Q: Lion randomly crashes - black screen

For some the problem only occurs under Lion, for many others, the problem manifested under Snow Leopard. I myself started experiencing this issue under SL and did a clean install suspecting something had gone wrong with the installation/hard drive. I then upgraded to Lion, which on the first boot I got the BSOD twice, and then constantly simply browsing, installing my programs. Went back to SL and the issue occurrs less frequently.

Lion seems to exacerbate the dormant hardware issue on 2010/early 2011 MBPs. For some switching back to SL makes it go away, for others the BSODs continue to occur even after switching back.

With many people reporting only a logic board, several logic board replacements or a new machine being the only things that seem to fix the problem. What's really interesting is that varying causes, simply typing, moving the trackpad, seemingly happeing more while plugged in or charging(which seems to be a issue with the power and sensors), happens using either the integrated graphics or the dedicated card, waking, putting the system to sleep, booting.

Tho, the fix that Apple is working on, will probably be some sort of software/firmware/driver workaround that prevents the system from stressing the hardware and causing the issue. After the nVidia graphics card debacle with the 07/08 models, Apple undoubtedly will be trying to elimante anything that points to defective hardware as being the cause, with the entire 2010/11 model spec being effected, a recall on the effected systems would be fairly costly.

The problem seems more and more to be purely a hardware issue, the biggest indicator being, that the only thing that seems to fix the issue right off, is a new machine, or several logic board replacements(indicating Apple's stock pile of replacement parts also have this issue; unless Apple techs are replacing a different item and simply telling customers that they replaced the logic board).

Two steps forward - One step back

I had some progress in regards to BSOD that I would say is two steps forward one step back

1. Background. Mac Book Pro mid 2010, i7, 8GB ram. BSOD if running with dynamic switching. Can invoke the the BSOD with the Photo Booth

2. I called support and they asked me to

3. Turn off the computer

4. Keep SHIFT CRL OPTION and POWER down for 15 seconds. (they timed me).

5. Start the computer with SHIFT pressed down all the time until I get the login screen.

6. Upon logging in try to start Photo Booth - and it did not work as the camera would not start. I guess in safe mode there is no driver for the camera

7. Restart  the computer normally and try Photo Booth - and suprise - it worked, no BSOD.

This looked like progress - perhaps nothing is broken.

Some 20 minutes later I tried Phot Booth again and - back - BSOD - so the fix was temporary.

I called support again and they aske me to

1. Creater a new account on the computer

2. Log into this "test account"

3. Try Photo Booth - and it worked - no BSOD.

4. Log out and remvoe the test account and try Photo Booth again - it worked again. No BSOD.

Once again it worked until today and I tried Photo Booth again - new BSOD.  This time I recorded what I did with my phone as aksed by the tech (he asked me to take screen shots and save the logs.

So I guess the only way to save a screen shot of a BSOD is to recor it with a camera.

So two steps forward and one step back. There seems to be a way to temporarely stop the BSOD by either resetting the computer or using a different accoount.

I dont know if this proves someting is not "permanenty broken" on my logic board - but that its an error that is "built up" over a short period of time and then there is a BSOD.

I have booked a new time with the tech tomrrow monday to report the latest BSOD and see how I am to send them the log + the video of the Photo Booth creating the BSOD.

/TheH

I'm also experiencing this problem with the black screen. Apple has posted a KB article here: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4086.

In another thread, someone posted about it happening because of the switching between the two graphics cards in the MacBook Pro mid-2010. So I was wondering if the problem is occurring when the graphics card switches, maybe unchecking the option "Automatic Graphics Switching" in the Energy Saver Preferences and only using the higher performance card can be a temporally fix. It says it might decrease battery life but if it works, I think it's worth it until Apple fixes this problem. I've been trying for a few hours and I'll post back tomorrow if there's any improvement.

myimagination - MacBookPro 15" Mid2010 | MacOS10.7.2.

One more Feb '11 MB pro with the black screen issue, right after downloading this stupid update 2 days ago. Computer worked smoothly so far, under Lion OS X till this update. Now even a restore to prior lion version, still causes the exact same problems. Trying right now to downgrade to SL in order to have an at least stable machine until sending it to official reseller for checking. Although apple refers just to 15 inch MBPros in its announcement, mine is a 13 inch. Hope, for them, it's not a hardware prob. Computer still under warranty. If it needs to be replaced, this would be my 2nd on 3 apple products with hardware issues. Ipad and a problematic screen was the first one. Only iPhone works as promised, so far. A dissapointing immitation of PC's habbits, makes everyone considerable on Apple's products and methods...

