Q: Lion randomly crashes - black screen

Thanks for the info Bmmodyvid. I know iStyle, iStore is new to me but those are re-sellers and they wont do it free. If this is the case, i can visit iCity in Kuwait but the charges would be high while i'm entitled for a free service by Apple in my case.

Hey guys.

When you go to iStore you need to quote the KB article. Try CDA ( Computer Direct Access ) and GraphiTech.

I know a lot of people in these companies so if you showcase the exact issue perhaps they can help.

My second year in Dubai I had a HD faliure and was still under warranty. I contacted Apple and they are the ones that told me to go to iStore which fixed it under the warranty, no issues.

Well well. Here goes. Mid-2009 MBP. Orginally Leopard.

1) Hardware test done and passed.

2) Boot with cmd+r

3) Erasing the disk fully with disk utility

4) Clean install downloading new Lion from net

Let's see whether BSOD still exists with the operating system only.

Keeping you posted in few days.

-w-

I installed the graphics update last week and everything seemed to work fine. Until it crashed again. I was not doing anything really weired. I tried my best the first days to crash it, using all possible tricks I could think of, and nothing, but then last saturday, in the middle of a trip, just waking from sleep and changing spaces, I got the BSOD.

After that I haven't been able to reproduce it again, but the crash log looks about the same, so I'm pretty sure it's the same problem, just more difficult to generate. In any case, I don't want a computer I can't trust, so I'm going to do as much as possible to get this fixed once and for all.

I've already contacted the guy they assigned to my case, and I'm waiting for his answer on how to proceed.

Update on my repair progress.

Part ordered last Wednesday, delivered on Friday. Dropped off MBP on Friday at noon. Was told 1-3 days for repair. Called Sunday evening hoping to pick it up because i need it for work on Monday, and still not finished. Here it's Monday afternoon at 4pm and I called them again. They said it wont be ready until tomorrow (Tuesday) morning.

Just a word of warning, if you use your machine for work like I do, plan for a long wait. I'm going to assume it's the holiday weekend that screwed my repair time.

Hey guys, I wanted to share with you my experience. I have a mid-2010 15-inch MBP that was having the BSOD event and this was temporarily fixed by gfxCardStatus. I installed the Video Update 1.0 and thought that the issue was fixed. But after a day or so, I continue to have the BSOD and there seemed to be more of them. So I called AppleCare. By the way, when you set up the call online, you can select an exemption so that they will not charge you for the call. The people I spoke with agreed to do this by mail but then I was told that they were having a hard time setting this up because my warranty was expired so that I should go and talk to a Genius. Fortunately, the BSOD happened many times in the Apple Store and the tech saw it twice. But then he ran initial tests which were normal. He took my machine back and ran further test which was normal. The he then asked me to leave the machine and ran further tests and these were again normal. He then called me on the phone and said that since my machine passed the software diagnostic test, I didn't qualify for the extended warranty. Furthermore, he said that since my Mac was manufactured a couple of months before, April 2010, it really doesn't qualify.

He recommended that I do a clean install and if that fails, I can pay something like $310 for a flat repair fee, or something like that.

I'm quite disapointed. I felt really good when I read the Apple bulletin but it seems like they are very stingy with actually repairing the Mac for free. Any suggestions?

It sounds like you have an nVidia 9600m, the follow-on to the ill-fated 8600m. I do not recall any recall issues over the 9600m but I suppose that they could just be failing now. I think that you need to see if there are others with the older nVidia card seeing problems.

I'm curious to know what the breakdowns are:

Of all those who are having this problem, how many had their computer diagnosed by Apple's TS4088 diagnostic?  How many were told their computer "passed" the test (and therefore not qualified for the service)?

Of all those whose computers were diagnosed, how many are under warranty and/or Apple Care? And of all those who were told their computer did not qualify for the service, how many are NOT under warranty or Apple Care?

My laptop passed whatever tests they ran. No idea if it was the TS4088 test. My warranty had ended a couple of months ago but the Genius still gave me the repair for free because he felt it fell under the replacement program outlined in that KB article. If you guys feel that you aren't being given fair treatment for this, talk to a manager.

I have had 2 logic board replacements and I still have a steaming pile of junk.

I have made the call to go back to windows and my mac is now used purely as a portable hard drive to serve files to my appletv.

It is disappointing to make this call but after hours spent wasting my time with apple techs in australia, and days spent without a pc while its in passing whatever diagnostics they have while it still has issues I cant afford the wasted time and while i could pursue court action under our consumer laws I just dont have the time to faff around while they go out of their way to make this as difficult as possible with little to no followup unless requested....

So for now I use my 3 year old Sony Vaio that works like a dream till I can afford to replace the mac with either another Sony or something else windows based with actual customer support.

Given my ability to waste money on techonology like its water its a shame their customer service skills or lack thereof really let me down.

Thanks for nothing Apple. Good luck to those still holding out for a fix.

In my case the genius said the same thing until I showed him the Software Update logs. Then he just said that my computer did not qualifiy because it passed the test and that the black screen at log in issue is normal because his MacBook does it as well. I wonder how things would have gone down if I had the extended AppleCare warranty.

I feel that Apple does not care for their customers if they don't buy the AppleCare extended warranty.

DragonBeer wrote:

 

The genius took my MBP in the back and said my MBP did not qualify for logic board replacement, and said I had not installed Software Updates.  Which was a complete lie, because I made sure to do that before going in, knowing that would be something they would ask me. 

Aperture User 1837 wrote:

 

Furthermore, he said that since my Mac was manufactured a couple of months before, April 2010, it really doesn't qualify.

That's just a terrible excuse to not give the free repair. I would demand to speak with the store manager. Just to provide light on the subject if your MacBook Pro has an nVidia 330m GPU with automatic graphics switching, no matter what the genius says your computer should qualify for the repair. To check your MacBook Pro's graphics cards go to Apple Menu> About This Mac> More Information> System Report, or type "System Report" on Spotlight. When the app opens look in the sidebar and click on "Displays/Graphics". There you should see the graphics cards that are inside your MacBook Pro. Again if you have the nVidia 330m GPU, you qualify for the repair.

Aperture User 1837 wrote:

 

I'm quite disapointed. I felt really good when I read the Apple bulletin but it seems like they are very stingy with actually repairing the Mac for free. Any suggestions?

I think this is the general sentiment for most customers who don't have AppleCare

Michael Moy2 wrote:

 

feels like you are talking to a brick wall.

I felt that way when I had the misfortune to talk to an Apple Genius Bar member.

is there a reliable way to reproduce the bsod afther the update? I can't reproduce it via photobooth but i still get the random bsod every day or two

a reliable reproduction would be crucial when demonstrating it to apple to get a logic board replacement.