Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

I have just created this account to offer a solution (Not THE solution, mind you) if all you can go to is blue screen. About two weeks ago my friend's mother gave me her computer and asked me to find out what's wrong with it.

Through trial and error and after reading countless of comments, articles and whatnot, I have found a somewhat reliable solution.

First of all, you want to force your computer to start up using the HD 3000 graphics. How do you achieve that? Well, thanks to a rather unusual method that I got from a website http://www.asyncro.com/, you can really force your computer into starting up using the HD 3000 graphics card. To save you the trouble, here's a brief guide

recommended: Charge the computer beforehand.

1. Turn on your computer like you normally would with the Magsafe plugged in
2. Now it should get to a point where the blue screen appears. That's exactly what you want
3. Now REMOVE the magsafe from the computer and put it on a surface that will prevent the computer from cooling properly. In other words: You want to OVERHEAT the computer (Yeah this sounds crazy) and make it SHUT DOWN automatically thanks to the sensors. Just put it on a blanket and kind of wrap the computer in it. Even close the lid a bit. This will help the process. This step is the most crucial. After this happens quickly go to step 4.
4. AS SOON AS your computer shuts itself down, turn it back on immediately. It should boot using the HD3000 graphics, since the system will consider the other problematic GPU card "unusable" because it's still overheated
5. Log into your system...hopefully
6. Install GFXcardstatus 2.2.1. Do not download the 2.3 version. Search for the version 2.2.1 somewhere
7. In GFXcardstatus menubar icon, set it to "Integrated only". In this program preferences, check the "Load at startup" and uncheck the "Check for updates automatically". Then go to "advanced" tab in the preferences and check the "enable power based switching" and set it both to "Integrated". Just to make sure

NOW, you should have a working Macbook pro, however you will be unable to use the stronger AMD forces the stronger GPU automatically no matter what. I cannot confirm this though. I recommend installing Mountain Lion on your computer, since that's what I did. To do that, simply make a bootable disk (Can't really tell you how since I don't think it's kinda allowed) and follow on from step 4. But instead you will hold ALT at the second startup and install Mountain Lion from there. Don't forget to install GFXcardstatus again

This method worked for me, albeit it is a band-aid solution. It still needs to be repaired, because now it's like a Boxer  with his hands tied, and if you untie then, he knocks himself out...

I hope this guide helps. I will probably repost this as time goes so it (hopefully) helps more and more people.

Well... I've had it for 4 days now. And all I can say is... this is not an acceptable fix. It's definitely not worth $310 plus tax...

I tried watching an hour long tv show. Really wanted to finish it. but got so hot that the fans went up to 5k rotations per minute to keep it stable.

If I try and preview photos. It's all glitched out. Can barely make out the image at all... And coverflow.. ya that is super wonky.

What should I do? Stick with this. Or go talk to the apple store again? What can they possibly do? From what I've read they are giving us all refurb logic boards but there is no way for me to tell.. Is it Mavericks? Is that what is killing our machines? I treat it so nicely and even with all new parts it just doesn't work.

I have grfxcard status running but it still switches to discrete when I open Photoshop.

People talk about re-balling is that something I should consider? Or if Apple ever reads these threads seriously and decides to fix our computers does that make them not want to fix mine. I am an art director. And I can't direct art on this! I can't even watch a video that's an hour long? And I can't preview photos! How can this be? I feel like I'm in bizzarro world where Apple is not top of line at all... And I'm on a dell or something.

Anyone.. Please advise.

And that counts for apple too.

Please contact me. Tell me if there is any fixes coming for us. These bandaids are Definitively NOT working!

The machine is no longer in production, refurbished boards are all there are.

Csound1 wrote:

 

The machine is no longer in production, refurbished boards are all there are.

One has to wonder, in refurbishing a board, why don't they reball the GPU?

