Early 2011 MacBook Pro Won't Boot...GPU Problem?

[leaftors]

I tried the temp fix and it works but it's very slow and graphic usage is very limited.

So there is no other way around this other than to reball or get a new board?

Anyone know a reballer in toronto? How much will it cost through apple? What's stopping people from purchasing apple care right now and then claiming their laptops?

 

[T5BRICK]

What's stopping people from purchasing apple care right now and then claiming their laptops?

Almost all 2011 models that didn't have AppleCare already are out of their one year warranty by now. You can't buy AppleCare for a Mac if the warranty is expired.

 

[yjchua95]

Almost all 2011 models that didn't have AppleCare already are out of their one year warranty by now. You can't buy AppleCare for a Mac if the warranty is expired.

Mine Radeongated 3 days after the 3-year AppleCare expired.

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I tried the temp fix and it works but it's very slow and graphic usage is very limited.

So there is no other way around this other than to reball or get a new board?

Anyone know a reballer in toronto? How much will it cost through apple? What's stopping people from purchasing apple care right now and then claiming their laptops?

It'll cost a new logic board from Apple, which is bloody pricey and not worth the price, because:

1. Radeongate will happen again, because all the Sandy Bridge boards with the Radeon GPU have the same manufacturing flaw.

2. The Radeon card is pretty dated already. The 650M that came one year after it was leaps and bounds better than it.

 

[leaftors]

so they only reasonable thing to do is to buy a new laptop or reflow/reball? Can you use the mbp in the temp fix mode forever or is it bad for the computer?

How do you get out of the temp fix if you want to try booting normally again?

 

[yjchua95]

so they only reasonable thing to do is to buy a new laptop or reflow/reball? Can you use the mbp in the temp fix mode forever or is it bad for the computer?

How do you get out of the temp fix if you want to try booting normally again?

It's completely unusable in the temp-fix mode (i.e. removing the Radeon kexts in single user mode), as it performs even worse than on HD 3000. Rather, it's some form of emulated graphics like the generic Windows SVGA drivers.

To get out of the temp fix, run the combo installer update of 10.9.4.

 

[leaftors]

It's completely unusable in the temp-fix mode (i.e. removing the Radeon kexts in single user mode), as it performs even worse than on HD 3000. Rather, it's some form of emulated graphics like the generic Windows SVGA drivers.

To get out of the temp fix, run the combo installer update of 10.9.4.

anyway to do it in single user mode?

derp, realized i can startup nvm

 

[RedPenguinGB]

Nope, there doesn't seem to be a fix...

 

[leaftors]

so i got the gpu reballed through some guy on kijiji that was originally supposed to have 3 months warranty.

Now he is saying that after running tests, he noticed that the northbridge/southbridge chips are getting too hot because my fans/heatsinks were messed up. So he has to replace the chips for $100 more or else the gpu will mess up again. If I don't replace it he won't offer the 3 month warranty because he's saying his work on the gpu will go to waste.

Is he bs'ing me? I feel like he just wants more money, but if I don't pay the extra money I feel like he'll do something to the laptop just to **** with me.

 

[yjchua95]

so i got the gpu reballed through some guy on kijiji that was originally supposed to have 3 months warranty.

Now he is saying that after running tests, he noticed that the northbridge/southbridge chips are getting too hot because my fans/heatsinks were messed up. So he has to replace the chips for $100 more or else the gpu will mess up again. If I don't replace it he won't offer the 3 month warranty because he's saying his work on the gpu will go to waste.

Is he bs'ing me? I feel like he just wants more money, but if I don't pay the extra money I feel like he'll do something to the laptop just to **** with me.

The guy's got a valid point on the heatsink part, but perhaps not on the northbridge/southbridge chips.

In my case, I sent to a reballer (back when I was still in Malaysia) and the reballer's package covered a re-application of thermal paste and removing old thermal paste off the heat sink because he said that it was Apple's poor application of thermal paste that lead to the breaking of unleaded solder.

So yes, if you don't re-apply the thermal paste properly and scrape the old one off the heatsink, the problem will definitely happen again.

 

[leaftors]

The guy's got a valid point on the heatsink part, but perhaps not on the northbridge/southbridge chips.

In my case, I sent to a reballer (back when I was still in Malaysia) and the reballer's package covered a re-application of thermal paste and removing old thermal paste off the heat sink because he said that it was Apple's poor application of thermal paste that lead to the breaking of unleaded solder.

So yes, if you don't re-apply the thermal paste properly and scrape the old one off the heatsink, the problem will definitely happen again.

I don't understand what the north/south chips have anything to do with the gpu's warranty.. I thiink I'm going to pay the 250 and then go to legit shop to check what he did.

 

[triplelucky]

It sounds like the guy is feeding you a line. Your heat sinks don’t get messed up, your fans don’t get messed up and you don’t replace the “northbridge/southbridge” chips in the sandy bridge chip architecture (The north bridge is integrated into the CPU).

 

[justinc899]

i have the same problem. does his work come with some sort of warranty?

Yeah, 1 full year warranty. But I think you have to cover shipping costs still.

 

[bigpoppamac31]

I also have an Early 2011 MBP. I haven't seen any issues yet on my Mac regaring this "Radeongate" problem. Should I be worried? I wouldn't mind upgrading to a new Mac but i don't want to spend the money yet if I don't need to. But I also don't want to wait until it's too late and my MBP dies on me.

 

[yjchua95]

I also have an Early 2011 MBP. I haven't seen any issues yet on my Mac regaring this "Radeongate" problem. Should I be worried? I wouldn't mind upgrading to a new Mac but i don't want to spend the money yet if I don't need to. But I also don't want to wait until it's too late and my MBP dies on me.

If yours is a 15"/17" 2011 MBP with Radeon GPU, yes you should be worried, because all the Sandy Bridge boards with Radeon GPU have the same manufacturing flaw which causes Radeongate to occur.

 

[bigpoppamac31]

If yours is a 15"/17" 2011 MBP with Radeon GPU, yes you should be worried, because all the Sandy Bridge boards with Radeon GPU have the same manufacturing flaw which causes Radeongate to occur.

So it's not an isolated thing?? I know I'm having a really hard time picking out a new Mac. I'm not sure whether to go with another MBP or go iMac or play the waiting game with the Mac Mini which is long overdue for an update. Also if I go MBP I don't whether to go with a 13" or 15". Is there a big difference between Iris and Iris Pro graphics?? I don't do anything graphically intensive on my Mac. Usually just the every day stuff with a bit of iPhoto here and there. I really like the 13" now that it's retina screen. But I also want to think long term and maybe an Iris Pro/Nvidia 750m would give me that longevity. Also would there be a big difference between the dual core i5 and dual core i7 on the MBP?