Lion randomly crashes - black screen

Well, you have to have Lion or higher. (just in case some are new to the discussion)

It seems there is some sort of issue with faulty nVidia graphics chips used on some of the earlier 2010 models. They didn't uncover the bug until Lion came out. The graphics must work differently with that OS version. I got my new logic board last week, and everything is fixed!

Mine crashed quite reliably when I browsed through the apps for sale in the Bodega app. Scrolling through the little thumbnails would almost always do it in.

Also, switching desktops and moving apps from one desktop to another would occasionally cause this.

Overall my failures were very random (and frustrating). Only the Apple in-store diagnostic can tell for sure if your logic board has this fault.

Like many I am having almost no problems after upgrading to Mountain Lion on my 2010 MBP. The black screen and login screen lockup problems disappeared and I can use graphics switching now. I had not gone the route of changing my logic board. I do still get the strange "painting" effect when I wake the MBP up from sleep when the screen was open, but that is minor and probably a different problem. Overall very happy with ML. Not so happy with Safari 6 though. Apple giveth, and Apple taketh away.

Interestingly enough, after I had the motherboard replaced, I now experience crashes of (mostly) the AirPort drivers when the machine boots (not when waking up from sleep):

RFpanic(cpu 2 caller 0xffffff80002b93ec): "Spinlock acquisition timed out: lock=0xffffff80008b9500, lock owner thread=0xffffff8011f96580, current_thread: 0xffffff80144125c0, lock owner active on CPU 0x0, current owner: 0xffffff8011f96580"@/SourceCache/xnu/xnu-1699.26.8/osfmk/i386/locks_i386.c:376

L: 0x0000000000000046, RIP: 0xffffff7f81ef2369, CS: 0x0000000000000008, SS: 0x0000000000000010

Kernel Extensions in backtrace:

com.apple.driver.AirPort.Brcm4331(530.4.20)[E6D83FAA-1E1D-3BA8-A296-2A90EEB8CB0 D]@0xffffff7f81504000->0xffffff7f816f1fff

dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.6.8)[F63D4ABE-42DA-33EF-BADD-3415B0CB0179]@0xffff ff7f80768000

dependency: com.apple.iokit.IO80211Family(420.3)[7114D6D6-7068-3091-8CB9-4424042DB307]@0xff ffff7f814d1000

dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily(2.1)[2FCC16E1-34AB-3908-98BD-CCBFA56FFDCE]@0 xffffff7f8104f000

I can get around this by booting into single user and doing "fsck -fy && exit" at the root prompt (the machine boots normally).

In addition, kernel_task (PID 0) has a tendency to eat >100% CPU with the fans going all the time (but using gfxCardStatus and switching to the Intel GPU I seem to have this covered). This is on a MBP where the motherboard has been replaced due to the TS4088 (NVidia GPU) issue.

I am also unable to upgrade the EFI to 2.6 (to include "Internet recovery" for Lion).

Has anyone experienced that a reinstall of the OS would fix some/all of this?

Tor

I have a MacBook Pro 15-inch, Mid 2010 model which has the Nvidia GeForce GT 330M black screen crash flaw.

One sure way to force the computer to exhibit the flaw and crash, is to use Xbench and test the graphics.

Run Xbench, check and run the OpenGL Test, you'll get an instant BSoD crash.

You can also try downloading and launching OpenGL Extensions Viewer, which will crash upon launch with the same NVRAM Read Error.

This is confirmed on a clean install of Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion.

I am very pleased to say that in the end everything has finished very well for me. I am writing those words on a brand new Retina MacBook Pro that has been sent to me by Apple three days ago as a replacement for my 2010 MBP with graphics card problem. Details on my blog: http://www.woknsee.com/2012/07/macbook-pro-black-screen-of-death-bsod.html

My MBP with the new logic board is acting flaky now. It passed the VST this time. The tech at the Genius Bar says that it appears to be sensitive to vibration -- something is loose inside. Since the problem occurred from a repair, I am getting another repair for free. We will see how it goes this time. If it dies a third time, maybe I'll try my letter writing skills.

I had to go back in for more service, niknok. This time I paid attention. The test is called the VST (video system test).

