Q: Lion randomly crashes - black screen

Exact same issue here. MBP 2010 Core i5 NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M. Just upgraded to Lion 10.7.2 from 10.6.8 yesterday and I've had two BSODs and never any prior to the upgrade. I'm attempting to force the integrated GPU only using gfxCardStatus to see if that helps. I was using dynamic switching under 10.6.8 and initially on 10.7.2.

as i mentioned a few hundred posts before, i have the same issue on my mid 2010 MAC PRO(!). Never had problems with SL und after the upgrade to Lion my MP f*cked up.

At one day i recognized that the BSOD is related to the temperature, we had 35 degree and then a drop to 20 and the BSOD doesn't happen. I installed smcFancontrol, keep the temperature below 33 degree and the MP is running for weeks without any problems. When i disable fan control and the temperature goes beyond 35 degrees, i have an BSOD within minutes.

So, the fix for me (my view on apple) and my Mac Pro is: cool down...

Give it a try and run the MBP in the fridge ;-)

Chris

MBP 2010 Core i& NVIDIA GeFORCE GT 330M. Same issue, 10.7.2 and we still have this problem? gfxcardstatus completely fixes my problem, thought 10.7.2 would address the issue, uninstalled the program and within a 4 day I have had 3 hard crashes. Reinstalled gfxcardstatus, sighing relief but annoyed.

Follow up call today with senior Apple service - confirmed as detailed in previous posts that Apple has determined this is an engineering/manufacturing issue and once Apple has a fix, a firmware will be updated. No time frame given. I'm glad for gfxcardstatus, without this, my computer would be totally unusable. Surprised this is not making bigger new or urgency, wonder if this is a very low number of units affected?

Judging by the number of people replying to this thread and especially the number of views in this thread, one can asssume a lof of people are affected. just think of all the people who don't even know about this thread..

I'd go as far as to say the entire 15" i5/i7 mid2010 mbp line is affected.

Having the same issue MBP 2010 2.3 I5 4GB. 10.7.2

I tried gfxcardstatus , no go.

I tried removing all startup items

I am unable to run the Lion Recovery Update, but that at least keeps the machine up in normal mode : )

I am only stable in safe mode

BSOD in normal mode within 5-10 minutes, sometimes sooner.

My VM is toast...unable to load driver.

As everyone in this thread, @PaulFord, I have many crashes of my MBP 15' Mid 2010. You've said tha Gfxcardstatus helps you in this issue. How do you configure your GFXcardstatus? I've installed it in my MBP but still have some crashes.

Do I have to change something in the System Preferences? Please help me, not as Apple up to now.

Thank you very much.

I'm having exactly the same problem with the very same version of MacBook Pro (15'', i7 2,66, Nvidia 330M). I installed gfxcardstatus to prevent further crashes until we get a fix.

I went black sometimes activating mission control. I guess the problem is when switching cards, specially when activating the nvidia graphic card.

Never tried with an external monitor though.

you have to disable the option to turn off your screen (sleep) after time, because the crash could come right after waking from sleep.

Unfortunately I got BSoD after 4-5 hours of work, 2nd after 20 minutes after restart, and this time my Mac couldn't boot OS at all... Tried installing Ubuntu again - this time 11.10, but again, with no success with using it. It seams that when Ubuntu wants to switch to nVidia card it prints an error for a second and then goes to login screen, with all apps closed, so it's almost useless to use it.

I installed fresh Lion 10.7.2 with gfxCardStatus and smcFanControl, so I will return to testing after work

Hope Apple will get a fix till weekend...

Thank you to all the people who have posted to this thread over the months. I've be going crazy trying to figure out this issue on my MBP 2010 15" Core i5 NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M. I have wasted so much time. It's clear from what's posted here that this is my issue too. I'll try the suggested fixes, but as I use a 27" cinema display they won't totally solve my problem.

If Apple don't issue a fix for this soon, I am going to be forced either downgrade to Snow Leopard, or sell this unit (with Snow Leopard installed) and buy a new one. Not happy

Well... a little late, but I've been following a similar thread and I didn't know about this one...

My MBP6.2 (15" mid 2010) was also having logon freezes and eventual crashes (multilanguage transparent crash window, specially when I hit the power button to bring on the shutdown/restart dialog) that required hard power off. As many have already said, it was not happening before the Lion install, so I'm pretty sure it can be addressed via software fix/patch. It seems Apple is addressing this issue by changing complete motherboards just as is this was a hardware fault... it isn't... Maybe the problem with the NVIDIA GPU appears witn some functions that are used differently in Snow Leopard, or that are not being used at all... In that case, I'm sure they can just say so and issue an official statement saying wich GPU revisios are affected, so people don't feel completely abandoned as we've felt.

