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5K iMac - bad GPU? (M295X)

A

andy9l

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Aug 31, 2009
1,699
365
England, UK
Hi all,

Edit: Anyone suffering the issue - please post a photo!

Started up my 5K iMac for the first time on 25 December and have loved every minute, until yesterday.

I was sorting out network drives and time machine yesterday and after the first back up, I entered time machine. This is what I was greeted with (not my photo, one I found on Internet, but it's identical):

time-machine-yosemite-big.jpg


Now if I take a screenshot, it's fine - suggesting a hardware fault. However, there seems to be a number of people suffering from this exact issue (see replies):

https://twitter.com/shawnblanc/status/527878283241615360

Is this a bad GPU, or is this fairly common. Driver issue perhaps?

No matter how hard I push the GPU, it seems flawless EXCEPT in time machine.

It's a 4GHz i7, 24GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 4GB M295X.

Thanks for any help/advice. If there's any chance it's a hardware fault, it's going straight back to Apple for full refund. Well within my 14 days.

Cheers
Andy
 
Last edited:
UniDoubleU

UniDoubleU

macrumors regular
Aug 14, 2014
160
1
Thailand
I've just tried that with Time Machine. Thankfully doesn't happen on my iMac 5K. Yeah, this doesn't look like a GPU problem. Just another bug on the long list in Yosemite's faults.

I do hope we have another solid OS X like Snow Leopard (Yosemite Winter? :p), the Golden Era ended just after free updates. There's good parts and bad parts.
 
A

andy9l

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Aug 31, 2009
1,699
365
England, UK
Thanks for the replies folks. Anyone else care to chip in?

@Serban, how do you know this? Is it common?

I'm really hoping this is a Yosemite bug, not a GPU fault. My screen is a good one - don't want to risk a replacement!
 
Fishrrman

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
28,338
12,458
OP wrote above:
[[ No matter how hard I push the GPU, it seems flawless EXCEPT in time machine. ]]

You're saying this happens ONLY with Time Machine?

NOWHERE else?

And you've checked EVERYWHERE else?

Could it be something wrong with TM?

How often do you expect to actually -use- TM, anyway?
 
A

andy9l

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Aug 31, 2009
1,699
365
England, UK
Exactly, I don't know where else to check!

I can run several movies in multiple windows, mission control spam it, do all of that and there's no glitches - go into TM and there it is.

If it is a TM bug, I couldn't care less, but if it's a GPU issue, then I couldn't care more.
 
R

retinaimac

macrumors member
Dec 27, 2014
50
13
On the World
had my retina imac for several days now and same issue. problem only shows in time machine and only after dragging the cursor around a bit
 
A

andy9l

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Aug 31, 2009
1,699
365
England, UK
Ok, that is at least some reassuring news that it's not just me.

Any chance you could put up a photo (not screenshot)?
 
A

andy9l

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Aug 31, 2009
1,699
365
England, UK
Thanks for the photo.

Very similar to mine, but I don't have the small squares to the left.

Are you using the M295X?
 
A

andy9l

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Aug 31, 2009
1,699
365
England, UK
Interesting that it's happening on the M290X too.

The fact that when you screenshot it shows a perfect screen suggests to me that it's a hardware fault. Isn't that the general rule of thumb for GPU issues?

----------
WilliamG said:
My 5K iMac has done this since day one. Yosemite is just very, very buggy. That's all.
Click to expand...


Are you using M295X? Had any other graphical glitches anywhere else?

Sorry if your iMac is in your sig - I'm using Tapatalk.
 
Fishrrman

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
28,338
12,458
From the screenshots posted above, I'm going to take a guess that what folks are seeing is NOT a problem with the iMac's graphics, but represents something (a glitch, a bug, a programming oversight) limited to Time Machine itself.

I don't have one of the new iMacs, so I can only post regarding what I've seen above.

Has ANYONE with a new iMac seen a similar screen glitch using ANY other app?

Something to try by anyone in the forum:
Go to the nearest brick 'n' mortar Apple store, go to the new retina iMac on display, summon up Time Machine, and see if the glitch exists there, as well.

If so, I doubt exchanging one's current iMac for another is going to "fix" it...
 
A

andy9l

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Aug 31, 2009
1,699
365
England, UK
But a screenshot shows no problems - it's only the display that shows the issue, hence the photos.

