Horizontal line or pink square patches appearing on screen

Question

Level 1

8 points

Horizontal line or pink square patches appearing on screen

Hi folks,

I'm getting a very narrow horizontal line appearing across my screen - probably only a few pixels wide, and usually going across most of the screen (sometimes all the way, but usually more like 3/4's or a bit more). The location it appears varies, and overall I get a line this way more than half of the time.

I'm also getting very brief square pink patches that appear and quickly disappear - they are maybe 1 to 2 inches wide and the same high. They seem to appear most often when I'm changing a page view, for example opening a new browser tab or switching from one tab to another, or opening/closing a new application, etc.

Can anyone help me figure out just what is going on?

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Oct 9, 2010 1:43 PM

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Answer 1

iVmichael

Level 6

13,740 points

Oct 9, 2010 3:19 PM in response to Anonymoose2

It sounds like you have a faulty graphics card, if you can get a picture of them (with a camera or phone) then take it in to Apple and have them take a look at it.

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Answer 2

S.U.

Level 6

9,595 points

Oct 9, 2010 5:50 PM in response to Anonymoose2

Welcome to Apple Discussions!

If you have the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics chip, you could have this problem:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377

Apple has a specific test they can run to diagnose this, and if this is what your problem is, the repair will be done at no cost to you.

Good luck!

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Answer 3

Anonymoose2 Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 21, 2010 1:49 PM in response to S.U.

looking under the apple/about menu, hardware: graphics/display item, it doesn't show a video card item, but I"m assuming that the "ATI Radeon X1600" is the video card type?

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Answer 4

S.U.

Level 6

9,595 points

Oct 21, 2010 6:10 PM in response to Anonymoose2

Yes it is, and unfortunately it is not the one covered by the Apple program. The ATI Radeon X1600 graphics chip is the one used in the very first MacBook Pro. My niece had an original MBP with the same chip, and it started doing much the same thing. You might try an external display. If you get the same problems, that indicates the graphics chip. If the external is OK, that would point to a problem with the built in display or possibly its connections.

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Answer 5

Anonymoose2 Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 21, 2010 6:27 PM in response to S.U.

Ok. I don't suppose a PC monitor is compatible for use as an external monitor either, is it? Or a REALLY old Mac monitor, like one that's 10+ years old?

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Answer 6

S.U.

Level 6

9,595 points

Oct 22, 2010 1:15 PM in response to Anonymoose2

I think monitors are monitors--we have a Samsung monitor for our PowerMac. I believe that most monitors can be used with either a PC or a Mac, and it's mostly a matter of having the right cables and maybe a driver. Not that I'm an expert on this, but I think any monitor you could find or borrow would work well enough to determine if your artifacts also appear on it. If you have access to an Apple Store, they could also probably hook you up to one of their store monitors. They would also be able to run a hardware test from their store feed which might be able to determine if the graphics chip is the culprit.

Good luck!

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