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Faulty 9600M cards in all new 17 inch Unibody MBPs?!

satrycon said:
green lines = defective video board..is it really so hard to believe ?
Click to expand...

yes.. actually it is. for this many people to be having hardware faults i do find it hard to believe. its a massive pain in the ass, and I now have to wait another 2 weeks for my CTO antiglare if i have to re order another machine.
 
I have the same issue with the 9600M GT. Sometimes it works fine, but after heavy use I get distortion and wrong colors.

Tomorrow I will call Apple. I don't want to think of sending back my 17" MBP, but I don't like to have a faulty 9600M.

If it re-occurs then I will try to make a photo of it and post it.
 
Siebe said:
I have the same issue with the 9600M GT. Sometimes it works fine, but after heavy use I get distortion and wrong colors.

Tomorrow I will call Apple. I don't want to think of sending back my 17" MBP, but I don't like to have a faulty 9600M.

If it re-occurs then I will try to make a photo of it and post it.
Click to expand...

i think photos are a good idea.. we could share photos and take them all to apple if they start questioning our problems.

I REALLY hope this is something that can be fixed in firmware. I think its really really weird how so many people are experiencing this.

It is clearly when the card is under strain, although last night i had 10 HDV video movies playing all together and couldn't make the fault happen!
 
I've just logged in and out twice between both graphics cards. I can't see any green lines.. where about are they suppose to be ?

... Hopefully I have got a good unit :eek: Finally after 3 15" unibodys !
 
NStocks said:
I've just logged in and out twice between both graphics cards. I can't see any green lines.. where about are they suppose to be ?

... Hopefully I have got a good unit :eek: Finally after 3 15" unibodys !
Click to expand...

They are on the 17" unibody.. seems to be when you have a high res image as your desktop, and then put some strain on the GFX card.. although i've not seen them today yet and I've been doing some work on the laptop for a couple of hours..
 
I have put quite a few HD high res widescreen wallpapers on the graphics card ( I only use the higher performance) and there is not one problem with it. I would like to get my screen calibrated as it seems a little on the blue side, but I don't own a calibrator... Maybe we should post our profiles that have been calibrated like we did with the 15".

I have virtually no screen bleed which was the biggest issue for me with the 15".
 
NStocks said:
I have put quite a few HD high res widescreen wallpapers on the graphics card ( I only use the higher performance) and there is not one problem with it. I would like to get my screen calibrated as it seems a little on the blue side, but I don't own a calibrator... Maybe we should post our profiles that have been calibrated like we did with the 15".

I have virtually no screen bleed which was the biggest issue for me with the 15".
Click to expand...

oh.. its back.. but randomly.. I cant force it to happen. I was about to take some shots with my digicam but its vanished! Grr...
 
NStocks said:
I have put quite a few HD high res widescreen wallpapers on the graphics card ( I only use the higher performance) and there is not one problem with it. I would like to get my screen calibrated as it seems a little on the blue side, but I don't own a calibrator... Maybe we should post our profiles that have been calibrated like we did with the 15".

I have virtually no screen bleed which was the biggest issue for me with the 15".
Click to expand...

OS X has its own built in calibrator. I turned my gamut to 2.2 and my white balance way down, seemed to fix my blueish issue.
 
kastenbrust said:
OS X has its own built in calibrator. I turned my gamut to 2.2 and my white balance way down, seemed to fix my blueish issue.
Click to expand...

Did you change the gamut to the ' 2.2 television Gamma' on the 2nd screen ? That helps but it does make it very dark, even on full brightness. Do I have to go into advanced/expert mode to alter the white balance ?

NStocks
 
SCREENSHOTS of broken 9600M

Here's what JUST happened when I logged in and out..
L1000221.jpg

L1000222.jpg

L1000223.jpg

L1000224.jpg

L1000228.jpg


I am livid.
 
Whoa, I'm not getting any of that on my screen ^^^^^. I have noticed this on the windows i,e finder, system preferences though, its like a border around the window. Is it normal I can't see it on my 15" unibody.
 

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This is worrying, it's on everything ! Is there anyway I can turn it off, it's like a shadow.

EDIT: I'm using the GT higher performance graphics card, and there are like gradient lines on all the windows even on the top of safari ( the part with the address field )
 

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kastenbrust said:
Lol your quite funny.
I can change my settings to make that effect too :)
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Lol, well it's like when you go in expose you get a shadow affect. I have just realized that I change colors from millions to thousands.

