with my card. Somethings
seriously wrong here!! Booting into Safe Mode or single user could
get the machine on line.


Resolution: I called Apple just to report that the problem was in the
NVDAResman.kext file. They wanted to charge me for this we had a "talk".
At this point I could readily duplicate the issues by attempting to watch
HD television programs in full screen mode and told them this. I also
read some articles about capacitor leakage in the NVIDIA cards and
now suspect that it is probably a combination of bad hardware and software
which is probably pushing the limits of the card ie. should work under
normal circumstances. Also, saw something about Apple being aware of
this problem and were considering extending the warranty on these cards
similar to one of the notebooks which they have already done. None
of these of course solved the problems. So, I relunctantly forked out the
cash for a new ATI Radeon X1900XT Apple upgrade. The problem is gone but
I believe that people need to "push" Apple to recognize the extent and
issues of the problem. IMHO Apple needs to do something other than "look
the other way" and hope the problem goes away to resolve this issue and
maintain credibility.

Bottom line is removal of the hardware driver will eliminate the horrific
unusual screen freezes but impacts other functionality and might possibly
ruin your machine unless the Wizards in Cupertino tell you otherwise.

Mac Pro | Leopard | 2 x 3.0 GHZ Dual-Core Intel Xeon | 5GB Ram | Mac OS X (10.5.6 hacked)

Thanx, I got a new video card (Nvidia 8800GT) and it's worked great ever since. I had wanted a better card for my flight sim and other games so I didn't mind the expense. It is my opinion that the old card (7300) just gets fried and the driver isn't responsible. But good you had a talk with Apple. Important to disseminate the info that this particular set of symptoms, brief hangs and freezes, no beachball, works in Safe Mode, has to do with the video card and drivers.

Barefeats just tested 8800 vs other cards, to see how well they all do, and see how the 4870 stacks up, and the 8800 with the latest 2009 Pro drivers does "exceedingly well"

Me, I'd rather use a card as is, buy what works, and not deal with 3rd party hacked drivers or kexts, or even flashed. That is why I have 8800/9800GTXs.

We've got "Apples and Oranges" mixed up here. I agree 100% in using
what a vendor recommends. They should know significantly more than
any end user. In this situation you should use "what works and not
deal with 3rd party hacked drivers or kexts."

However, looking at the Barefeats article the 8800/9800GTXs works only
with the 2008 Mac Pro or hopefully later.

"Though the GeForce 8800 GT is available in kit form, it is NOT compatible
with the older Mac Pro (August 2006, April 2007) as we first thought."

I have an older Mac Pro I believe known as MacPro1,1 and this is not an
option. The ATI Radeon X1900 which I have replaced the stock NVIDIA 7300
with is an Apple branded upgrade. This was to eliminate any 3rd party
hacks etc. There is still no excuse for a stock card to blow 2 months
out of warranty and Apple to offer no assistance with unless I wanted to
spend $$.

The 8800 GT comes in two versions, one for first generation Mac Pros and the other for later versions. I have a Mac Pro 1,1 and the card for first generation Mac Pros works great with that. It took me a bit of bother to find out which Mac Pro I had and which card went with it.

You are losing me, or didn't read closely.

I have the Aug 2006 1st generation legacy Mac Pro (like you) and there are/were two versions of the 8800GT.

Nothing on Barefeats talks about any 9800GTX, that is my eVGA that I use in Windows only. Not some flashed/hacked card as some(-one) might.

What Barefeats said was UPDATED.

http://www.barefeats.com/harper15.html

And if using X1900, then get the copper cooler, clean the card and case monthly, boost the fans slightly (smcfancontrol) and hope it doesn't die. A horrible way to spend $399+.

The MB560Z/A model is for pre-2008.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB560Z/A

Compatibility:
Requires Mac Pro (bus speed 1.33GHz) with PCI-Express
Requires Mac OS X v10.5.2 with Leopard Graphics Update or later
Includes a DVI to VGA connector for easy connection to VGA-based displays

Core Image graphic test results from today:
http://www.barefeats.com/nehal06.html

Hi:

I read closely. Just cut and pasted the "8800/9800GTXs" that you had
in your original post. I googled "Barefeats 8800" and read the earlier
article. Thanks for the updated article. The 8800 brings in better
benchmarks than the X1900 for the tests which were run and is probably
a better card. Thanks again for the advice on the X1900 which I put
in last Saturday evening. Wouldn't replacing the existing cooler with
a copper cooler be adding a 3rd party hack? I've read several articles
on this and was considering the Zalman before purchasing the X1900. But,
there are tradeoffs here as detailed in the article; difficulty in getting
the card into the case, incompatible power connectors, etc.
I spent ~$226 for an "Open Box" fully warranted Apple branded card from
a reseller, which included shipping. But, then again if the card is going
to fry after a years use this is unacceptable.

Mac Pro | Leopard | 2 x 3.0 GHZ Dual-Core Intel Xeon | 5GB Ram

cd /System/Library/Extensions
mv NVDAResman.kext NVDAResman.kext.old /* a sudo before the mv will do it

When I do this the issues disappear however I have concerns about what else may be changed. The things I can immediately see are:

1. Fewer screen savers available if preferences.

2. Desktop image changes to one I was using previously.

I'm not concerned about these things but wonder if they are indicative of other things which may be more important, like fan control for example.

Cheers

Phi

You didn't describe your particular problem. If it's like others on this thread (frequent freezing, unfreezes after a few seconds, artifacts on screen, works okay in Safe Mode) then I believe it's the video card failing. If so I would think that with that NVDResman.kext removed you would find that there's more that doesn't work than just the screen saver glitch you saw. Try some 3D games or an application that uses OpenGL and see if those work.

The problems that I and some others describe in this thread were cured by replacing the video card. I don't think there's anything wrong with the drivers. I suggest you read the thread carefully and see if your symptoms match the ones described by other posters. I got a 8800 GT and it works great. It was some expense but I wanted a better video card for my flight sim.