That's embarassing...

Athens, Greece

Same problem on a MBP i5 mid 2010 since Lion. 10.7.2 is not a fix.

On Snow Leopard, never had such problems.

Thanks to you I found a temporary solution.

Problems :

- My Mac stop responding randomly, most of the time when it gets back from sleep.

- I can invoke the problem if I don't type my password on the starter screen after a few seconds.

Solution : unchecking the option "Automatic Graphics Switching" in the Energy Saver Preferences and disabling gfxcardstatus solved the problem of the starter screen.

For me, the cause seems to be the automatic switching on Lion.

Just finished Snow Leopard installation. Black screen once again. Update simply screwed my computer.

Ok, last time the problem was with 10.7.1. BSOD only with lion. Only fix was gfxCardStatus. Now I'm on 10.7.2, the only fix is the same, but now, I can't even use windows on bootcamp : I have black or blue screen all the time. I'm very very very angry.

selecting only the integrated video using gfxCardStatus has "fixed" the issue for me. i haven't gotten a BSOD since. is there a difference between using gfxCardStatus and unchecking the option "Automatic Graphics Switching" in the Energy Saver Preferences?

Is one or the other more efficient in terms of battery life?

I'm having the same problems with a MacBook Pro (Mid 2010) with the NVIDIA 330M GT and since i got lion i'm getting freezes, blackscreens and crashes. I hope apple get a solution for this soon, i can't work anymore on this computer.

I'm really disapointed with this, it's my first mac..

Integrated video (intel) should use less power but not be as fast as discrete(nvidia). That's why it's there.

I have the same problem on my MacBook pro 2010 15" 2,53ghz.

Frequent BSOD and freeze. I think like you that the problem comes from the graphic switch.

When i only use the nvidia card i don't have any probem.

Lion is note made to bloc the Intel card, it need to switch for performances and autonomi.

Have you got the same problem when lion boot ? The apple don't go up and Mac freeze after 5 seconds if i don't tap my password

I had problems with BSOD, crashes, and freezes when upgrading to Lion more than a couple of months ago...I have Apple Care ,and I received "the box" to send my computer in for service. I never sent it in...instead, I started examining the crash logs in the library files and in the console app and found out what was casing the crashes...Adobe Air, VMware 3.1.3, Flash, and Flash again, printer drivers, and raw graphics file handling, which was upgraded by Apple. Also, I has having tons of blue tooth kernel panics caused by having a 3G mini-cell tower within 2 feet of my computer..( this was to improve my cell phone reception.)

So, this is what I did...I removed Adobe Air completely, I completely removed and then installed the upgrade to VMware, VMware 4 for Lion, upgraded the Flash player a couple of times, finally got new printer drivers from Lion / Apple, installed the raw file handling upgrade from Apple, and I moved the 3G mini cell tower to another room. The result was a stable computer with no more crashes. I've been stable for about 5 weeks now, so hopefully I'm OK now.

Lion is a great OS, but IMHO, it is way more sensitive to errant, old, or just plain bad software than Snow Leopard ever was. Of course there are MBPs with genuine hardware problems, but I also think that software is causing a lot of issues as well. For example, Adobe Flash was causing NVDA (InVidia) errors all over the place, but was completely resolved with a Flash upgrade. Try examining your logs to see if you can find out what is going on, especially if you are out of warranty.

here is the kernel log filtered for "nvda", i think the problem is right here, take a look:

Oct  5 16:05:49 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct  5 18:24:41 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct  5 19:43:50 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct  6 02:37:35 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel timeout!

Oct  6 10:53:10 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct  6 14:06:04 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct  6 16:56:50 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct  7 00:50:33 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct  7 10:50:22 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct  7 22:32:20 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct  8 19:11:07 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct  9 09:59:45 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct  9 13:27:36 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct  9 16:24:51 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct  9 18:12:37 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct  9 23:33:33 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct 10 10:55:55 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct 10 18:43:49 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct 10 23:37:16 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0xd = GR: SW Notify Error

Oct 10 23:37:16 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 10 23:37:36 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel timeout!

Oct 10 23:38:46 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 10 23:38:46 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 10 23:39:06 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel timeout!

