Q: Lion randomly crashes - black screen

"... issues after 10.6.7" *FTFY

elio.dainese wrote:

 

You're wrong: this is a software issue.

 

All of us already spent over 200 replies to explain that with Snow Leopard all of our machines work perfectly, and it started to have issues after Lion update.

 

Apple knows the issue, and it is working on it. We've just to be patient and wait for the next software update.

Do you know what firmware is, and how a firmware update can result in software issues? If it was a pure software issue then the issue should be more consistently fixable by the workarounds some people are using successfully (and it shouldn't re-occur when reinstalling Snow Leopard). If you actually read through most of the replies on here, you'd see that this same apparent crash has previously occurred (though far more rarely) under Snow Leopard.

I'm hoping that the fix that Apple comes up with includes a firmware update component also, so that we can continue to dual boot as needed.

btw, I don't suppose anyone reading this hasn't updated to Lion yet and has a 2010 MBP they can check firmware version info for us?

@elio.dainese

Umm...if you read the earlier posts and discussion threads on other forums a few of us (including myself) have had the same problem in SL. it was intermittent then, so most of us lived with it. Some others have had their machines examined by Apple and no faults were found. At least one person had the motherboard replaced under warranty and the problem went away.

It's hard for me to be patient when I depend on the large external monitor to assist my problematic eyesight.

Same issue here... black screen twice !

I have this issue too.  It is slowing me down at work.   I get the black screen as frequent as once every ten minutes, especially when using xCode and the iOS simulators.

I NEVER get this kind of crash before Lion, and I've the latest firmware (1.9).

If a computer stops working properly after a software update, as I have always knew after 20 years of computer use, it is a problem with the software, not the hardware.

Here's a potentially valuable suggestion while we wait for a ''fix'' to this very real problem:

Anyone with a MacBook Pro that is still under warranty and one which originally came with Snow Leopard pre-installed, you can boot from the Snow Leopard DVD, holding down Apple-H to run the hardware check utility. I also suggest the most rigorous and time-comsuming check.

My reason for suggesting this is that this strange syndrome that has risen with the install of OS X Lion might be indicative of an actual hardware problem and if you are under warranty, a fix will be covered.

elio.dainese wrote:

 

I NEVER get this kind of crash before Lion, and I've the latest firmware (1.9).

 

If a computer stops working properly after a software update, as I have always knew after 20 years of computer use, it is a problem with the software, not the hardware.

So a software update that included driver changes that, say, removed the underclocking of a graphics card, resulting in the card now running at the clock speed it was supposed to be rated for, resulting in crashes (due to a low quality chip), would be a software bug instead of problem hardware? I don't think so.

We're trying to come up with possibilities that would account for everyone involved's problems. It's great for you that you've never had this crash before Lion, but unfortunately it looks like some of the rest of us are not as lucky. I'm guessing that most users with similar model MacBook Pro's aren't even seeing this issue at all, or this would have been much bigger news than it seems like it is. It's a gradient curve, which definitely seems to fit into the idea of chip quality variation rather than a simple software bug.

I went to the apple store yesterday and they gave me a choice...

wait for 10.7.1 and hope for a fix or go back to SL

I have the same problem others in this thread are having: intermittent freezes, both waking from sleep and while using the machine as usual. It's the same machine lots of people are having problems with: the mid-2010 MacBook Pro 2.66 GHz Core i7.

What's interesting about my case is that since before I upgraded I have used gfxCardStatus to keep my machine using the integrated video unless I am doing graphics work, and all the crashes occurred while it was on integrated video. Having said that, some of them still looked like video-card issues, with the screen freezing with defects on the display.

I have submitted a bug report to Apple and uploaded three crash logs. Hopefully there will be a fix soon....

I have the same exact machine as you the mid-2010 MacBook Pro 17-inch with 4G RAM.

This clunky at best smart-switching between the NVIDIA/discrete and the Integrated/Intel chipset has always been problematic in my opinion. It reminds me of what it would be like if a vehicle with a gas and a diesel engine and switching between the two engines actually existed. How smooth could it really be in real time?

Well, this kind of scenario does exist on the MacBook Pros you and I own.

I've found that it is visually glitchy during the aftermath of a switch--videos often freezing, artifacting then continuing for example. I eventually installed the CUDA drivers directly and now have a Preference Pane CUDA panel that has up to now provided me with information on when I needed an update. There is an update needed apparently right now but as of yet--unavailable. If it follows a typical progression, one will be available in a couple of weeks or so. This may time with a 10.7.1 update/fix for the issues plaguing the folks here.

Either way, I reiterate for you especially, but for anyone who still has a MacBook Pro under warranty: RUN THE HARDWARE UTILITY on the Snow Leopard install DVD. I'm close. My ''due date'' is September, so I will be doing this TODAY when I don't need to be working because the ''thorough'' hardware check will take a while to run.

It does smell like a hardware quality issue....

It's a gradient curve, which definitely seems to fit into the idea of chip quality variation rather than a simple software bug.

I totally disagree with this and I never heard about  "chip quality variation" in my life.

Here we're talking about silicon, and not about "rotten apples"

My MBP (as many others) was warking perfectly before Lion, and I'm shure if I'd come back to Snow leopard my laptop would come back fully working. That's it.

Glad to don't own a 'best-before-apple'.

The apple service center had my MPB in for 3 days and they cleared all hardware from fault.

Eventually they returned it to me with note "Could not replicate issue, ..... all hardware passed the health test,..... client to run furhter tests....."

Would you go back and report if it worked?