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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abelliveau

Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

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  • by lemuus,

    lemuus lemuus Nov 15, 2013 1:33 PM in response to abelliveau
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 15, 2013 1:33 PM in response to abelliveau

    Hi... a new member

     

     

    MBP late 2011, I took mine to service, and the solution was to replace the logic board... which I am not going to do (too expensive)

     

    I hope Apple do something

     

     

  • by VirtualMediaSolutions,

    VirtualMediaSolutions VirtualMediaSolutions Nov 15, 2013 2:03 PM in response to abelliveau
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 15, 2013 2:03 PM in response to abelliveau

    Funny how the 1.7 Firmware (which my mac is running) seems to have vanished off the firmware updates page

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1237

     

    http://www.tuaw.com/2013/02/12/apple-releases-macbook-pro-firmware-update-to-fix -battery-issues/

     

    MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011) MacBookPro8,2MBP81.0047.B27 (EFI 2.7)1.69f4 (SMC 1.7)
    MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011)MacBookPro8,3MBP81.0047.B27 (EFI 2.7)1.70f6 (SMC 1.7)

  • by MJSfoto1956,

    MJSfoto1956 MJSfoto1956 Nov 15, 2013 2:16 PM in response to VirtualMediaSolutions
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 15, 2013 2:16 PM in response to VirtualMediaSolutions

    for those of you who are convinced that a firmware upgrade may have precipitated the downfall of the GPU (I happen to be leaning that way FYI) I want to point out that if firmware could cause this problem, so could software (for all practical purposes there is no difference). Which gets back to testing -- you really do need to do a clean install first then test without any software installed from backup or TimeMachine. If a clean install of Mountain Lion of Mavericks works without bringing your machine down, you can then proceeed to installing your backed up users & data (ideally one by one, but that is generally not practical or even doable for most of us). If you CAN demonstrate that a clean install kills your computer then GREAT!! Take it immediately to Apple and show them that even with a clean install, your machine is dead.

     

    As a side note: I was not able to reproduce the bad behavior with a clean install of Mountain Lion so I went ahead and installed Mavericks and it too did not cause the machine to fail after a day of testing. So I migrated my users/data and have been busy working ever since.

     

    In short, while I agree that our problem is likely a hardware problem, it really might have been initiated by software and/or firmware. And of course, that means any programs you use AND/OR any websites you visit and the plugins they require or install.

     

    YMMV

     

    Michael

  • by SamCity123,

    SamCity123 SamCity123 Nov 15, 2013 2:33 PM in response to abelliveau
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 15, 2013 2:33 PM in response to abelliveau

    Finally got my MBP back from Currys today. Started it up, it all seems to be in working order.

     

    They replaced the logic board. Those that have had repairs and then further problems, what am I looking out for, how long did yours last after repair?

     

    Are there any tests anyone would like me to try out?

  • by Wojzo,

    Wojzo Wojzo Nov 15, 2013 3:18 PM in response to SamCity123
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 15, 2013 3:18 PM in response to SamCity123

    SamCity123 wrote:

     

    Finally got my MBP back from Currys today. Started it up, it all seems to be in working order.

     

    They replaced the logic board. Those that have had repairs and then further problems, what am I looking out for, how long did yours last after repair?

     

    Are there any tests anyone would like me to try out?

     

    Could you check your SMC version and Thunderbolt firmware version if you haven't updated them already?

     

    Here's hoping it works out for you.

  • by SamCity123,

    SamCity123 SamCity123 Nov 15, 2013 3:20 PM in response to abelliveau
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 15, 2013 3:20 PM in response to abelliveau

    The underside of my MBP is getting pretty hot already and I've barely done anything with it, nothing strenuous at all.

     

    Any ideas?

  • by SamCity123,

    SamCity123 SamCity123 Nov 15, 2013 3:24 PM in response to Wojzo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 15, 2013 3:24 PM in response to Wojzo

    SMC:

    1.69f3

     

     

    Thunderbolt Firmware:

    25.1

     

    Hope I've done that right.

  • by degger,

    degger degger Nov 15, 2013 3:34 PM in response to MJSfoto1956
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 15, 2013 3:34 PM in response to MJSfoto1956

    for those of you who are convinced that a firmware upgrade may have precipitated the downfall of the GPU (I happen to be leaning that way FYI) I want to point out that if firmware could cause this problem, so could software (for all practical purposes there is no difference).

