Corrupt MacBook Pro Startup Screen

I've been searching everywhere for an answer to this and i'm surprised this isn't a better known problem.

I'm going to do as you suggest and visit my Apple Store.

I guess i was hoping it was a known issue with a simpler simpler than trucking this baby 40 miles away to the Apple Store.

I guess the bright side is, if not many MBPs are having this problem this should be a one-time fix.

I'll let everybody know what they say. I may be able to get their tomorrow. If not tomorrow, then definitely Wednesday. 🙂

Went to the Apple Store. I was there about 1.5 hours.

The gentleman at the Genius Bar did all kinds of hardware tests and memory tests. Everything passed.

He explained i have two memory chips (memory modes?) and the machine switches between the two, depending on the workload, and it's possible some software doesn't work well with this setup (switching back and forth). So it could be a software problem. If my screen goes corrupt again, he suggested i unclick the "Automatic graphics switching" in the Energy Saver preference pane. This would force the computer to use one graphic mode and, if the corruption stops, we know it's a problem with the graphics. (I voiced my opinion that it's unlikely to be software because the corruption occurs before i'm signed in.)

He checked the logs on the date and time of the corruption in the pictures above and didn't find any entries.

He suggested i take a screen shot the next time this happens. I told him screen shots can't be taken until you are signed in on your machine.

He wanted to take the machine for a few days. I told him i'd have to bring it back at a later date, i have too many personal files i'd have to remove first.

Bottom line, the problem couldn't be identified in the time i was there.

He did question TechTool 6's compatibility with this version of OS X. I'm certain it's compatible (i just checked), but still, when i got home i disabled TechTool's protection features … which normally run in the background. They're turned off now.

It's wait and see.

Two good ideas here. I think i'll wait a bit and see if it happens again. If it does happen again, i'd like to first try the idea of locating the sign in screen graphic and replacing it. Does anybody know how to locate the sign in screen graphic? (Something tells me it's a risky maneuver and may not be worth the potential problems i might unleash on my laptop.)

The Apple Store person did say if i saw the problem again to reinstall Lion as you suggest (command + R key on startup) except he said it would be fine to install on top of the current version.

I'll wait and see for now. I did disengage techtool's background operations, maybe that will make a diference. If it does happen again i will try one or both of he ideas above and/or, worst case, back to the Apple Store!

🙂

It has happened again. Before i head back to the Apple Store, is there any other way to get more information on what causes this? Is there a log i can check?

Anybody?

In case anybody is following my screen situation, it just happened again today (2/26/12).

So far, it seems to be happneing reliably every 6 to 7 days: Feb 13, 19 and (today) 26.

I went looking through the logs and right about the time all three crazy screens came up there was this line:

"0 AppleUSBCDC: start - initDevice failed"

Does this mean anything that might tie it into my crazy screen? Anybody know?

Shootist007, i brought it in to the Genius Bar a couple of weeks ago. They said until they can reproduce it they'd have a tough time diagnosing it. There wasn't even an entry in the logs. To their credit, while i was there they ran every diagnostic they had. I was there about 2 hours. Their only other suggestion was to leave the laptop. At this rate, my laptop will be there for 6 or 7 days til the screen goes crazy again.

I was wondering if there was some kind of weekly routine the machine is trying to perform. I don't know. I'm not that computer savvy anymore.

If/when it happens again (should happen around 3/4/12) i'll do what you suggest. So far, the laptop runs spectacular in every other way.

🙂