... Just changed it back and it's a lot better. Phew !
 
harodude said:
I still support Apple fully, even with these issues because I know they make a superior product...
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That might explain why they continue to put out laptops with so many issues. Because they know they have a captive customer who will continue to buy the "superior" product no matter what. What a business model. To bad it didn't work for Detroit.
 
Bubba Satori said:
That might explain why they continue to put out laptops with so many issues. Because they know they have a captive customer who will continue to buy the "superior" product no matter what. What a business model. To bad it didn't work for Detroit.
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I don't think Apple 'put out laptops with so many issues'. They have the same if not slightly higher quality control than every other laptop manufacturer, its just this forum is so public and people tend to write their issues rather than good experiences here.
If you read this forum often you'd think every Apple laptop comes broken, but thats simply not true.
 
bronksy said:
Here's what JUST happened when I logged in and out..

I am livid.
Click to expand...

I just sent my MBPU back to apple yesterday because of this same problem. From what I can tell it won’t show up under normal use and only when the GPU is taxed.

Does anyone know of an application that can stress test the GPU on the 17” MBPU? Something that runs on a mac and not windows? I looked around and found nothing that runs on a mac, all of them are made for windows users.

What about a video intense screen saver? Are there any graphically intense screen savers that can stress the graphics chip enough so the problem can be reproduced? Something that works on a mac.

Anything at all would help. Thanks

@ bronksy

Could you try and run a screen saver like Arabesque for 15 minutes and then switch between the 9400 and 9600? Do the artifacts show up by doing this?

The only other way I can think of would be to run a screensaver as a desktop background and then switch the graphics mode.

Try the below and then switch modes. Tell us if the artifacts come out.

How to Use a Screen Saver as a Desktop Background in Mac OS X:

Your Mac OS X desktop does not have to be just another still picture. With just a simple terminal trick, you can use any of your Mac’s screen savers as a moving desktop background.

Select your "Apple Menu" icon from the menu bar in the upper left-hand corner of your screen and navigate to and open “System Preferences."

Select “Desktop and Screen Saver” and select the screen saver you wish to use for your desktop background. Close the “System Preferences.”

Navigate in an open Finder window to “Applications/Utilities,” double-click the “Terminal” application and launch it.

In the new “Terminal” window, type in the following command and hit "Enter/Return":

/System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources/ScreenSaverEngine.app/Contents/MacOS/ScreenSaverEngine–background

The screen saver you selected in Step 2 will now be running on your desktop.

Running a screen saver on your desktop can be processor-intensive and may slow down your Mac. To return your desktop to its original state, close the “Terminal” window and your desktop will revert to its original desktop picture.
 
tome viewer said:
In the new “Terminal” window, type in the following command and hit "Enter/Return":

/System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources/ScreenSaverEngine.app/Contents/MacOS/ScreenSaverEngine–background
Click to expand...

Should be:

/System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources/ScreenSaverEngine.app/Contents/MacOS/ScreenSaverEngine –background
 
Perhaps this was the problem rumored to have held up the 17's introduction along with the 15 back in October:

As Apple tries to push production and delivery ahead of the holiday season, sources say that the 15-inch MacBook Pros are already in production and will be shown at Tuesday's event (and ship soon thereafter), but the initial run of 17-inch models have both optical drive and display issues, which will delay shipments.
Click to expand...

[Full Article at MacNN]
 
Sorry Rick, it's the only thing I recall from the fall as to a reason for the hold up on the 17-inchers.

I'm running mine on the 9600 full time now...so I'll report here if I run into any problems.

I ran the iTunes visualizer for awhile and nothing out of the ordinary. I also tried using Motion as well...I didn't do anything too complicated as I have since forgotten mostly how to use that app...and nothing out of the ordinary. If I remember before bed, I'll run it on one of Leopard's new screensavers overnight.

I would very politely call Apple, explain your situation, and demand a replacement! (Not a repair)

Is this also happening to folks with the unibody 15" MacBook Pro ?

Edit: Being that it's so new they may want to "capture it" for testing anyway, so you may get a replacement without asking. Given your track record...you're owed the major kid gloves treatment!
 
The irony is...

That I can get a replacement ordered tomorrow. I have a contact that has been dealing with my issues and been a help. I kinds was hoping for it to be a non hardware thing. I can't face the re install of everything and a 2 week wait. Plus the screen is not bleeding etc.
From experience I now wish for firmware fixes over return and replace. It costs me too much time.
 
Do you have an external drive you could clone everything to (using Carbon Copy Cloner)?

If you did that, when you get your replacement machine you can just use the migration assistant to transfer the external drive over to your new computer. Depending on the data, you'd be back up and running in no time comparative to installing all the apps and transferring your from scratch.
 
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