Internal screen vertical interlaced

Question

Internal screen vertical interlaced

Just out of nowhere my internal screen now and than turns out vertical interlaced. Either with black or white lines, alternating between normal screen at one vertical pixel row and a black/white line on the other. Like the interlace filter from the old days.
It's seems quite random, no heating issues or special software and the MBP is mostly sitting on my desk.

The mac keeps on functioning and the external display doesn't show the problem.
PR-ram/SMC reset didn't resolve the problem, it just stops and shows up again after a while.
Any idea's what could be wrong? I saw another post covering the same problem, but it wasn't solved.

Thanks!

Sebastian.

MBP 15" 2.6, Mac OS X (10.6.5)

Posted on Dec 2, 2010 7:45 AM

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Answer 1

Dec 2, 2010 8:07 AM in response to Sebastian Kox

I've been able to make a picture of it, it's at:

http://www.oneseconds.com/mbpro.jpg

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Answer 2

S.U.

Level 6

9,601 points

Dec 2, 2010 3:18 PM in response to Sebastian Kox

You have the early 2008 MBP with the 2.6 GHz processor? Then you also have the NVIDIA 8600M GT graphics chip, which is covered by this program:

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

You will need to contact Apple and arrange for your Mac to get the special test that diagnoses the NVIDIA problem. If this is what you have, the repair will be done at no cost to you.

Good luck!

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Answer 3

Dec 3, 2010 1:05 AM in response to S.U.

Yeah, I read about it. I'll bring my laptop in and report back how it turned out!

Thanks.

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Answer 4

belliny

Level 1

0 points

Dec 11, 2010 11:07 PM in response to Sebastian Kox

Hello~

Did you have any good news about vertical interlaced problem?
for me? they just failed to regenerate the problem and sent back with no treatment about it.

How about you?
any news will be great helps for me.

Thanks in advance...

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Answer 5

Dec 14, 2010 12:57 AM in response to belliny

Just got my Macbook pro back from the service centre. They couldn't find the known nvidia problem after a test. Luckily I was able to make pictures of it, and the problem showed up in the store. They figured out it was a screen problem. The solution was to replace the screen. 😟
I found that too costly (about E. 500) while my macbook is out of apple care.
For the same amount of money I just bought a cheap second hand model from the same series and I'm going to replace the screen myself with the help of ifixit.com. Don't try this at home if you haven't got any experience with opening up macbooks!
If the problem still seems to occur after that replacement I'm going to report back.

Hope this helps!

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Answer 6

belliny

Level 1

0 points

Dec 20, 2010 9:42 AM in response to Sebastian Kox

Ah.... it's very helpful message...
Thanks ^^

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Answer 7

Jan 10, 2011 8:57 AM in response to belliny

I too have the exact same problem.

Oddly it started over Christmas but would resolve itself after a few minutes. A few days back it happened again but hasn't gone back to normal.

Off to Apple Store tomorrow to see what they say. I'm hoping its the NVIDIA issues or else $$$ 😟

http://www.benhaines.co.uk/MBP-Screen-Problem.jpg

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Answer 8

Jan 10, 2011 9:25 AM in response to Ben Haines

Just found another post about the problem. Seems this person's issue was identified as the NVIDIA one and replacing the chip resolved it.

http://forums.macrumors.com/archive/index.php/t-14%3C/t-726198.html

I have to admit I'm skeptical. If it is the NVIDIA chip why does the image on an external monitor look fine?

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Answer 9

Jan 30, 2011 1:09 PM in response to Sebastian Kox

I've got the graphics chip in question and my screen started doing this last week - same symptoms as described by everyone else. Sometimes lasts 2 minutes, sometimes 2 hours, happens once or twice a day so far. Time to call Apple...

ian

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Answer 10

Jan 30, 2011 2:19 PM in response to Eddie Stromboli

The problem just reoccurred, same issue, but now the screen has a pink shade and horizontal lines flickering as well. Replacing the screen obviously didn't help 😟
Did any of you guys had any results yet?

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Answer 11

Feb 25, 2011 3:53 PM in response to Sebastian Kox

Hi there Sebastian — Did you ever resolve your issue?

I'm in the last few weeks of my Apple Care and this has started happening to me, though I can't replicate it and it's not all the time. Would they believe me if I just took it in store?! Judging by screenshots found elsewhere this is the Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT issue.

I'm not sure how to proceed - any suggestions anyone?

Many thanks

Doug

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Answer 12

Mar 1, 2011 4:39 PM in response to DougBarned

The solution of the apple store was to replace the screen. They couldn't find the nvidia error. I didn't have the problem occurring as often and long as before the replacement, but it did happen again a few times. I would recommend to get your system checked while in Apple Care, and give them a print of your findings/the Nvdia problem.

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Answer 13

picturix

Level 1

0 points

Mar 3, 2011 5:22 PM in response to Sebastian Kox

Hi all,

since approximately 4 weeks I have exactly the same problem like you guys describe. I already described it here

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2765765&tstart=45

but unfortunately nobody answered. Without having "apple care" or any other guaranty, after seeing a couple of pictures from the NVIDIA BUG PROBLEM and talking to some people, I decided to replace the display. Unfortunately the problem continues.

I think it is not very likely that the NVIDIA BUG Problem is causing such an consistent imaging error like we see it on our screens. All screen shots I have seen were with more chaotic imaging errors like colored blocks or a completely scrambled pictures.

Anyway...

Even the Aplle support seems not to be able to figure out what the exact problem is.

What is with your screen shots ??? Are they OK?
My screen shots are fine and not showing this vertical interlaced pattern.

I think they are two components, other than the screen or the grafic board, who could also be the issue.

The DISPLAY DATA CABLE and the LED DRIVER BOARD..... what do you think about ?

I appreciate any suggestion,

thanks

Chris

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Answer 14

Mar 6, 2011 12:18 PM in response to picturix

Hi Chris

My screenshots are all fine, but I've managed to get a photo of the issue now, and it's happening more often, so I hopefully won't have a problem showing them what's going wrong.

On the second occasion where it 'went funny' the lines were green and the patterns were of a more random nature, so I'm not ruling out the graphics card issue.

I've got a Genius Bar appointment on Wednesday, so will let you know how it goes!

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Answer 15

Mar 6, 2011 3:50 PM in response to picturix

Yeah, I have the exact same problem. Screenshots are fine, external monitor is fine as well.

I too replaced my screen (actually switched screens on two identical machines) and the problem did occur again but not as often as before. Instead of the white lines I had earlier they now are pink.
The other machine where my old screen is on is working without any problem.

It's strange that changing screens on my system didn't resolve the problem entirely, but it sure made an improvement. Before the problem occurred for hours per day, now I've only seen it three times and just for a few minutes.

I don't think it's the display data cable/led driver board because my old display is working perfectly on the other system. Maybe it's more related to the logic board or the display connector or some other connectors getting loose.

What system are you on exactly?
I'm on a MacBookPro4,1 / 2.6 / GeForce 8600M GT 512 MB

Let me know if anything progresses!

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