iMac Graphics Issue

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iMac Graphics Issue

3 of 5 of our iMacs are experiencing a intermittent graphics issue.
What happens to our iMacs is that yellow and green (mostly) triangles and polygons appear when there is moving images on the screen. It usually begins happening when zooming or panning in CAD programs like VectorWorks or SketchUp and then affects all other programs until restarted at least once. The occurrences are very intermittent. LIke I said earlier, it is now happening on 3 of our 5 iMacs. The first occurrence was on a 24" Aluminum Intel iMac purchased in Aug 2007 running Tiger. Updating Tiger and Firmware didn't fix it.
The links below are examples from the 24" Intel iMac:
http://www.architecture-network.net/iMac/iMac24BadGraphics01.jpg
http://www.architecture-network.net/iMac/iMac24BadGraphics02.jpg
Also some movies taken with my phone of it happening on one of the newest 20" iMacs can be downloaded. Right-Click on the links and save them as .3GP, since I don't know how to embed a 3GP movie.
http://www.architecture-network.net/iMac/iMac20Movie01.3GP
http://www.architecture-network.net/iMac/iMac20Movie02.3GP
Here is a breakdown of the affected machines all are Intel Core 2 Duo:
1) 24" Alum. | ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro | purchased Aug 2007 | 1st glitches Feb 2008 on Tiger | glitches still on up-to-date Leopard but Firmware would not install.
2) 20" Alum. | ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT | purchased Jan 2009 | 1st glitches Jan 2009 on up-to-date Leopard & Firmware
3) 20" White | ATI Radeon X1600 | purchased July 2007 | 1st glitches Feb 2009 on up-to-date Leopard, no glitches running Tiger

Any one have any ideas? Apple had me run the "Extensive" Hardware Test on the new 20". No problems reported, surprise. So I ran it on looping mode for about 16 hours and still no problems found.
Here is the System Info from the newest 20":
Hardware Overview:
Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac8,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: IM81.00C1.B00
SMC Version: 1.29f1
ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT:
Chipset Model: ATI Radeon HD 2400
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 128 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x94c8
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-B2250H-259
EFI Driver Version: 01.00.259
Displays:
iMac:
Resolution: 1680 x 1050
Depth: 32-bit Color
Core Image: Hardware Accelerated
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
Built-In: Yes
Display Connector:
Status: No display connected

We have two more 20" iMacs that we bought in Jan 2009 (the same time as the other 20"). These have so far not experienced any glitches. I would return the latest one if I knew it wouldn't happen to it replacement.

Someone Please Help!

Message was edited by: dtzens

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Mar 2, 2009 3:42 PM

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Answer 1

T_Bro54

Level 1

15 points

Mar 3, 2009 8:09 PM in response to dtzens

I have a 24" iMac, late 2006 intel. I've have had a similar problem intermittently with my display. I've also been getting horizontal lines on some web pages.

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Answer 2

Mar 5, 2009 7:36 AM in response to dtzens

I too have this issue (triangles and everything). The problem can make "fireworks of color" that are created by moving windows around on the desktop. I can clean the triangles by doing a screen photo (command/shift/4). The problem is mostly brought on when I do a lot of rendering Vectorworks. I'm on the discussion boards today looking for solutions to this exact issue. My set up is the same as your 24" iMac except I have the ATI Radeon 2600 (non pro card) which is not eligible for the firmware upgrade.

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Answer 3

dtzens Author

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Mar 5, 2009 11:57 AM in response to Andrew Pollock2

Andrew,

Thanks for the reply. I just experienced the problem we are having and tried your suggestion about doing the screen capture. I did Command Shift3 (the selection mode) by accident and then used selection window to "Wipe" the display clean. And it hasn't come back yet (only a few mins though).

Also just to keep people informed: I have been experimenting with the SMC Fan Control apps to try to see if heat is an issue with this. Well I am not sure it is based on the temps the app is reporting. It just happened again while typing this and the Fan Control App is reporting that the CPU temp is 84F. Not really that hot, especially since yesterday it occurred when it was reporting the CPU temp as 110F. Which was strange since it was only a few mins after coming out of sleep.

If anyone posting on this thread finds a solution please, please, please post it.

Thanks

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Answer 4

Mar 9, 2009 8:17 AM in response to dtzens

Have you received any additional helpful advice?

