Michael Ryan Iii

Q: Lines of Red Hash on Monitor

I have a PowerPC G5 desktop Mac running OSX 10.5.8 (cannot go to a higher system). My monitor is an HP 2335 (23"). Both are clearly quite old at this point.

 

I am now experiencing a periodic display of Red Hash Marks on the screen. It might start in one window, and then progress to other windows and the desktop. The original image remains, but these red marks appear on top. The marks look like lines of very tiny text stringing horizontally across the window. The size of the marks is equivalent to about a font size 2 or 3. The marks are not letters, but are all vertical lines. They appear text in that there are horizontal groups of many lines, and then several spaces, and then more lines. The pattern is not regular.

 

If I move a window that has the marks, the marks move with the window. Sometimes if I move the window partially off the screen boundary, and then back, the hash marks are "erased" from the portion that was off the screen. Sometimes the marks aren't erased.

 

If I click around and move different windows, the marks eventually disappear.

 

I suspect I'm having a monitor or video board problem.  Any thoughts or solutions?

 

Mike

Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Sep 25, 2013 9:53 AM

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Q: Lines of Red Hash on Monitor

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  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Sep 26, 2013 10:05 AM in response to Michael Ryan Iii
    Level 10 (123,618 points)
    Sep 26, 2013 10:05 AM in response to Michael Ryan Iii

    Hi Mike,

     

    Take a screen shot & view that in Preview, move the Preview window around, if you see double lines it's a Video card/VRAM problem, if the lines do not move moving the pic around then it's the monitor or cable.

     

    Very important...

     

    Have you blown the dust out lately, especially the Video card?

     

    Get Temperature Monitor to see if it's heat related...

     

    http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/12381/temperature-monitor

  • by peter johnson,

    peter johnson peter johnson Sep 27, 2013 7:04 AM in response to Michael Ryan Iii
    Level 1 (30 points)
    Sep 27, 2013 7:04 AM in response to Michael Ryan Iii

    I am afraid I had a similar experience and as BDAqua suggests overheating was almost certainly the reason my graphics card died. They are difficult to find and I couldn't get a straight answer from anyone about PC cards that had been converted for Mac (which are easier to find). In the end I got a new one from Australia. I was ripped off by a chinese company who sent the wrong card and then refused to refund even though they had the card back. Beware!

     

    This is the australians on ebay if you need them:

     

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/macpc_parts/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid =p3686

  • by Michael Ryan Iii,

    Michael Ryan Iii Michael Ryan Iii Oct 3, 2013 4:35 AM in response to BDAqua
    Level 1 (6 points)
    Oct 3, 2013 4:35 AM in response to BDAqua

    The appearance of the Red Hash is not consistent. On a previous day, I took a screen shot of a window that contained the Red Hash. The resultant window also had the Red Hash. When I moved the window, the entire window assumed a solid red background color. This was when the Red Hash was appearing on most of the windows. This morning, all looked clear, but I command-tabbed to a hidden window. That window, and only that window, has the Red Hash. A screen shot of that window using Grab produced an identical window. When I moved that window around, there was NO change in the Red Hash - it all just moved around with the Red Hash remaining distinct.

     

    The app with the window having Red Hash is Dictionary. As I move the cursor over the text in the window, sections of the text clear up and are free of the Red Hash. It seems like the Mac is not in a Red Hash producing mode at the moment, and may go a full day without showing anything.

     

    I now have some compressed air and will blow out the board. I have not done this in the past.

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Oct 3, 2013 11:02 AM in response to Michael Ryan Iii
    Level 10 (123,618 points)
    Oct 3, 2013 11:02 AM in response to Michael Ryan Iii

    OK, do let us know about the dust... hopefully that is all it is & we catch it in time to stop it getting worse.

  • by Michael Ryan Iii,

    Michael Ryan Iii Michael Ryan Iii Oct 3, 2013 12:08 PM in response to BDAqua
    Level 1 (6 points)
    Oct 3, 2013 12:08 PM in response to BDAqua

    I've blown out the dust, but have since experienced the Red Hashes.

     

    From my description (intermittent - may operate hours with no problem, may affect one window, may progress to other windows and desktop, when happening movement of a window typically changes the hash to a solid red cast for the window, mousing an affected window may cause part of the window to no longer have the Red Hash) do I have a video board,or monitor or cable problem? I imagine you can't predict with certainty, but I would appreciate your judgment.

     

    Mike

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Oct 3, 2013 6:43 PM in response to Michael Ryan Iii
    Level 10 (123,618 points)
    Oct 3, 2013 6:43 PM in response to Michael Ryan Iii

    Take a screen shot & view that in Preview, move the Preview window around, if you see double lines, or they disappear.chang,  it's a Video card/VRAM problem, if the lines do not move moving the pic around then it's the LCD or cable.

     

    One way to test is to Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, Test for problem in Safe Mode...

     

    PS. Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive

     

    Reboot, test again.

     

    If it only does it in Regular Boot, then it could be some hardware problem like Video card, (Quartz is turned off in Safe Mode).