How to disable GPU card (discrete)

andrewp · Dec 21, 2014

Heya,

I've been having this nasty logic board panic problem on my mid-2010 MBP and lately it's been getting worse. I've used GFXCardStatus to force the use of internal graphics, but whenever it switches to the discrete GPU then my computer reboots.

Do you guys know of any way I can turn it off for good as this would eventually be the only solution?

andeify · Dec 21, 2014

theres a setting in system prefs under energy saver, uncheck automatic graphics switching.

andrewp · Dec 21, 2014

But deselecting that option would only activate the high-performing card which indeed is the faulty GPU?

dyt1983 · Dec 21, 2014

edit: To remove personally identifying info not relevant to the conversation.

yjchua95 · Dec 21, 2014

dyt1983 said:
I don't have an answer to your original question, but this statement is correct and the previous suggestion wasn't really a solution.

I'm curious if the people who do reballing of the dGPU will just remove the dGPU, and if the system will work fine without it. I've never looked that up.

From what I know, recalling basically re-solders the connection pins between the chip and the logic board so that the dGPU will work again.

Now, if the original GPU was used during the reball, that's asking for a failure to happen yet again. The best way is to reball a brand new GPU into the logic board. With tougher leaded solder, considering how lousy the cMBP's thermal design is.

andrewp · Dec 21, 2014

dyt1983 said:
I don't have an answer to your original question, but this statement is correct and the previous suggestion wasn't really a solution.

I'm curious if the people who do reballing of the dGPU will just remove the dGPU, and if the system will work fine without it. I've never looked that up.

Is it actually possible to remove the dGPU? -I'd surely try that out.

Since it posted this thread I downloaded an old version of GFXcardstatus (v2.2) and it seems like it is more stable and prevents the switching. It's worked fine for the past 4 hours which is already a record.

thekev · Dec 21, 2014

andrewp said:
Since it posted this thread I downloaded an old version of GFXcardstatus (v2.2) and it seems like it is more stable and prevents the switching. It's worked fine for the past 4 hours which is already a record.

The 2011 models won't work with that. You're lucky that it works on the 2010 version. The problem is that it accesses the card when booting. You can disable all kernel extensions that access the card, but your machine will stutter and lag endlessly. It's how I got a 2011 to work with a dead gpu.

andrewp said:
Is it actually possible to remove the dGPU?

If you had both the equipment and knowledge maybe. Even then I'm not sure whether it would work. It's not worth dumping a lot of money into this. If it was removed, the system might boot. You can see what that's like, but I don't recommend it. You would have to remove a bunch of .kext files, and your system will perform like ****. It will not perform as if they were never there.

andeify said:
theres a setting in system prefs under energy saver, uncheck automatic graphics switching.

That locks it to discrete graphics. Plugging in an external display will always use discrete graphics if available, so they wouldn't include a setting that locks you out of that.

McGiord · Dec 21, 2014

I use gfxCardStatus

https://gfx.io

andrewp · Dec 21, 2014

thekev said:
The 2011 models won't work with that. You're lucky that it works on the 2010 version. The problem is that it accesses the card when booting. You can disable all kernel extensions that access the card, but your machine will stutter and lag endlessly. It's how I got a 2011 to work with a dead gpu.

I believe that the 2011 and 2010 issues are somewhat different. My kernel panic problem is a logic board defection that forces the laptop to reboot at random times when you use the discrete gpu. As far as I know the 2011 has an issue with the GPU itself.
Eventually it's disappointing that Apple makes so many mistakes and a new 15" MBP is not the cheapest solution.

thekev · Dec 21, 2014

andrewp said:
I believe that the 2011 and 2010 issues are somewhat different. My kernel panic problem is a logic board defection that forces the laptop to reboot at random times when you use the discrete gpu. As far as I know the 2011 has an issue with the GPU itself.
Eventually it's disappointing that Apple makes so many mistakes and a new 15" MBP is not the cheapest solution.

I would agree with you there, but they're both essentially logic board problems in the sense that the only real fix is a logic board replacement. You asked about if it could be removed. What I'm saying is that you would be left with limited functionality. I'll look up the extensions if you want to want to see what it would be like if the hardware was bypassed at boot time, although you would want to back up before attempting it, and may have to use single user mode to restore functionality.

andrewp · Dec 21, 2014

thekev said:
I would agree with you there, but they're both essentially logic board problems in the sense that the only real fix is a logic board replacement. You asked about if it could be removed. What I'm saying is that you would be left with limited functionality. I'll look up the extensions if you want to want to see what it would be like if the hardware was bypassed at boot time, although you would want to back up before attempting it, and may have to use single user mode to restore functionality.

Yeah I figured that this old GFXcardstatus is the best solution for me until I can finally afford the next generation...

dyt1983 · Dec 21, 2014

edit: To remove personally identifying info not relevant to the conversation.

yjchua95 · Dec 21, 2014

dyt1983 said:
Which is why I said "remove" the GPU. Please read again.

And "tough" often implies harder or more durable; lead solder is more malleable, meaning softer. However it suffers less from vibration-induced fracture. But all this is non-sequitur as no one brought up reballing... except you.

If the GPU is removed, OS X will fail to boot as it does the hardware check.

When OS X boots, it notes the logic board identifier, and then makes sure that all components on the board are supposed to be there. If it detects that the dGPU is missing, it won't boot.

It's the same reason for Radeongate. When the pins broke, the GPU was no longer connected to the logic board. Hence the boot failure.

