Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

Here's how I restart my Macbook Pro 17 Early 2011...

IT WORKS EVERY TIME I need to reboot!

1. Hold the power button to completely shut down the Mac.

2. Press the power button and reset the PRAM

3. Let the Mac start on it's own. when the pale blue/grey blank screen happens, let the Mac get really hot... I put my hand on the case above the escape key and when I can barely touch it (and the fans are running full blast) I press and hold the power button and then start it up.

4. My Mac will then boot up like normal... after everything is loaded I set GFX Cardstatus to "Integrated" and I can usually run my Macbook like normal for days at a time... if it locks up I just repeat the above... and it has ALWAYS worked!

Makes this situation at least bearable... new Macs in Brazil are 3 times the price compared to the US!

Good luck!

Have two 2011 15 inch Macbook Pro's. Same issue happened to both of them in the last month. Judging from the thread here, Macrumors, and the news posts seems like a pretty widespread issue.

Macbook Pro 17'' Matte screen i7 2,2 Ghz AMD Radeon 6750M + Intel HD 3000, OS Snow Leopard (10.6.8), bought in Italy in April 2011.

It is my first Mac laptop, I spent a lot of money for a high quality machine and now, after 3 years, it is useless: graphical glitches, distortioned lines, heating problems, the system that becomes unresponsive and crashes after opening some application (even 1Password)... I can't afford to buy another MBP in the near future and I don't want to spend hundreds of euros not to be sure to fix this problem.

I wonder if replacing the GPU actually will solve this... Maybe it's just a matter of time, like the many logic boards replaced.

I need a computer to work, so I will probably go back to Windows systems (more affordable and longer-lasting, at least based on my previous experience).

Thanks, Apple, for this beautiful "user experience".

By the way my Macbook has the  "Intel HD Graphics 3000 384 MB" chip...

Seems they are ALL going to break, unless the user has never used any of the applications I was lead to believe the Macbook Pro was actually designed for...... at the very least I think Apple should drop the word 'Pro' from the name and use something along the lines of 'Macbook Lite' or 'Macbook Amateur' instead.

At best I believe it is misleading to use a word which suggests a product will provide a reasonable amount of service before going to trash on the bottom right....

Same pinch!!!

Was anyone here able to install Windows or Linux on their MBP? I tried both but always get a black screen when trying to boot the installation disk. I'd like to see whether another OS would work.

Windows or Linux will not fix the problem, this is a hardware issue.

I have a boot camp partition and whenever the MBP shows the gray stripes on OS X, it does not boot on Windows (it shows random screen artifacts).

Did you try to deactivate the AMD Graphics in Windows System settings? That was my idea, but i can't try without having Windows installed.

Just for the record...

I have the same issue. MacBook Pro early 2011 build, 17" antiglare screen, 2.3GHz i7 Quad Core, the works. Bought in the US brand new for about $3k. I have 95 days of the original warranty left, thankfully (I say that tough in cheek). Today I took it in, I had waited a month, prior to today, in hopes there would be some attention on this spectacle. Sadly I see very little. I am not an Apple fan boy, I buy Apple products because I depend on it for my job. I work mainly in the audio industry and yes... there is a reason we all buy expensive Apple products. Or should I say -did- at this point?

Let's do a quick run through of what led up to today.

Everything was perfect in my little island of the Apple world until early November of 2013. This also coincided with my "free" upgrade to Mavericks, like many others here.

I ran into all the aforementioned problems everyone else has.