I have to say that enabling autologon is NOT an acceptable workaround for a laptop computer, that can be lost/stolen and in which you happen to store important data... What's the point on installing a new "upgraded" OS that offers better security if you left the BIG door open? Besides, disabling AGS seems NOT to be an acceptable workaround either... What's the point on paying for a dual-GPU machine in order to extend battery life and not being able to use such function? So I don't want to use an OS that forces me to stop using a feature I paid for in the first place... That's not the right mean for "upgrade", at least not for me...

Since I have gfxcardstatus in my machine, the problem was severely damped (only eventual freezes/crashes) but it was still there, and the worst of all is I seemed to be using just a couple of all those brand new "250 features" of Lion, so I took the hard decision and switched back to Snow Leopard... I'm glad I did... I'm not missing anything from Lion (even when Apple intentionally excluded iCloud support from their own OSes previos to Loin.. I was not intending to use iCloud anyway) Since I "downgraded" I've noticed not only freezes and crashes are gone, but also that my MBP is booting/shutting down much faster, running cooler, working quickly (SBB on Safari, XCode, etc. are gone) and all that made me come to Apple... I'm keeping an eye on future Lion revisions, but I'm not thinking about "upgrading" anytime soon.

Hope the issue gets solved and best wishes for everyone...

Hi guys, I've been visiting this thread religiously until I solved this issue almost 2 months ago. Since there are still so many people having this issue I think I should contribute as it may helped some of you guys here.

It was definitely the Logic Board issue. At least in my case as I could also re-create the BSOD in Snow Leopard. We seriously shouldn't need to go so far as to trying out Nvidia beta drivers or use gfxstatus to contain this issue.

Here is my story:

Like all of you, I have a MBP 15" 2010. BSOD started happening very frequently after I upgraded to Lion. I brought it to an Apple repair center and got it checked. After diagnosing they said my HD needed to be replaced but I was sure it wasn't the problem, and I got my MBP back with Snow Leopard installed.

I went home and immediately installed Lion and ****, the BSOD still persisted. I wasn't satisfied with just SL since I paid for Lion but still couldn't use it. So I switched back to SL, opened a few high quality photos and zoomed them in. Miraclely, the photos could only zoom to a certain degree before my MBP went poof! BSOD was upon me even on Snow Leopard!

I made sure I could re-create the BSOD, went back to the repair center and insisted them to change the Logic Board. The customer rep told me that replacing the Logic board may not solve this issue but I pressed on. Granted, I had the extended warranty so I was safe.

For those who still has the warranty, I suggest to go change your Logic Board.

Is Apple aware of this issue??? Early 2008 MBP 10.7.2. I am a OSX 10.7 user since it came out, but last night i was watching some videos on you tube and then BOOOMMMM. The screen got frozen with random pixels creating  some kind of modern art. Coursor remained responsive but no luck with any action. I have done everything (cntr-command-P-R), eject the battery and then press the power button for several seconds, repaired the disk permissions. It happened one more time. I NEED TO WORK WITH CONFIDENCE FFS and not spend 2000 pounds again or buy a bulky ugly PC.

UPDATE on my situation:

Briefly - In total, I had three logic boards, memory and a display screen all replaced. The problem still persisted. When I got my MBP back from Apple the last time Apple had installed gfxstatus and created a new user account.

The tech stated that it appeared to be "stable" when using gfxstatus.

I got my computer home and immediately noticed that my MBP would still BSOD whilst trying to startup. I had to restart my MBP, hope it would not crash and then - yes it appeared to be stable once up and running if utilizing gfxstatus.

Needless to say I was not very happy with this as being the fix, so I rang Apple and told them that my consumer rights afford me the protection that I can expect Apple to either fix the problem, replace the computer or refund my money.

After all the attempted repairs and then Apple having to install third party software that disables certain functions of my computer is NOT the same as fixing it. I demanded a replacement. I had to wait a few days for my answer, but I got what I wanted on Sunday. A phone call from Apple that I would be given a new MBP.

I got a call today to say my new 2.2GHz 4GB 750 Serial ATA Drive AMD Radeon HD 6750M MBP is ready to be picked up.

My advise to you all:

Expect AND demand better from Apple.

If your having your repairs done by Apple and they are being covered under warranty - stop wasting your time and demand your replacement product or your money back now.

As for Apple - well they did offer very courteous customer service - And I'm still a fan boy - even if it took me putting my foot down to actually get them to finally act the way they probably should have all along.

Hope this helps some of you guys out.