    True, especially since the firmware doesn't get to keep control of the device for very long before the drivers take over. Actually it's far more likely that the drivers are the culprit than the firmware and as we all know this happens with any version of OSX which happen to have vastly different drivers. The chance that software is slowly killing these GPUs is so ridiculously low that even the spelled out thought amuses me.

  • by FredBrazil,

    FredBrazil FredBrazil Nov 15, 2013 5:20 PM in response to abelliveau
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 15, 2013 5:20 PM in response to abelliveau

    Hello all ... another with the same problem. I spent the day reading the reports, so far 89 pages, the same problems. I live in Brazil and technical assistance here is bad, I'll try with a particular technical just replace the thermal paste. I'm using the integrated GPU, but really need a better GPU. I filled out the doc Sara and also sent a complaint to Apple, I wish luck to all. Any good news please share. I hope I can even do this ...

     

     

    Ps. Sorry for the bad english !

  • by p4t0,

    p4t0 p4t0 Nov 15, 2013 5:22 PM in response to degger
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 15, 2013 5:22 PM in response to degger

    True, especially since the firmware doesn't get to keep control of the device for very long before the drivers take over. Actually it's far more likely that the drivers are the culprit than the firmware and as we all know this happens with any version of OSX which happen to have vastly different drivers. The chance that software is slowly killing these GPUs is so ridiculously low that even the spelled out thought amuses me.

     

    I don't disagree with you but, in fact SMC takes control of the system on a lower level than the OS. All the power running through the motherboard components are controlled by the System Management Controller.

    Even if you aren't using a very intensive computation program and have a problematic SMC, it could be pushing too much voltage on a component reducing its lifespan.

  • by odarellmc,

    odarellmc odarellmc Nov 15, 2013 7:48 PM in response to abelliveau
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 15, 2013 7:48 PM in response to abelliveau

    I tried reinstalling lion but nothing changed..after I clicked install it loaded for 3 ,minutes the restarted and everything was the same as before...

  • by odarellmc,

    odarellmc odarellmc Nov 15, 2013 7:50 PM in response to odarellmc
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 15, 2013 7:50 PM in response to odarellmc

    Also the download on an external esata drive

  • by dja,

    dja dja Nov 15, 2013 9:13 PM in response to abelliveau
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 15, 2013 9:13 PM in response to abelliveau

    this happened to my MacBook today. Early 2011 15" pro with mavericks, have never had any problems. today i randomly got a split screen. after repairing permissions and disk and a few more freeze ups and restarts it will no longer even start up. then I found this thread. is apple offering this repair for free? I am not paying for a new logic board because of their faulty hardware.

  • by Swampus,

    Swampus Swampus Nov 15, 2013 11:43 PM in response to SamCity123
    Level 2 (180 points)
    Nov 15, 2013 11:43 PM in response to SamCity123

    SamCity123 wrote:

     

    The underside of my MBP is getting pretty hot already and I've barely done anything with it, nothing strenuous at all.

     

    Any ideas?

     

     

    Hotter than before?  What is your load (CPU%) and what is your temperature? 

     

    Do you monitor these things?  It's not a bad idea even when you're not expecting a particular problem.  I like to have my temperature and CPU load in my menu bar at all times on all of my machines.  You don't have to be hyperfocused on it for it to be useful.  Think of it as the oil pressure and temperature gauges in a car.  You'll eventually get a sense of what is normal for a particular range of activity.  If something seems unusual, then you can pull up Activity Monitor to see what is misbehaving (spoiler alert:  It's usually Flash). 

     

    Suggestions:

     

    Temperature Monitor

    Menu Meters

    iStat Menus 

    smcFanControl

  • by buzzart,

    buzzart buzzart Nov 15, 2013 11:55 PM in response to Swampus
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 15, 2013 11:55 PM in response to Swampus

    Nice collection of utils, Swampus. I'm a iStat Menus fan. The iStat Sensor menu-item allows you to see the temperature of the MBP and also manually set the fan speed. I'll do this when I know I'm about to run things hot (Minecraft).

     

    This is the hottest MacBook Pro I've ever owned. Often getting up to 80+ °C. Far hotter than I'd like from a "laptop". Right from day one of owning this machine it has been the main problem - too hot to handle. If that is standard then I think Apple made a poor design decision.

     

    I routinely open my MacBook Pro up and carefully vacuum the dust that builds up around the fans and heat sinks.

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