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Air screen looks scrambled upon wake. Anyone else? (Pic inside...)

onthecouchagain

onthecouchagain

macrumors 604
Original poster
Mar 29, 2011
7,382
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This is a 2011 Macbook 13" base model.

Sometimes, quite frequently, my Air's screen will look like this in the log-in screen after waking it from full sleep. It looks like the image is scrambled. Once I log in, the screen's back to normal. When it happens, it happens across different areas of the screen each time.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is this a sign of a failing screen to come? What is it?

EDIT: I've owned it since August, and honestly have used it infrequently. It has sustained no damages (ie. drops, spills, anything...).
 

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I would kill your sleep image and swap files.

it's located in Macintosh HD/var/vm

you'll need to use the following terminal command in order to see that:
defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
KillAll Finder

Once you've killed it reboot, reset PRAM (cmd+option+P+R) twice in a row, empty the trash, and then run the same commands again but with FALSE at the end to re-hide those files.

The sleep image/swap files could be corrupted and be causing that to happen.

Give it a shot.
 
agentphish said:
I would kill your sleep image and swap files.

it's located in Macintosh HD/var/vm

you'll need to use the following terminal command in order to see that:
defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
KillAll Finder

Once you've killed it reboot, reset PRAM (cmd+option+P+R) twice in a row, empty the trash, and then run the same commands again but with FALSE at the end to re-hide those files.

The sleep image/swap files could be corrupted and be causing that to happen.

Give it a shot.
Click to expand...


I'll try this, but when you say do a PRAM reset "twice in a row" do you mean holding the buttons until the comp restarts twice (as in hearing the start up sound twice) or do you mean do PRAM reset twice, as in... do the PRAM reset , allow it to boot to Lion, then rebooting and doing PRAM reset again?

I'll try it after you clarify. Thanks.

EDIT: Also, after killing those two files in the VM folder, does the PRAM reset bring those files back?
 
Similar Issue

I have late 2010 13 inch Mac Air. I have experienced the same issue you describe. It did not start happening until I upgraded to Lion.
 
Bump. So I'm just curious, I'm really surprised not more people are afflicte dby this issue.

It happens almost every single time I wake my Air from full sleep--different types of scrambling. Then after I log in, it's fine again.

It's not a big deal, but when I'm in public and I open my Air, and the first thing people see is a scrambled screen, it just doesn't make me feel like I'm owning a premium product.

Seriously, no one else? Just us few?
 
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My Air (13 inch, 2011 ultimate) does the same. Bought it new on Black Friday. I thought I was the only one. Did you follow those directions above? Did they help?
 
I never tried it because AgentFish didn't clarify my followup questions. I'm not exactly the most savvy when it comes to computers, so I didn't want to do it until it was crystal clear.

However, there's a thread going at the Apple Support Community site where other Air (and Pro) owners have this problem. It seems to have to do with Lion. There really doesn't seem to be a solid fix.

It's kind of ridiculous how faulty and problematic Lion is between this, the slow wake up, and the WiFi issues, sometimes the mouse cursor disappears (just to name a few), and etc.

And honestly, with the creaking of the 2011 Airs, their hardware seems to be more problematic of late too.

I'm new (as of 2011) to Apple and Macs, and honestly, I did not foresee so many problems. I thought leaving Windows was to get away from stuff like this.
 
For what it's worth here's another pic of my scrambled screen. It happens almost every single time, and the scrambling is completely random (meaning the scramble doesn't always look the same).

Again, after logging in, the screen behaves and looks normally.
 

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onthecouchagain said:
For what it's worth here's another pic of my scrambled screen. It happens almost every single time, and the scrambling is completely random (meaning the scramble doesn't always look the same).

Again, after logging in, the screen behaves and looks normally.
Click to expand...

I too experienced this on the Late 2011 13" ultimate I had for the full 3 to 4 mths I owned it.

My lock/sleep screen was just the standard wallpaper with my logon circular logo. Close the lid, wait for 1 minute and re-open and either

a) I could not see the entry for logon, if I pressed tab and started typing and enter I'd be able to logon. moving the cursor around started to "undraw" small .5cm squared blocks as the cursor moved about.

b) the screen would not entirely wake up. After the first Lion update specific to MBA's this second issue was gone for good.
 
Yep this has happened to mine. Mine is a 2011 Air.

First time it happened I panicked, but then it did happen a couple more times (over 4 months) and I've just ignored it :eek: I usually do that though, ignore bad things.
 
onthecouchagain said:
This is a 2011 Macbook 13" base model.

Sometimes, quite frequently, my Air's screen will look like this in the log-in screen after waking it from full sleep. It looks like the image is scrambled. Once I log in, the screen's back to normal. When it happens, it happens across different areas of the screen each time.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is this a sign of a failing screen to come? What is it?

EDIT: I've owned it since August, and honestly have used it infrequently. It has sustained no damages (ie. drops, spills, anything...).
Click to expand...

I've usually seen this behavior when a graphics card is overheated. Not from sleep tho, since everything goes cool when it sleeps. Might be a good idea to bring it to an Apple store if you can.

BTW....do you live in a hobbit hole or a castle? Did nobody else notice that doorway behind?
 
gentlefury said:
I've usually seen this behavior when a graphics card is overheated. Not from sleep tho, since everything goes cool when it sleeps. Might be a good idea to bring it to an Apple store if you can.

BTW....do you live in a hobbit hole or a castle? Did nobody else notice that doorway behind?
Click to expand...

I thought indications of overheating was sparkling..I've seen it on occasion during flash streams.
 
Yeah, I find it hard to believe there are just a few isolated cases of this happening, especially since Apple is selling so many of them. Like the other cases, you just have to "grab" one of the open windows and move it around and it "paints" the screen back to what it's supposed to look like. I have my computer on automatic log-in, so I don't get a lock screen. I am running Lion and my Air usually stays nice and cool. I don't do CPU or GPC intensive tasks on it. I did have to wipe it one and completely reinstall Lion about 3 weeks into owning it and it has had this problem since doing this. As other point out, it doesn't seem to affect performance or anything else, mainly a cosmetic concern.

Here's my screen
 

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I can say as of this morning, when I woke my Air from sleep overnight, the screen was NOT scrambled, with the 10.7.3 update.

In the past, it has woken up without scramble before on occasion. I'll continue to see and report, but good sign!
 
This looks to me like a hardware issue.

If you canduplicate it...take it in for service. They'll probably replace the motherboard.
 
Wow, that's twice in a row now I've opened my Air from full sleep without a scrambled screen.

I'm beginning to think the 10.7.3 update fixed it. (Just remember to d/l the combo pack to avoid that CUI issue).
 
I think I can safely say this issue is resolved thanks to the 10.7.3 update. I have not seen a scrambled screen since updating, and it used to wake scrambled virtually every single time. How about the rest of you who had scrambled screens upon wake?

Finally, Lion is getting somewhere. (For what it's worth, haven't had WiFi drops or reconnecting problems upon wake lately either... but this one will require more time to be fully sure).
 
This started happening on my 2011 macbook air since 10.7.4.
 
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