I'll book a Genius appointment, if I can, and see what they say. The more I look into it, the more this seems like a hardware fault with our GPUs.

Anyone suffering the issue please post a photo.
 
L

leman

macrumors Core
Oct 14, 2008
19,184
19,037
I had the same symptoms when using Time Machine on my retina Mac. But it has been fixed in the current OS X version I am running (which is 10.10.2 developer preview). I'd suggest that you wait until 10.10.2 comes out officially (should be soon enough) and see if it will remedy your problem.
 
steve62388

steve62388

macrumors 68040
Apr 23, 2013
3,090
1,944
This happens on my R9 M925X and 650m since upgrading to Yosemite. It's not a GPU fault.
 
A

andy9l

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Aug 31, 2009
1,699
365
England, UK
leman said:
I had the same symptoms when using Time Machine on my retina Mac. But it has been fixed in the current OS X version I am running (which is 10.10.2 developer preview). I'd suggest that you wait until 10.10.2 comes out officially (should be soon enough) and see if it will remedy your problem.
Click to expand...


Ah that sounds promising, thanks for the info. I'm covered by AppleCare, so I wouldn't be in too much trouble if I waited out 10.10.2.

steve23094 said:
This happens on my R9 M925X and 650m since upgrading to Yosemite. It's not a GPU fault.
Click to expand...


Thanks Steve, this is massively reassuring. Any chance you could post a photo or two? I just want full assurance that this isn't a hardware issue before my 14 days runs up. I appreciate this isn't your problem, so I'm not holding you to it!
 
GatorGhost

GatorGhost

macrumors regular
Jun 30, 2014
113
19
andy9l said:
Hi all,

Edit: Anyone suffering the issue - please post a photo!

Started up my 5K iMac for the first time on 25 December and have loved every minute, until yesterday.

I was sorting out network drives and time machine yesterday and after the first back up, I entered time machine. This is what I was greeted with (not my photo, one I found on Internet, but it's identical):

Image

Now if I take a screenshot, it's fine - suggesting a hardware fault. However, there seems to be a number of people suffering from this exact issue (see replies):

https://twitter.com/shawnblanc/status/527878283241615360

Is this a bad GPU, or is this fairly common. Driver issue perhaps?

No matter how hard I push the GPU, it seems flawless EXCEPT in time machine.

It's a 4GHz i7, 24GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 4GB M295X.

Thanks for any help/advice. If there's any chance it's a hardware fault, it's going straight back to Apple for full refund. Well within my 14 days.

Cheers
Andy
Click to expand...

I did not see in the thread if anyone mentioned turning on and off the transparency in Yosemite and restarting? Just a wild thought that has no technical know how.
 
W

WilliamG

macrumors G3
Mar 29, 2008
9,922
3,800
Seattle
andy9l said:
But a screenshot shows no problems - it's only the display that shows the issue, hence the photos.

I'll book a Genius appointment, if I can, and see what they say. The more I look into it, the more this seems like a hardware fault with our GPUs.

Anyone suffering the issue please post a photo.
Click to expand...

I have a 295. This is not a hardware issue.
 
A

andy9l

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Aug 31, 2009
1,699
365
England, UK
GatorGhost said:
I did not see in the thread if anyone mentioned turning on and off the transparency in Yosemite and restarting? Just a wild thought that has no technical know how.
Click to expand...

That's a good idea - I'll try it later when I'm back home and report back.

largefarrva said:
Same here. Doing it on both my iMac with the 295 and my rMBP with the 650m. Not worried one single bit....it's a software issue.
Click to expand...

That's reassuring - somewhat. Any chance of a couple of photos?

WilliamG said:
I have a 295. This is not a hardware issue.
Click to expand...

It definitely is sounding more like a software/driver issue now since there's a fairly substantial number of people here now with the same issue. It's really odd for a software issue, though. Screenshots do not show what the display is showing. That's normally cause for concern.

Just to be clear, I'm not disagreeing with you, I'm just concerned.
 
A

andy9l

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Aug 31, 2009
1,699
365
England, UK
So I realise I've been asking for photos from people but haven't put my own up. Here's my 5K iMac in Time Machine...

Sorry about the quality, but you get the gist.

I'd really like to get some photos of a 650m or any other machine with the same issue.

4UnlAnD.jpg
 
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