Q: Lion randomly crashes - black screen

I'm guessing that Apple have determined that there's a hardware cause at the root at these crashes (for the MacBook Pro 2010 models at least), so seem to be ok with replacing logic boards even when outside the warranty (mine was two months outside of warranty).

As further proof of this as a hardware problem, the bug I raised for the Snow Leopard version of this crash (almost identical crash log) was flagged as a duplicate of the core Lion bug that's referenced on this thread. So while a software fix may help some people, it can't stop the fact that there is a hardware/design issue at the root of the problem.

If you're having the crash, take it in and get Apple to fix it, don't wait for a software fix. Who knows how long Apple will keep fixing hardware for free when it's technically out of warranty?

I'm adding my 2c - I have a Mac Mini (the last version they made before going super-skinny), and this morning it locked up again for about the 5th time now. Every time Lion locks up on me, it's coming out of sleep. The mouse moves but my Bluetooth keyboard is dead. Today I was able to plug in a USB keyboard and access some of the programs, but most of what I clicked on froze up when I tried to work with it, and my attempt to reboot froze up as well. As with all the other times, I had to hold the power button 4 seconds to hard-reboot, which I hate doing.

This never, ever happened back when I was running Snow Leopard. I use sleep a lot (it's much faster than shutting down and starting back up), so I really hope APPLE is reading this and will fix the problem. I'm going to skim through all these posts now to see if anyone else is having the "black screen of death" on a Mac Mini.

Good luck everyone!!

- Mike

Apple stuff will not read the support forum threads (see forum rules) and they do not escalate to development. They only focus on official channel like fast lane, Apple Support Hotline or ACPP. So, if you want to encourage Apple to do something you have to open an official issue. this forum doesn't help regarding your suggestion.

MacJack is not providing an accurate response of reinstalling Lion on a new hard drive - Sorry, provide accurate information.  Call AppleCare if you have that on your Laptop ( you should also have that right now since you purchased a system upgrade that has a problem with their hardware configuration / software ) - they need to know two things 1) ****** off Apple customer 2) Apple has an issue they need to fix . . . Sorry, while I wish the method was to note problems here it isn't.  Apple has NO responsibility to assume in the forum.  They do however have a contract with you via AppleCare to fix their software / hardware issue(s).

I called and made them note that this problem exists, currently Apple has no solution

shamguy4 wrote:

 

I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO IS HAVING THESE PROBLEMS WITH AN NVIDIA 9400M?

 

EVERYONE ELSE SEEMS TO HAVE A 330M

The bug has shown up on all macbook pros with both discrete and integrated graphics, as well as some iMacs.

So the only option is to replace the logic board?

They won't/can't fix it with an update? Or do we just have to wait for an update to come out?

I am having this problem already since Leopard. stalls, black screens, totally random.

I upgraded to Snow Leopard, but the problem persisted.

Then 2 months later I upgraded to Lion, no improvements. Did a clean install of Lion and restored only the most important things from Time Machine (No programs). And now it got even worse, to the point that I have to do a hard reset on my Imac every few minutes. In short: I don't have a computer any more…

Don't know how to fix it.

@oneoldduck yep there are atleast one or others in this thread getting kernel panics. Afaik mac minis simple use MacBook internals so it's not surprising some have the same faulty hardware

@jonaprins call apple and book it to be fixed don't wait for a software fix. for all we know it might never come

Spoke too soon, although it hangs far less often than prior but still has issues after sleeping. No BSOD or kernel panics, so that is an improbement since the latest CUDA drivers.

MBP after sleeping sometimes does not wake up, wakes to a frozen screen saver, looses Internet connectivity, has a cascade of beachballs requiring a power-off.

On my wife's iMac after sleeping sometimes does not wake up but shows the frozen screen saver requiring a power off.

SInce both Macs show a frozen screensaver, and neither seems to save the state of programs when that happens, I think it's a matter of the Macs not finishing whatever they now do prior to sleeping. Also on my MBP if the sleep LED is not doing he dimming/brightening routine to indicate it's asleap I know 100% of the time it won't wake up.

