MBP 15” late 2011 screen/boot problem

Question

MBP 15” late 2011 screen/boot problem

My laptop got a new logic board in July of 2016 under Apple’s program that extended the warranty for this model due to known problems with the graphics card.

Now it appears to be dying from a similar problem. The screen shows horizontal “corduroy” distortion the instant it first appears. Booting always fails when the screen turns smooth grey just prior to showing the login screen. Booting in single-user mode works, although with the corduroy distortion. Readable though.

Occasionally, booting is normal but this is becoming rare.

Any ideas? Any chance Apple may help me out despite being past warranty?

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.3), Late-2011

Posted on Nov 18, 2018 11:18 AM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Nov 18, 2018 11:28 AM in response to Wayne Henderson

Make an appointment at the Apple Genius Bar for service. If you need to find an Apple Store - Find a Store - Apple. If you did not purchase it from Apple then you will need to look to the vendor for service or How to find your nearest Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP) or Distributor (AAD).

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Answer 2

Nov 19, 2018 1:19 PM in response to Wayne Henderson

OK, well at least I can boot now. The trick is to disable the AMD Radeon graphics and force your laptop to use only the Intel graphics. A fellow named dosdude1 has worked out an excellent solution.

Instructions here: http://dosdude1.com/gpudisable/

(That alone didn't fix my booting - I had to also remove the AMD kext as detailed in next link below.)

More: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/267581/gpu-problem-boot-hangs-on-grey- screen/295805#295805

And a detailed discussion of the problem: Permanently Disable 2011 15"/17" MacBook Pro Dedicated GPU - gMux IC Bypass | MacRumors Forums

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Answer 3

Nov 19, 2018 1:24 PM in response to Kappy

I'm going to try to get Apple to give me a break. They repaired this problem once under warranty but their 'solution' was apparently to use exactly the same flawed part that failed in the first place. That worked for only two years, and then the inevitable recurred. That's a little shady, in my opinion. Maybe they'll see it my way.

In the meanwhile, I have nearly full functionality restored after disabling the AMD graphics as described in my previous post. I don't have the benefits of the AMD graphics, including the use of external monitors. I'd like the get that back but it's pretty great having my laptop back up and running.

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Answer 4

Nov 19, 2018 2:13 PM in response to Wayne Henderson

if you are, in fact having a discrete graphics issue, there are several solutions, including dosdude:

Install gfxCardStatus (https://gfx.io) and set it to "i" (integrated graphics only). It will allow your MBP to run on integrated graphics only, bypassing the discrete GPU which has the issues. This may allow your MBP to run normally, although it will have reduced graphics performance when permforming demanding graphics tasks. The alternative is replacing the logic board, which is not cost effective on a machine that old, unless gfx does not resolve the issue and you really want to keep this MBP.

There is an acknowledged bug in the current version of Cody Kreiger's Open-Source gfxcardstatus, and the developer has confessed he does not have time to fix it right now.

There is a fork off the main build by steveschow available that seems to fix that problem for current versions of MacOS such as ElCapitan and Sierra. He provides a finished .app for direct download -- you do not have to compile anything.

https://github.com/steveschow/gfxCardStatus/releases

Also note that if your Mac does not run long enough to allow gfxcardstatus to be added, this is not really practical.

In addition, Steve Schow writes that he has abandoned further development -- because there are better solutions available [for both the 2010 model and 2011 models].

2010 model:

I have discontinued use of gfxCardStatus to solve the MBP kernel panic problem as the issue is better solved on 2010 models with the nVidia GPU by the following hack:

https://github.com/julian-poidevin/MBPMid2010_GPUFix.

2011 model:

the use of ArchLinux bootable CD to gain access to and re-write the EFI on the drive, and permanently disable the discrete graphics chip. This page and scroll down past the list to the blog:

http://github.com/steveschow/gfxCardStatus

There are two similar procedure listed. I used the second from MacRumors as it seemed easier. I have made the Arch Linux bootable CD on another Mac, and tried this approach. I now have a perfectly-functioning MacBook Pro late 2011 15-in model with Discrete Graphics disabled. Runs just fine. But NO external display support any more.

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There is a completely different hack developed by dosdude in his hacking of installing Sierra, High Sierra, and Mojave on unsupported Mac Models. It requires only single-User mode to get started, then type a complicated string into NVRAM, then disable System Integrity Protection and run an additional little program (direct-download link provided there) to make the change semi-permanent.

http://dosdude1.com/gpudisable/

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