Q: Lion randomly crashes - black screen

Read Darren 168's reply.

I had exactly the same experience, Mid 2010 MBP, Clean install of Lion. Constant BSOD.

I had the Logic Board replaced after demonstrating the problem in front of the guy with the Photo Booth method, and it has been fine for 2 weeks now. In fact I can say that I'm enjoying using Lion now that my frustration has subsided.

This is I think 4th update of my case to this thread - and the pain remains. The symptoms are MBP mid 2010, i7, BSOD after Lion installation.

I have had the logic board replaced, with no effect. Laptop returned with keyboard not working so went back to service straight away.

Returned again with keyboard OK (unseated connector) and Lion still crashing evry 10 minutes. Was told officialy, that this is NOT a hardware issue and will be resolved by Lion update in the future. Was instructed to roll back to Snow Leopard to have a usable laptop.

I installed 10.6.8 on a clean partition and it shows the exact same symptoms (random BSOD during browsing, photobooth, even when idle.)

I called Apple again, and demanded a new laptop as this one is unusable for over a month and there seems to be no OS stable enough. The tech on the phone had me explain the whole story and concluded IT HAS TO BE a hardware problem and that I have to take it in for service again. Since I have a written statement from the last service that it's not a HW issue and that they have nothing to fix, Apple told me to go to a different service.

The laptop is there now for another 5 days already with no news.

This whole thing is beyond ridiculuous, and I can not imagine bying another macbook ever again....

Hi.

I am sorry to hear your view on the logic board replacement and still with no fix.

This can be very concerning.

There are three ways Apple can resolve this issue;

1. Firmware update.

2. Software update

* The good news is, there may be a new MacBook Pro on the horizon this October. Hopefully that will resolve your issue. Let's hope you can receive this as a replacement.

This is very frustrating. I open mail, BSOD. Fullscreen, BSOD. Photobooth, BSOD. Mouse gesture, BSOD. Laptop is by itself, BSOD.. Why apple? Why? Apple should address this, it's not fair to us. I would not have upgraded to Lion if I had known, cuz people who seem to downgrade back to leopard still have this same issue. So, i'm guessing it has to do with the new firmware that came with the Lion. This can be resolved with an update for sure. It just ***** that apple is quiet about it. Thats not a good public relation.

Btw, i'm also using a MacBook Pro Mid 2010 i7.

Not only frustrating!!

I CAN'T work! I need the graphic card. 2k Euros only for web surfing?

it annoys me double because my previous MacBook also had the same problem with 10.5.x (as mentioned earlier in the thread). It makes me think that Apple engineering just can't cope with the complexity of these modern systems. Kind of back to the days of 8.5 with Mr Gil.

Nevertheless, folks we need to keep calm, until there is something official.

The solution for now is "gfxCardStatus". Not optimal, but it is keeping my Mac alive.  When I need the speed I plug in the external monitor.

The external monitor don't work with integrated card for me after sleep.

you need to switch to Discrete Only just before pluggin in. Make sure you quit all apps before you do so. Ialso have sleep OFF when on power.

hey guys, same issues here, mid 2010 macbook pro i7.

have been following the thread for a while now. only workaround working for me: gfxCardStatus on "Integrated". I am in Germany, and in my city we only have resellers (no apple store). I talked with two of their technicians, no help to be found, they knew nothing about the problem did some hardware testing and said, the hardware was okay. I would like to exchange my GPU/motherboard since your experiences have proven to mostly have a successful ending with a new logic board.

my question: anyone else from Germany who successfully did this, and if yes, how? how can I get these guys to give me a new motherboard when they are saying, the motherboard is fine?

Here is an update on my situation (I'm in the US):

I am still having multiple BSOD, even with simple tasks such as deleting messages in mail.app; and I can use the PhotoBooth method to make it crash.

My original plan was to wait a while, since the Genius Bar people said they couldn't fix it. But today I decided to call Apple Care again.

They offered a mail-in repair at no charge to me (I am out of warranty). She said this way it is "guaranteed to be repaired." Given the reports from other members here, I am taking that with a grain of salt. I am not going to count on it being fixed this time around. But ... the good thing for me (as far as I can tell) is that after they "repair" it, there is no doubt that it is their problem, and they can't come back to me and charge me for it. It may be highly inconvenient to get it fixed ... but I have hope that it eventually will be.

I'll post here with an update on the results.

Just an update on my situation.

I am also on a mid-2010 15" i7 MBP.

After upgrading to 10.7.1 things seemed to get even worse. BSOD with the Photo Booth trick and just BSOD randomly all over the place. At one point I could not even start up the machine. Did an install over the web using the recovery features of Lion. Had it running for a while until the BSOD's returned.

Ended up doing a clean install of SL. Now everything runs perfectly again.

I wish that Apple would make an official statement about this issue. That's the least they could do.

Hi Rich if i were you... if they can't fix it they should give you a replacement cloned machine for use in the interum. I'm sure if i went and bought a new car and the engine kept breaking down they'd either fix it or if waiting for the manufacturer to come up with a solution then they'd give me a rental. It amazes me that apple (with certain people) keep saying that we should "wait for a software update" and they don't have any idea when that update is going to be, if ever!

wired00 wrote:

 

Hi Rich if i were you... if they can't fix it they should give you a replacement cloned machine for use in the interum. I'm sure if i went and bought a new car and the engine kept breaking down they'd either fix it or if waiting for the manufacturer to come up with a solution then they'd give me a rental. It amazes me that apple (with certain people) keep saying that we should "wait for a software update" and they don't have any idea when that update is going to be, if ever!

Because the machine became unreliable, I already migrated to a new one. The troublesome one will become my wife's computer as soon as it gets sorted out.

You are right in principle that I should ask for one to use ... but I'm just not going to bother with it.

I agree that the "wait for an update" is not a good answer ... but you have to admit that for low-level support, they probably don't have anything else that they can do / say. I actually feel bad for the first line support people that have to hear complaints without being able to do anything about it. I think it is important for us to remember that the first  person who answers the phone rarely has the authority to do anything at all.

Ahh yeah i totally agree, also feel bad for those guys. and lets face it, i'm sure most people calling support are calling because they have a problem or complaint

Have you asked to speak with a senior? I ended up being put through to a guy who gave his direct extension number and dealt with the whole matter. He had me install lion fresh to a external USB drive to confirm no extraneous software was the problem etc. anyways good luck with it all

downloading new seed 10.7.2 build 11C62.

considering "- GraphicsDrivers" is listed as a focus area, i m sure they will be working on it.