black screen after login, Mountain Lion on Macbook Retina

Hello,

I am having the same exact issue which occurs only after reboot and having the option to reopen prior applications selected.

I have had one kernel panic (revolves around graphics) and eight WindowServer logs tied to this issue.

The Apple Store said it was a graphics card hardware issue but it looks to be the driver/software for the graphics card and graphics switching.

I'm afraid if I get a new machine, it will have the same issue.

What should we all do to get this issue solved? Call AppleCare and refer to the case number above? Write in via the website?

I guess I should enable Auto-Login for the time being.

Also, my machine is on integrated graphics but the battery seems to be draining quite quickly.

Thanks.

2 weeks now and 3 separate calls to Apple Care about this black screen bootup problem on my Retina Macbook Pro. Diagnostics and PRAM resets were done. Nothing has fixed the problem.

With the advice of Apple Care I have an appointment with the Apple Store tomorrow where I plan to return and exchange my RMBP for a new one.

Would it be better for me to wait for a firmware update instead?

I just don't want to continue to sit on this problem nor do I wish to have to do any workarounds and then *hope* everyday that the problem is fixed.

If I exchange my RMBP I will hopefully join the larger percentage of people not having this problem.

Franckly, I don't really think it's an hardware issue, because, if so, why this BSOD occurs ONLY on login, and never again or never before. I'm a Starcraft II player and I didn't had any graphics issues while playing...

In addition, the problem does not occurs only for rMBP owners, it seems that older MBP are also experiencing this strange issue...

So, for my personnal point of view, I really encourage your to keep your rMBP and wait for a firmware or OS X patch 😉

My 2 cents.

I am in a similar position.

My only fear is that this is a software issue and I will have the same issue with the new laptop. It seems like a graphics driver issue tied to graphics switching from what I'm reading.

Minus this issue I am really happy with my rMBP and the display is perfect (Samsung).

I definitely need to call AppleCare and refer to the existing ticket number so they know multiple people have this issue.

Thanks for your post, much appreciated.

I had the same problem after installing the mountain lion. Auto-lonin worked fine for me for 2 days. I called Apple today and they suggested me press "option+command+r+p" after restart. Now I disabled the auto-login and tried to restart more than 6 times, no black screen occured so far.

I am still waiting to see if this truely solves the problem.

This option+command+r+p only resets the PRAM and NVRAM. No help.

The apple support on the phone only asked you to do a clean install and/or reset PRAM and NVRAM.

Besides that they can do nothing.

I will wait for the call from Apple headquater tomorrow and see what's their solution.

I am able to reproduce this issue on my rMBP as well. I have my resolution set to something other than "best for Retina". When I shut down and restart, I get a black screen after logging into the machine.

However, when I change the resolution to "best for Retina" and follow the same steps (shut down and restart), I am able to log in without an issue.

It seems like the workaround for now is to either enable Auto login or keep the resolution at "Best for Retina". Neither is an ideal solution.

I hope Apple fixes this issue soon.

I have exactly the same issue that re-occured several times. After talking to the Apple support line several times they recommended I exchange my rMBP as my purchase was less than 14 days old and this could be easilty. I just got home with the new machine and exactly the same problem reoccured.

I guess I have some bad luck.

You have no idea how livid I am that I wasted an entire morning trying to resolve this problem.

Went to the Apple Store, 30 minutes away, and spend 90 minutes with the Genius Bar Tech.

The tech was able to replicate the problem. Thank Goodness, at least the RMBP blacked out in his presence.

He did a hardware diagnostics test which passed. He could not do a software diagnostics test because the store did not have it updated for the RMBP.

He wiped the laptop and reinstalled a fresh copy of Mountain Lion.

After doing so, he rebooted a half dozen times and everything worked fine.

What he forgot to do was change the retina display setting to where I had it. I did not realize this in the store.

So, when I got home and made that change, the RMBP completely blacked out at login.

DAMNIT!

Called Apple Care and fought with them on the phone about sending me a replacement. They wanted me to mail the RMBP back to them instead. I told them I could not be without my laptop as I use it for work.

They refuse to take the laptop back and send me a new one.

They want to take it in for repair. That would mean days without a laptop. I cannot do that as I use my laptop for work.

Right now I am still working with Apple Care to find out if this problem is prominent enough that Apple Engineers will issue a firmware fix.

I'm sure that is problem is only SOFTWARE related and is about the use of "non retina" resolutions, all the posts on this thread are close to this "root cause", a kind of graphics switching bug when your are NOT in default retina optimized resolution when you log in. In addition, it only occurs when you are not using the auto-login option (for my personnal experience, after many tests).

So, to reproduce the issue :

- Install a frech copy Mountain Lion

- Turn off auto-login

- Select a custom NON-retina optimzed resolution

- Reboot

- Select your user, type your password, log-in and ...

- Bingo, BSOD 🙂

It also means that :

- if you use retina resolution

OR

- if you use the auto-logon feature

Your are not impacted by this bug (it can explain why there is not so many cases reported and the poor "buzz" of this problem)

Hi everyone,

In my case BSOD come just after login, I mean 10-15 seconds after.

Disinstalling gfxcardstatus fixed the problem (apparently).

I upgraded last week from lion to mountain lion and I absolutely had not this kind of problem before.

macbook pro 2010

I tried this without succes, on a rMBP 😉

apple is looking into this. I got an call today from apple support where they asked me questions about this issue and to send in debug files/be available for further questioning.

They are also aware of this thread here and have engineers working on it. From what ive read in this thread so far there is not really any proven 100% fix/workarround so i would suggest to just wait on apple to fix this via software update (hopefully no hw replacement needed).

In the meantime chose one of the many theories/workarrounds from this thread 🙂 I offer: not shutting down, just closing the lid to circumvent bsod (working good for me so far).

If you have a case open with apple support or are already in touch with them on this topic i would also suggest to look at the syslog (and if you know what you are doing/what to look for other debug/logfiles) right after a bsod to see if there are any gfx / windowserver related messages you can send the apple support to pinpoint the issue.

Regards

Sebastian

Update:

I noticed the problem after gfxcardstatus 2.2 upgrade so:

I removed gfxcardstatus 2.2

Resetted pram

Installed gfxcardstatus 2.0

I rebooted a few time with no issues!