JoshS182

Q: Graphical issues with 2011 iMac and Lion

I have a 2011 27" iMac (core i7 and AMD Radeon HD 6970M 2GB) with 2 external displays, most of the graphical issues are present in the external displays but the menu bar, dock and volume popup all appeared distorted on the main display.

On the external display most apps look like this http://i.imgur.com/FQ0AJ.png

there are a few exceptions like steam, safari and itunes, these apps don't show any distortion apart from when being switched the the other displays though, almost all other apps apear disdorted (as shown in the image) on the external displays.

I never had these issues with Snow Leopard but as far as I can tell its some kind of graphics driver problem, don't know how this wasn't spotted in the beta..

 

 

More images:

http://imgur.com/bK3jBl&RSaix

http://imgur.com/bK3jB&RSaixl

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Jul 22, 2011 9:07 PM

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Q: Graphical issues with 2011 iMac and Lion

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  • by silentparty,

    silentparty silentparty Aug 19, 2011 5:40 PM in response to Macanada
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 19, 2011 5:40 PM in response to Macanada

    I've updated to 10.7.1, no hangs now.

     

    However, I'm still occasionally experienceing severe graphical glitches mainly after playing Flash video.

     

    http://cl.ly/0d3k1p313q1G2n3K252D - menu bar

    http://cl.ly/450R2Y1d1g1b2739221p - dashboard

  • by vancouveryogi,

    vancouveryogi vancouveryogi Aug 23, 2011 10:29 AM in response to JoshS182
    Level 1 (85 points)
    Aug 23, 2011 10:29 AM in response to JoshS182

    This issue shows up occasionally for me as well - usually manifesting as the menu bar and app switcher becoming distorted. All my software is up-to-date (Mac OS X 10.7.1) and I'm running a 27" iMac with 4GB RAM/1 GB video card.

     

    Hopefully this gets addressed soon. I use my iMac as a server (among other things) and it's a hassle to have to restart.

  • by Michael Rasor,

    Michael Rasor Michael Rasor Aug 23, 2011 11:37 PM in response to JoshS182
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 23, 2011 11:37 PM in response to JoshS182

    Ditto. 27" i7 2gb Video Ram.

  • by Michaelus,

    Michaelus Michaelus Aug 24, 2011 11:07 PM in response to JoshS182
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 24, 2011 11:07 PM in response to JoshS182

    My iMac is less than 30 hours old out of the box.

    [27" 3.4GHz 2gb Vram preinstalled w/ Lion]

     

    I performed all the updates before using it -- this happened today when previewing a screenshot on my desktop.

     

    http://i.imgur.com/F82Ou.jpg

     

    Anyone else having this problem? Logging out & back in again made the border go away but I hope this is not indicative of future things to come...

  • by Simon 5000,

    Simon 5000 Simon 5000 Aug 26, 2011 3:31 AM in response to Michaelus
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 26, 2011 3:31 AM in response to Michaelus

    Another 2GB user with this issue! Fix this please Apple!

  • by philipp.meier,

    philipp.meier philipp.meier Aug 27, 2011 1:38 PM in response to JoshS182
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 27, 2011 1:38 PM in response to JoshS182

    Problem still present:

    iMac 27''

    3.4 i7

    2GB graphic

    Lion 10.7.1

     

    Unable to install iMac Firmeware Update 3.0

  • by moebis,

    moebis moebis Aug 27, 2011 10:42 PM in response to JoshS182
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Aug 27, 2011 10:42 PM in response to JoshS182

    Same problem here. 2011 iMac 27, i5 with 1GB 6970M. First was the freezing problem, which seemed to be fixed by 10.7.1, now the graphical artifacts. I think it's a driver issue and an overheating problem. My GPU is around 70-72 degrees celsius idle. Screenshots:

     

    Screen Shot 2011-08-27 at 3.43.33 AM.pngScreen Shot 2011-08-27 at 3.43.52 AM.pngScreen Shot 2011-08-27 at 3.44.01 AM.png

  • by bobbristow,

    bobbristow bobbristow Aug 28, 2011 2:39 AM in response to JoshS182
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 28, 2011 2:39 AM in response to JoshS182

    Same Problem here! 

