Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

Khaled,

I've been trying to email/call/facebook message you the past week so that i can claim on your 1 year warranty on the reball you did for my MBP 2011 last January 2014.  I'd like to drop if off directly today at your address but I have not gotten any response from you thru your email and phone.  We exchanged messages in facebook two weeks ago but now I get no response.  Please let me know how to proceed.

Thanks,

Arnold

More and more I am convinced, that this issue with GPU on 2011 MBPs is not just in bad solder under GPU.

What about solder under CPU, what about SMC chip and Vcore chip?

Please read post from jensgoehler here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread/4766577?start=1815&tstart=0

He had problems also with those chips. I got reballed GPU once and next time under warranty (6 months) replaced GPU with new one and both fixes lasted for a bit more than a month. Second time I didn't get warranty due to some problems with logic board.

Servis center: MJ-Ccmputer, Wuppertal, Germany

Starting in Verbose mode, I get very similar to this:

SMC::smcInitHelper ERROR: MMIO regMap == NULL - fall back to old SMC mode

SMC::smcInitHelper ERROR: MMIO regMap == NULL - fall back to old SMC mode

SMC::smcReadKeyAction ERROR: smcReadData8 failed for key B0OS (kSMCKeyNotFound)

I think, these 2011 MBPs are total junk for more than 2000$, BUT HOW WOULD YOU KNOW UNLESS BUY AND TRY.

AMD started to produce new series of faulty chips, wonder why. And when asking seller what about this new chips: "they do not overheat as much as old ones..."

I am tired of reading this discussion, I am just getting angrier every time.

And to share with you my observation about switching to discrete.

Snow Leopard switches to discrete when:

• open Chrome
• open InDesign (CS6)
• open Illustrator (CS6)
• open Photoshop (CS6)
• in Safari when streaming videos
• sometimes just randomly

Mavericks:

• open Photoshop
• open InDesign
• Logic Pro X

Yosemite (PB):

• I get graphic glitches only to switch from one state to another (gfxCardStatus)
• didn't try to install any programs yet

And I use gfx v2.2.1 - it allows to have always on integrated (on battery or Plugged in)

ps3specialist wrote:

 

You are entitled to your opinion, I am showing real pictures for one of the consequences that can result from disassembling the computer to replace the thermal compound by non professional users, for you been able to do that without damaging your logic board doesn't mean that everyone else can do it , I gave the advise and its up to everyone to take it or leave it. for you I know you did not and will not take it and time will tell if replacing the thermal compound alone will make any difference for you. By the way a damage can very much happen not just to the screen port on the logic board as shown in those pictures but also to the screen cable which is extremely sensitive and very easy to get damaged and replacing it if that happen is close to impossible and represent a huge risk for the screen.

I agree - all along I have said that this is not fix that can be done by a casual user and you are right to show what can happen when users attempt this fix themselves.

The point I'm trying to get across is that for some logic boards changing the thermal paste and a good clean of the heat sink ports might be enough to save the logic board - now I know that many boards will need reballing and the thermal paste repair will not fix those boards but for some users it might be worth trying a simpler option first.

I will post any changes in my MBP - especially if it fails. However at the moment I am loving my MBP working again with the second display with the ability to do some graphic intensive stuff again.

I do have a question though - I know you reball the GPU but have you seen issues with the CPU, Switching Processor and the thunderbolt controller? All of these have heat sinks and I guess are in theory could over heat.

Hi ps3specialist,

I'm in the same boat (sinking ship), as everyone else here in this thread. I was just wondering, after having the logic board reballed, are there any stronger fans that can be installed to keep the system cooler? I wouldn't mind loosing battery power for a more reliable system. Since heat is the main issue here, are there any better cooling options?

I bought a used 13" Mid 2010 MacBook Pro yesterday so that I can carry on with my photo hobby. It's surely a lot slower, but I'm not spending > $2500.00 on a 15" MBPro that only lasts 3 years.

BTW most likely I'm going to be one of your customers soon.

Sent from Tlynyrd's iPhone!

In your last sentence I found a clue for further investigation that correlates with my last reply:

ifixit.com

SMC chip (F2117LP...) that failed to a guy jensgoehler is very close to switching processor that from 2010 doesn't have heatsink connected to fans.

Vcore (pink) is next to GPU but on the bottom side of logic board:

ifixit.com

And with "the gobs" of thermal paste, we know where we are with overheating

akamyself wrote:

 

ok so maybe I'm wrong.

it's not really and deeply on topic but I found this interesting though.

