Display - NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT problem

Hi Vandar,

I've had the same problem for the last ten day or so. I haven't got an answer for you yet, sorry for that. For other people reading along.
- I have zapped PRAM
- I did repair Permissions using Disk Utility
- I did check a different monitor

Next to my screen turning al wobly at times, my dock keeps hanging and at times freezes for a few seconds. Same with the cursor and opening of Folders and Apps.

Any suggestions?

Dirk

I rebooted in safemode and the problem seems to be gone.... If this is not a software problem, than I don't know.
Thanks for the tips, I'll call apple in the morning.

I have had exactly the same problem. First, thanks to Apple phone support for helping me figure out I can boot in safe mode when I'm no longer eligible for phone support. Unfortunately my Mac is a momnth out of 12 month warranty, and I didn't buy Apple Care. So... before I take the Mac into the Apple service centre, does anyone have an idea whether this is in fact a hardware issue with theNVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT, or is it a software issue? The strange thing is if I boot off the OSX Install Disc, the problem goes away completely; but when I boot off the start up drive, the screen either stays completely black, or I get cursor freezing, wavy multi-coloured lines arranged in blocks over the screen, frozen parts of the screen, or worst case the whole screen flashes. If the whole screen flashes, and I put the machine to sleep by briefly pressing the on/off button on the Mac; when I wake the Mac up again the problem usually goes away for a while.
I have zapped everything (thanks again Apple Phone Support) so the chip has been re-set, but still get the problem.
Given the issue goes away when I boot from the Install Disc, I wouldn't have thought this is a hardware (video card) issue... or is it?
Thanks in advance for any ideas / help.

I am having the same issues with my Mac Pro. First, I noticed the small pauses and freezes last week. Today, the screen is going crazy. It happens after I login and when I launch any program. I've tried different displays so that's not it. I can boot into safe mode and everything appears to be working fine there. I'm thinking its the card...

I had exactly the same problems. They started after the NVIDIA Update was installed. A couple of days later I experienced short freezes in the display, then artefacts like wavy lines, wrong colors etc. In the meantime the card is definitely dead. The update was installed on January 28th. On Feb. 3 I saw the first error messages in the system.log from the graphics card. They said "channel timeout" and "channel exception". So, I am wondering: is this a mere coincidence?

I have had similar problems with my pro and 24" monitor. Wavy multicoloured lines, small square blocks of screen in multi-colours, mouse freezing, dock disappearing etc. I tried the zapping the pram, smc, repair permissions etc all to no avail. The Nvidia 7300GT card was found to be at fault. I replaced it several days ago with the 8800GT card from the apple uk store and touch wood all is well at the moment. No more lines and freezes. Screen images have a far better picture quality now, perhaps things have been going downhill slowly for sometime and I have not noticed it. However, it seems fixed though costly. In fifteen years of owning macs this is the first major fault so I can't complain.

I'm having the same problem and suspected an update/patch caused
this issue. I'm also around 60 days out of warranty. I was able
to boot from a 10.4.x Tiger release until I believe that I patched
the Tiger OS which is on a different drive last Friday. It seems
like there is some sort of raceway condition associated with the
patch as I heard quite of bit of disk thrashing which caused me
to troubleshoot in entirely different areas. Does anyone know
whether this is a firmware or device driver issue, or combination
of the two? I'm suspecting both if Apple is replacing the card.
Does Apple plan on coming out with a fix? I could potentially wipe
out the Tiger Drive and reload to see if it is definitely a device
driver but would like to know. Any assistance greatly appreciate
but it looks like I'm going to have to blow a couple hundred bucks
to get my machine back in order. Many thanks to the Gents in Cupertino.

Apologies. I should have read all the postings before responding.
Was kind of excited (in a negative way). This definitely looks
like a device driver/software issue and I guess we'll have to wait
for Apple to supply a new and improved update.

Exactly same problem. Mac Pro, 24" Apple Cinema Display, 7300GT. Yet, no solution. I am looking for 8800GT, but we have no Apple Store here 😟

I have found a work-around based upon information in this thread and
another thread "Leopard 10.5.5 Update - Freeze on Boot, Apps Freeze,
Screen Glitches" particularly from the user svu. Please be forewarned
that according to another user you will lose support for multiple monitors.
However, my machine was freezing constantly and was approaching an useable
state particularly when viewing HD television programs in full screen mode.
Also, it should be noted that at least in my situation it is completely
a device driver issue and needs to be addressed ASAP by Apple. Sorry but
I was not ready to put out another $300 for a graphics card (which I have
never blown) for a machine that is/was 2 months out of warranty and I won't
be blackmailed into Applecare when I am a computer engineer. The fix is
simple two liner from a Terminal window. Either switch users to root or
invoke sudo:

# cd /System/Library/Extensions
# mv NVDAResman.kext NVDAResman.kext.old /* a sudo before the mv will do it
for a trusted user account */

The svu user posted also moving NVDANV40Hal.kext to a .old also which I initially
did and have moved back in. This is a hideous bug. I am sympathetic to a
developer/tester producing/releasing a device driver with a bug. I find it
difficult to believe that any significant stress testing of the new software
was done that didn't produce this problem which I now can do at will. I'm also concerned about how Apple releases maintain backward compliancy if they do.
What I don't understand is why Apple has not come up with a mechanism in which
an end user can gracefully back out a patch which has caused problems with their
systems and return it to a known working state. Sun Solaris has been doing this
for over 15 years. I have had to do this on Sun machines twice during a 15 year period. After nearly two months of waiting and hoping I have finally gotten
my machine back. This is disgusting.




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

Nvdia 7300 GT fix
Thanks you for you information it really work for me until now no more ¨SCREEN GLITCHES¨ or FREEZE
work very well in Mac Os Leopard but still problem in Windows XP is wear anyway thaks a lot.
Sorry for my english

I dont know how its work very well on Mac, but still have glitches and freezes in Windows XP

Have you gone to http://www.nvidia.com and downloaded and installed their drivers?