David Portela

Q: NVIDIA GeForce GT 130 Kernel Panics/Freezes in Lion & late Snow Leopard

I've found some other reports of these freezes scattered about the forums, but usually other people come in and post something about unrelated video cards. So this thread is specific to NVIDIA GeForce GT 130 running OS X Lion (10.7-10.7.3), to avoid confusion and cross-polination of different issues.

 

Hardware Overview:

 

  Model Name:          iMac

  Model Identifier:          iMac9,1

  Processor Name:          Intel Core 2 Duo

  Processor Speed:          3.06 GHz

  Number of Processors:          1

  Total Number of Cores:          2

  L2 Cache:          6 MB

  Memory:          8 GB

  Bus Speed:          1.07 GHz

  Boot ROM Version:          IM91.008D.B08

  SMC Version (system):          1.37f3

 

NVIDIA GeForce GT 130:

 

  Chipset Model:          NVIDIA GeForce GT 130

  Type:          GPU

  Bus:          PCIe

  PCIe Lane Width:          x16

  VRAM (Total):          512 MB

  Vendor:          NVIDIA (0x10de)

  Device ID:          0x062e

  Revision ID:          0x00a1

  ROM Revision:          3370

 

 

Since upgrading to Lion I have had many issues with crashes and kernel panics characterized by the following symptoms, listed here in detail so that people can find them when they search:

 

  • Pixellation - colored pixels appear in different areas of the screen, in seemingly random bunches.
  • Mosaics - squares appear redrawn in the wrong part of the screen. Sometimes these squares are large, other times tiny.
  • Recovery - sometimes the system recovers once it starts doing these. Other times it just keeps going until it freezes/panics.
  • Kernel Panics - I've only had the "grey screen" appear once or twice. Usually there is a complete system lockup before this can happen, and I have to reboot the system manually.

 

Some solutions/attempts to solve:

 

  • Turn off Energy Saving - This is horrible for the monitor and can lead to burn-in, but I found that many of my crashes occured when the system was trying to recover from "screen sleep". So now I run a screen saver instead, which doesn't seem to trigger it as much.
  • Screen Saver - Sometimes I can "refresh" the system by turning on the screen saver and then coming back. Other times, this doesn't work and the pixellation/mosaic remains. Sometimes I can't even initialize the screen saver at all (in which case a total freeze usually occurs right after).
  • Rebooting - seems to clear things up for a while, but inevitably, the problem resurfaces.
  • Running Windows - Not really a solution, but I have had absolutely no issues with this behavior while running Windows 7 on this same machine (under Bootcamp).
  • Downgrading to Snow Leopard - I have not attempted this, but I've read others say that their crashes went away when they did. I would like some more concrete evidence on this if anyone has it.

 

My diagnosis so far:

 

  • OS X Lion's NVIDIA driver kernel extensions (kexts) seem to be faulty with this GPU. The Windows drivers for this GPU work better on Apple's own hardware than OS X Lion's. Anectodal evidence indicates that Snow Leopard's drivers (at least up to 10.6.3 – more confirmation needed) do not display this issue. I can confirm that this never occurred in Snow Leopard until Lion was released and I upgraded to it.

 

My request for help and information:

 

  • If you are running this GPU (GeForce GT 130) and OS X Lion, please contribute to this thread offering any solutions you may have or, at the very least, listing your hardware and GPU profile.
  • If you can, post crash logs so that we can compare common issues (NVDA Resman seems to be a huge recurring kext in the crash logs, for instance).
  • Post screen shots or pictures taken of the pixellation (colored pixels) and mosaic (squares drawn in the wrong place) phenomenon, so we can build a body of evidence regarding this issue. I will continue to update this thread with the same.

 

I feel Apple has ignored these issues for far too long, and required too many people to simply purchase new computers and new GPUs. If we can build a solid body of evidence regarding this specific issue, it will be a thread that Apple Support can be referred to.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.3), 3.06 Ghz (Early 2009 – iMac9,1)

Posted on May 9, 2012 8:29 AM

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Q: NVIDIA GeForce GT 130 Kernel Panics/Freezes in Lion & late Snow Leopard

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  • by slacha1,

    slacha1 slacha1 Oct 15, 2013 12:45 PM in response to David Portela
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Oct 15, 2013 12:45 PM in response to David Portela

    Hi all,

    Same problem here.

    Ran 2 years on Leopard without a single hang or reboot.

    Since the upgrade to Lion, problems started, then became worse with the installation of FCPX.

    Working now with FCPX is almost impossible as the MAC crashes several times a day !!! almost unusable. Images blocks, freezes (see attached pic) and only cure to restore is a power reset !

    SMC fan control does not solve the issue, although I must admit I did not yet try full fan speed, mainly due to noise.

    Worth to mention is that I have recently given the iMAC to a premium Apple dealer for a full service. Confirmed 'all OK', re-installed OSX and FCPX from scratch, but the problem remains.

    Although I also cannot see any pattern for these hangs, it really seems to be linked with higher loads put on the graphic card and/or CPU.

