Horizontal lines around cursor

I am also getting this same trouble with my Macbook Pro 2006 edition.

I had Linux installed and the problem occurs in Linux too.

Regards.

Shiva

I have the same problem. many horizonat llines, only starts in safe mode. Has this been resolved?

Similar problem reported at http://www.thewysz.com/wyszdom/2008/12/os-x-lined-rectangle-following-cursor/

This problem has been solved by replacing the logic board.

I just started having this problem with my MacBook Pro 15 AFTER replacing the motherboard for a different problem (fans stopped working). Genius Bar says that the hardware checks out fine & told me to do a clean OS install 😟

I am having the same problem. On normal startup (15" macbook pro 2006) I get a gray screen of death with two checkerboard vertical lines about 8" apart with some gray squiggles at the center and center left of the screen. I'm able to startup only in safe mode, but my arrow/mouse cursor has a rectangular box(1x wide by 4x tall) around it with 14-15 horizonal lines. PRAM clearing startup didn't work either. I took the laptop to the Genuis Bar on new years day and I had the logic board replaced the first week of January 2010. The problem has reappeared, end of February. It seemed to be related to some usb problems I've had with an [INSERT CURSE WORD] Lacie 500gb External Drive. I even though it may be related to personal static electricity, and have tried to stay grounded. No proof of any relations, however.
Did the clean OS install work for you? I'm going to try it.
Thanks!

I ran disk utility from the Snow Leopard install CD and the rectangle-line-cursor problem seems to be gone. My laptop started doesn't demonstrate the problem.

Exact same symptoms here - ** now cured/miraculously disappeared? **

•I was streaming music from iTunes to an airport express, importing photos and movies from iPhone to iPhoto and safari was idle in the background when the computer froze with lined box around pointer.
•Unable to force quit.
•iPhone was fine.
•Forced restart.
•Booted to grey screen split with police style vertical checkered lines and spinning beachball in grey lined rectangle. (user/password prompt was skipped)

•Safeboot worked though had grey line rectangle around pointer.
•Repaired permissions.
•Reset PRAM
=Negative result.

•Same symptoms when booting from Snow Leopard install DVD.

•Extended Hardware test carried out from original disks that came with laptop.
='No Trouble Found'.

I then restarted and all appears to be working fine?

The only thing I have noticed is that there is a 'Lost+Found' folder at root level with one other empty numbered folder inside. This folder contains files which were in use during a system crash that didn't point to any item on the hard disk ( http://discussions.apple.com/profile.jspa?userID=234363) .

I'll update the post if any other issues arise; but for now, my fingers are crossed.

Message was edited by: Andrew_Blackhurst

I have the exact.... I mean exact same issue. Same gray screen... 2 vertical tire track looking vertical lines and a couple of other squiggles. I have done a complete wipe and reinstall. Issue came back when computer is under load. I don't get why machine will boot in safe mode. I seriously doubt its any usb issue. I think its the dreaded logic board that there is so many complaints on this message board. I didn't know about the "logic board" issue. Genius bar said it was probably logic board and suggested I buy a new MBP (which I did) since mine was four years old. They never let on that this is a reoccurring theme. It has been a great computer, but after reading numerous threads I am a little disenchanted with Apples approach on this matter. Its silly but I am emotionally invested in my 06 MBP. I ran the crap out of it for four years.

ditto
ditto
ditto

except my issue did reoccur after wipe and SL reinstall. Seems to be related when computer is under significant load.

Update on my experience: So the fix I thought I had, failed. Back to the dreaded horizontal lines around the cursor. Booted in Safe Mode, ran disk utility, and that did not work this time. Then I got the dreaded gray screen of death with two vertical checker-box lines. Booted from Snow Leopard CD and got dreaded gray screen of death with just one vertical checker-box line, and two gray checker-box areas centered right and left. Eventually I was unable to boot at all in safe mode, from CD or from an external drive, so I couldn't check the files Mr Blackhurst found. Genius bar is sending my laptop back to the shop for another logic board under the repair warranty. A friend of mine thinks snow leopard is over-clocking the hardware, especially on older machines such as my 2006 MacBook Pro or his similarly aged iMac. He suspects the new os isn't driving the fans enough to cool his iMac. My laptop has always run quite hot. -Mike

I got my machine back from the apple depot. Wiped. New case, keyboard, and logic board. 10.5 installed not Snow Leopard. I reinstalled Snow Leopard, and everything else. UGG

I have the same problem. The files Andrew_Blackhurst mentioned - what are you supposed to do with them?

Does the artifact look the same as shown in this message?

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2419237&tstart=0

Here's what mine looked like, different from the noted link. The cursor in the upper left appeared when the OS functioned accross all windows and browsers.
It's still running! But bloody hot. I put it onto a belkin USB laptop cooler and it's still quite warm.