Hopefully 10.7.2 will fix these issues.  Windows 7 running from BootCamp is more stable than my MBP, which is pretty sad...

I tried this morning to reinstall lion and give it a trial. I could not even boot this time into lion without having the panic grey screen asking to reboot. I went to the genius bar and they tested my MacBook pro 2010 and found that the hardware was all ok. However the genius to.d me to do a clean install of lion and see if it worked. I did not do this yet. He mentioned also as I upgraded my MacBook pro with the last 600gb SSD Intel that it could be a firmware issue and that lion has a compatibility issue with it. I doubt seriously that it could be the problem as Snow leopard ran fine with it. Speaking to another genius that was listening, the untold advice was when I asked are they coming with an update soon ? They will and that should fix all these issues. Basically stick with SL and upgrade in a few weeks. I don't want to go through the hassle of installing my old hard drive in my MacBook pro and try to upgrade to lion. I am no beta tester and will eventually go to lion later on. Fortunately I have the long term warranty, so if it is a logic board issue or graphic card, I will be back if they don't fix the issue by 10.7.1

Wraith_Commander wrote:

 

shamguy4 wrote:

 

I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO IS HAVING THESE PROBLEMS WITH AN NVIDIA 9400M?

 

EVERYONE ELSE SEEMS TO HAVE A 330M

 

The bug has shown up on all macbook pros with both discrete and integrated graphics, as well as some iMacs.

I have a MBP with the 9400M GPU. Whatever problems it has with Lion are not related to those with the 330M GPU.

When I first installed Lion, my system was crashing frequently, although I now realize that while I was getting kernel panics (with the message to reboot your system), I wasn't getting the black screen. The 9400M does not appear to have the same problem as systems with the 330M GPU. In fact, I don't believe it's got a hardware problem at all, whereas it's becoming clearer that some systems with the 330M GPU do have a hardware problem that's aggravated by Lion, and resolved by placing the main logic board.

That all said, I had tried gfxCardStatus without success. But when I removed everything that fooled with the fan and CPU clocking - smcFanControl and CoolBook controller, in my case - I was able to install Lion on a clean partition and migrate my Snow Leopard contents to it (Migration Assistant did a commendable job compared to migration experiences I've had in the past). That was about a week ago, and I've been running Lion without a single incident since then. It's definitely nice.

What is going to be frustrating for many people is that there appear to be multiple problems associated with Lion. First, we have many, many MBP owners with the NVIDIA 330M GPU that will need to be replaced. Next, we have systems that may have no hardware problem at all, but that experience a kernel panic with Lion. Not all users will be as lucky as I was in finding a solution (and, frankly, I don't consider that Apple has any obligation to make Lion work with stuff like smcFanControl and CoolBook). If Lion causes your system to crash and nobody can find a solution for you, you will have no choice but to roll back to Snow Leopard. Backups, people!

Two days ago I called Applecare about Lion and opened a ticket. I gave them the data they wanted. Today they called back and will replace logic board (15" MBP 8GB 500GB 2.66 i7). I was given the choice to send them my computer so the engineers could fiddle with it, or sent it direct to the Applecare depot for repair. I opted for the more immedite repair. Hope the hardware repare will fix my issue; though my agent was careful to tell me to call him back directly if the logic board swap does not fix the issue.

Looks like Apple is taking this more and more seriously. I had this problem (had it a little with Snow Leopard, went out of warranty, installed Lion, now big problems) and Apple's engineers elected to bring my machine in and gave me a replacement (new 2011 MBP). You know it's serious when they start handing out replacements ...

Wow... just stumbled onto this thread. I called Apple about random crashes and they couldn't help me. I guess I should call again now that they have more data. Someone said that Windows was more stable for them than Lion, and that's how I feel. I just needed to get some photos from iPhoto to flickr. Three browsers crashed. Then iPhoto crashed. Then everything was slow.

It just seems so unstable and painful to use.

Please fix this!