Q: Lion randomly crashes - black screen

FWIW, Ive turned off graphics switching, so far Ive not had a black screen, but I have had a couple of freezes....Also, I seen to be getting better battey life...That sounds like it would be incorrect, but it sure seems like life is better...

I have a 15 inch mid 2010 macbook pro and I just started having problems with this same thing. First of all when I closed the lid, it never goes into sleep mode. I can still hear the fan and the bottom gets very hot. Then when I open it, my password screen shows up for a brief moment and the whole display goes black.

I haven't changed any settings and my the energy saver mode is suppose to be on.

I've never had problems with this until now. I have Mac OS X 10.7.3. I'm afraid to ask Apple anything because they'll charge me for something when I can probably fix it myself I just need to know what to do.

Hey Bethani G, there's a bunch of pieces of advice out there on possible causes for you MBP not going to sleep; most of the ones I found (through using Google) have been related to having certain features being enabled, especially ones related to "Sharing".

I advise you start off there, but in case those don't work for you (because I had a similar problem and they didn't work for me), try setting "hibernatemode" to 0, using the "pmset" command in terminal. Also, I'm assuming that you have no problem using Terminal; if you're not too into command-line instructions then let me know and I can walk you through it, step-by-step.

N.B. One thing you need to know is that if you set "hibernatemode" to 0, then you are essentially telling your MBP that if it runs out of power (0% battery and no power source available), then it won't hibernate, instead it will just shut down. The upside though is that OS X Lion has the ability of restoring all your open windows after a restart, so I don't really see why the hibernation feature is still included in this version of the OS; to be safe, just make sure that you save your work regulary. If you're like me, being power cautious and you never let your battery run out and almost always have a power source close by, then you should be safe.

I honestly just hope that OS X 10.8 "Mountain Lion" fixes all these issues, and eventually we can all put this dismay behind us.

As posted earlier in this thread, I just had my second logic board change, and unlike the first change, this second one works till now without any issue of BSoD so far.

My MBP Mid 2010 15" is still within the 3 year extended warranty, so no $$$ get ripped off for both the Logic Board swappings.

Meanwhile, Apple actually extended the repair for Mid 2010 MBP 15" for this same issue (as posted by someone in the thread), so quickly check for your eligibility and ask for a logic board swap. And just keep changing until the problem is gone, and never ever compromise to pay for any thing, as Apple suppose to be fully responsible for such fundamental flaws in the OS and Hardware.

Hi TN- Johnny. The only sharing I have on is bluetooth and file. I don't know what i'd be having these issuses now when I've had this MBP for almost 2 years. I could try the terminal thing. I would need to know what to write though so I know I don't mess it up. I've done a few things in the terminal before but only when I really need to.

If I would though I don't think the power shutting down would  be a problem since I almost always keep my MBP plugged in anyway.

I've read online that getting a new logic board could fix the problem. But that sounds like a major repair. and I can't afford to pay for that or not have my laptop around for less than a day with school and such.

Ugh. I hope Apple fixes these things better in the future.

Hi,

In other thread (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1916253?) Adel Sabry has posted a procedure related with some freezes and NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! messages in Console.

Best.

PS: It's in page 28.

JCastilloS, thanks for that tip... I was actually considering digging into the KEXTs to do some testing, and apparently Adel Sabry pinpointed it,a nd the channel exception does seem to be the culprit behind all this mayhem. Apple do have a history of having flaky power management KEXTs, as I remember now very clearly from my hackintosh days... Thanks for the tip!

So far I've reset my settings to their factory defaults (undid all tweaks) and I'm testing it now. Been running my Mid-2010 MBP since your post yesterday having removed the AppleGraphicsPowerManagement KEXT, and so far so good.

Hi Everyone,

I found a way how to reproduce BSOD on 15" 2010 mid. macbook Pro.

So, first some information about my laptop:

  Sudden Motion Sensor:

Part of error message after reboot:

panic(cpu 3 caller 0xffffff7f80955907): NVRM[0/1:0:0]: Read Error 0x00000100: CFG 0xffffffff 0xffffffff 0xffffffff, BAR0 0xc0000000 0xffffff811500f000 0x0a5480a2, D0, P3/4

Backtrace (CPU 3), Frame : Return Address

0xffffff8114d730c0 : 0xffffff8000220702

0xffffff8114d73140 : 0xffffff7f80955907

0xffffff8114d731d0 : 0xffffff7f80a45a64

0xffffff8114d73220 : 0xffffff7f80a45b24

0xffffff8114d73280 : 0xffffff7f80cf2749

0xffffff8114d733c0 : 0xffffff7f80a64bad

0xffffff8114d733f0 : 0xffffff7f8095f282

0xffffff8114d734a0 : 0xffffff7f8095ab84

0xffffff8114d73690 : 0xffffff7f8095b6ad

0xffffff8114d73770 : 0xffffff7f817c6000

0xffffff8114d737c0 : 0xffffff7f8178bb2e

0xffffff8114d737e0 : 0xffffff7f817ac70c

0xffffff8114d73810 : 0xffffff7f817ac494

0xffffff8114d73860 : 0xffffff7f817ac7ce

0xffffff8114d73880 : 0xffffff7f817df2f9

0xffffff8114d738b0 : 0xffffff7f817e17bb

0xffffff8114d738e0 : 0xffffff7f817990b0

0xffffff8114d73aa0 : 0xffffff7f817e1f68

0xffffff8114d73b60 : 0xffffff7f81796119

0xffffff8114d73bc0 : 0xffffff800065239e

0xffffff8114d73be0 : 0xffffff8000652c7a

0xffffff8114d73c40 : 0xffffff800065341b

0xffffff8114d73d80 : 0xffffff80002a3b78

0xffffff8114d73e80 : 0xffffff8000223006

0xffffff8114d73eb0 : 0xffffff8000214829

0xffffff8114d73f10 : 0xffffff800021bb58

0xffffff8114d73f70 : 0xffffff80002aeb80

0xffffff8114d73fb0 : 0xffffff80002d8383

      Kernel Extensions in backtrace:

         com.apple.NVDAResman(7.1.8)[94BA87BA-B128-3310-9860-98EC67AB7FAF]@0xffffff7f808 f5000->0xffffff7f80bcefff