 

but in your case, your cpu/gpu are fine as you had a logic board replacement, you haven't experienced any crash ever since, right?

so maybe in that case running integrated only is not exactly like having a failure AND running integrated only, if you know what I mean.

 

what I find weird is that I'm obviously using integrated by default and even can switch to discrete, that won't crash my system, but I can't choose integrated only with gfxCardStatus.

that, I don't understand.

and same if I try to uncheck the automatic switch in the preferences system, it crashes right away.

You're right, akamyself. It's more like, if I hadn't had the failure and got the replacement, but was aware of a potential issue, I was just taking steps to avert it.

My last post most was more to point out that I didn't think running integrated only was like having a 2011 13", at least for a 17" owner. Prior to that I was thinking that I may give some hope to anyone who has gone down the logic board replacement route that they can get extended life out of their machines if they are gentle.

I'm always a bit conflicted with my posts as, ultimately, I want Apple to grow a pair and accept their responsibilities.  But then I'm fully aware that even a brand new machine may not fill the hole and a replacement board is probably only a temporary fix, if you want to use the  MBP to its (alleged) full capabilities. Based on the technical input in this thread, the best (and most unlikely) option is for a factory recall with Apple implementing a professional reball service.

Even then, 100% reliability is not certain. I see a few posts back someone trying to contact psp3specialist in relation to honouring his reball guarantee.

if at least we could deactivate the faulty discrete like it is possible with a linux installation, that would be less painful waiting for a solution, but like someone said in this thread (sorry I forgot), if Apple gave us the clue how to do it, that would be a step admitting there is a problem with these machines, somehow.

not gonna happen, I'm afraid.

but whatever the case is, there is no point having two graphic cards to end up using hardly just one, now is it?

the worst part of all is that Apple can't even fix anything, too bad we don't have a clue why, how they deal with this kind of situation, since they get those parts manufactured, who knows if they try to have them taking the responsibility for this mess.

them just saying they are looking into it sounds like 'forget about it' to me, especially after 6 months, and even more than that for others.

indeed a reball is not THE guarantee for another 3 years round or even less but that is the closest thing to a fix at cheap price for all those, like me, that can't get a free logic board replacement by Apple so I'll roll with that next month.

but in your case, I know I would use it like I would normally do and even push it a bit so if it fails, it fails while under warranty to avoid having to fight with them to be taken care of as it should.

because as ps3specialist pointed out once, you don't know what logic board they give you in exchange of yours...

I'm curious how many of you suspect this same or similar issue may be waiting to occur in the 2012, 2013, and maybe the 2014 mbp models.

I mean for many of us the problem did not become known until year 2 or year 3.

man, I have no idea, guess 2012 models failure would start to happen if suffering from same defaults as ours but only those repairing could tell.

if thinner they get, the harder it is to deal with the heat, the worst could be expected but at the same time, maybe cpu-gpu soldering is better too, maybe other things rdbrwn is referring too have been avoided too.

one thing for sure, it is the last 15" I'll ever bought since this failure have broke my confidence in the product and I don't like the philosophy behind the new specs so if I was to buy a new Apple laptop in the future, that would be a 13".

akamyself wrote:

 

 

but in your case, I know I would use it like I would normally do and even push it a bit so if it fails, it fails while under warranty to avoid having to fight with them to be taken care of as it should.

Yeah, I struggled with the decision.  My first thought was to hammer it and see if it would fall over but, to be frank, I have too many other things to deal with and so went the softly, softly route.  And now the three months is up.

A SOLUTION of sorts (so far, so good for a week now)

For two months my 15" mbp (late 2011, 2.4 Ghz Intel Core i7, 8GB ram, AMD Radeon HD 6770M, Intel HD Graphics 3000, latest Mavericks OS) has been crashing and burning with the ubiquitous GPU problem.

The only way to boot was multiple times via Internet Recovery and SUM (to clean up permissions, etc.) Cannot boot from USB to recover (always blue screen), the DVD drive died a long time ago and no second mac to link to.

Enough was enough, so:

1. I backed up my data and completely erased the drive with Internet Recovery Disk Utility (Fastest).

2. Then using Internet Recovery (command R) I installed Lion (which was the only install option given).

3. Installed gfxCardStatus v.2.2.1

http://www.downloadcrew.com/article/27732-gfxcardstatus

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/downloads/3328418/gfxcardstatus-221/

4. Checkbox gfxCardStatus to 'Integrated Only' and uncheck Preference 'Use power source-based switching'.

5. Then choose System Preferences > Energy Saver > Better Battery Life.

6. Install smcFanControl > Preferences > 4000rpm default.

http://www.eidac.de/smcfancontrol/smcfancontrol_2_4.zip

7. (Optional) Install Photoshop > Preferences > Performance > Graphics Processor Setting > Uncheck "Use Graphics Processor".

