Anybody ever heard of this display problem? (red & green vertical bars)

[balloz]

I fear my MacBook just bit the dust. I did an NVRAM reset and when the machine rebooted I got a display with red & green vertical bars. I'll try to attach a photo.

This is on a 2011 17" model so I've already deleted all my AMD drivers. It happens from boot so it happens even in safe mode. I've already attempted an SMC reset and multiple NVRAM resets. In some apps like Brave I get a really slow refresh painting animation. The on-board Intel GPU seems to be struggling hard. Only other data point I'll add is it's cold in this room (40°?) but nothing else out of the ordinary. I can't even use this machine as a desktop since the external display is driven by the AMD GPU.

This will probably be the last Mac I own. Been using them daily since 1986, so if this is it what can I say but so long and thanks for the fish!

 

[chscag]

Yep, it looks like your GPU bit the dust. You model Mac was famous for that. You can try cooking the logic board to see if you can bring the GPU back to life or sell the machine on eBay for parts.

 

[balloz]

My model is famous for the AMD GPU biting the dust. I've never heard of the Intel GPU biting the dust. The whole cooking the logic board thing was entirely an AMD fix. You should probably delete your reply.
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One more symptom: The machine refuses to sleep.

 

[balloz]

WTF, I just rebooted with the option key (to see if it happens post-post but pre-bootloader) and the display came back to life. It's working like before.

Now I'm afraid to reboot.

 

[junkw]

sell it ASAP

 

[balloz]

I'll dump it after I get the next gen LG Gram 17 (should be out on the 8th). I'll probably give it to a friend or just trash it. Bad karma to sell this ****.

 

[junkw]

LG Gram 17

is it the best equivalent to a macbook (quality etc..)?

 

[balloz]

is it the best equivalent to a macbook (quality etc..)?

In some ways it's better, in some ways it's worse. I played around with the current version a bit (the next version coming out on the 8th I believe)

It's better in that:
1) Less than 1/2 the weight (amazing but true)
2) Better gamut
3) Brighter
4) Much higher resolution (I'll attach a screenshot)
5) Insane battery life doing general computing. New version has a larger battery and low-watt DIMMs so that should improve even!
6) Two drive slots. New version has two DIMM slots, current one. MacBook has everything soldered so I'm not even considering buying one. **** you, Apple.
7) Thunderbolt port
8) Lots of ports. New version has the new sdcard slot which is really fast. Are you listening Apple? No? Well **** you.
9) Meets various MIL-spec standards for dust, heat, drop test, etc. Really important for people like me who take their laptops camping.
10) Did I mention less than 1/2 the weight? It's less than 3 freaking pounds! For a 17 inch!

It's worse in that:
1) No discrete graphics. New model has newer Intel CPU which has 2x the graphics power, but don't expect an aftereffects powerhouse.
2) Glossy (researching solutions to this. There are a couple matte films which are made for this model specifically so I'll probably try one)
3) No Mac support for wifi. Hoping that changes with the new one, but doubtful. You can use one of the M.2 slots for wifi if you wish. I'll probably use a USB adapter until I figure that out.
4) Only one TB port. Not an issue for me, but some people might bork.
5) Current version has ****** thermals. Some people have added a 2nd fan and heat pipe to address this. Newer one has newer heat pipe setup, but it still looks anemic. I'm hoping for 3rd parties to make a better one considering the CPU is throttled to hell.
6) ****** down-facing speakers (probably down-facing to make it spill-proof). I'll be attaching speakers to my laptop stand.

The material is some kind of high tech magnesium carbon nanotube **** which FEELS flimsy, but isn't. It just flexes a lot.

That's all off the top of my head. Just playing with a 3lb 17 in ch laptop makes it my next purchase on its own.
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I suspect the mic and built-in camera are kinda crappy, too. Not a problem for me so I didn't test.

 

[Fishrrman]

RadeonGate.
It's done.
Be glad that it lasted this long.

Either start shopping for another MacBook Pro, or "go to the dark side"...

 

[Sanpete]

My 2011 17" stopped booting and showed a scrambled screen, and nothing I did made any difference. Finally took it to the Apple Store to see if it could be fixed. They ran their special diagnostics, and when that was done, without any remedies being applied, it was working fine. Never did figure that out, and they had no more clue than I did. It's been a couple years, and no more trouble. I still use it to show sporting streams a couple times a week.

 

[chscag]

My model is famous for the AMD GPU biting the dust. I've never heard of the Intel GPU biting the dust. The whole cooking the logic board thing was entirely an AMD fix. You should probably delete your reply.

You can believe what you want and do what you want with that machine, but like @Fishrrman replied, it's RadeonGate acting up.