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Answer 5

Mar 9, 2009 8:34 AM in response to T_Bro54

I have a similar problem. On occasion, when the screen is supposed to be an equal grey or blue (for instance during start up, but also with some applications that have a grey background), I get horizontal and vertical lines on the lefthandside of my screen.
I also sometimes have blotches and blurs on it, as if the screen were extremely dirty.
Today, it became weirder, when the text of an application I had open for some time, became readably visible in a different screen. E.g. I saw my GMail contact list on the grey background of MacFamilyTree and on the blue and grey backgrounds of the startup screens.
I have done a shutdown and start a few times, and the ghost image has become more blurred.

It seems unlikely that this is a burn in problem, because after a few restarts the "burnt in image" fades and because TFT screens aren't supposed to have that.
So my guess is, either there's a serious problem with the screen itself; or there is something wrong with my video card. The latter seems unlikely, since I assume that video card memory is emptied when the computer is shut down.

I work with spaces and my impression is that the content of one space becomes a ghost image in any other space.

Or in other words: HELP! This should not be happening!

Regards,

Jacques.

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Answer 6

cbentley

Level 1

0 points

Mar 10, 2009 9:53 AM in response to Andrew Pollock2

Hi folks,

Sorry for the inconvenience caused by this bug. We have tracked down the fix for this issue.

Cheers,

chrisb

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Answer 7

dtzens Author

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Mar 10, 2009 1:02 PM in response to cbentley

Well what is the fix?

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Answer 8

Mar 11, 2009 12:52 PM in response to dtzens

I spoke to Chris at ATI. He told me the bug will be resolved in the upcoming 10.5.7 release.
We'll have to wait this one out.

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Answer 9

Mar 12, 2009 3:31 PM in response to dtzens

Same problem, and I managed to grab a screen capture of it while in dashboard, so it is probably a GPU problem and not just a OSX software problem. The GPU temp was reported at around 150F, so that would seem a bit low to start to cause any problems...I also had SMC fan control installed at one point, and I think that app may have affect the fans ability to ramp up, and after doing a SMC reset, the fans seemed to function like normal again and I have not encountered the random colors problem since. (has been a month)

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Answer 10

Mar 13, 2009 5:02 PM in response to dtzens

I'm having the same problem on a white 17" iMac core 2 duo. Unfortunately my AppleCare has run out so I'm hoping this is a software issue.

Also, the artifacts seem to be showing up when I take screenshots. Does that indicate that it's a software issue?

Message was edited by: indiepenguins

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Answer 11

dtzens Author

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Mar 25, 2009 11:09 AM in response to Andrew Pollock2

Did you get any indication when that 10.5.7 update might be released?

Also don't think that temperature has anything to do with it. It has happened when the GPU and CPU temp is cool (mid 80s F) and when it is hot (100s F).

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Answer 12

Mar 25, 2009 11:18 AM in response to dtzens

No one ever knows when apple will release new updates. The information I received from ATI was that they were aware of the specifics of the glitch in the code and they were going to address it for the next update. He said that it was not a temperature related issue.

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Answer 13

May 15, 2009 12:43 PM in response to dtzens

Since updating to 10.5.7, patterns of square blotches (mostly blue, yellow, & purple) appear when I open jpeg files. Dragging the window around the desktop increases the blotches. It happens in multiple applications, and the blotches often will show up on the desktop. I've tried a number of things to no avail.

20" iMac with ATI x1600 radeon chipset, Intel core duo processor.

Not a problem until upgrading to OS X Leopard.

Help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

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Answer 14

Jun 1, 2009 8:14 AM in response to dtzens

Good morning all. I am now experiencing the exact same issue. My screen at times will look exactly like the ones seen in dtzens first post.

I still have Apple Care remaining but am thinking it to be a software related issue?

When I first experienced it, I simply rebooted. The issue persisted. I then rebooted into Safe Boot. The issue was gone. Rebooted normally, the issue returned. Rebooted into Safe Boot and it was fine. I then left the machine off as I had to leave, returned a few hours later only to find the machine working perfectly when I turned it on.

I've since encountered at different intervals throughout the past week or so ever since it started happening.

I have an iMac 17", Core 2 Duo 2.16, ATI x1600 running Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.7 (note I had never seen this issue until upgrading to 10.5.7 which was apparently going to resolve the issue.) I'm hoping for answers like the rest of you and wanted to add my piece of evidence. Thank you.

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Answer 15

Jun 21, 2009 8:50 PM in response to dtzens

Update:

I brought my iMac in for repair seeing as the issue got much worse and affected my system even when booting from a CD, external hard drive or even booting into Boot Camp. My iMac was still under warranty and they replaced a logic board. I then restored the computer from my Time Machine backup and all is working perfectly.

Hope the rest of you can resolve your issues by getting the same repair!

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