Oct 10 23:41:46 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 10 23:41:46 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 10 23:42:07 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel timeout!

Oct 10 23:44:31 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 10 23:44:31 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 10 23:44:51 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel timeout!

Oct 10 23:45:18 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 10 23:45:18 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 10 23:45:38 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel timeout!

Oct 10 23:49:26 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 10 23:49:26 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 10 23:49:46 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel timeout!

Oct 10 23:50:13 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 10 23:50:13 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 10 23:50:33 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel timeout!

Oct 10 23:51:21 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 10 23:51:21 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 10 23:51:41 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel timeout!

Oct 10 23:54:06 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 10 23:54:06 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 10 23:54:26 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel timeout!

Oct 10 23:55:47 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 10 23:55:47 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 10 23:56:07 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel timeout!

Oct 11 00:00:03 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 11 00:00:03 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 11 00:00:23 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel timeout!

Oct 11 00:07:38 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 11 00:07:38 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 11 00:07:58 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel timeout!

Oct 11 00:08:26 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 11 00:08:26 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 11 00:08:46 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel timeout!

Oct 11 00:29:00 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 11 00:29:00 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 11 00:29:20 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel timeout!

Oct 11 00:32:11 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 11 00:32:11 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 11 00:32:31 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel timeout!

Oct 11 10:18:47 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct 11 16:49:52 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0xd = GR: SW Notify Error

Oct 11 16:49:52 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 11 16:50:13 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel timeout!

Oct 11 16:50:16 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 11 16:50:33 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel timeout!

Oct 11 16:50:37 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 11 16:50:37 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x1a = Fifo: FBISTATE Timeout Error

Oct 11 16:50:38 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x1a = Fifo: FBISTATE Timeout Error

Oct 11 16:50:38 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x1a = Fifo: FBISTATE Timeout Error

Oct 11 16:50:58 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel timeout!

Oct 11 16:51:38 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel timeout!

Oct 11 17:04:48 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0xd = GR: SW Notify Error

Oct 11 17:04:48 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x1 = Fifo: Fifo Method Error

Oct 11 17:05:12 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel timeout!

Oct 11 17:09:28 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0xd = GR: SW Notify Error

Oct 11 17:09:28 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x3 = Fifo: Unknown Method Error

Oct 11 17:18:09 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct 11 19:25:51 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 11 19:25:55 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(Video): Channel exception! exception type = 0x1a = Fifo: FBISTATE Timeout Error

Oct 11 19:27:20 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct 12 10:29:55 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct 12 17:35:40 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct 12 17:53:09 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel timeout!

Oct 12 17:53:53 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel timeout!

Oct 12 17:54:53 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct 12 19:24:44 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct 12 21:32:52 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: Couldn't alloc class "NVDAPreset"

Oct 12 21:38:25 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct 13 10:52:15 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct 14 14:24:09 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 14 14:25:45 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct 15 14:06:45 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct 15 16:17:22 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct 16 16:00:08 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

Oct 16 19:04:43 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

Oct 16 19:07:49 localhost kernel[0]: NVDANV50HAL loaded and registered.

By looking at entries such as the following:

: Oct 10 23:41:46 MacBook-Pro-de-Joao-Malveiro kernel[0]: NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x6 = Fifo: Parse Error

It certainly looks like a InVidia problem, but it could be software or hardware (or even firmware) related. You can't do anything about the hardware or firmware, but you can start to zero in on possilbe software issues. Have you updated Flash yet? If not, do so right away:

http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

Your errors point to open GL errors. What were you doing when these errors or the crash occurred? Were you playing a game or browsing on the Internet? By trying to analyze what you were doing, the error logs do give a lot of clues. Here's a little info about open GL from Wikipedia:

OpenGL (Open Graphics Library)[3] is a standard specification defining a cross-language, cross-platform API for writing applications that produce 2D and 3D computer graphics. The interface consists of over 250 different function calls which can be used to draw complex three-dimensional scenes from simple primitives. OpenGL was developed by Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) in 1992[4] and is widely used in CAD, virtual reality, scientific visualization, information visualization, flight simulation, and video games. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenGL

Yes i have the last version of flash. Usually i'm on facebook when happens, i'm just using safari and i get freezes and BSOD when macbook gets back from sleep.

Past in Snow Leopard i had flickering and a two or tree frezees, but now its just impossible to trust this computer to do some work...