Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

Orcinus:

I understand it's purpose. That's why I installed it myself (probably a year or so ago), in seeking a potential solution. Still, I was simply reporting the observation that a ton of posters refer to it, suggesting a ton of people in this thread (who are ALL having these problems) have it installed...and I was musing over the potential that perhaps gfxCardStatus itself MIGHT be something to look into. Do I think gfxCardStatus is causing a problem? Probably not (frankly, I don't know). But we're all a little desperate here, grasping for straws in the absence of Apple's leadership.

I'm on day 3 of no glitches while running my big apps like Photoshop and DxO since turning off automatic switching control. This after nearly three months of crashing ****. Haven't yet tried to plug into my 27" Display -- last time I tried two days ago it freaked out, so I'm going to see if the machine is stable for a week first.

N.B. I'm running Mountain Lion with the latest update to both iTunes, Remote Desktop, and Safari. Machine seems to be running cooler since the update. I'm getting optimistic that Mavericks might be "doable" with my 2011 MBP, but I must wait until Epson upgrades its printer/scanner drivers.

Michael

Update?

They said to take it the genius for a diagnosis and paid repair. Send it off to the depot for $310.

That's the ONLY fix for this. Anything else is treating symptoms. Based on other's in this thread, that's not a garuntee fix either. I'll be pushing it HARD when I get it back - there is only a 90 day warranty - if it goes out on day 91, I have to pay again.

Just out of curiosity: Is there someone here that's also getting a blue screen background and white characters instead of the normal black screen background and white chars when booting in single user mode ( cmd +s  ) ?

Thks.

I had the same issue and paid the $310 for the repair. So far my Mac is still running fine if not better, although I just purchased a new rMBP to replace the system.

Is Apple seriously taken this issue into consideration? Have they contacted anyone in this forum to inquire?

My 15" early 2011 MBP (MC723) is no longer bootable. Tried most of the mentioned solutions (except cooking the board in the oven and moving the disabled ATI/AMD extensions) and it didn't work. Booting into safe mode is not possible either.

Even if Apple goes for a recal doesn't change my situation. There are no Apple Stores or Apple service centers within 1000 km range of where I'm living.

No matter how stupid it seems but I really need to know if it's possible to instal a Linux OS on it and make it working again. If it's not, I will have to tear it down and sell the fans, RAMs, monitor, MagSafe connector and every other possible thing as second hand spare parts (though I replaced most of them in the past months).

Nilean > Yes you can, and it works great.  See page 21 of this thread for my post where I listed the threads I used to get Ubuntu working on my mbp before the motherboard was replaced.  Actually, I still have it installed in a separate partition so I can boot to it if/when my replacement motherboard goes bad.  I have not used it extensively, but from the use I did have (several weeks) it worked flawlessly.  You do need to follow the instructions (I listed a few, and also those in the related threads) to ensure that you only load the drivers for the internal graphics, and not the discreet card drivers as this problem is most definitely a hardware problem.  Of course you will not be able to utilize an external monitor, but I imagine that's at least better than parting out the machine!

Good luck!  Matt.

MacBook Pro 15" Early 2011 and same problem.

My 3rd motherboard just seized.  The first froze when the GPU switched to discreet.  The second stopped booting and gave me vertical lines.  The current one when intermittently when I plug in Ethernet.  Apple keeps putting in refurbished motherboards in.

At the time of the first crash, the computer had upgraded ram and a ssd.  After Apple gave me grief about 3rd party hardware in the machine. I put the OEM items back.  They were still in the machine for both the 2nd and 3rd disaster.

I can't take this anymore!  I gave up tonight and bought a new computer.  The old one is still under warrantee and will be repaired and on eBay soon.

Flamenco13 wrote:

 

My 3rd motherboard just seized.  The first froze when the GPU switched to discreet.  The send stopped booting and gave me vertical lines.  The current one when intermittently when I plug in Ethernet.  Apple keeps putting in refurbished motherboards in.

 

At the time of the first crash, the computer had upgraded ram and a ssd.  After Apple gave me grief about 3rd party hardware in the machine. I put the OEM items back.  They were still in the machine for both the 2nd and 3rd disaster.

 

I can't take this anymore!  I gave up tonight and bought a new computer.  The old one is still under warrantee and will be repaired and on eBay soon.

what did you buy?

15'' MBP with discreet GPU.  I depend on the GPU for rendering in the field, and there is only 1 base model that now uses it.  My old machine was a 17'', and I am definitely missing the real estate. 

Amazing that just 2 years ago the MBPros and MBAirs had a promenant display in the store, and now they are shoved into a corner, eclipsed by tablets and phones.

i too have the defective early 2011 15" MBP, i took out the hdd and used as external drive.  I don't want to spend more for a replacement logic board.  Today, i also bought the 15 rMBP w/ discrete graphics.

Is your new MBP also flickers when quitting playing movies on itunes?  It is very obvious and irritates me.

Guys,

i just chat on apple support today and they refused to do free repair. reason quoted was that there were not enough cases for apple to issue a recall / repair program.

so please, if you have same problem, do go to apple and make a fuss. if enough people do it, they may respond.

thanks!

My early 2011 MBP 15" was finally killed by Mavericks yesterday.

I was doing Camera Raw when the screen turned black. And since then have had similar issues with grey screen, and unable to restore (from recovery HD or internet recovery) since.

I have contacted Apple and they will send an box for me to ship it back.

Now for some reason I can boot into the system again, but whenever the discrete graphics kicked in, the system froze. Initially I can use gfxcardstatus to force integrated graphics. Now if I do that the system freeze.

If Apple relase a tool to disable discrete graphics at least my mbp will be usable.

I'm joining the list of complainers as I was told my 2011 MBP 15" needs a new motherboard...until then it is unusable. Given all the complaints, I'm surprised Apple has not responded appropriately. I expect something like this from a PC, but not an Apple product.