10.8.3 Forcing Discrete Graphics With Dropbox and others

Barney-15E is right. I was hesitant to update to 10.8.3 because of this thread, but I finally did a couple weeks ago. I also had my logic board replaced a couple months ago (before updating to 10.8.3, because of a garbled screen). GUESS WHAT?! My MBP (mid-2010) stays in integrated graphics mode in all the situations you all are complaing about. So for those of you bashing Barney for bringing it up, you may want to check yourself before you wreck yourself (I'm joking) -- Looks like he's right. And also, I reccomended this same information that he is, earlier in this thread, and in another thread I believe and people refuse to see the correlation between the two issues. If you want to look up that post you will see my logic and why I also believed they were related. I don't care to explain it again. Good luck fixing your computers guys.

Feel better now? Look at the direction this thread took now- instead of debugging and providing more apps/information about this issue, it's now heading towards being a duplicate of a 2-year-old thread about the logicboard problems.

Nadeem97 wrote:

Feel better now? Look at the direction this thread took now- instead of debugging and providing more apps/information about this issue, it's now heading towards being a duplicate of a 2-year-old thread about the logicboard problems.

You were the one who went all Paul Blart: Thread Cop. You could have just left it alone and it would have sat there innocuously helping out the few people who stumbled across it. Everyone else would have looked at the article and determined whether the situation applied to them or not.

There are several configurations that are implicated in this GPU switching problem, so the specific article about one of the particular models, requiring more symptoms than just GPU switching, would not cause anyone any problem, except, of course, Paul Blart: Thread Cop.

What point are you trying to make Nadeem? I am telling you a possible answer to the problem post by the OP.. Would you like a screenshot? I am running dropbox and the other programs people are saying is triggering the discrete graphics and doing so with the integrated graphics. You are level 1 with 0 points, whatever that means, and Barney is level 7 with over 24K points. Seems like he seems to solve more problems than you. Btw, I never had a black screen issue either, it was a garbled screen, and when I switched to discrete graphics it was fixed. Since having by logic board replaced I have not had that problem, and can use my integrated graphics in all the instances people on this thread are complaining that they cant.

Zoolook, you can take it in, but the last I checked, the Apple support page discussing this issue (linked somewhere in this thread) removed the text referring to the faulty graphics board. Now it simply says to take it in and have them check it out. When I did so, they wanted to charge me ($300 or so I believe) but referred them to that page of theirs and so they did not charge me. They had to do a manual override for the transaction though because it did not show up in their computers. Now that that text is no longer there, it may be harder to get it done under warranty.

If you offer sound and logical reasoning for why they should, and insist on it, then you will likely be able to get it done. If one Apple Store refuses, then try another, and also try calling Apple. It's worth the shot if your system is completely unstable, especially if you can demonstrate it to them and show you've tried everything including reinstalling from scratch.

I have the same problem since upgrading from Snow Leopard. GPU crashes system frequently in OSX, but in Windows, the GPU crash is recoverable w/o a reboot. In OSX attempting to disable automatic graphics switching or trying to switch to discrete or integrated graphics only in GFXCardStatus causes a fatal kernel panic. Is there a patch to disable one or the other GPU in OSX without crashing the system? I'm ready to throw his MacBook in the garbage! 😟

Thanks!

I updated my OS to Mavericks Developer Preview 2 and the problem is still there.

It seems that my MacBook Pro is completely done, I cannot even begin to install Lion or an earlier version of Mountain Lion from an external HDD. I can boot, choose the attached HDD with the older OS, I get the Apple and the loading animation and after that it crashes to a light grey screen with vertical faded white lines. 😟

I feel your pain. I loved my MacBook Pro, but it is unusable with the current O/S. Apple should at least fix the bug(s) that leads to an unrecoverable kernel panic (i could live with the screen occasionally going blank but coming back without a full reboot like it behaves under Windows.) I've submitted numerous crash reports but no resolution.

On a brighter note, I had previously wiped my drive and downgraded to Snow Leopard and the system was stable, but most of my updated and newer installed apps refused to run so I had to go back to Mtn Lion to be able to use them. :p

xtron,

Have you taken it to an apple store to have them test the logic board? My mid2010 MBP was contstantly crashing after upgrading from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion. Sometimes it would crash and restart multiple times in a row, without ever finishing. I took it to the "genius" bar and told the genius what he needed to test for and showed him the information linked several times in this thread, and voila. They replaced the logic board under warranty. No more kernal panics. It also fixed other problems with the graphics chip. Good luck.

