Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

HI PCJ,

thanks for the info. But I don't know if it applies in every aspect to it. Cause I actually forgot to tell one detail, sorry, I actually moved the drivers back, after the problem still appeared after the move. That was like 5 days ago or so. So the driver files where at the place where they were suppose to be at the time the system started to be back on again.

But you are right in the aspect that the system is running not completely as it should. Although all the GPU heavy applications are doing ok, I can't change the brightness via the buttons on the keyboard.

I get the issue with the attached display...makes sense.

To remove the AMD drivers again, I have to go via Single-user mode though, cause right now GFXStatus doesn't allow me to switch anything ( because of the fact that the system thinks that the external screen is connected ).

Bottom line is though, is the system running on the AMD chip though ( or is it only showing that but actually its running the integrated ). Thats what I'm confused about. When I moved the AMD drivers, it didn't solve the problem, now that I have moved it back, and all the other things I mentioned, it seems to work..although with the mentioned issues. Would that mean that actually the AMD GPU is working ( again?). I can't reallz reproduce the failure now...and with the issue of not being able to switch them around, I can't go back to the Integrated to see if it fails during the switch.

Uggh, you are so splitting hairs. Firmware *IS* software. It has documented APIs and entry points just like "software" (well duh, because it *IS* software). And just like software it also has UNDOCUMENTED API's and entry points. And programmers are always on the lookout for ways to exploit every last cpu cycle -- even if it means they use something that isn't documented or supported.

The key thing is if a firmware update from Apple can cause problems with our GPU (which most people would agree with, excepting you apparently) then so can a software update from a 3rd party.

You are simply flat-out wrong with your idea of what firmware vs. software is and isn't. And it is this shortsidedness/dogma that is preventing you from considering other possibilites. Sad.

Michael

I did the same thing reinstall the OS and you'll put the driver back in their proper place..

Well well,

so there is a repair program for the faulty AMD Radeon HD 6970M chips in  the iMac 27"

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS5167

but still no support/repair-program for the faulty ATI Radeon 6570M chips in the early 2011 macbook-pro's.

The symptons are identical...

come on Apple...

Firmware *IS* software.

Agreed.

It has documented APIs and entry points just like "software" (well duh, because it *IS* software).

In some cases, in others not. And you don't get access to them because when you call the software firmware it is running on dedicated controllers and can only be changed as a whole.

The key thing is if a firmware update from Apple can cause problems with our GPU (which most people would agree with, excepting you apparently) then so can a software update from a 3rd party.

I absolutely agree that a firmware can damage hardware because firmware often has lower layer hardware access, e.g. if we're talking about the SMC in a MBP it can control voltages and fan speed and god knows what else. Regular software: no way, that'd be abused in malware faster than you can say ********.

So...how do we turn this two year old issue into something Apple cannot ignore?

I have a feeling Apple might do something about this soon. The senior advisor I spoke to today seemed to know that it was a 'batch' of this version of MacBook Pros.

i have same proplem, it started last week, blue and black vertical lines, i tried bootcamp, gave bluescreen, hardware test didnt load, so i tried windows hardware check, memory test, it found error and after i could log in, everything was fine, so today, it happened again, when i was playing a flash game, suddenly screen mixed up, i tried to boot, it didnt, windows hardware test didnt work either, apple hardware check didnt even start again, after 1-2 hours it just booted, i am waiting to see when will be next failure interesting stuff is, i cant do anything when problem occurs, system dvd does nothing, just i can do is logging in safe mode and watch blue lines

Document your OS, processor, year produced, graphic chipset and photos with your phone if possible, for the thread please.

my one early 2011, amd 6750m ,snow leopard. i didnt take any photo, next week when the problem strikes again, i will upload pictures of , bootcamp vertical blue lines and osx ones, both on safe mode, i cant boot normal mode...

i started to use gfxcardstatus and choosed intedrated card also installed smcfancontrol and set minimum speed to 3200...

lets see when it will strike again...

Hi all, first I want to say that I know the pain everyone is going through here since I too own an early Macbookpro with the 6750M. For me all started 3 days after I update to Mavericks when everything went south, I tried everything from resetting the SMC, NVRAM, AHT and at last a fresh installation back to 10.8.5 & no luck. That was till I decided to rip my mac apart & get to the cpu & gpu to do the all famous reapplication of the thermal compound to both. I dont know if I was lucky or the problem really is just a bad case of thermal compound. What I did was clean the entire cpu & gpu (when I say clean I mean spotless) reapply just the necesary amount of the paste (a really small amount about the size of a rice grain for the gpu and a bit more for the cpu) I reset the SMC and for my surprise the machine came back to life. As you can see in the screen shot those are my new temperatures after I was done. I hope this will give some of you some hope and a way out of this mess.

You performed this yourself? Could you provide details? Not that I would ever try this myself, just curious of how intense of an operation something like that is.

Yes I did it my self & to be honest it's easier than taking a regular PC apart . You can take a look of the taredown here (I didnt have to remove the battery or the wireless card)-------->http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook+Pro+15-Inch+Unibody+Early+2011+Teardown/4 990

Video ---->  http://youtu.be/VlMxoHK0Os4

Have an early 2011 machine with a 6490m.

Had memory(3 beeps) problems since day one.

Random restarts after 1 month.  After about 7 month the restarts started happening every hour or so.
Finally the machine hard crashed and wouldn't boot past the grey screen(no apple logo).

Took it to the apple store, they sent it to the depot(flat rate repair).  Received it back in 5 business days.
They replaced the ram and the logic board.

A month later, screen shifting started, immediately followed by a restart.  Upon restart, a blue tint was noticed. Immediately backup all my data to my server, then the machine restarted again.  This time it wouldn't go past the apple logo.

Took it to the apple store again, same depot repair.

Repair took 3 weeks(15 business days), even though I was quoted 5-7 days maximum.
This time they replaced the logic board and the screen.

2 weeks later, computer hard crashed.  Was finally able to get it to turn on, but only to the grey screen.

Took it to the apple store again(3rd repair).  The Genius and the Genius "supervisor" both suggested a CRU, due to the amount of repairs in a short period, and the long wait on last repair.  I agreed, they took my computer and offered me a 15" rMBP, and said they will call me in 48 hours to confirm.

The next day, the store sales supervisor calls me and explains that they are unable to replace the machine with a rMBP, period, end of story.
(And since apple discountinued the cMBP, they can't replace it with anything they currently stock).

They said the only thing they can do is build a new 2011 machine from scratch, and a lead time of 3 weeks was given. 

So, over 10 months of owning the computer, I will be without a computer for almost 2 months.

Hope everyone else has better luck. 

Sigh... Add another unfortunate soul to the list :-\

Crashes, horizontal lines at startup gray screen, etc. started a shortly after upgrading to Mavericks.

Early 2011 (8.2), 2.2GHz i7, 16GB 1333 MHz DDR3, AMD 6750M

SMC = 1.69f4

I work with a u2410 monitor hooked up and gfx set to "Discrete-Only" mode and never had any issues until Mavericks, so figured that the crashes were Mavericks-related and that eventually, apple would fix with a firmware update/patch.

Is the general consensus now that the issue is Hardware related?? If so, is there anything I can do to keep the crashes from happening and/or minimize the chances of a total system failure (where rebooting after crash is no longer possible)?