1. When the failure begins to grab hold of your precious machine, it first exhibits a torn “dual screen” in your single screen laptop. It will freeze, you will reboot fine, and the problem worries you but, in the end; you don’t think too much about it.
2. Depending on how lucky you, are the problem recurs. In my case it was about a week and the “glitch” reemerged. Only this time “Alice” (the consumer), is dragged down an abysmal rabbit hole. In a matter of 2 days I went from the split torn screen, system lockup that was only solved with pram reset, the pram reset begins only working after many many retries, system then won’t even boot and gives off beep error code (associated to failed logic board), pram reset does work on RARE occasion but, OSX is so unstable at this point it locks up within a minute of use.
3. I then do a trusty google search for my problem and low and behold I found this thread in it’s infancy (15 - 20 pages). I decide to myself, I will wait a little while until more laptops start exhibiting the same behavior. Even then, everyone agreed it was a manufacturing problem. In my dream world, for some idiotic reason, I thought maybe I could hassle Apple or the Apple Store for a new machine out of the conundrum. Even if I were to get a new machine, I would never get that 17” Antiglare-screen back BUT, I would deal with it... and possibly shut up about the hole thing. <- Never do or think this... And side-point: the highest build of the current MBP only has .3GHz/300MHz over my current baby and costs exactly the same as I paid for my machine 2 years ago.
4. Life get’s busy, the holidays go by, and by anomaly I haven’t -had- to use my MBP for awhile. The nearest Apple store for myself is an hour and half drive to somewhere I’m rarely ever at. Things slow down and I realize my warranty is getting close to the end. I check back into this thread and am astonished by the massive amount of others having the same failure. Google it some more and find this widespread failure, for what I feel like is everything manufactured around this time, is still not getting any mainstream media attention or a response from Apple.
5. I make my appointment, well prepared, head in to talk to a “genius”.
6. Upon entering the cult-like store with innumerable mesmerizing blinky screens and oh so many people staring at them with twinkly eyes of glee only a small child exhibits on Christmas day, I am immediately greeted by one of the lower-level initiate neophytes. You know, the cattle herders in there? I pass with my reservation and credentials. A second level herder asks what my issues are with the laptop before I am granted a seat with the gods at the genius bar. I immediately open with, “I’m not sure if you’re aware but, I have an early 2011 MBP that many people are experiencing GPU failures with.” A look of fear instills on his face. He responds, “Yes, I know about it. No need to explain everything. I’ll have a seat ready for you in 5 minutes with someone” I then distract myself with the new Mac Pro that looks like a trash can. After a little digging on the strange tiny trash can (and not very impressed by it mind you. As most expansions for this computer requires feeding the machine even more money - this was the original purpose of the Mac Pro itself, was it not?), I am then granted a seat at the inner sanctum called the “Genius Bar”. My “Genius” is a very nice, early twenties, pretty girl. I feel very sorry for the wrath I am about to unleash on this poor girl but, I have no choice as I see it.
   
   Again, I open with the same line, “I’m not sure if you’re aware but, I have an early 2011 MBP that many people are experiencing GPU failures with.” I go into more depth as to how the problem evolved and is currently. I’m very nice and respectful at this point, as we have yet to reach a point that I have to be a bit unfriendly.
   
   “Oh wow, awesome. You’ve done everything I would have done to find the issue with your computer. Let me just run a quick diagnostics test to be sure there are no other problems.”
   
   I explained I had already done this but, ok. It boots up with the blue lines of death. She reponds, “Yup, exactly as you said and I already know what the problem is.”
   
   I kind of play dumb and nice with the pretty girl to poke for any information I can get.
   
   Me, “So this is a common problem?”
   
   “Yes, I’ve seen plenty of these machines exhibit the same problem.”
   
   “So, what is the fix for this?”
   
   “Since you’re under warranty we’ll send it off for repair, more than likely they will replace the logic board. All this is covered under your warranty, you won’t have to pay anything.”
   
   “So, what if the problem recurs?”
   
   “Well, all repairs are covered for 90 days. You have 95 days left on your warranty. In your case, you’re covered for 95 days”
   
   “Once my warranty is out, how much would this normally cost?”
   
   “Logic board replacement is normally $500 with us when not under warranty.”
   
   “That’s a fair amount of money and not a very long warranty period.”
   
   “Well, maybe it’s time you get a NEW computer. This one is two years old, it’s getting to be that time isn’t it?”
   
   “No, not really. The specs on this machine are only 300MHz below your current top of the line MBP. Not to mention I can’t get this 17” screen anymore. I know, you don’t have to give me the line about the retina screen and it’s resolution. You see, I’ve grown up with a laptop in my hands since a kid. See these eyes? *points to eyes” They have poor vision because of this fact. I actually appreciate and in a way use the 17” screen for a purpose.”
   
   Her face and demeanor immediately change to a face of shame.
   
   “Well, you are right. I would suggest, if you’re really worried about the laptop continuing to fail... when you get it back, sell it on ebay and you will probably have enough money from the sale to get a comparable new MBP.”
   
   “Ebay is great for that stuff isn’t it?”
   
   She smiles with a sigh of relief, hoping I am content with the answer and responds with a “Yes.”
   
