2011 MBP freezing on external display in fullscreen

Hey all, had my 15" MBP for a few days now, and I'm experiencing a strange issue. When I have it connected to an external display and am playing a game (Starcraft II, EVE Online) or watching a video in fullscreen (Hulu, etc.) it will sometimes freeze and cause the computer to be completely unresponsive, forcing me to shut it down by holding the power button. However, audio will keep playing in the background. I'm using a miniDisplay port to VGA adapter and outputting to an HDTV. Ideas/comments/suggestions? I'm sure with using a new CPU and new GPU there are some driver issues to work out, just want to make sure it isn't more than that.

2011 MacBook Pro 15", Mac OS X (10.6.6), 2.2 GHz i7 Quad Core/4GB 1333 MHz DDR3/Radeon HD 6750M 1GB GDDR5

Posted on Mar 1, 2011 11:58 PM

40 replies

jkirker

Level 1

0 points

Mar 17, 2011 10:16 AM in response to stateofunrest

This is really an awful problem. I've been dealing with engineering now for about a week. After spending a solid 16 hours doing an erase and reinstall and re-configuring all my apps this morning I'm again plagued with the same screen freeze issue.

It does appear after searching the support forums here that we are not alone - it's happening a lot.

Perhaps the machine wasn't ready for primetime - but now that I no longer have my old trusty 2010 standby I'm sunk for work, falling behind on client deadlines and Ahhhhh...

Anyhow - hopefully Apple comes up with a solution here pretty quickly - I was hoping an advanced replacement might do the trick but if it's a system wide issue across the board it's likely not going to help at all....

Let's all hope for some quick solutions from Apple. This isn't like them and is precisely why I migrated from WinOS... 😟

ben_r_

Level 1

0 points

Mar 17, 2011 11:06 AM in response to stateofunrest

Yet another here with the same issue. Just bought a 13" MBP i5 2011 a few days ago and today I took it to work and plugged it into my Samsung 24" monitor via an Apple Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter and randomly it started crashing. I have never even SEEN a mac crash! I get either the "Machine needs to be restarted" error or a visual garbage line across the screen. Both of which totally freeze the computer and I am forced to do a hard shutdown and restart. Been using the exact same setup at work for six month now on my 2010 MBP 13 C2D and never had a single issue with it. This is def an issue due to the new processor and graphics card switch over and will hopefully be fixed soon. In the mean time I will probably return my new MBP and stay with my old one for a bit. Since this is how I normally use my laptop I cant be with one that doesnt work reliably with an external monitor. Shoulda stuck with nVidia Apple... lol

Message was edited by: ben r

Message was edited by: ben r

ben_r_

Level 1

0 points

Mar 17, 2011 12:56 PM in response to stateofunrest

Has everyone with this external display issue seen this thread?

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2783320&tstart=0

As I mentioned before I use an external display while at work, but I also tether via USB to my iPhone 4. So its starting to sound like it could be one or two issues affecting my unit. Right now I am testing just using the external display with no tethering nor any internet connectivity at all (posting this on another computer). We'll see how it goes. Maybe my issue is just like all those other people are having in the iPhone 4 tethering issue thread.

ben_r_

Level 1

0 points

Mar 19, 2011 12:36 PM in response to stateofunrest

FWIW I still havent been able to get the system to crash while tether via Wifi or bluetooth. Looks like my issue wasnt the external display at all.

Mar 22, 2011 1:35 AM in response to stateofunrest

As of yesterday, Apple has released the 10.6.7 update for 2011 macbook pros. This is purported to resolve the graphics issues users with the 6750M card have been experiencing, among others. Haven't tested it myself yet, please post back with your results after updating.

Mar 24, 2011 10:59 PM in response to stateofunrest

I also have had this problem with an external Dell display, freezes and locks up , only pressing the power button to force a restart gets the computer restarted. Seems even more frequent with the most recent Apple Software Update -

MAC 15 IN/2.66 Ghz Core i7/8GB memory (passed hardware test).

I guess Apple wants us to buy their $1,000.00 external montor...

