MBP13‘3 and External Monitor Problem (screen goes pink/ laptop hangs)

Hmm... well, I've since discovered my MBP 13" (2010) works fine when connected with the same adapter to a KVM switch. So the same laptop and adapter (Apple Display to VGA) that had problems when connected to a video projector worked fine when connected to another source, so either the problem is intermittent, or perhaps there's a power issue going on. (In both cases, the laptop, adapter, and OS Lion were the same, yet the results were certainly not.)

Stranger than fiction!

Jon

i think they finally released the fix. i hope it works!

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4088

cool, thanks for the heads up nubreed!

one thing i don't understand is, if we are currently running OSX X Snow Leopard 10.6 and now decide to upgrade to OSX X Lion 10.7, will we be able to just use the Pro Video Update 1.0 and bypass service maintenance on our machines?

I have been struggling with a similar problem and have stumbled upon a workaround for it. The Problem: I connected my MacBook Pro 15" to a 27" Samsung SyncMaster SA350 LED monitor I got from Costco. When I step away from the computer for a while and the MacBook has gone into sleep mode, I cannot wake it. It only does this when hooked to the external monitor. The only fix is to power the MacBook off and on. Ugh. Workaround: My workaround for this now is to power off the external monitor every time I step away. Then, when I return, I log back into my MacBook and turn the monitor back on and all is fine. I have tested this for a month now and as long as I do this there is no problem. Hope this helps someone because I was extremely frustrated by this problem.

The fix works only with MBP 15", i have this problem with a 13" and a LG E2241V-BN 😟

Hey Everyone,

I'm still experiencing this problem, Macbook Pro 13" w/ a mini displayport to hdmi (connected to a 40" hdtv). Computer is playing a movie or working (mirrored or unmirrored), and the computer and monitor both go to a white screen.

I called Apple Support, but they were unable to help, and its out of warranty. Has anyone gotten any fixes for this out of warranty? I only started connecting my computer to the TV in the past 6 months and therefore didn't even know it was a problem in the warranty period.

I had a tech run a safe boot, and nothing was wrong. I also replaced the HDMI cable and it's still doing it.

The release from Apple is only for the 15". Any help would be much much appreciated.

I just went through my console, and found this from the last freeze:

11-12-12 11:59:37 PM [0x0-0x15015].com.google.Chrome[173] 2011-12-12 23:59:37.347 Google Chrome Helper[6654:107] __CFServiceControllerBeginPBSLoadForLocalizations received error 1100 from bootstrap_look_up2

i have the same problem 😟

But it appens rarely, just once a week and I'm trying to understand if it could be related to the graphics card or the monitor.

I've a 2010 mbp 13", the one with core 2 duo and Nvidia card.

I discovered that it happens when there is some 3d effect, like the dock animation, the lunchpad, etc

Maybe some driver incompatibility.

Xeo, if your symptoms are that the screen intermittently turns to a solid color (white, pink, etc.) with the 2010 MacBook, requiring a reboot, it is most likely a hardware defect, not any sort of driver or software issue. Several users here, myself included, have had issues with the GPU failing when used with an external monitor. In my case, i tried the machine with several different monitors and it happened with most (but not all of them). Meanwhile, my company had two other identical MacBooks with the same configuration that did not have the problem when connected to the same monitors. The fix was to have the logic board on the Mac replaced and doing so resolved the problem with our machine. I believe this issue to be the result of a manufacturing defect.

If you haven't already read the entire thread on this issue from top to bottom, I would encourage doing so, but keep in mind that users have posted about multiple issues on this thread with slightly different symptoms and therefore different causes and solutions.

Good luck, the intermittent nature of this issue makes it a challenge for technicians to reproduce and diagnose.

Thanks Mike. Have you heard of anyone outside of the 1 year warranty period getting their hardware replaced because of the defect? I don't have Apple Care and don't want to spend the money if I don't have to. Apple seems to only have a fix for 15" MBPs (software wise).

that doesn't help my MBP :-(

i purchased mine in Mid 2010... before upgrading to Lion, it freezed and turned to "broken screen" when plugging to external projector. it's ok after hard-reset, but it will happen when i use it the next day

so from TS4088, it suggested to upgrade to Lion and the patch, so I did...

but it's getting worse, it just goes freeze / broken screen randomly even I am not using external projector!

Howdy folks...

I have a 2010, 13" MacBook Pro running Lion 10.7.2, upgraded from Snow Leopard 10.6.8, and am using it with a 24" Apple LED Cinema Display. I started having the screen-freeze-with-solid-colors-computer-hang-requiring-reboot problem when I upgraded from a cheap Compaq monitor to the ACD. Talked to the folks at my local Genius Bar, and they suggested a PRAM reset as well as an SMC reset. Tried both, with no success. My ultimate solution was to try a complete clean install of Lion. I made a complete clone backup of my system using Super Duper onto an external HD, then booted into Lion's Recovery partition, used Disk Utility to wipe my entire system drive clean, and installed a fresh copy of Lion. I used Migration Assistant to restore from my cloned backup, and now all is working just peachy keen! No hangs whatsoever, no pink/gray/blue screens of death. My system has been running continuously for almost 2 weeks now, and it's running great.

Soooo... not a hardware problem. At least for me. Hope this helps some others out there.

Cheers,

Jared

Sent from my MacBook Pro

Let's make it clear : after numerous tests ( reseting PRAM , NVRAM , clean install SL , clean install LION , disk formats , anything that anyone can imagine , etc...

The problem persists even if is just Lion or Snow Leopard installed , even if the updates are installed , IF we connect an external display .

The only fix i found after 1 month of tests is : DO NOT USE EXTERNAL MONITOR if you are experiencing freezes , MBP cannot detect external display etc.

But remain the question : is the Pro word from MBP means proffesional or problem?

Emilianbkw,

The issue you're having is the result of a hardware failure, that's why clean installs of the OS, etc. do not resolve the issue. The fix is to replace the logic board. Once that is done, your Mac should work fine with an external display.