            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.6.8)[F63D4ABE-42DA-33EF-BADD-3415B0CB0179]@0xffff ff7f80880000

            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(2.3.2)[4B3F84DC-18B3-3897-BC56-4E3940878047]@0xff ffff7f808e3000

            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(2.3.2)[FE536983-1897-3D6B-965E-24B5A67080DA]@0 xffffff7f808ab000

         com.apple.nvidia.nv50hal(7.1.8)[7596DB8C-AE9D-3C87-B11A-0ED8F940CAF8]@0xffffff7 f80bcf000->0xffffff7f80ef0fff

            dependency: com.apple.NVDAResman(7.1.8)[94BA87BA-B128-3310-9860-98EC67AB7FAF]@0xffffff7f808 f5000

         com.apple.GeForce(7.1.8)[61FD1644-DA39-3645-9380-7F490FB000DB]@0xffffff7f8178b0 00->0xffffff7f8184afff

            dependency: com.apple.NVDAResman(7.1.8)[94BA87BA-B128-3310-9860-98EC67AB7FAF]@0xffffff7f808 f5000

            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(2.3.2)[4B3F84DC-18B3-3897-BC56-4E3940878047]@0xff ffff7f808e3000

            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.6.8)[F63D4ABE-42DA-33EF-BADD-3415B0CB0179]@0xffff ff7f80880000

            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(2.3.2)[FE536983-1897-3D6B-965E-24B5A67080DA]@0 xffffff7f808ab000

BSD process name corresponding to current thread: Finder

How to reproduce the BSOD:

• prepare some file in zip (I have one 56MB in my Download directory)
• start firefox or Safari (not browser dependent)
• run flash player test (longer test) on page: http://www.chemgapedia.de/vsengine/info/en/help/requirements/flash.html
• open the zip file you have prepared from dock download directory
• during the unzipping open finder from dock and try to move with the window across the desktop

Crash will come immediatelly, sometimes when unzipping is at the end...

If someone can test it it will be apreciated.

Why to do this?

Because it is simply better to go to the apple service and show them the BSOD immediatelly. They can easily test it after logic board replacement and it is not randomly.

Btw, in my log reports it is not always finder when it is happening.

I mean it deffinitelly does not seem like software issue...

@JCastilloS

@TN-Johnny

I removed the file as suggested, it still went into BSD after 5 miniutes.

@ardee

I have the same macbook pro as yours, however, i could not reproduce my bsod using this technique.

Anyways, I have the video update and the latest 10.7.3 and although the frequency of BSODs decreased after video update, they have creeped back up quite a bit these days. There is no one special ocassion but I have noticed the system is quite flaky when vmware is running with windows and multiple desktops are being used.

Usually, the screen just goes black randomly and then you are presented with the log-in screen again. Today something different happened and I am scared if this is even a worse thing: randomly, a transulscent black screen came down from top of the screen (just like when you bring notification bar down in iOS) and there was written in white font that "a restart to the computer is needed and if the restart do not happen, please hold the power button to restart it" This message was written in a few different languages, I have never seen this message before.

I have a collection of BSODs and kernel panics in my console now, all within a period of last 2 weeks. I have already gone and passed the video test last year. Some folks have suggested to go again to the apple store as the test might have changed and perhaps this timne they can detect it.

best

FunkyDrug, just out of curiosity, after you deleted the file did you manage to restart the machine prior to the BSoD? Or did it happen before you got the chance to reboot normally?

Hi FunkyDrug...

Yes, in fact I don't know if it is the solution, but for some reason it works for some people (I don't know if permanently). Below the post of Adel Sabry there is another made by me (Jorge Castillo S.; sorry for use another account), with other process which uses a kext extracted from OS X 10.8 (the kext has different version number in comparison with OS X 10.7.3).

Best.

PS: Restart is necessary, thanks TN-Johnny; and another practice might be reset PRAM and delete System Cache after delete or install kext (I don't know if related, but may be).

Dear all,

I am currently trying a solution I found here:

http://osxdaily.com/2011/08/09/fix-macbook-pro-2010-crashes-kernel-panics-black- screens-in-os-x-10-7-lion/

What to do:

Delete

• From the Mac OS X desktop, hit Command+Shift+G and enter the following path:
• ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/
• Delete all files that contain “windowserver” in the name (you may want to back these up just in case)

Reboot Mac.

I am trying it - wish me luck...

Joe

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3749837

I brought it to the Genius Bar and explained that I thought it must be the board or something. I told them I searched these boards and this particular model, Mid 2010 15" MacBookPro, seems to be having the same issue.

There doesnt seem to be a quality program covering this issue, however it IS the logic board.

Bring your computer to the Genius Bar immediately!

Other symptoms I had:

frequent and severe freezing during FaceTime calls

frequent and severe freezing when watching videos online

I just REFUSE to start deleting random files in my macbook pro here and there to solve this ........ this is not a solution. Apple needs to fix this via a genuine update ..... hopefully soon.