E-Mac

Level 1

0 points

Mar 27, 2011 5:19 PM in response to stateofunrest

I have new MBP 2.3 Qi7 it seems to freeze and become non responsive when you remove the mini display port or when you close the lid/sleep. I am not sure what the issue is. I have not trouble done any real trouble shooting. Pretty annoying. Just wanted to communicate that I am having a similar issue.

Mar 29, 2011 5:35 AM in response to E-Mac

Same here. It use to work fine. I don't know if it was a software update or what causing it, but I can use an external display all day, but when I unplug the display port plug, the computer freezes. The mouse still moves, but I cannot select anything and the laptop screen still acts like it is the secondary screen (no icons or menu). If I plug the cable back in, I see the main desktop on the monitor but the computer is still frozen. I have to hold down the power button to restart. 2011 MBP 15" i7 quad hires anti-glare.

Apr 27, 2011 7:34 AM in response to stateofunrest

I have the same issue, and I also have an issue where my backlit keyboard acts funny (it won't come back on without me pressing f6). This happens after I have to force a crash after the screen freeze, usually related to my external Dell 24 inch monitor. I found that resetting the SMC resolves the keyboard backlight issue, and that the hard crash starts it up again.

I found another thread reporting the screen freeze on a 17 macbook pro 2011.

Their solution was to uninstall iStat Menus. This application touches the SMC somehow. After uninstalling (last night), my machine is noticeably snappier, and I haven't had a screen freeze.

I've got my fingers crossed!

I'll report back if it freezes again.

May 3, 2011 10:52 AM in response to stateofunrest

I have the same issue (I have a MBP 2010 w/ 8GB DDR3). I have found that my problem is more prone to happen if I am running an external display, but from time to time, will also happen with out it.

Funny thing I have found is:

1. If I use the external monitor with the MBP lid closed, then it happens very seldom

2. If I uninstall the MS Office 2011, it will not happen any further

I think the MS Office 2011 is the culprit for these scenarios where the computer just crash. Even if you are not using them, it seems that some modules are working in the background and it totally crashes.

Jun 23, 2011 3:01 PM in response to stateofunrest

I have the same problem!

Running OSX 10.6.7 on a MBP 17" Intel Core 2 Duo from mid 2009 (Macbook Pro 5,2)

System completely freezes/locks up and only recourse is to power off reset.

This happens when I am running Parallels Desktop v6 and a Windows 7 64 bit VM.

Somedays it can go for hours without problems, then it just freezes. Other times I will have 3 freezes in an hour.

This never happens when the external display is not connected. It ONLY occurs when the Apple 27" Display is used. Does not matter if the lid is opened or closed.

Apple please fix this! I cannot rely on my Mac for work when this occurs so often.

Jun 23, 2011 10:04 PM in response to stateofunrest

It appears that today's update released by Apple. OSX 10.6.8 has resolved this problem for me.

Jul 6, 2011 2:50 PM in response to Cowicide Moo

I was just reading through stuff and laughed at my post. I'm not sure that analogy makes any sense, but I think people got the drift anyway. Hahaha...

Nov 20, 2011 12:43 PM in response to stateofunrest

I have been struggling with a similar problem and have stumbled upon a workaround for it. The Problem: I connected my MacBook Pro 15" via hdmi cable to a new 27" Samsung SyncMaster SA350 LED monitor. When I step away from the computer for a while and the MacBook has gone into sleep mode, I cannot wake it. It only has this problem when hooked to the external monitor. The only fix is to power the MacBook off and on with the power button. Ugh. Workaround: My workaround for this is to power off the external monitor every time I step away from my computer. Then, when I return, I log back into my MacBook if it has gone asleep and turn the monitor back on and all is fine. I have tested this for a month now and as long as shut the monitor off like this there is no problem. Still a bit frustrating, but it works.

falkusa

Level 1

0 points

Jun 28, 2012 2:31 PM in response to stateofunrest

This is really sad that this is still not fixed.

2.66GHz Intel Core Duo, 8GB of RAM (apple installed)

When connecting to external display (Lenovo) via VGA dongle and unpplug the display from dongle, the mac freezes. Only hard reset helps

Maybe it is time to go back to a free OS.

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2011 MBP freezing on external display in fullscreen