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fuentesbo

macrumors newbie
Feb 29, 2012
1
0
It took so long...

...but well, the firmware is here. 7 hours running and no signs of flickering. Good job Apple ;)
 

nunes013

macrumors 65816
May 24, 2010
1,284
185
Connecticut
My Late 2008 MacBook Pro started exhibiting this problem a few months ago. I took it to the Apple Store and they installed a new logic board.

same thing here. brought it in over the summer and they sent it out. took about a week but they replaced the logic board. after about a week same thing starting happening again. i figured it was a firmware thing then. computer got a nice external cleaning though :D
 

Mars478

macrumors 6502a
Mar 6, 2008
595
0
NYC, NY
WOW. I thought this would NEVER be fixed. Incredible! The 9400M on the Late 08's was a POS and always made mine flicker.
 

akinear

macrumors newbie
Feb 28, 2012
1
0
I am on my 3rd logic board due to this issue and only after a week I already had 7 flickers which is very foreboding... as the flicker gets progressively worse over time. During one project I had to rewrite 500 MSword (office 2008) simple text only 1 page .doc files and the flicker got so bad I could not concentrate on the writing and running the 9600 was uncomfortably hot to type with. I do know that eventually within a couple minutes of starting word the problem would kick in or later make it much worse. Doing a screen capture with quicktime never showed it as it probably is solely a backlight issue(?) When I took it in to apple I had a made a 1.5 minute video with 14 flickers with a 2nd camera. (good thing I don't get seizures triggered by flashing lights like they warn on some news broadcasts) I also had crashes with dark grey and lighter grey multiple chunky blocks that froze. As a side note I also had the DVD drive replaced as it gave a communication error when burning DL disks. Then apple repair put in a drive with firmware from 2009! and to make matters worse, neither software update nor the standalone installer would get it loaded. I had to repartition my drive and reinstall 10.5 and do several updates before the superdrive firmware would take. Wasted a day messing with this and it should have never left the shop with 3 year old firmware in the first place. Now I am left with having frequent mouse freezes that forces hard shutdowns with this new logic board even after a clean 10.6.8 install and restore from time machine. (I tested it with 4 different mice) At least my previous logic board never crashed or flashed on the 9600. It was out for 2+ weeks to be repaired and now I have lost 1.5 weeks of work and the crashes continues... I am still working with apple on this and triaging it, but I never had any problems with my 2001 titanium powerbook. Too bad it only can take 1gig or I might still be using it.
 

iLog.Genius

macrumors 601
Feb 24, 2009
4,903
451
Toronto, Ontario
One of those things that were annoying. Glad to see it was something that could be fixed with software and not another NVIDIA/GPU problem. Had this for two years, didn't want to take it in because it was so minor but glad to see it was fixed. Now if I weren't so lazy to go get a new battery, I'd have a "perfect" Mac again...:eek:
 

Aniday

macrumors regular
Jan 27, 2009
145
3
That loud beep that happens sometimes after an efi firmware updated scared the bejeezus out of me. I thought something awful happened. It's apparently normal. Never happened to me before, though.
 

Ralphalph

macrumors member
Mar 7, 2009
72
1
Awesome

I'm so stoked they just fixed this. Just today I popped a new SSD in my late 2008 MBP, and with this fix it's like a new computer!
 

rcha101

macrumors member
Feb 28, 2006
74
0
Better late than never

Thank you so much Apple! My display is now rock solid. I plan on upgrading my machine this year and can sell it knowing that it is in mint condition. Until then I'll enjoy my "new" display.

If something like this happens again please acknowledge the issue!
 

Nabooly

macrumors 6502a
Aug 28, 2007
849
5
FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY! I've been waiting for ever! I've even had the display replaced out of warranty....[Apple paid for it though, Which is why I still heart them :D ]

Thank god now i can go back to my 9400 card and use less battery and avoid 3rd degree burns on my lap.
 

yojitani

macrumors 68000
Apr 28, 2005
1,858
10
An octopus's garden
Nice. I'm about to install this. Actually, I didn't know it was a common issue. My warranty runs out this summer so I was going to get it fixed in May. Bonus!

So, since people on this thread have the same model, I'd like to ask if this model is also known for the bright backlight glow on both sides of the display. I only really notice it if I have a dark desktop image (black especially), but at least it hasn't gotten any worse over the years.
 
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xcrunner

macrumors regular
Dec 17, 2007
186
0
I couldn't be more happier finding this in software update today. I took it to the Apple Store previously and never could get it to happen there (of course) and thought I'd just have to live with it. A firmware update for a 4 year-old computer. Took you WAY too long Apple, but it's REALLY appreciated :)
 

jabbawockee

macrumors member
Jul 13, 2008
42
0
I couldnt be happier. The only thing I'm not happy about is the fact that I don't "need" to get a new laptop.