I reballed my 2011 15" with a new Radeon GPU, and has been working flawlessly for over a year already. Reballed with leaded solder and reapplied the thermal paste.

dyt1983 · Dec 21, 2014

edit: To remove personally identifying info not relevant to the conversation.

yjchua95 · Dec 21, 2014

dyt1983 said:
Well, I have the equipment available and maybe the knowledge, but not enough to know definitively what would happen, but no board to experiment. I tend to think it would have to be tried to really know. My best chance was a friend with an older MBP where the dGPU caused problems. He was going to abandon it and I could have used his to "play" but then Apple stepped in and did a goodwill repair.

So I was treating it as speculation, and I would think it would be worth a try for those with nothing to lose. It would be a definitive answer.

Which is why you would make changes to the boot process. Anyhow, a non-present device is treated differently than a malfunctioning one, so it could be a different scenario.

Nothing personal, but I believe you're speaking from a speculative and anecdotal viewpoint and an actual test would be more definitive than conjecture. I guess my first response in this thread wasn't clear as you've not understood twice.

----

I will consider this to be unknown until someone actually tries. I have access to a rework station and if someone wants to try on his machine as a last resort (meaning you're going to get a new machine anyhow and part out yours), I'd give it a go.

I've already tested it during the reball. Tried starting up with the dGPU removed and it failed.

It's the same as having the dGPU there but not connected to the logic board due to the broken pins. Since it's not connected to it, it's as good as removed. Either way, I tried it when it was completely removed as well.

Changing the boot process (i.e. removing the kexts) worked, but the problem is, by removing the kexts, it won't even use the Intel HD 3000 at all. Rather, it would use some form of emulated graphics like Windows SVGA, which meant choppiness in everything.

I know this because I tested it. With gfxcardstatus forced into Intel HD 3000 (after the reball), animations were still smooth. With the kexts removed via single user mode, animations were even worse than using the Intel HD 3000.

Video proof: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?res...417&authkey=!AOjAYqAwjd5lf4M&ithint=video,MOV

thekev · Dec 21, 2014

dyt1983 said:
Well, I have the equipment available and maybe the knowledge, but not enough to know definitively what would happen, but no board to experiment. I tend to think it would have to be tried to really know. My best chance was a friend with an older MBP where the dGPU caused problems. He was going to abandon it and I could have used his to "play" but then Apple stepped in and did a goodwill repair.

So I was treating it as speculation, and I would think it would be worth a try for those with nothing to lose. It would be a definitive answer.

As I mentioned you can just tell it not to load any libraries related to that hardware. See instructions here. 2010s would just require the same with a different folder. It will work, but it won't work as you would expect. The integrated graphics are sufficient to drive the system, but under such a configuration you'll get sluggish behavior on any OS animations and some other things.

yjchua95 · Dec 21, 2014

thekev said:
As I mentioned you can just tell it not to load any libraries related to that hardware. See instructions here. 2010s would just require the same with a different folder. It will work, but it won't work as you would expect. The integrated graphics are sufficient to drive the system, but under such a configuration you'll get sluggish behavior on any OS animations and some other things.

Debunked.

On Intel HD 3000 (that is if the system can boot without removing the kexts), it's all smooth.

Video proof: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?res...417&authkey=!AOjAYqAwjd5lf4M&ithint=video,MOV

By removing the kexts, not only is the dGPU disabled, OS X won't even use the Intel HD 3000 at all. Everything will be far laggier than what I've shown in the video.

For instance, opening Launchpad would take over 8 seconds, because the screen constantly redraws itself when blurring out the background.

thekev · Dec 21, 2014

yjchua95 said:
By removing the kexts, not only is the dGPU disabled, OS X won't even use the Intel HD 3000 at all. Everything will be far laggier than what I've shown in the video.

For instance, opening Launchpad would take over 8 seconds, because the screen constantly redraws itself when blurring out the background.

Are you suggesting that it's rendering everything by way of software? I'm not even sure if a hardware path exists to allow for that. I actually removed those in single user mode to get a 2011 working, which I will probably repair for now because it's relatively cheap to do so, then replace it in another year or so (perhaps broadwell).

yjchua95 · Dec 21, 2014

thekev said:
Are you suggesting that it's rendering everything by way of software? I'm not even sure if a hardware path exists to allow for that. I actually removed those in single user mode to get a 2011 working, which I will probably repair for now because it's relatively cheap to do so, then replace it in another year or so (perhaps broadwell).

Yes. I'm very much suggesting that it's rendered by software entirely.

Something like how OS X renders animations in VMware Fusion in the absence of hardware acceleration.

thekev · Dec 21, 2014

yjchua95 said:
Yes. I'm very much suggesting that it's rendered by software entirely.

Something like how OS X renders animations in VMware Fusion in the absence of hardware acceleration.

Oh the animations yeah. That would make sense. I meant that I don't know how they would display it on screen without the hardware. They could software render the animation and just feed those values to the framebuffer.

Queen6 · Dec 23, 2014

andrewp said:
I believe that the 2011 and 2010 issues are somewhat different. My kernel panic problem is a logic board defection that forces the laptop to reboot at random times when you use the discrete gpu. As far as I know the 2011 has an issue with the GPU itself.
Eventually it's disappointing that Apple makes so many mistakes and a new 15" MBP is not the cheapest solution.

Personally I believe Apple should be made to replace all these flawed Notebooks with new equivalents, not just replace a bad Logic Board with another faulty component, Apple designed the MBP, Apple specified the requirements to their contractors, Apple have total ownership and Apple is most definitely accountable, equally Apple has your $$$$ and will look to minimise/avoid any negative exposure both financially and in the public eye.

Personally I have had no issue, equally I have owned several MBP`s that have well known issues, equally many thousands have had issue and Apple`s stance is unacceptable, replacing a flawed design, with an even less reliable board is simply a bad joke. I wont personally but another portable with a dGPU as frankly their track record is poor at best...

Q-6

How to disable GPU card (discrete)

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