Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

Long story short, the baking method was my last resort. It was scary putting your logic board under this kind of heat but it works.

I really wouldn't do this. In essence this is a desperate attempt to get a reflow process working in order to reestablish electronical connections that were physically broken or unstable. However there're parts on the mainboard like capacitors which really do not appreciate this kind of heat and might fail soon in due course. Also using the oven might cause different connections to fail. If anything heat should only be carefully applied via hot air locally on the affected chip however it takes proper equipment, knowledge about the used conductive materials and some experience to do it properly and for a persistent fix.

MJSfoto1956- I read somewhere that a good way to stress the gpu is to use this software:

http://unigine.com/products/heaven/

I never used it, but I am prepared to try after finishing some work here.

wmendez- Allow me to suggest, if possible, that after you receive your new board, you refrain from install any new firmware. Looks like we have too much possibilities to generate this problem, if we could take some out of the equation will be of great value.

degger wrote:

 

Long story short, the baking method was my last resort. It was scary putting your logic board under this kind of heat but it works.

I really wouldn't do this. In essence this is a desperate attempt to get a reflow process working in order to reestablish electronical connections that were physically broken or unstable. However there're parts on the mainboard like capacitors which really do not appreciate this kind of heat and might fail soon in due course. Also using the oven might cause different connections to fail. If anything heat should only be carefully applied via hot air locally on the affected chip however it takes proper equipment, knowledge about the used conductive materials and some experience to do it properly and for a persistent fix.

No kidding that was dangerous. But I DON'T have access to an apple store and last I check their "repair" isn't all that reliable.

I used about 5 layers of tin foil to cover the logic board before putting it in the oven. No it's not the best method and like you said it will probably take some years out of this logic board.

If you have a better idea I would like to hear it.

Am i the the only one experiencing the loss of the start-up chime due to this issue?

dawson203 wrote:

 

Dear fellow macbook pro users,

 

Long story short, the baking method was my last resort. It was scary putting your logic board under this kind of heat but it works. I am typing this on my mbp. Since then I had been constantly using an external fan and had put my internal fan under a constant speed of 4500 RPM. Will update on anymore changes.

 

-Eric

I did this with the logic board of my Early 2011 MBP 17". It gave me not more than 8 days before the computer failed the same way as before. Now I am running on the integrated GPU only using gfxCS. Waiting for Apple to do something.

I had more luck with the oven trick on a late 2006 MBP 17" which also had a GPU problem.

Add me to the list:

Macbook Pro Early 2011 17'' 2.3GHz + AMD 6750M.

I had no issues at all until two weeks ago, when the GPU died.

I took it to a local Apple Store and I had the logic board replaced for 500€. After about 10 hours of using my "repaired" macbook the GPU broke again.

I took it back to the Apple Store (where it's right now) and they told me it could be a DOA logic board and that they were sorry for not detecting it :/.

Regards,

Álvaro.

Hey there.  My MacBook Pro has had the same symptoms. It's a 2011 15" 2.2GHz i7 with the AMD 6750M discrete card.  Display issues started 2 months ago and it quickly deteriorated to a point where the machine would not complete the boot cycle.  I don't have Apple Care, so out of warranty.

I've been back and forth from my local Apple store and geniuses the past 3 weeks trying to diagnose the issue.  As many of you reported, they only take orders from the mothership and focused on running diagnostics in an effort to smoke out the issue.  When the issue wasn't obvious it was escalated and logs were sent to the "engineers".  Initial expectations were to replace the logic board as a minimum.  In lieu of that surgery, they decided to try a few things to rule in the logic board as the primary cause... this involved #1 swapping out memory - still no luck #2 reapplying the thermal paste - still wouldn't complete boot, even on integrated graphics.  #3 they replaced the entire monitor and casing.  I was skeptical of this step, as with all of you guys, I've been pointing to the logic board/GPU as being fried...

Well.. I've been running the new screen and old logic board for a week now and no instability as of yet.  I've been running a GPU stress test daily for at least 1hr and also randomly switching between integrated and discrete with gfxCardStatus... all good so far.  The external monitor connection is happy and I'm cautiously happy too. 

In Australia the logic board replacement costs AU$720 and the monitor replacement cost AU$600.  I've made sure the cost of the monitor will be put towards a possible logic board change, just in case they haven't fulfilled their genius role - management assures me of credit if further failures occur.

I'll report back if anything changes. 

Has anybody else gone down this road, only to be (disappointed)(pleasantly surprised)(bored of failing hardware)(still a little ****** off)(drunk)?

Cheers,

Payten

I did a search on e ba y for "2011 macbook pro bad gpu" and there is a guy that claims he can repair your macbook pro for $169.95 and claims it will be a "permanent fix".

What do you guys think? Let me know.

this is VERY interesting -- currently, my 2011 MBP is 100% stable -- and the only significant difference is that the lid is closed and I've been running directly from my 27" display. I imagine that it is "possible" that there is something in the display itself that is causing the GPU to freak out.

I will try some tests over the next few days, but I "think" that all of my previous bad behavior was when the lid was up either by itself or plugged into my 27" monitor in a side-by-side way.

I think you might be on to something

M

I too have had my screen replaced twice after having the logic board replaced twice and the hard drive replaced once. Since having the screen replaced I have had no issues but then again I haven't stressed the GPU and am using gfxCardStatus in fear of being without a computer again.

Count me in too.

Early 2011 MBP

HD 6940M

Upgraded to Mavericks only two days ago, today my display has corrupted four times. Now its beginning to have difficulties rebooting and starting up too (PRAM reset does seem to help).

Now running both fans at 4800rpm and I have gfxcardStatus keeping it on integrated only.

My confidence in Apple is also battered. I'm a freelance Videographer and depend on this laptop.

I fear that over the coming months this failure rate is going to be HUGE!

In fact, the only way I could get mine to boot was to plug it into an external display before I pressed the power button. Any other method met grey screens or black screens.

correct me if I am wrong the the "general" pattern I'm seeing here is (once the machine starts acting up):

• plugged into an external monitor without the laptop screen open seems to work even with the external GPU running graphics-heavy applications (my current situation for the past week)
• with the laptop screen open, forcing the machine to use the integrated graphics appears to be more reliable (other people's observations, not mine)
• the most problems appear to be with both the laptop and an external screen running side-by-side (I can confirm that I had the most unstable situation when both screens were active)

Can those of you who are having trouble see if you can get your laptops to work with an external monitor WITHOUT the lid being open?

M

Looks like they're only doing repairs on older C2D models with the Nvidia chip, no?  It looks like they're getting good feedback for those repairs, though, so maybe worth keeping an eye on for future offerings in relation to this problem.

For now, probably best to wait and see if Apple makes a move.  It has just been a few weeks since this issue has gone from the discussion threads to tech writers.  It might be reaching a tipping point?

Same problem here,Mac book pro 15" early 2011 , model 8.2

Intel HD Graphics 2000

White distorted lines seen on startup, upon boot to recovery mode or safe mode always seeing blue vertical lines.

Took it to local apple service provider, I was asked to pay S$1200+  :-( too expensive

Called apple support and they refuised to do a replacement or a concessionary replacement.

Looks like this is a manufacturing defect similar to the nvida graphics card issue.

Bought this apple product at a premium price and it didn't even last for 2 years.

I'm now wondering why I moved to Mac from Windows where the PCs are cheaper, more software alternatives and it lasts longer.

I see lots of suggestions to reser nvram etc., but no use, I'm kind of stuck

Can I use this macbook pro to install Linux or other flavours of Unix? how do I got about it?