Sir Gibby
Level 1 (4 points)
Notebooks

Q: macbook (MB466ll/a) screen flicker

Hi there, new to the community and a first time Mac owner. I just purchased for my first mac a refurbished 2008 Macbook Aluminum. Model number MB466ll/a. The RAM is upgraded to 8 GB, and the hard drive is also upgraded to 750 GB. The issues I'm having is from time to time when I'm using the computer, black bars will start flashing across the screen. Sometimes the problem will go away for a bit and come back later, and other times it will go from black bars flashing to crazy colors and wavy lines, followed by the computer freezing. I'll reboot the computer and it will run fine, so it seems to me to be more of a software hang up. Also to note I'm running OSX 10.10.2 Yosemite. It seems like lots of people are having graphical issues with their older mac computers on Yosemite.

 

The problem would happen a lot while I was in safari, so I installed Firefox and it doesn't happen nearly as often now, but sometimes while I'm even browsing files in Finder it will happen. Never seem to have problems while watching videos on YouTube (so far).

 

What do you guys think?

MacBook, OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)

Posted on Mar 9, 2015 8:54 PM

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Sir Gibby

Q: macbook (MB466ll/a) screen flicker

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  • by brenden dv,

    brenden dv brenden dv Mar 11, 2015 9:52 AM in response to Sir Gibby
    Community Specialists
    Mar 11, 2015 9:52 AM in response to Sir Gibby

    Hi Sir Gibby,

     

    I'm sorry to hear you are having these issues with your new-to-you MacBook. If you continue to have intermittent graphics or display issues, you may find the information and troubleshooting steps outlined in the following article helpful:

     

    Apple computers: Troubleshooting issues with video on internal or external displays - Apple Support

     

    Regards,

    - Brenden

  • by Sir Gibby,

    Sir Gibby Sir Gibby Mar 19, 2015 7:47 PM in response to Sir Gibby
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Mar 19, 2015 7:47 PM in response to Sir Gibby

    So, an update to my screen dilema (for the whole three people who have read this). Before I get into this I'll share what I thought was an insignificant piece of info. When I got my macbook and turned it on for the first time, there was no Mac HD icon on the desktop. Just thought the icon was set to hidden or something, didn't think much of it. Well for as long as that icon wasn't there, the computer was acting up. Yesterday I booted the computer, and all of a sudden BOOM, there was the Mac HD icon. I was on the computer all day doing various tasks, and the computer didn't act up at all. Turned the computer off, and when I used it the next day the Mac HD icon was gone once again, and the flashing screen and freezing issues returned. The icon hasn't returned, though I did manually set it to be on the desktop. Unfortunatley doing this hasn't chased away my flashing screen. However, I have observed a few things since my initial post.

     

    Observation 1.) The screen will flash black bars of various intensity, and then usually freeze. If I let the computer sit a minute or two, it will resume operation. The flashing screen will return, freeze, sit, then be okay (even as I type this the screen will randomly flash black, but luckily hasn't frozen yet). The flashing screen is now accompanied by occasional graphical glitches.

     

    Observation 2.) I booted the computer in safe mode and used it for an hour with no flashing screen or noticeable graphical glitches. Upon rebooting the computer back into normal operation, the issues returned.

     

    Based on these observations and a few others, I am fairly certain that the issues lies with Yosemite. I would like to try and figure out why the OS is having issues. Was it simply a bad installation, is it conflicting with my hardware? Has anyone else had similar issues with the MB466 Macbook on Yosemite?

  • by brenden dv,

    brenden dv brenden dv Mar 20, 2015 2:50 PM in response to Sir Gibby
    Community Specialists
    Mar 20, 2015 2:50 PM in response to Sir Gibby

    Hi Sir Gibby,

     

    Thank you for using the Apple Support Community. Given the nature of the issues you are describing and your current configuration, you may be better served by reaching out to one of Apple's other available resources for more direct assistance - https://getsupport.apple.com/GetproductgroupList.action

     

    Regards,

    - Brenden