Hey man, I hear you, especially if you use your computer for a living

Reballing is a solution, but.... I talked to a guy the other day who had been doing repairs of apple computer for 10 years and he told me, that he gets about 3 to 5 of those Early 2011 MacBook pros a week. Now that's a lot. He told me, that he can reball the chip but god knows when it will go haywire again. However, he says that if he replaced the GPU with a non-defective one, then it's a reliable solution. The thing is, that not all Early 2011 MBPs suffer from this, because it really depends on the faulty GPU.

I don't know how much that would cost in your country, but from where I come from, which is Czech Republic, that's 2800 CZK which is about 140 USD

GPU reball is yet another band-aid solution. It's the faulty GPU which is the root of the problem. The problem may come back at any time until the GPU is replaced

By overheating your computer you will temporarily resolder the discrete GPU to the board (cheap reflow), and the computer will boot. However, if you do this too often, permanent damage to the BGA and logic board will soon appear that won't be possible to fix even with a reball.

CharlesMarhowl wrote:

 

GPU reball is yet another band-aid solution. It's the faulty GPU which is the root of the problem. The problem may come back at any time until the GPU is replaced

This is confusing to me. Is this thread not devoted to a *process* issue, as opposed to a *component* issue? Is the GPU actually faulty, or the way it is attached to the logic board? Or both?

Csound1 wrote:

 

The machine is no longer in production, refurbished boards are all there are.

One has to wonder, in refurbishing a board, why don't they reball the GPU?

-----------

Tom Otvos-

They do not reball because of the following:

1) Apple is a mass production retailer.  They don't work at the component level. If anything is not working and it is part of the logic board, the whole logic board is replaced. Period. Not very cost-effective, but in mass production it is certainly efficient.

2) Apple designs the MacBook Pro and decides which parts go inside. Many 3rd parties make the parts.  The logic board is simply assembled and delivered to Apple for placement in their case.

The underlying issue seems to be a design flaw with the amount of heat generated with the combined GPU and CPU.  From what I can gather, the GPU is *NOT* flawed or even broken when we experience these issues. It is the solder breaking down that causes the graphics glitches and kernel panics.

Therefore, a reball *could* be a great fix, except for the fact that the underlying heat design flaw still exists.  Reball + new thermal paste is a better idea, but again, long-term Apple still has a design flaw with too much heat and not enough dissipation.

For Apple to consider reballing as an in-house resolution, they would need to do something they haven't done since they were in Steve Jobs' garage...work at the component level.  VERY UNLIKELY.

I do not agree with CharlesMarhowl in his assumption that the GPU is flawed. AMD made millions of those chips and most are still humming away in other computers.

Hal Feldman wrote:

 

Csound1 wrote:

 

The machine is no longer in production, refurbished boards are all there are.

One has to wonder, in refurbishing a board, why don't they reball the GPU?

 

Tom-

 

They do not reball because of the following:

 

1) Apple is a mass production retailer.  They don't work at the component level. If anything is not working and it is part of the logic board, the whole logic board is replaced. Period. Not very cost-effective, but in mass production it is certainly efficient.

 

2) Apple designs the MacBook Pro and decides which parts go inside. Many 3rd parties make the parts.  The logic board is simply assembled and delivered to Apple for placement in their case.

 

The underlying issue seems to be a design flaw with the amount of heat generated with the combined GPU and CPU.  From what I can gather, the GPU is *NOT* flawed or even broken when we experience these issues. It is the solder breaking down that causes the graphics glitches and kernel panics.

 

Therefore, a reball *could* be a great fix, except for the fact that the underlying heat design flaw still exists.  Reball + new thermal paste is a better idea, but again, long-term Apple still has a design flaw with too much heat and not enough dissipation.

 

For Apple to consider reballing as an in-house resolution, they would need to do something they haven't done since they were in Steve Jobs' garage...work at the component level.  VERY UNLIKELY.

 

I do not agree with CharlesMarhowl in his assumption that the GPU is flawed. AMD made millions of those chips and most are still humming away in other computers.

Thanks, Hal. I get all of that but then, what is a "refurbished" logic board? Simply one that has been ripped out of another MBP that is broken in some other way? While they might not do it in-house, it would not be a stretch to think that they *could* send boards out to be rebelled. Dunno, just thinking out loud. Until the problem is acknowledged, no official solutions are forthcoming.