    Tha machine seemed to work fine until the last update 10.7.1.  Now I seem to get this everyday, and video will starts to play back jerky and flash a green frame ever few seconds.

     

     

    Processor  3.4 GHz Intel Core i7

    Memory  16 GB 1333 MHz DDR3

    Graphics  AMD Radeon HD 6970M 2048 MB

    Software  Mac OS X Lion 10.7.1 (11B26)

  • by Shurhold,

    Shurhold Shurhold Aug 28, 2011 3:35 AM in response to JoshS182
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Aug 28, 2011 3:35 AM in response to JoshS182

    I too have this issue...

     

    Brand new 1 week old iMac fully loaded.

     

    Processor  3.4 GHz Intel Core i7

    Memory  16 GB 1333 MHz DDR3

    Graphics  AMD Radeon HD 6970M 2048 MB

    Software  Mac OS X Lion 10.7.1 (11B26)

    SSD Main Drive ++++

     

    This is really dissapointing.

     

    Do you think this is a driver issue or do we all have bad graphics cards?

  • by bobbristow,

    bobbristow bobbristow Aug 28, 2011 3:38 AM in response to Shurhold
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 28, 2011 3:38 AM in response to Shurhold

    I am guessing this is a driver issue, as I have had my Mac for a couple months ago, and this issue did not show up until OSX Lion for me.  I loved my mac until I installed Lion. I installed the SSD drive myself and it was a pain!  It would really suck if I had to take that out before sending the machine back.

  • by Sir Doyle,

    Sir Doyle Sir Doyle Aug 28, 2011 11:47 AM in response to JoshS182
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 28, 2011 11:47 AM in response to JoshS182

    Same here ...

     

    iMac 2011 i7 3.4GHz

  • by Stephen Roberts,

    Stephen Roberts Stephen Roberts Aug 28, 2011 11:54 AM in response to JoshS182
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Aug 28, 2011 11:54 AM in response to JoshS182

    I have the base imac 21.5 inch with the core i5 i've not had issues with add on displays so far i've used 2 different displays and both work great seems to be with the 27 inch only how odd that is.

  • by moebis,

    moebis moebis Aug 28, 2011 11:57 AM in response to Stephen Roberts
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Aug 28, 2011 11:57 AM in response to Stephen Roberts

    I think this is mostly affecting the 6970M GPU's. They run much hotter. IDLE my GPU temp is around 70 celcius. It might also be a driver issue and something to do with the SMC fan control. The machine doesn't automatically ramp up the fans when the critical temps are reached. If you ever overclocked GPU on PCs back in the day without proper cooler you would see the exact same kind of GPU artifacts that are happening with 2011 iMac users (mostly 6970M 1GB and 2GB GPUs).

  • by Stephen Roberts,

    Stephen Roberts Stephen Roberts Aug 28, 2011 12:10 PM in response to moebis
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Aug 28, 2011 12:10 PM in response to moebis

    yeah I agree I remember my last PC that I built had an AMD quad core processor and a ATI 5780 graphics card in it when I overclocked both The case got hot even with the coolant system that I installed in it.

    and similar things happened when the graphics card got hot.

  • by bobbristow,

    bobbristow bobbristow Aug 28, 2011 12:17 PM in response to moebis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 28, 2011 12:17 PM in response to moebis

    I agree. What is strange, is that logging out and back on fixes it. This is what points me into thinging this is a driver issue.

    Yes, things seem to run very hot in this machine. The back of it for the most part is always to hot to touch. I was thinking of running smc fan control, but from reading other people's take on it, it seems to over ride the macs ability to increase the fan speeds when need be.

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