Help! Save my 17 Inch Macbook Pro

[gadgetfreaky]

so it often works just fine- but every now and again the screen gets massive vertial lines. When loading a graphics intensive program like civ 5 for example it will often (but not always) cause the system to do a hard restart.

often i get errors around graphics card issues. some times when rebooting it will load up with

the problem is- i take it in for repair and the authorized repair center says it's passing all the graphic tests so the video card/ logic board cannot be replaced.

however as you can see from these screens- it's pretty fried. it happened 6-8 times this weekend alone. it does not seem to be heat related either since it occurs randomly and often when the compute rhas been off for a few days.

also note- you can still type and interact with teh machine. one weird thing, wehn I see that crazy login screen with the vertical lines, if I login- i will often get normal screen back after it logs in. altho it may reboot several times to get there.

It's a 17 incher which they do not make- and I don't want to lose it.
based on the pics of the screen behavior- what could it be?

 

[lionkin]

so it often works just fine- but every now and again the screen gets massive vertial lines. When loading a graphics intensive program like civ 5 for example it will often (but not always) cause the system to do a hard restart.

often i get errors around graphics card issues. some times when rebooting it will load up with

the problem is- i take it in for repair and the authorized repair center says it's passing all the graphic tests so the video card/ logic board cannot be replaced.

however as you can see from these screens- it's pretty fried. it happened 6-8 times this weekend alone. it does not seem to be heat related either since it occurs randomly and often when the compute rhas been off for a few days.

also note- you can still type and interact with teh machine. one weird thing, wehn I see that crazy login screen with the vertical lines, if I login- i will often get normal screen back after it logs in. altho it may reboot several times to get there.

It's a 17 incher which they do not make- and I don't want to lose it.
based on the pics of the screen behavior- what could it be?

2011 macbook pro? If it is then your victim of radeongate. My previous mac was early 2011 15inch macbook, and I was victim of radeongate aka dgpu failure. Check this forum out and it might help you ---> https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4766577?tstart=0

 

[yjchua95]

so it often works just fine- but every now and again the screen gets massive vertial lines. When loading a graphics intensive program like civ 5 for example it will often (but not always) cause the system to do a hard restart.

often i get errors around graphics card issues. some times when rebooting it will load up with

the problem is- i take it in for repair and the authorized repair center says it's passing all the graphic tests so the video card/ logic board cannot be replaced.

however as you can see from these screens- it's pretty fried. it happened 6-8 times this weekend alone. it does not seem to be heat related either since it occurs randomly and often when the compute rhas been off for a few days.

also note- you can still type and interact with teh machine. one weird thing, wehn I see that crazy login screen with the vertical lines, if I login- i will often get normal screen back after it logs in. altho it may reboot several times to get there.

It's a 17 incher which they do not make- and I don't want to lose it.
based on the pics of the screen behavior- what could it be?

Congratulations, your Mac has been hit by Radeongate.

There is no permanent fix to it unfortunately. Apple uses refurb logic boards which contain the same flaw, causing Radeongate to occur again.

 

[gadgetfreaky]

if it's radeon gate- How did it pass the logic board test?

wouldn't that show up in their testing?

 

[gadgetfreaky]

any ideas of a test I can run to detect if it's Radeon Gate?

 

[A Hobo]

it is absolutely the graphics chip. no question about it. problem is, the apple diagnostic called MRI, is useless. it detects the graphics cards "presence" but doesn't actually test it. only tests done during MRI diagnostic are ram, cpu, charging status, fan motor speed. all the other things are just detecting that the parts are physically there.

I would go back and demand a repair.
show them the pics you have and tell them to test the graphics using a benchmark or a game.
If they replace it and the problem persists, replace it again. and again until they grant you a new machine. (applecare providing, not done though the AASP)

 

[gadgetfreaky]

it is absolutely the graphics chip. no question about it. problem is, the apple diagnostic called MRI, is useless. it detects the graphics cards "presence" but doesn't actually test it. only tests done during MRI diagnostic are ram, cpu, charging status, fan motor speed. all the other things are just detecting that the parts are physically there.

I would go back and demand a repair.
show them the pics you have and tell them to test the graphics using a benchmark or a game.
If they replace it and the problem persists, replace it again. and again until they grant you a new machine. (applecare providing, not done though the AASP)

thanks it's an authorized reseller. they said since it passed the test they can't cover this issue and I should take it to apple. ya'd think since apple got sued and there are tons of threads on it they would start to cover it?

 

[A Hobo]

thanks it's an authorized reseller. they said since it passed the test they can't cover this issue and I should take it to apple. ya'd think since apple got sued and there are tons of threads on it they would start to cover it?

well, as much as i hate to admit it its not apples fault, nor is it a strictly apple affecting problem.

The problem relates to the new industry requirements that Lead free solder must be used even on BGA type chips, these graphics chips get warm/cold regularly and those stresses cause non leaded solder to fracture and crack more readily than lead based solder.

so theres not much apple can do legally without being able to change the BGA adherent method.

theres lots of motherboards and graphics cards that have ceased functioning due to this, you only have to google "baking graphics card" to see how some people get round the solder issue.