Thanks, that would be a last resort for me, since my system is not under warranty. If I'm going to have to fork out 5-600 dollars for a replacement outdated motherboard, I'd probably be better off putting that towards a new laptop and maybe get a retina display. :)

You should try to "bake" your logic board - there are too many successful stories. I will do it as soon as the local service provider tells me there's nothing more to do than change the logic board.

http://russell.heistuman.com/2011/05/09/baking-a-macbook-pro-logic-board-video/

Do a search for a comment by user Nik. He has/had the same issue and it got fixed for him. 🙂

I, recently, discovered another application that is having this issue that I haven't, yet, seen mentioned in this thread -- the latest version of SMARTReporter. The issue is not, completely, intrusive to the app. If you leave it running in the menubar, it's on integrated. If you open the app window, use caution. Toggling the "History" tab will trigger discrete graphics. I emailed the developer and just thought I'd share the response I received:

Hi,

I, just recently, purchased SMARTReporter 3.1.0 (an upgrade over my, previously installed, version 2.7.3).

thanks for your purchase! 😉

I'm running the app on a 2010 MacBook Pro with the latest build of Mountain Lion (10.8.4). As you may be aware, there is an issue with 10.8.4 on 2010 hardware where numerous applications have had a tendency to trigger the discrete (NVIDIA) GPU. I have noticed this issue pop up with the current release of SMARTReporter. For the most part, the application is running on the integrated (Intel) GPU. However, if I switch over to the 'History" tab in the application, the discrete GPU is triggered (I have verified this using gfxCardStatus).

sorry, triggering the discrete GPU for the history tab can not be easily prevented.

The only way I have found to switch back to the integrated GPU is to quit SMARTReporter, then, relaunch it. Is this a known issue and will there be a fix coming? Being that this is a menu bar app, it's something that I would like to have running 24/7. If running around the clock, I'd like it to run on the integrated GPU, only.

we are aware of this issue, but its actually an issue within Mac OS X, and not within SMARTReporter.

currently Mac OS X runs on the discrete GPU until every process that ever triggered the discrete GPU has been terminated - even if these processes don’t need the GPU anymore.

i’ve submitted a bug report about this behaviour to Apple about a year ago and highlighted the importance of the problem specifically for apps like SMARTReporter which normally run all the time without ever being terminated, effectively making the laptop stay on discrete graphics until a reboot or manually restarting the “offending” apps.

however, Apple has decided that they do not want to fix this problem within Mac OS X.

so, sorry, i don’t have any solution for this. we can’t fix it. Apple doesn’t want to fix it.

if this bothers you i’d recommend complaining to apple, they sometimes change their mind about fixing problems if more people complain about them. i could forward the bug number to you.

There are a lot of applications which force Lion to use discrete graphics.

(e.g., PathFinder, Dropbox, Transmit, Growl, Reeder, Bartender, and much more)

I'm using a Macbook Pro 17 Mid 2010 and I don't understand why Apple isn't fixing it! 😠

Has anyone tried the new Mavericks (DP 5) and observed an improvement?

however, Apple has decided that they do not want to fix this problem within Mac OS X.

so, sorry, i don’t have any solution for this. we can’t fix it. Apple doesn’t want to fix it.

if this bothers you i’d recommend complaining to apple, they sometimes change their mind about fixing problems if more people complain about them. i could forward the bug number to you.

We should push this issue! That's customer support!😟

Apple doesn't want to fix it.

Hi! less than two months ago,my motherboard was change. I have a mbp 15.4" A1286 (mid-2010).

My problem is that almost every 2/3 times i do log out, the computer will not do it; it will have a brighter screen (with the same wallpaper without dock and finder visible) and it will do anything (i have to force manual shutdown).

When i turn it on again, an "error has happened,would you like to restore your programs" will appear.

It usually happens when i turn the computer off. If i do both things with the nvidia GT330m, it will not happen.

Usually just when i have the "just integrated card" in gfxcardstatus.

I did reinstall Mountain lion too,and installed the latest software updates. Best regards and thanks for your help!.

I decided to start fresh and go back to Snow Leopard and swallow the OS's limitations with current software until I can buy a new notebook next year, and I haven't experienced a single crash since the re-install/downgrade. So Apple, this is NOT a hardware issue with the 2010 MBP motherboard, it is your lazy programming dept. not wanting to solve an issue you created with your custom graphic switching.