This screen flickering on my 2008 mBP was the only reason why I wanted to shop for a new one...

Thanks, Apple.
 

yellowbunny

macrumors 6502
Jun 27, 2010
283
445
I can't believe this! Three years of annoying flickering, I'd given up hope of it being fixed. When I did take it in to apple they just said they were aware of the problem and that I should just use the other graphics card.

Yey! No more flicker!
 

AndyR

macrumors 6502a
Dec 9, 2005
907
30
Auckland, New Zealand
You are kidding me!!!!!

My late 08 MBP ran out of AppleCare last month and just before it did this I started getting the flickering. Took it into a repair center (no apple store in NZ) and they had it for over a month trying to find the fault, and in the end I ended up buying a refurb 2011 MBP which I'm really happy with. My 08 MBP came back with a new logic board, but glad to see if was a firmware problem and not an inherent fault so I can sell it now without worrying about the flicker coming back hopefully! Phew!
 

straightedge

macrumors newbie
Mar 5, 2012
1
0
Still flickering!!???!!!

I have the updated firmware as I took my late 2008 MBP in for DEPO by the genius bar for the SECOND time and got it back on the 28th, the day the update came out...how convenient. It was working fine with no flickering (by flicker I mean the screen going to black and then popping back on when I would hit the space bar) UNTIL I took my MBP off the AC charger and just use battery power...its happened four times now and in spans of less than five minutes back to back. Any help/ideas???
 

darwinian

macrumors 6502a
Jan 4, 2008
600
1
In R4, more or less
Updated immediately, with no problems. Only issue I have is that I never really knew how to reproduce the problem. It only happens under heavy graphics load or when my computer is running hotter than it should be (mostly because of high ambient temps). I don't do much heavy graphics, so I don't see the issue a lot. It has been crippling in the past, though, so count me among the very excited to see a fix.

At some point last year it seemed to switch cards on me: the flickering was only on the 9600, but now it seems to only be on the 9400. This could have also been me not paying attention.

EDIT: I just saw the briefest of flickers ... nothing like it was before, which was always marked by several horizontal lines flickering across the screen.
 
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rxse7en

macrumors 6502
Mar 18, 2005
287
9
Jacksonville, FL
EFI Update

Installed without a hitch but noticed an issue with losing click on trackpad (solved with a restart) and loss of right side audio in both speaker and headphones. Anyone else notice stereo sound issues?

B
 

hob

macrumors 68010
Oct 4, 2003
2,004
0
London, UK
Now I need a firmware update that restores the battery life to over 30 minutes, gets the superdrive working again, stops this weird buzzing noise coming from the lower right corner... :p

My Late-2008 MBP has really been through the wars... :(
 

Mexikaner

macrumors newbie
Jul 17, 2011
8
0
Cheran, Mexico
Crazy!

I had just bought my Late 2008 MBP 15" a week ago and thought I had made a huge mistake as I had sold my 2010 MBP 13" which had been working flawlessly only for wanting something with a bigger screen was my reason for selling. I had only just recently found out about the flickering screen with 15" 9400 nvida cards. I was disappointed to say the least but, now it seems as God sent to get this firmware update within a matter of a week of owning this computer! I feel bad for the people that have waited almost 4 years to get this fixed and for me to get this within a week well... what can I say! :)
 

LarryC

macrumors 6502
Jul 19, 2002
419
33
North America
The "strange behaviour" was caused by you ignoring the firmware update instructions. They specifically state you must not turn off your computer during the update. You're lucky you didn't brick your machine. Normally the machine makes a low tone when the update has started, then a grey screen appears with an Apple and a progress bar. Sometimes the computer restarts after, sometimes it continues straight into startup.

Sorry that I am just now replying to your comment. But this is the first I have seen it. I believe I let it finish. It said that it would not take effect until a restart. I just finished whatever I was doing with it and shut it off. I think it gave me an option of restart or shut down. If I messed up and did it wrong, I guess I got lucky.

P.S. Thank you for the reply.
 
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yakman

macrumors newbie
Nov 11, 2012
3
0
Have late 2008 Macbook pro with 2.8 firmware. Unable to install new HD, WD blue scorpio 500gb WD5000BPVT. Noticed on some threads people were reverting to earlier firmware for HD issues. Those were from 1.7 to 1.6, but for different Macbook pros. Anyone know of a fix for this model?
 
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