abelliveau
Level 1 (9 points)

Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

I have an early 2011 MacBook Pro (2.2 GHz Intel Core i7, 8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 memory) running OS 10.8.2.  It has two graphics components: an AMD Radeon HD 6750M and a built-in Intel HD Graphics 3000. Since I've had the computer, the screen would get a blue tint when the computer switched between them.

 

However, as of two days ago, the problem has become substantially more severe.  The computer was working fine, when all of a suddent the screen when completely blue.  I had to force restart the computer.  Since then, the screen has gone awry on numerous occassions - each time necessitating a hard reset.

 

I installed gfxCardStatus, and have discovered that the computer runs fine using the integrated card, but as soon as I switch to the discrete card - the screen goes .

 

I am just wondering what my options are (any input on any of these would be appreciated!):

 

1) Replace the logic board.  Would this necessarily fix the issue?

 

2) Is there any way to "fix" the graphics card? 

 

3) Keep using gfxCardStatus and only use the integrated graphics card.  This is definitely the easiest/cheapest option, but to have such a computer and not be able to use the graphics card seems like a real shame.

 

4) Is there any other alternative?

 


MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7, 8 GB memory

Posted on Feb 1, 2013 4:45 PM

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Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

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  • by Jauhari,

    Jauhari Jauhari Jan 15, 2015 7:57 PM in response to Ryan Griffin
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Jan 15, 2015 7:57 PM in response to Ryan Griffin

    where is you fixed you MacBook Pro?

  • by orphicpixel,

    orphicpixel orphicpixel Jan 16, 2015 12:18 AM in response to Charles Houghton-Webb
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Jan 16, 2015 12:18 AM in response to Charles Houghton-Webb

    Charles Houghton-Webb wrote:

     

    Funny thing happened to me this week !

    After trying all the workarounds I'd seen to get a bit more life out of my 17" April 2011 MBP wearing green and white striped pyjamas, I decided to take an appointment with a genius. The said appointment happened this Monday PM, and after doing all the tests and multiple reboots, the MBP still had green and white vertical stripes, and the genius officially declared that the motherboard had to be replaced at 600 euros.

    I refused the repair, deciding to put the machine aside, awaiting the outcome of the class action, and having already replaced it anyway.

    Before stashing it on a shelf, I decided to do one last SMC reset, but one with a twist, that I had seen, but not tried before.

    Apple say :

    1. Shut down the computer.

    2. Plug in the MagSafe power adapter to a power source, connecting it to the Mac if its not already connected.

    3. On the built-in keyboard, press the (left side) Shift-Control-Option keys and the power button at the same time.

    4. Release all the keys and the power button at the same time.

    5. Press the power button to turn on the computer.

    The twist is in step 4. I held the keys in step 3. for about 5 seconds, then released all EXCEPT the power button, holding this for an additional 5 seconds before releasing it. Finally, step 5. The computer booted with a normal screen, which I hadn't seen in 2 months, BUT, the fans were going full blast, no led on the MagSafe, no battery in the menu bar, Mac not going to sleep when closing the top, and probably  other stuff that I missed.

    I rebooted several times from the menu, without problem and with a normal screen, but still with the fans blasting and all…

    Finally, I shut down and did a NORMAL SMC reset, the Apple standard way, and lo and behold… a normal startup, normal screen, fans, MagSafe, everything!

    I have since rebooted countless times (deliberately) and even done an update to Yosemite (I was on Mavericks), and the machine has been running perfectly ! I have run videos and generally tried to stress it… it hasn't budged!

    It's now Wednesday, 4AM all is well :-)

    Fingers crossed then !!

    Well this work for me, but when I reset the normal way and fire up my graphics app like Photoshop, same thing happen, bluescreen and the machine crashes again

  • by Jauhari,

    Jauhari Jauhari Jan 16, 2015 1:23 AM in response to Charles Houghton-Webb
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Jan 16, 2015 1:23 AM in response to Charles Houghton-Webb

    Can you tell me more details? Does your Current situation still with Fans Blasting (fans on full blast) with No Led on MagSafe and No Battery on menu Bar?

    Or already normal condition?

  • by JroenVN,

    JroenVN JroenVN Jan 16, 2015 2:37 AM in response to abelliveau
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 16, 2015 2:37 AM in response to abelliveau

    new user with error reporting

     

    I have a MBP 8,2

     

    I was working in lightroom, PS was open but not being worked in.

    The screen split up in 2 halves and weird colors appearing. a shut down and reboot didn't solve it.

    I screwed the lid of, unplugged the battery and waited a while, restarted, (and after reading this and thinking the problem is PS) I made sure PS wasn't starting up. So far it works again but I'm "afraid" to open Photoshop now.

    Is it a hardware related 'free fix' in the apple store? or is it just software that needs to be debugged?

    (difficult to read 752 pages...)

  • by JroenVN,

    JroenVN JroenVN Jan 16, 2015 3:17 AM in response to JroenVN
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 16, 2015 3:17 AM in response to JroenVN

    Ok, did a stresstest on the GPU and could reproduce the problem...

     

    so what's next?

  • by Ryan Griffin,

    Ryan Griffin Ryan Griffin Feb 6, 2015 10:23 AM in response to Jauhari
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Feb 6, 2015 10:23 AM in response to Jauhari

    Elan.JPGMark did the work on it.  He was great.  The sheet I have on here is from the tech at the Apple Store in Columbus.  It's day 2 and it's still working perfectly.

