Q: Lion randomly crashes - black screen

For what it's worth, I'm experiencing this issue on my MacBook Pro 6,1. Core i7, 8GB RAM, nVidia 330M. Machine generally runs plugged into a 30' cinema display via the Apple adapter. If I leave the machine asleep overnight, about half the time it won't wake up in the morning. No problems under Snow Leopard, started right after installing Lion.

Forgot to mention that I have an SSD installed - just in case that's a factor.

Having the same black screen / Kernel Panic issues

Mid 2010 MBP 2.8GHz i7 Hi-Res Display 240GB SSD

I previously had the very same issue under Snow Leopard, but alleviated the problem by having the GPU/Logic board replaced after 4 visits to the Genius Bar @ 14th St NYC Appl Store (which cost me a great deal of time and frustration).

Now the problem rears its ugly head again ... This makes me very sad.

Unfortunately, disabling the NVidia graphics using GFXStatus means sacrificing a great deal of raw speed when working in FCPX & Motion 5 - and that’s how I pay the rent.

To make matters worse, the latest kerenel panic appears to have occurred during a write to my boot drive and Lion now refuses to recognize that partition.  I'm currently attempting to recover my last 3 days of work using third party file recovery software.

I assume none of us would be experiencing this particular issue if we were running AMD graphics processsors?

My apologies if this post was overly tangential ... immensely dissapointed at this point.

Alright, here's what I suspect is going on. The problem is two-fold;

The first part has to do with a hardware issue for many of the mid-2010 MBP's. This caused screen blackouts for some of us as early as Snow Leopard. This issue isn't driver or software-related - the only way to fix it is a logic board replacement.

The second part is a bug in OS X Lion connected to the dynamic switching between the Intel HD and the GT330M card. This is a driver and software issue. The best temporary workaround for this is to turn off graphics switching.

These two issues aren't related! But as they end in the same result, people think it's the same issue. It's not.

If you've had problems since Snow Leopard (like I did), you have a hardware issue. Only way to fix it is to get your logic board replaced. However, you will still get blackouts, as the dynamic graphics switching bug in Lion will cause blackout regardless of the logic board.

If you've had blackouts since Snow Leopard, and still getting blackouts even if you just use the GT330M card without any switching - get your logic board replaced.

If the blackouts started when switching to Lion - wait for a patch, or perform one of the workarounds mentioned earlier until a patch is out.

You might be right that it's two separate issues causing the same result, BUT it's not just the GT330M video card. I know it's not my logic board because i've done 2-3 hardware tests, and also, i've had this issue 100% on Lion. Not even on 10.6.8 was this an issue. Not a single crash in months and months with Snow Leopard. So, if it is two issues, there's more than just new video cards having issues with Lion, as my iMac is a 2008 with a Geforce GT 120 card.

cockyjeremy; Here's the thing - my logic board issue didn't show up in hardware tests either, so it could still exist on your machine. AND the hardware part of this issue wasn't frequent at all, it only happened on rare occasions. So you might still have had it, but never noticed it.

The only way I could re-create the hardware blackouts was to launch an app called Unison - that would black my screen out every time. Other than that I had no issues.

Your analysis seems of the situation appears spot-on from my perspective, except for the fact that I experience the problem in Lion even with Automatic Graphics Switching disabled (unchecked).  Am i correct in assuming you think it should remedy the issue?

In any case, thanks for your post.

CollinMel; In your case I think there's a hardware issue underneath the Lion graphics switching bug. My machine had a logic board replacement a couple of months back, for the hardware blackout issue - and now I can avoid the Lion graphics switching bug easily by just plugging in my external monitor, or turn off automatic switching in the Energy Saver preference panel (i.e force the MBP to use GT330M only).

Those still experiencing blackouts when using GT330M only probably has the hardware issue as well as the Lion switching bug.

I've read the entire thread once, but don't remember - is there anyone in here who had their logic board replaced, but still experienced blackouts when using an external monitor (GT330M only)?

Collin, you should switch Automatic Graphic Switching OFF, and select "i" (Integrated) video (Intel on-board graphic card) via gfxCardStatus menu in your toolbar.
Of course, you also should install gfxCardStatus application first.

http://codykrieger.com/gfxCardStatus

You also should understand that you cannot switch additional monitor in this case.

I have had my logic board replaced (2 days ago) and I still experience the problem if I run on GT330M-only mode. I do not have a ext. monitor, so my way of testing is using gfxCardStatus:

With "integrated only" it works completely perfect (never crashes)

With "dynamic switching" and "GT330M only" crashes frequently and the issue can be reproduced following simple steps (open any 2 programs and do quick view -space bar- on any file... even in a clean resintall of Lion).

And yes, I did experience this issue a couple of times on SnowLeopard (but very very rarely, definitely not as frequently as with Lion).

If I'm having a hardware issue (as you are suggesting), then what piece would they need to fix/replace? (definitely not the logic board, since that was just changed to a brand new one).

Hi all,

Well, I read the first 16 pages of this thread and then skipped to the end to add my voice to the chorus of dissatisfaction! Just wantes to reiterate the theme: Mid-2010 MacBook Pro 6.2, 8 gigs RAM, Invidia GeForce 330 and since Lion, BSOD...

I've been using gfxCardStatus prior to Lion, previously using SL. My Lion install was completely clean, using the installer to a formatted HD, not a SL upgrade.

Since I use an external display I've used gdxCardStatus to force Discrete only, and that _SEEMS_ to have improved the situation, no black screen for awhile....*sigh*....a couple of brief black screens that resulted in frantic keyboard tapping that brought the screen back, but no hard reboot. Yet. I mean since forcing it to Discrete, prior to that was getting constant hard reboots.

Also, I unchecked the "Automatic Graphics switching" option in the Energy Saver System pref.

So, I guess you could say I am in the "dynamic switching bug" camp.

One could also safely say that I'm pretty amazed that a problem of this magnitude hasn't been fixed yet. (I note the thread  is a couple weeks old, and the issue was well-documented during Dev Previews!!)

Brutal.

I'm on the road right now, but will be reverting to SL when I return home. Fortunately I made disk clones during the whole process (using SuperDuper) so it shouldn't cost me anything other than oh, a whole of time and frustration...

I'm having this problem too, but not while I'm working with the computer but when I'm trying to shutdown... Sometimes I get the BlackScreen, Sometimes I don't. I'm at work now and I can´t see the error code, but when I get home I'll check the code to see if is the same has you guys. But one thing is for sure, I had Snow Leopard for one year and never got this error, not one time...

This is really anoying, looks like Apple release Lion a bit too soon!

Yes, I also thought that because my OCZ Vertex II SSD is the major difference between my MBP and a standard configuration I should check if there is someone in forum who observes the black screen crashes with a total standard configuration (original Apple memory and harddisc).

@Orochim: Since I'm back to SL and I'm not willing to reinstall Lion, can you check if the new TRIM support is enabled and what happens if you disable it.

Thanks

Sorry it should have been directed to @dv0rak and not to @Orochim - sorry.

I am also on a SSD (though it is a Intel X-25) - there is no trim support for this disc in Mac OS Lion

I also did a full disk encryption of it but I do not think this has something to do with the issue.

Another strange thing for me: I can not boot in safe mode, every time I started with Shift pressed the MBP just reboots again after the progress bar finishes