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MacBook Pro freezing with flickering screen

Help!

My trusty MacBook Pro (MacBookPro4,1) has suddenly started freezing. It seems do it at random times, when I am not doing anything which should be particularly taxing (eg it often freezes when I am sitting reading a web page, and the computer is basically doing nothing).

The symptoms are as follows :
The computer is behaving normally, and then at a seemingly random moment, the screen suddenly starts flickering very rapidly. Sometimes it also has areas with patterns of black, grey, or white squares, each square being about 4x4 pixels.
The computer also freezes completely - except that the pointer will still move, which seems a little odd.
The computer does not react to anything I do except to move the pointer when I move my finger across the trackpad. The pointer moves much faster than usual.
Sometimes, if I wait long enough, the screen will stop flickering, and sometimes the pointer speed will return to normal. But the computer never unfreezes.

Looking at the Console, I see that there is a continuous stream of error messages from com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[277] - three error messages repeating over and over, the whole time the computer is on.
Message 1 : +(org.freedesktop.dbus-session[413]) posix_spawn("/opt/local/bin/dbus-daemon", ...): No such file or directory+
Message 2 : +(org.freedesktop.dbus-session[413]) Exited with exit code: 1+
Message 3 : +(org.freedesktop.dbus-session) Throttling respawn: Will start in 10 seconds+
I have no idea whether these errors are relevant to the freezing/flickering problem, nor whether they were already happening before the problem started to occur three days ago.

The following points may also be worth noting:
* I am running my MBP from a Kensington 12V power supply rather than the Apple 240V brick. But it has been working fine from the Kensington supply for a couple of years now...
* I upgraded the memory when I first bought the machine. IIRC, it is Crucial RAM.
* The freeze has always occurred while Firefox has been open. But that is probably because I always have Firefox open...

Can anyone shed any light on this problem?

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.4), MacBookPro4,1

Posted on Nov 27, 2010 11:09 AM

76 replies

Dec 7, 2010 3:27 PM in response to Caesar Schinas

Hi, I've got exactly the same issue with my MBP 5.5, just now I was using Safari and clicked play on a programme from 4od.

And the freeze happened, flickering screen and a responsive mouse/trackpad but nothing else. I whipped my iPhone out and started recording the screen because I thought maybe no one would know about the problem.

Any help in getting the issue sorted would be greatly appreciated,

I'm running at 10.6.5.

Dec 7, 2010 3:53 PM in response to bullett007

To add to my previous post, I can re-create the problem every-time I go to 4od.com and try to play a programme. I have now booted up in Safe Mode to try again and Safari won't now load 4od.com, thus I can't check within safe mode.

Also to add my mates Macbook White 4.1 does not encounter the same issues and passes the 4od.com page every-time without fail, also running at 10.6.5.

Hope that helps....?

Message was edited by: bullett007

smokisa

Level 1

5 points

Dec 8, 2010 12:41 AM in response to bullett007

... well I give up ... I took one RAM out on Friday and my laptop worked perfectly fine until last night. I watched movies on it, started installing rest of my apps (Office etc), I browsed lots and it all worked fine.
Then last night I let it run some Office updates and half way through flickering and then froze... now I get gray screen of death during the boot time. Tried resetting PRAM (or whatever it's called) ... didn't work ...the only thing I found on apple support site is that they extended warranty on MBPs with 8600GT graphic cards due to 'unexpected problems' with a graphic chip.

Is there anyone FROM apple on this forum who can shed some lights on these freeky freezings??

andyBall_uk

Level 7

20,516 points

Dec 8, 2010 4:28 AM in response to smokisa

Is there anyone FROM apple on this forum who can shed some lights on these freeky freezings??

fairly rarely... if someone works for apple, they'll have an apple icon like

by their name, and are not here to offer official support.

If your mac fits the symptoms, (and has the relevant graphics chip) of those covered by the extended recall, take it in.
They're a pain when the problem seems gone, but returns, that's for sure. If no obvious cause present itself, you have to start from a clean install & try to see what happens.

Dec 8, 2010 4:29 AM in response to smokisa

Smokisa, to add to your post I called Apple today who said that there is an issue with Adobe Flash and to reinstall their latest software from their site.

I doubt this will work but I'm going to give it a bash once I'm home and then try to replicate the problem again which I was able to do last night.

The weird thing about the flickering is that it only happens when the MacBook is plugged in to the charger and stranger still is when the flickering/freezing happens I can stop it by removing the charger.

andyBall_uk

Level 7

20,516 points

Dec 8, 2010 4:41 AM in response to bullett007

Hi bullett007

only happens when the MacBook is plugged in to the charger and stranger still is when the flickering/freezing happens I can stop it by removing the charger.

That sounds more like hardware, to me; (although if it's instantly better, maybe not)

an issue with Adobe Flash...

true, and +if problems are only noticeable on Flash websites+ (perhaps only on Safari too) that's worth pursuing. Some users have found that the pre-release/preview/beta Flash 10.2 helps; others say 10.0.45 is the answer.
In some cases, changing Flash settings to not use 'hardware acceleration' will help, and on some portable macs, switching off automatic graphics switching definitely works around the issue, at the expense of battery usage.

smokisa

Level 1

5 points

Dec 8, 2010 5:45 AM in response to andyBall_uk

I called Apple today too, spoke to 2 different repair shops, both said the flickering and freezing could be due to more then one reason... one of them did mention the graphic chip, but we kind of ruled that out as I can't reset PRAM at the moment...