   “Yeah, where I can then be the evil person instead of Apple and unload my dysfunctional product on an unsuspecting consumer to make a quick buck, Cover my a** and move on like nothing is wrong. See, I actually disagree with all of this logic and do not take this personally; I understand you’re just an employee here. By our conversation and your responses , I can most assuredly postulate you are 100% aware that this problem is widespread and even unfixable in the end. You barely even checked the machine for problems after I explained everything. You, yourself even suggested I sell the machine after it is “fixed”. This confirms that you think this product is faulty. The employee I spoke to before you even confirmed with me that this is a problem -many- users are experiencing. See, I actually use this product for work, there are no games on this machine, I don’t own it just because it’s f*****g cool, or makes me better than someone else. I paid $3k for this machine a couple years ago because I need a computer with higher processing power for the programs I use that will last longer than a year or two; a computer that doesn’t crash often and is stable. See, crashes equal loss of time, which equals loss of time on the job, which equals loss of money and any free time I would have  had on my part in this case. I told you earlier, I’ve had a computer in my hands since I was 4. As a teenager I self employed myself by working on others computers, even putting together custom builds for them and myself. I know, for the most part, the ins and outs of all this. I still have the very first computer I ever built as a kid for nostalgia purposes. I built that machine when I was 13. Guess what? I’m 28 now and it still boots and runs like the very first day I turned it on. That’s 15 years on that computer, at the time it was top of the line for a PC and cost me about $1k and that’s pushing it. This top of the line machine that I am forced to buy to a degree, because of my work... only lasted 2 years and cost 3 times as much. I’m not even taking inflation into consideration. So, about 1/7th the lifespan and 3 times or more the price. Apple has it’s position and following because of people like myself giving you credit for the high-end line of products you furnish us. The party will end when you do this to these customers. Again, I apologize if I come of as an a** and I am not directing this straight at you. I’m just explaining my frustration of the situation. There are few companies period these days that make quality products and I am very sad to see Apple start to go down this path. Unlike companies today, I have to live with my failures and own up to them as a responsible person in this society.”
   
   Very wide eyed and seemingly, genuinely concerned about the problem, she responded. “Well, there is really nothing I can say to make you happy at this point. I do agree with about everything you said and you’re right. That doesn’t really change anything. If the problem persists while you’re under warranty we -might- be able to do something for you. I am really really sorry.”
   
   We continued to talk some more but, that is the jest you should know.

So, my MBP is in transit to wherever it goes and will be back in a week.

Now, I have a few questions, concerns, and statements.

1. It seems to me everyone’s MBP died around the time Mavericks rolled out, correct? This is one of two things: 1. just timing of the parts to fail or 2. If I were an evil genius, lost faith in humankind as a whole, and was only concerned about the bottom line for my company and myself... I would design it to fail so people would be forced to buy more of my product and it turn make myself filthy rich. Point 2 is really just me playing devil’s advocate but, this is a standard business practice these days. It’s even taught at college in these strange times. Food for thought nonetheless.
2. What did she mean, “...we -might- be able to do something for you”? She did say there was no way she would forget who I was and if I did come back with the same problem to ask for her. Has anyone out there been lucky enough to get a new machine out of this debacle? That’s what should happen in a perfect world. Although, an even better world wouldn’t have had this problem in the first place.
3. This question relates to the second. If some people are lucky enough to get a new machine, should I stress test the machine until she breaks? If no one is getting a new machine, the answer is undoubtedly, no... The best thing you can wish for is -maybe- a year more of life if you’re lucky and careful.
4. Mainly from my experience today, what have I learned? Apple and all their employees know about this problem. What they or we will do about it, time will tell.

Sorry this is long but, I just had to voice my frustration. If we all do, someone has to pay attention. If they don’t, then voicing an opinion must be done with your dollars. That’s all anyone pays attention to these days, sad but true. In the long run if Apple were to initiate a replacement program on these machines or even replace the machines themselves: this is good PR and marketing and worth the expense in a long term cost analysis. I will keep you all posted as to how things go in my situation, until then another picture to verify and add to the heaping pile of crap.

Shivancouver wrote:

 

Here's how I restart my Macbook Pro 17 Early 2011...

 

IT WORKS EVERY TIME I need to reboot!

 

1. Hold the power button to completely shut down the Mac.

 

2. Press the power button and reset the PRAM

 

3. Let the Mac start on it's own. when the pale blue/grey blank screen happens, let the Mac get really hot... I put my hand on the case above the escape key and when I can barely touch it (and the fans are running full blast) I press and hold the power button and then start it up.

 

4. My Mac will then boot up like normal... after everything is loaded I set GFX Cardstatus to "Integrated" and I can usually run my Macbook like normal for days at a time... if it locks up I just repeat the above... and it has ALWAYS worked!

 

Makes this situation at least bearable... new Macs in Brazil are 3 times the price compared to the US!

 

Good luck!

If you wind it in a towel it will even heat up faster.

What happens here is you have the same problem as everyone else, as I described a few times allready in previous posts.

By doing this, you het it up extrememly, expanding pcb/solderballs so they make contact again.

Ad to that the mechanical pression from the mounting and you have contact again.