Reinstall your favourite apps and use your backup to get your browser plug-ins, contacts etc.

When you back up, also back up (iCloud?) as separate files your contacts , bookmarks, little snitch settings (if you use), etc. which makes it easier to find them when reinstalling.

Caveat: the only time it has crashed is when I put it to sleep without the cable (on battery) and woke up to a black screen with the disk still spinning, so I though bx11oxs, but after a PRAM reset (Command, option P,R (hold twice until you hear the loud boot up tone)) and two restarts it came back to life. So when putting to sleep probably best to keep the mains cable plugged in. (I do put it to sleep for 30 minutes when taking to work with no problem).

I haven't risked any graphics intensive software like video editing or 3D games but I can surf, use YouTube, VLC, DVD Player, Photoshop (but no silly business with the filters), Illustrator, Acrobat, iWorks, MS Office, uTorrent, etc.

My mac is cool to the touch (46˚C), faster and I can't hear any spinning fans, and I've rebooted with no problems all week, it's almost like having my old friend back.

Eventually I will probably get a reball, but as I'm in Thailand my options are limited (perchance, does anyone know a good lead (as in zeppelin) reballer in Thailand?). If I send to the UK or US I will probably have to pay local customs a lot of 'tea money' when it's returned. I'm loathe to fork out my hard earned wonga on a 'new' logic board which by all accounts will shuffle off within months.

I have a feeling Mavericks has something to do with it, maybe more processor hungry, I don't know I'm not an expert, Lion just seems a lot more stable.

Also I used to work for large design houses and corporate consultants who had offices full of macs but I've not seen one of them shouting about it on these forums, just individuals, why?

Give it time and the newer models will start to show the same problems.

So, I hope some of you can find this solution useful - it took a lot of messing about and research on the interwebs and a bit of luck to work this out.

Here are some useful SUM scripts (my thanks to various sources) - copy and paste:

1. Always do these two first .

fsck -fy /    (do this as many times until it says no modifications)

mount -uw /

2. To repair permissions

/usr/libexec/repair_packages --repair --standard-pkgs

3. Disk repair (fixing invalid node structure)

ls -1 /dev/disk*    (to find which is your startup disk)

fsck_hfs -rf /dev/disk0s2    (hfs for mac formatted and 0s2 for my particular HD)

4. Use this to clean your mac when it is really fxxxed up)

fsck_hfs -y -Rc -d /dev/disk0s2

5. Turn on / off wifi

networksetup -setairportpower airport on

networksetup -setairportpower airport off

I tried using Applejack but it didn't do much, the above scripts are a lot more useful.

Chock dee krap

Hypothetical question (or is it conjecture Mr Troll?)

If you send your mbp off to Apple to be replaced with a refurbished (read second-hand) logic board, which costs anything between $600 -$1000 (almost a new Mac Air) and it breaks, and you send it off again for a second time, what's to say you may end up with your original refurbished LB as a replacement and paying for the privilige?

What does refurbished mean anyway? - reflowed, reballed, new paste, new chip, vacuum dustbunnies, what?

Even i own a mid 2011 Macbook pro 15 . Sadly  svn I'm the victim of the gpu failure. surprisingly all my friends who own the machine falling in the line one by one in a fast basis.     Spending so much on a machine i can't expect the machine to fail in 2 - 3 yrs .Mr. Some body from some where in apple please tell whats all this chaos .

thailee wrote:

 

 

7. (Optional) Install Photoshop > Preferences > Performance > Graphics Processor Setting > Uncheck "Use Graphics Processor".

 

 

Hey blalab - might want to look at that.

DMC440 wrote:

 

akamyself wrote:

 

 

but in your case, I know I would use it like I would normally do and even push it a bit so if it fails, it fails while under warranty to avoid having to fight with them to be taken care of as it should.

Yeah, I struggled with the decision.  My first thought was to hammer it and see if it would fall over but, to be frank, I have too many other things to deal with and so went the softly, softly route.  And now the three months is up.

probably can have it extended if not too far away from the three months.

totally understand the other things to deal with though, this all situation is such a waste of time on top of the stress, money loss and many other stuffs it caused.

might sounds crazy to some I won't name again but majority of people out there only have one computer to work with, unbelievable I know...