CharlesMarhowl wrote:

 

GPU reball is yet another band-aid solution. It's the faulty GPU which is the root of the problem. The problem may come back at any time until the GPU is replaced

The 2011 macbooks most likely don't need a GPU replacement.

The GPU itself has no problems. It was a proruction soldering process problem, Reballing is enough to fix it.

And of course using a good thermal past applied correctly.

The problem probably is not all the solderballs got fully liquid resulting in more "glued" connections instead of soldered ones.

The termal cycles, heating up, cooling down, heating up cooling down.... cause them to loose connection.

Another cause, also due heat cycles, might be the used solder. Lead free solders are tend to be more brittle and can cracks easier then lead solder.

The problem is more mechanical/chemical (intermetallic bond) then electronically.

When we repair them we try to make sure all balls are soldered correctly, getting fully liquid creating a real intermetallic bond. so the problem won't come back.

(IMB means the solder and copper are really dissolved in to each other instead of only beeing "glued").

GPU reball is not really "yest another band aid solution" .

If done correctly it's a much better long(er) lasting repair then Apple'is doing by  replacing a defect motherboard with another one with still the same bad solder/soldering on it.

Tom Otvos wrote:

 

Hal Feldman wrote:

 

Csound1 wrote:

 

The machine is no longer in production, refurbished boards are all there are.

One has to wonder, in refurbishing a board, why don't they reball the GPU?

 

Tom-

 

They do not reball because of the following:

 

1) Apple is a mass production retailer.  They don't work at the component level. If anything is not working and it is part of the logic board, the whole logic board is replaced. Period. Not very cost-effective, but in mass production it is certainly efficient.

 

2) Apple designs the MacBook Pro and decides which parts go inside. Many 3rd parties make the parts.  The logic board is simply assembled and delivered to Apple for placement in their case.

 

The underlying issue seems to be a design flaw with the amount of heat generated with the combined GPU and CPU.  From what I can gather, the GPU is *NOT* flawed or even broken when we experience these issues. It is the solder breaking down that causes the graphics glitches and kernel panics.

 

Therefore, a reball *could* be a great fix, except for the fact that the underlying heat design flaw still exists.  Reball + new thermal paste is a better idea, but again, long-term Apple still has a design flaw with too much heat and not enough dissipation.

 

For Apple to consider reballing as an in-house resolution, they would need to do something they haven't done since they were in Steve Jobs' garage...work at the component level.  VERY UNLIKELY.

 

I do not agree with CharlesMarhowl in his assumption that the GPU is flawed. AMD made millions of those chips and most are still humming away in other computers.

Thanks, Hal. I get all of that but then, what is a "refurbished" logic board? Simply one that has been ripped out of another MBP that is broken in some other way? While they might not do it in-house, it would not be a stretch to think that they *could* send boards out to be rebelled. Dunno, just thinking out loud. Until the problem is acknowledged, no official solutions are forthcoming.

Its probably an used/broken logic board they have ripped from a MBP and have fixed.

Its probably an used/broken logic board they have ripped from a MBP and have fixed.

Of course it is, new ones are not being made anymore.

Used, but not broken would be accurate.

Does anyone know they offer the flat rate $310 repair fee in Canada or is it only in US?

For those who expect Apple to repair FOR FREE their out-of-warranty Macs:  this will never happen. This is wishful thinking.  This is a bad attitude of entitlement.

Wow... just wow.  It's not called a sense of entitlement, it's called SELF-RESPECT.  Any self-respecting person who pays thousands of dollars for a defective product expects a free repair and then some to compensate for loss of time by no fault of their own.

Any self-respecting person knows the difference between normal wear and tear and a widespread defect in a product.  Please don't project your own lack of self-respect insultingly upon others here.  The only one who is acting like they have a bad attitude of entitlement is Apple for not owning up to an obvious defect and not doing the right thing by their customers who paid good money for what they thought was a premium product.

Way to go, dude.  Blame the consumers for a faulty product.  You are ridiculous.