    It is very disappointing that no fix has been proposed yet by Apple and frustrating to have an iMAC (once the top of the line iMAC) in perfect working condition but no longer able to handle stress...I hope the final release of Maverick will improve the situation, but somehow I lost confidence ...

     

    Model Name: iMac

      Model Identifier: iMac9,1

      Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo

      Processor Speed: 3.06 GHz

      Number of Processors: 1

      Total Number of Cores: 2

      L2 Cache: 6 MB

      Memory: 8 GB

      Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz

      Boot ROM Version: IM91.008D.B08

      SMC Version (system): 1.45f0

     

    NVIDIA GeForce GT 130:

      Chipset Model: NVIDIA GeForce GT 130

      Type: GPU

      Bus: PCIe

      PCIe Lane Width: x16

      VRAM (Total): 512 MB

      Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)

      Device ID: 0x062e

      Revision ID: 0x00a1

      ROM Revision: 3370

    Screen Shot 2013-10-14 at 11.29.09 PM.png

  • by pplschmp,

    pplschmp pplschmp Oct 20, 2013 5:20 PM in response to David Portela
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 20, 2013 5:20 PM in response to David Portela

    http://www.macnn.com/articles/13/03/05/a.year.after.support.thread.started.no.so lution.on.the.horizon/

    We are having the same exact issue. I read this article today and am disgusted that Apple has not fixed this issue yet. We just upgraded to Mountain Lion and are using the SMC fan as a stop gap--but it is very frustrating that a perfectly good machine is having these issues. We have an early 2009 iMac. Been havinbg this issue for a while, took it into Apple once nothing found to be wrong with machine yet ist continues to crash constantly. Does anyone know if Apple has any plans to HELP!

  • by Joris Sewandono,

    Joris Sewandono Joris Sewandono Oct 22, 2013 1:17 PM in response to slacha1
    Level 1 (26 points)
    Oct 22, 2013 1:17 PM in response to slacha1

    ok, Maverick officially released today for freee !

    So who is going to bring the happy news that Maverick fixes all our grpahic issues ?!

     

    ... my iMac is boxed under the stairs untill this issue was fixed...

    but i guess I will get it out after work to start testing the upgrade

     

     

  • by portis1972,

    portis1972 portis1972 Oct 22, 2013 4:41 PM in response to David Portela
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 22, 2013 4:41 PM in response to David Portela

    I have had all of the problems detailed here for a couple of years sporadically, but in the last few months they got worse and worse and recently the computer was crashing / freezing completely several times a day.

     

    I installed Mavericks today, and deactivated SMC fan control, and so far so good.  It's been a couple of hours now, and my system seems to be running quite well. 

     

    I AM still having one graphics glitch - one small area at the centre-left part of my screen looks normal, but when I drag a window across it, it sort of "scrubs" that window making it translucent in a one-inch rectangle (I can see the desktop "through" part of th window), and leaves a trail of artifacts on the window that is being dragged, a bit like the artifacts in Slacha1's photo above.  As soon as I let the window go, click the desktop, then immediately click the window again, the window goes back to normal.  But the same area of the screen will continue to work this strange magic on any other window dragged across it.

     

    BUT!  So far, other than this strangwe glitch, the system seems stable, the glitch isn't spreading / flashing all over the screen, and no crashes so far.

     

    I'll post updates if things get worse, or if the strange gltich resolves.

     

    But so far, I am hopeful that my computer has at least improved, if not been fixed, by Mavericks.

     

     

     

    NOTE:  My GPU is actually the GeForce 120, not 130, but I seem to have exactly the same symptoms outlined in this thread.

  • by portis1972,

    portis1972 portis1972 Oct 22, 2013 5:12 PM in response to portis1972
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 22, 2013 5:12 PM in response to portis1972

    NEVER MIND.  SPOKE TOO SOON.

     

    MAVERICKS DID NOT FIX THE GRAPHICAL AND HARD FREEZE ISSUE ON MY IMAC.

     

    CURSES.

  • by waif69,

    waif69 waif69 Oct 23, 2013 4:53 PM in response to David Portela
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 23, 2013 4:53 PM in response to David Portela

    I've been having the same problem, computer locking up etc.  I have a early 2009 imac with the GeForce 130.

     

    I tried to install the iMac Graphic FW Update 3.0 that was linked on the sidebar, however it doesn't my HW.  Bummer.

  • by waif69,

    waif69 waif69 Oct 23, 2013 5:01 PM in response to David Portela
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 23, 2013 5:01 PM in response to David Portela

    I may have found a good deal on a replacement GT130 video card.  My concern is that even replacing the card, I may still have the same problem.  Has anyone replaced their card and been glad they did?

