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Macbook acting very strange

S

shanester

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 21, 2011
11
0
So i was watching tv today and my mac was sitting on the table, and i noticed on the screen saver the screen was just flashing very fast, when i went to wake it up it got brighter continuing to flash but would not respond. i was forced to turn it off by holding the button down, after that it would not boot. got to the spinning wheel and the wheel froze, after going into single user mode and doing a check on the disk which found no problems, it booted up but once in it froze for a few seconds, then the screen began flashing and then random glitches with the screen began, as can be seen on the photo i will attach. and the screen is continuing to flicker and stuffs showing up weird. is my mac finally kicking the bucket? oh also the glitches on the screen seem to relate to when the computers doing work, not when actually touching it so it doesnt seem to be a bad cable to the screen.

Screenshot2012-01-05at104840PM.png
 
i was just about to post how its oddly started working fine, and it froze then flickered and did this...


IMG_0929.jpg



not that this will probably help much but heres a clip of what happens just moving the mouse around the screen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr4amkbRIbw
 
Last edited:
It seems like there's a problem with the graphics chip. The only real solution is to take it to be checked by Apple.
 
thats what i figured, i just wanted to ask to see if anyone had any ideas before i end up going down there. im super broke atm and i really cant afford to fix the thing :\ i was hoping software problems lol
 
What version (i.e. Spring 2010 or ???) is your MBP?

FWIW, there is a known issue with some of the Spring 2010 15" (and perhaps 13" and 17") MBP. The problem has to do with the nVidia graphics chip being faulty. Apple is offering to replace the logic board on these.
 
ahh i was just about to make a thread about this thing too :)
I have a 13" Late 2010 MBP and I sort of get this too. Like it doesn't freeze or anything, but it occurs randomly and quite rarely. Like if am browsing the web, it would kinda "flicker" [i dont know the right term, sry] and i can see parts of my desktop wallpaper.

Like if we take the second picture of the OP, and kinda make it alternating small trapezoids, with one being background, other being website area, etc. that is what I am getting at.

I know a picture would be much more helpful, but since it occurs randomly and isn't really long enough to take a screenshot, I figured the best thing I could do is describe and wait...

i doubt it is a huge thing, but still wanted to check :)
 
shanester said:
Its a older one probably over 4 years now
Click to expand...

Let me guess. It has a Nvidia 8600 GT GPU? If that is the case, go to the nearest Apple store as soon as possible. There is an extended warranty replacement program for those GPUs, however it's only for four years since purchase.
 
thundersteele said:
Let me guess. It has a Nvidia 8600 GT GPU? If that is the case, go to the nearest Apple store as soon as possible. There is an extended warranty replacement program for those GPUs, however it's only for four years since purchase.
Click to expand...

^^^ This. You might be able to get it replaced for free if that's the problem. Even if you're past the 4 years, if it is the Nvidia issue, I'd take it in anyways. You might get a genius that's nice enough to still get it fixed for you.
 
yep your right, i just got home and was able to get it to power up and thats the card, im gonna go first thing tomorrow. im really hoping they do, i just got my hours at work severly cut, so i cant afford to fix the laptop on my own :(
 
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