Q: Lion randomly crashes - black screen

Yeap.

I sold my 2008 MBP on ebay because of the graphics issue appering out of the blue with 10.5.5 (if I recall). I got the 2010 MBP only to have the same issue with Lion. Problem is I can't be without a laptop for a day, let alone sending it for LB replacement. Preparing to retrun to Snow Leopard...

Rick Auricchio wrote:

 

My bet is the problem is a defective NVIDIA 330M chip. Why?

 

1. A similar problem happened to the 2008 MBP computers and it was traced to the chip. See http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377

 

2. That problem arose upon release of 10.5 Leopard. This one happened with the release of 10.7 Lion.

 

Each release of the OS often brings a more-powerful video driver, one that pushes more of the graphic processing into the chip. NVIDIA releases a chip, specs out its processing capability, but the OS doesn't yet use it all. Later, the OS catches up as the driver and APIs are revised to take better advantage of the chip's processing ability.

 

Just as Leopard ran into NVIDIA chip bugs, I suspect we're seeing faulty 330M chips.

 

This will take a while to sort out. Nailing the problem requires:  a) a supply of motherboards with defective chips; b) reliable test cases to cause the crash; c) reliable instrumentation of the driver to capture test results. I'll even bet NVIDIA has to provide a specially-instrumented chip or simulator to be able to look inside the chip to examine the firmware for problems.

 

Until the process is completed---and the defective run of chips is identified---motherboard replacements are probably a crapshoot.

 

All of this takes time. As for Apple not announcing "We're working round the clock," that's another issue.

 

As the owner of a Mid-2010 MBP-15 still running 10.6.7, I'm hoping it'll be a firmware or driver update.

Has anyone else been having luck with the most recent betas?

I've been installing each beta and the graphics drivers are updated in each and my system has been getting more stable. WIth the first Lion release it couldn't stay on for more than 5 minutes without crashing. Last week's beta made it work for about 24 hours. This week's now has it going on 3 days without a crash.

Yesterday I made a clean install of Lion again on my macbook pro 2010. It seems more stable now, even using a bunch of apps at the same time (adium, mail, safari, aperture, photoshop...), but once i open photobooth and effects there he goes....

Same problem here with a Mid-2010 MacBook Pro, I'm gonna call Apple tomorrow and see what happens. I am in France.

same here sensodia

are u in Paris ?

Maybe we can go together ?

Same Mac book pro, mid 2010 i7, 8mb. Same photo booth crashes. Apple Store I Dallas wiped hard drive and reinstalled lion. No more photo booth crashes. That surprised me. Found it still crashes when moving photos in iPhoto so now they are replacing logic board.

In my experience, a logic board replacement will not necessarily fix your problem. I know some have had luck with logic board replacements, but others have reported needing several. I have had my logic board replaced now, and my laptop now functions worse then during the original service.  I am assuming the logic board I have in my laptop passed some diagnostic test prior to being sent to the store and passed the ASD following the install into my MBP.

Because of this, I believe ASD and other apple diagnostic tests cannot determine that there is a problem with logic boards. As others have pointed out, Apple probably uses refurbished boards. I would also assume a refurbished board would be a priority as they are cheaper then a new board. So, in getting the logic logic board replaced, it is (with all likelihood) becoming increasingly probable that you will get a faulty board. This increased likelihood would be determined by the number of available refurbished logic boards that can pass ASD or other diagnstic tests.  So as more and more people get their logic boards replaced, it is likely you will have to do this several times.

Good luck, and I hope all of those who were able to get replacements are able to get working MBP. I am not in that boat and have been informed by Apple that I will need to send my laptop in for additional repairs.

Well no, I'm in Toulouse. Sorry about that, I just hope we will find a solution. My Mac warranty is passed over one month but I heard there is a way to get repaired for free because the matter comes from Lion. Croisons les doigts !

Ok sensodia, merci.

Don't feel bad  -  I get the same problem with Snow Leopard . . . . . .

Josh T216---Thanks for keeping us all updated, but it's too bad that you're still having problems with your MBP...It also confirms that in my case, I made the right decision to just sit on my 15", i7, 8MB Pro and just wait it out for a while. In the past 3 weeks I have had no issues with my MBP, even after intensive graphics and multiple program usage. Here's what I did to restore stability---I don't really know if these steps fixed anything at all or if the computer just started working on its own, but perhaps this info will help someone:

• Updated old printer drivers through Lion updates, which seemed to make a big difference
• Updated raw graphics file handling through Lion updates, and this ended my Aperture - overheating problems and crashes
• Repaired permissions several times
• Removed Adobe AIR---it's not compatible with Lion and causes black screens and crashes
• Removed Logmein -- lots of sleep / black screen issues caused by this program
• Reformatted my Snow Leopard Time Machine drive and started fresh with Lion...works great now
• Upgraded Perfect Resize (Genuine Fractels) because the 1 year old program crashed Lion---this was provided by OnOne software for free
• Turned off automatic sleep...I now put the computer to sleep by the sleep command or closing the top...read a 2007 article about how automatic sleep can cause stability problems--(this issue goes all the way back to Leopard)... works great now
• Turned off "automatically reduce brightness before display goes to sleep" option...read about this in that same 2007 article
• Removed VMware 3.1.3 because it caused graphic problems...I've now installed VMware 4, which is finally  compatible with Lion, and everything works great

Good luck everyone...as Lion is upgraded and refined, the above measures probably won't be necessary, but for now everything's OK.

i have had one day now of no crashing, i erased HD reinstalled lion, so far no BSOD, lion working like a dream now, i havent migrated any settings over  from time machine, so ive basically started over,

after returning from the apple store where my problem didnt show i did some looking around and found that when i installed lion it changed my display's refresh rate. After changing the refresh rate back everything is back to normal. I used to have the bsod when using firefox and that is all good now. Also random onscreen video glitches are gone too. I know it sounds minor but its always the little things at are overlooked.I hope this helps somebody

Hey guys,

I've been having the same or similar issue. After I upgraded to OSX Lion, my Macbook Pro 13" randomly crashes and the entire system shuts down. It then becomes unresponsive for the next couple of minutes even when I press the power on button. Later, after some time, it turns on but it refuses to charge. My charger refuses to charge the laptop. But some time later on, it starts to work as well. Sometimes, the opposite happens where the charger doesn't charge and I try to plug it into a different outlet and then the system shuts down even if I have about 30% left.

I am confused about what the issue might be. Any help or people that have been experiencing the same issue?

This is getting beyond ridiculous that there isn't a fix out yet...

My machine crashes dozens of times a day, anything from iTunes store, to Quicktime, to Skype, pretty much anything. Feel like for the first time I want to throw this Apple machine out the window. Ironic that the only fix for me is to run Windows 7 through bootcamp....