What both of them suggested as a potential problem was a power supply. And to be honest, over the past 5 days I used my wifes power supply, not my original one. All worked fine. Then last night was the first time in 5 days to plug my power supply in and within 5mins flicker and freeze ... so power supply is my hot favorite at the moment... if I find how to reset PRAM now so I can boot up as my Mac is 'graying out' during the boot now. :/

andyBall_uk

Level 7

20,516 points

Dec 8, 2010 5:57 AM in response to smokisa

Hi

so what actually happens when you try to reset the pram ?
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379

& try a Safe boot if you still can't start up past the grey screen.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1564

Dec 8, 2010 10:52 AM in response to Caesar Schinas

Hi guys - an update on the situation with my MBP :

I deleted all non-apple-provided Kernel Extensions a few days ago (nearly a week now, I guess) and my computer has since been behaving perfectly.
I haven't been using it a great deal and it's too early to say for certain that there is no longer a problem, but that does seem to be the case.

My only problem now is that I will have to reinstate at least some of the kexts at some point in order for my ZTE modem and my Ralink wifi antenna to work...

Should the problem recur, I will obviously repost here.

Thanks very much for your help, Andy.

andyBall_uk

Level 7

20,516 points

Dec 8, 2010 11:59 AM in response to Caesar Schinas

Hi Caesar

that sounds promising, at least.
Not sure about the ralink, but the zte modems don't need all the badged software that comes with them, it's worth looking out for alternative or updated drivers. Assuming any are needed at all.

Dec 8, 2010 12:09 PM in response to Caesar Schinas

Have you kept the MacBook connection to a power supply after the deleted kernels?

If so and it's still working now is there a guide for dummies like myself?

I've just spoken to Apple who have booked me in to see a genius tomorrow PM, I updated Adobe Flash manually and I was still able to re-create the issue.

I gave the lady over the phone the graphics card ID and she said that their wasn't a recall on the device but I'm preparing for a battle at the moment as I've read it may cost in excess of £800 quid to repair, and needless to say that won't be happening!

I will keep all informed as to what happens tomorrow but if you get back to mr before the appointment tomorrow I will give the deletions a go.

Many thanks.

Dec 8, 2010 12:17 PM in response to andyBall_uk

I think that it is a problem with the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M chip if I'm honest, I've never had this issue before and I have now updated adobe flash manually and I'm still having the exact same issue that I can replicate on demand at the moment.

However today when I caused the freeze/crash, I then unplugged the mains charger like I did last time but the system never came back to me and it stayed in the frozen state - thus a hard reset was required (power button for 2-3 secs).

This is really starting to bug me but fingers crossed it will be sorted soon enough.

eurrutia

Level 1

0 points

Dec 8, 2010 1:52 PM in response to Barbatto

Hi! I have the same problem that you (and other users) describe here.
I bought my MacBook Pro 15" Core i7 2,66 ghz (Middle 2010) in Ago this year. In Sep I upgrade the RAM to 8GB Kingston (it came originally with 4GB DDR3 1066). Recently I upgrade the OS ti 10.6.5, and suddenly, a few day ago, when I work with safari, random my screen become completly with lines and marks from differents colors and TOTAL FREEZE!!! I can't move the mouse or type. nothing. In beginning, only freeze but now, it restart the machine and reboot automatic.
I see 2 interesting things:
1- I have a Software that say me what Graphic Card in the moment use. And the FREEZE ONLY BEGIN WITH THE INTEL HD INTEGRATED CARD. With the nVidia 330M,, until yet, no problem.
2- This situation is random, but usually freeze now wheI enter to my account in Cisco (cisco.netacad.net).
Cisco use flash ithe entire site, but when I charge another sites that have Flash, it's not a problem

What can I do? I have guaranty but Until now my machine was very good and now problem for change (I thing) but I want test all posibilities.
Thanks

andyBall_uk

Level 7

20,516 points

Dec 8, 2010 2:30 PM in response to eurrutia

Hi 🙂

What can I do

either disable the auto graphics switching in system preferences-energy saver, at the expense of using more battery power

or try a different Flash build, earlier or beta versions -

or try disabling hardware acceleration via right click on Flash - settings

or return it to Apple, who might replace some parts, which might fix it.

But... if the issue is sudden & recent - you might usefully test with different RAM installed (just the original, perhaps), although I do feel that your finding it only on intel graphics is probably poiting the way.

Dec 11, 2010 10:43 AM in response to Caesar Schinas

Oh dear...

My computer has just done its freezing thing again, so removing the kernel extensions seemingly didn't fix it.

Now I'm not sure what to do. Maybe the problem is indeed the graphics card issue someone mentioned. Perhaps I should take my computer in to an Apple authorised retailer (there aren't any actual Apple stores here) and see what they have to say...

MacBook Pro freezing with flickering screen