However, in the long run it might gvie problems if you ever want let it reball.

As they are not really soldered anymore they can start oxidating. Turn black.

Might fail on reflow, reball will still be possible probably.

But that might fail to if pads really get oxidated.

If you don't have warranty or want to pay for a logic board, best advise is to reflow/reball it asap.

@jokokoko

I already mentioned it a few pages back... you can install linux distro Ubuntu.  Use version 13.10 AMD and create a bootable flash drive (I found a video on youtube with directions).  After you boot from the drive you have to press "e" when you reach Grub and enter some code. The directions are here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MacBookPro8-2/Raring.  But I had to put the following lines before the first line (there was no "insmod 2" when i booted from the drive)

     outb 0x728 1 # Switch select

     outb 0x710 2 # Switch display

     outb 0x740 2 # Switch DDC

     outb 0x750 0 # Power down discrete graphics

and the quiet.spash code after quiet.splash without deleting the original.  If you follow the link you'll know what I'm talking about.

The code disables the discrete graphics card. The black screen you are seeing is from not entering the code above. I have been using my macbook pro for two weeks now without any issues and my computer was completely dead for months (since late last year) and unable to boot into mac os x.

Isn't it ironic that a completely FREE operating system is the only thing that could get my $2,000 computer functional again... Thanks APPLE!  For nothing.

@ Anu6is

That was indeed a pretty long statement but well written so nice to read.

About the mavericks thought, killing our machine, I don't think so since other people experienced failure without upgrading.

Now since each new OS is more resources consuming, I guess it speeds up the inevitable.

Depending on what software you use and how, maybe you could be safe for another year, who knows when you just use safari and itunes on a $2500+ "pro" computer.

I had the same speech about the fact my machine would be kinda old now and it would be the perfect time to change it, hey, even got a $100 discount in case I choose to.

Thing is, my old 2007 MBP is still running fine even though I don't own it anymore so the 2 years span of lifetime, please...

And on top of that, I also have an anti-glare screen that I really appreciate, don't care about a retina.

I also appreciate the fact to be able to plug an ethernet cable, using a firewire port, having an HD and possibly a SSD if I remove the DVD slot (was planning to do so when it was working fine, somehow I'm glad I didn't spend money on this upgrade).

So yeah, I like my computer and its configuration, was planning to keep it for quite a while.

Now for a computer exchange, as far as I know, it only could happen after you get your machine repaired for a few times.

If you go and see that same girl at the store for the third logic board replacement, she will probably offer you something like that, or not!

So that means anyway a lot of troubles ahead, wasting time sending it away, getting it back waiting for the failure and so on.

And of course, within the 90 days covered or else you will have to pay the $500 even if it's already the third time you come for the exact same problem.

Selling expensive faulty machines, Apple have an history with it, only difference now is the way they handling the situation.

I been told at the genius bar and over the phone that they are indeed aware of the problems but they officially don't care about the threads, they refuse to acknowledge the fact a logic board replacement is bound to fail again, they pretend we are such a minority that it ain't a real issue, they repeat what they been told to, giving us all the same speech worldwide in every language.

As many advise it here, reballing is the best way to go. Cheaper and better, if not the only, fix.

I get my MBP back on Friday, i just hope it breaks again before the 3 months are up. Honestly, I'm just going to keep sending it for repair as long as it breaks under warranty.

My devil's advocate statement was really just that.. I'm too used to other companies playing similar games. It's a good thought exercise either way. Yeah, I was aware of other fails prior to the Maverick roll out however, there were not as many. You're hypothesis probably holds some truth about more processing power speeding up the failure rate.

So sad we’re all getting the same lines and responses from the employees. I’m sure it’s verbatim the script they’ve been told to follow. Telling us it’s time to upgrade anyways is just a slap in the face. Really, you want me to buy another one of these $3k paper weights? I just told you this one is faulty, you agree with me, why would I buy another one? Although, I really do love that machine when it’s functional. I’m with you there. Where is my $100 discount card btw?

Someone has said it before but, I know there are plenty more of us with this problem that haven’t even posted our complaints because it’s all already been said. It may seem like ******* in the wind at this point but, it doesn’t hurt to spend a few minutes at least making your peace.

Anyways, along the lines you have said and @DutchMen1 - I’ll be pushing it to fail as many times as I can before the warranty is up. The “third time is a charm” rule will hopefully hold true. 95 days on my warranty -should- be enough time. It ***** I’m forced to “prove” myself and drive 3 hours round trip, when they are already aware of the problem. After that, if I’m still in this mess... I’ll look into reballing it I suppose. There really is no other reliable option after that.