I vented in an earlier post, and so will not do so again, other than to say to ALL folks who've had this problem with MBP mid-2010 w/Lion installed, where the screen blacks out and MBP does not respond and requires force quit....it is the logic board...go to the genius bar (if you are lucky enough to be near one), and demand they check this. I spent 4 months in bloody misery trying to figure out what software was causing this mess; the directive of two different genius' who insisted it was NOT hardware, but could only be software. That was the short, invectiveless version of my challenge. ;-)

It has been 2 weeks and it has not occured since, after occurences had accelerated up to 20 times per day. It is the logic board!

Agreeing with casaliberty12, although I haven't had your long-term issues. I was having these random-black-screen-of-death crashes in both Snow Leopard and then in Lion. And despite all efforts of updating everything under the sun and of re-installing the OS, they kept coming, but only probably once or twice per day, and more often soon after waking from sleep. They had originally only started showing up only after I added a full HD external monitor, and the stack trace almost always had an NVidia reference in it somewhere.

Following this thread, and the references to the Apple support pages on it, I took the computer to the nearest Apple Store genius bar, showed them the TS4088 issue printout, got them to verify the issue on my mid-2010 Macbook Pro... and then 3 days later come back to have the mobo replaced, which, given that I live 2 hours away from the store, they were kind enough to do on the same day. Have not had issues since then, although it's only been about a week so far.

Thanks Apple for the free mobo fix of an otherwise-out-of-warranty Macbook Pro.

Have had my mid-2010 macbook pro in for new logic board 2 times already, and now it's acting up again. Just wish Apple would actually fix this. I'm mostly concerned with what happens if the logic board is replaced once again and there is an issue 1-2 years from now. What then? I'm very happy Apple replaced the logic board twice for free, but I'm also loosing alot of man-hours through this. A quick calculation shows: had i worked instead of dealing with this, I could have bought a new MBP.

Besides, I know it's expensive but just recall the computers affected. Would be the right thing to do.

This time around i can't see any kernel panics, it's like the computer continues in the background and i have to hard reset. Anyone else with this issue?

Mine is currently in for repair, via logicboard swap. It failed one of the tests performed at the Genius Bar, and a logicboard replacement is the solution.

I asked what would happen is this didn't fix the problem, and was told there's nothing they can do. They are aware of the problem, and do not yet have a solution.

I'll wait and see what happens, but Apple must eventually provide a fix, new computer, or refund. Those are their only three choices.

I took it in they replaced it and not one Kernal panic. Still on 10.7.3. Seems to be logic boards that are incompatable with Lion and NVDIA, causing them to be defective. If you've ever dealt with HP or Dell, Apple has been a dream compared to the other companies.

Exactly. The Fifth Ave NYC store did the swap repair in 5 hours. Took it in at 11:00 PM expecteed it to take 3 to 5 days it was ready in the morning 6 AM.

Same problem here on my mid 2010 MBP. Since upgrading to Mountain Lion, gfxCardStatus hasn't been so easy to deal with. I have to go through a whole process every time I restart my MBP or else I get the BSOD or a glitchy screen....

I have to start it up on battery. Regardless of where power based switching is set in gfx when on battery, it'll stay on dynamic after starting up. Then with gfx set to integrated when plugged in, I put it to sleep. Once asleep I plug it in and wake it back it up. It'll instantly switch to integrated then without tripping. Then I go switch the gfx settings for battery to integrated only. Then I can have it on battery or plugged in, I just avoid shutting it down or restarting it.

i know this isn't a forum for gfx. I've kept up with this thread and tried everything brought up in here but this is all that works for me. Touching the automatic switching in energy saver never ends well either.

My bigger question is there a way to disable the "discrete" grafics card in a more solidified way. Maybe someway within terminal? GfxCardStatus is good but it's that split second where it first loads after startup that I get screwed. I can't get to a genius bar for a couple months which is the real problem but looking for anything else in the meantime.

I have dealt with this issue for months. Two trips to the Apple store resulted in no helpful diagnostics. Third trip resulted in a new HD. Fourth trip they replaced the logic board.

My computer is now amazing. No crashes. Boots up fast from sleep. And as an unexpected benefit all third party periphriels are being detected faster and are connecting faster.

My guess is the nvidia issue actually throws errors far more often then it causes crashes. The result is a slower machine.

My 2 cents: work with Apple, keep getting your machine tested, be the squeaky wheel, and get a new LB. Once you do, you'll be as happy as you were when you first brought the machine home.