     

    http://www.macpalace.com/661-4990-card-video-nvidia-geforce-gt130-w/512mb-gddr3. html for $189

  • by MR.MICHAEL.STILES,

    MR.MICHAEL.STILES MR.MICHAEL.STILES Oct 23, 2013 7:22 PM in response to waif69
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 23, 2013 7:22 PM in response to waif69

    There have been a few posts that people have replaced the card.  I dont think this is a solution.  The problems started for everyone with the upgrade to Snow Leopard and Lion.  This is a software issue not hardware.  However I dont discount, being that the problem boils down to a heat issue on the GPU via the affects of kernal panic, there may have been some degredation on the GPU.  Essentially I think that Apple and NVidia both share some blame with the final resting upon Apple's shoulders.  Even in the event of a software fix, whether they have already or not, it is possible that the issue now lies within a weakened GPU. For those that had extreme errors may have put more stress on the GPU and degraded the component.  For myself, the freezes are very FEW and FAR between, which leads me to believe that there may have been some corrective action, and it may very well lie within the replacement of a weakened GPU to completely rid myself of the error.

  • by sgadsby,

    sgadsby sgadsby Oct 23, 2013 7:33 PM in response to Zahori
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 23, 2013 7:33 PM in response to Zahori

    The multiple crashes per hours were unbearable, but now that I have set smcfancontrol to run the ODD fan at 2500rpm the system appears to have been mostly stable. I have gt120.

     

    Not a fix, but definitely worth trying.

     

    I am still ditching Mac on my desktop (unless Apple come through with a fix). What a disaster. Can't be bothered with Maverick.

  • by portis1972,

    portis1972 portis1972 Oct 23, 2013 7:57 PM in response to David Portela
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 23, 2013 7:57 PM in response to David Portela

    My iMac has been behaving as badly as ever this evening.  Many graphics problems, freezes, multiple reboots.

     

    I did discover that installing Mavericks does not remove the CUDA drivers.  I have now removed that software manually to see what happens.

     

    I am trying to figure out if the GT-120 drivers I downloaded from NVIDIA and installed using Pacifist (in an attempt to apply a previously suggested fix) are still there, or have been overwritten by the Mavericks installation.

     

    Update:  At least some of the GeForce bundles in the System/Library/Extension folder appear to the same relase as the latest driver on the NVIDIA website.  However, the GeForce.kext appears to be a much lower version number 310.01.something

  • by Dodger_im,

    Dodger_im Dodger_im Oct 24, 2013 6:34 AM in response to David Portela
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 24, 2013 6:34 AM in response to David Portela

    I have been working with apple to fix this issue for quite a while now. And the latest new aren't good... So far I have changed the graphic card, reinstalled the OS, wiped the computer completely and did a factory reinstall, but non of this fixed the issue. The computer spent over 2 weeks at my local apple store (over three different trips). After being passed around to multiple techs, I ended up with one of their senior techs who affirmed to be working the issue with apple engineers...

     

    Final outcome: These early 2009 imac are considered incompatible with anything over Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion)

    Downgarded my machine to 10.7, 3 days later the problem resurfaced...

     

    I'm on hold on the phone right now with my apple store...

  • by MR.MICHAEL.STILES,

    MR.MICHAEL.STILES MR.MICHAEL.STILES Oct 24, 2013 6:43 AM in response to Dodger_im
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 24, 2013 6:43 AM in response to Dodger_im

    And I wonder how long the engineers have been actively investigating this problem and trying to reach a solution.  I filed a complaint on the Better Business Bureau  website and it made it to some executive office that contacted me.  I posted all traffic on here, and shortly after it was removed.  Which means they are monitoring this thread and are fully aware of the problem.

  • by Will Moindrot,

    Will Moindrot Will Moindrot Oct 24, 2013 6:46 AM in response to Dodger_im
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 24, 2013 6:46 AM in response to Dodger_im

    Yeah well it's a pity that they didn't consider this incompatible a bit earlier before we all f'd up our machines!

     

    I paid out for the Apple store to replace the gfx card, crashes happened again pretty much immediately under ML so I reverted to SL, only in the summer did the crashes start up again outside of the warranty for that replacement, so I still have an unstable machine.

     

    It's been a long time now since this issue was raised, to me it looks like they don't care to do anything.

  • by Dodger_im,

    Dodger_im Dodger_im Oct 24, 2013 6:59 AM in response to Will Moindrot
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 24, 2013 6:59 AM in response to Will Moindrot

    The guy on the phone at the store would not talk to me about anything. Said I had to take an appointment. the manager had left me hai card last time I was there, mentionning I had to ask for him personally, which I did, but the receptionist reffered me to apple care without even taking my name or checking my file... I Have spent over 3 hours on the phone with the apple care staff, we've don everything that was possible over the phone. I pleaded that the apple store is 30 min away from my home and that I've been there 4 times already, each time someone assured me my computer was fixed, that they took care of it personally! I'm fed up with you apple! not only have you lost me as a customer, but i'm reffering this to the consumers protection office.

  • by MR.MICHAEL.STILES,

    MR.MICHAEL.STILES MR.MICHAEL.STILES Oct 24, 2013 7:08 AM in response to Dodger_im
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 24, 2013 7:08 AM in response to Dodger_im

    When I filed the BBB complaint, they just shooed me away stating that it was no longer covered under apple care protection.  Even though the issue started while I still had apple care, I just didn't realize it was anything more than a random glitch.

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