     

    <Edited By Host>

  • by kayazuki,

    kayazuki kayazuki Feb 6, 2015 10:23 AM in response to orphicpixel
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 6, 2015 10:23 AM in response to orphicpixel

    orphicpixel wrote:

    Well this work for me, but when I reset the normal way and fire up my graphics app like Photoshop, same thing happen, bluescreen and the machine crashes again

    Which isn't a big surprise when you consider that it would be really strange if a bad contact, of one (or more) of the 900 tin ball solders under the GPU, would magically make connection again just because of an SMC reset. If you consider the bad solder and the disconnection of 2 halves and some very thin oxidation in between, then any mechanical movement might create a (temporary) connection again, making you think something wonderful happend.

     

    Some other people wondered why the replacement boards generally fail so much faster then the original boards. My guess is that the request for replacement boards is so high at the moment, they may even have sped up the (already poor) production process, creating even worse connections on a larger scale = faster failure..?

    <Edited by Host>

  • by tomasfn93,

    tomasfn93 tomasfn93 Jan 16, 2015 8:39 AM in response to abelliveau
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 16, 2015 8:39 AM in response to abelliveau

    Just noticed that I don't have any discrete GPU installed or whatever. Just the Intel HD Graphics 30000 built-in. I am safe of the GPU failures?


     

  • by Charles Houghton-Webb,

    Charles Houghton-Webb Charles Houghton-Webb Jan 16, 2015 9:06 AM in response to orphicpixel
    Level 1 (33 points)
    Jan 16, 2015 9:06 AM in response to orphicpixel

    orphicpixel wrote:

     

    Well this work for me, but when I reset the normal way and fire up my graphics app like Photoshop, same thing happen, bluescreen and the machine crashes again

    Mmmm maybe not your solution then

     

    I gave mine another two hours of intense video thrashing last night, and it's still working fine. I think I shall be putting back into circulation, to see how it holds with normal day to day use.

  • by Charles Houghton-Webb,

    Charles Houghton-Webb Charles Houghton-Webb Jan 16, 2015 9:09 AM in response to Jauhari
    Level 1 (33 points)
    Jan 16, 2015 9:09 AM in response to Jauhari

    Jauhari wrote:

     

    Can you tell me more details? Does your Current situation still with Fans Blasting (fans on full blast) with No Led on MagSafe and No Battery on menu Bar?

    Or already normal condition?

    As I said in my post… after doing the standard Apple SMC reset (after the "twisted" version) everything came back to normal, including the video.

  • by Charles Houghton-Webb,

    Charles Houghton-Webb Charles Houghton-Webb Jan 16, 2015 9:21 AM in response to kayazuki
    Level 1 (33 points)
    Jan 16, 2015 9:21 AM in response to kayazuki

    kayazuki wrote:

     

    orphicpixel wrote:

    Well this work for me, but when I reset the normal way and fire up my graphics app like Photoshop, same thing happen, bluescreen and the machine crashes again

    Which isn't a big surprise when you consider that it would be really strange if a bad contact, of one (or more) of the 900 tin ball solders under the GPU, would magically make connection again just because of an SMC reset.

    Well that's as maybe, and you're probably right, but in the meantime, I had the graphics problem - it was confirmed after a genius ran all the tests at the Apple Store, and confirmed that I had to change the motherboard. Now my computer has been running fine for 5 days of stress testing and I'm going to put it back into service.

    Some things are just really strange I guess I'm not complaining

  • by Hal Feldman,

    Hal Feldman Hal Feldman Jan 16, 2015 11:06 AM in response to abelliveau
    Level 1 (125 points)
    Jan 16, 2015 11:06 AM in response to abelliveau

    Fun.

     

    4th Logic Board just died the same way as the rest. Called into Executive Response. They are supposed to follow up with me "within the hour"

     

    Its time to put the machine and me out of our misery.

  • by Chakravarthy Cuddapah,

    Chakravarthy Cuddapah Chakravarthy Cuddapah Jan 16, 2015 1:18 PM in response to Hal Feldman
    Level 4 (1,879 points)
    Wireless
    Jan 16, 2015 1:18 PM in response to Hal Feldman

    Curious to know what the executive response is ...

  • by Hal Feldman,

    Hal Feldman Hal Feldman Jan 16, 2015 6:22 PM in response to Chakravarthy Cuddapah
    Level 1 (125 points)
    Jan 16, 2015 6:22 PM in response to Chakravarthy Cuddapah

    Apple asked me to take the machine to a retail store, which I did.  Machine tested as flawed.  Executive Relations response was that they would not be replacing the machine, but I was welcome to send it in for repair since I was still within my 90-day warranty.

     

    I'm playing along and have asked for a box to be shipped to me. In the meantime, I'll transfer my data to a new iMac and fight until Apple does the right thing.

     

    Totally bewildered by Apple's stance on this. They keep spending money on a lemon product and waste my time and effort. I'll always take away a negative experience since they refuse to recognize their responsibility.  Meanwhile, after SEVEN touches, their internal costs are mounting. I will also most likely get YET ANOTHER logic board swap.

     

    Even a dolt at Dell would have just replaced the machine by now.

  • by iPrologue,

    iPrologue iPrologue Jan 16, 2015 7:45 PM in response to Hal Feldman
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 16, 2015 7:45 PM in response to Hal Feldman

    my macbook pro 11 has been giving me issues for the past 2 weeks . Payed the $300 and got my "new" logic board today.

     

    Hopefully its a good one .

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