Macbook Pro VPU Problems

[Alorain]

Ok folks, here is the deal:

My macbook pro is a late 2006 model (2.33ghz, 2gb, x1600 256mb) which has been working wonderfully for the past two years. The problem which has recently arisen seems to be related to either the graphic card, or some other source which I am unaware of. My problem is thus;

Whenever I play games under Bootcamp, there is a re-occurring issue where after some time of play, my MBP will totally lock up, the screen will turn black and I will need to do a hard reboot in order to free it from it's self-induced coma. Sometimes, the computer will stop just before total freezing and will allow me to quit the game it was running, displaying the following message: VPU Recover has reset your graphics accelerator as it was no longer responding to graphics driver commands

These lockups seem to be brought about at times (randomly) when I click on something in the game with my mouse, but this is not the only cause of the lockups. So, is this a problem with the VPU, the drivers or bootcamp itself?

Anyone had a similar issue with their MBP?

 

[MacModMachine]

Ok folks, here is the deal:

My macbook pro is a late 2006 model (2.33ghz, 2gb, x1600 256mb) which has been working wonderfully for the past two years. The problem which has recently arisen seems to be related to either the graphic card, or some other source which I am unaware of. My problem is thus;

Whenever I play games under Bootcamp, there is a re-occurring issue where after some time of play, my MBP will totally lock up, the screen will turn black and I will need to do a hard reboot in order to free it from it's self-induced coma. Sometimes, the computer will stop just before total freezing and will allow me to quit the game it was running, displaying the following message: VPU Recover has reset your graphics accelerator as it was no longer responding to graphics driver commands

These lockups seem to be brought about at times (randomly) when I click on something in the game with my mouse, but this is not the only cause of the lockups. So, is this a problem with the VPU, the drivers or bootcamp itself?

Anyone had a similar issue with their MBP?

i think you mean GPU,

but as far as that goes, it is a known problem, nvidia and the 1600 series ati's all seem to fail prematurely(more nvidia than ati),

push for replacement,

tons of other threads on this.

 

[Alorain]

i think you mean GPU,

but as far as that goes, it is a known problem, nvidia and the 1600 series ati's all seem to fail prematurely(more nvidia than ati),

push for replacement,

tons of other threads on this.

Yeah, VPU = GPU.

So you think the GPU is on it's way out? Damn...

My machine is out of warranty, so I don't really feel like purchasing a replacement GPU for a 2 year old laptop. Does apple replace the graphics card as part of a class-action movement? I know they did it with the 8600m.

 

[iLog.Genius]

There wasn't an exchange/repair program for the x1600's in that generation and if you're having problems it will be treated as a case-to-case basis. It wouldn't hurt to try to call AppleCare to see what could be done but don't expect much. It's possible that it could be a heating problem, have you tried using smcFanControl?

 

[Animalk]

That error message is the ATI Catalyst windows drivers catching a hard-ware related lock-up of your video card. This safety is offered to to run for the user after he enables over-clocking of his video card through the ATI Overdrive tool in the Catalyst suite.

You're video card is either overheating or having a hardware failure. But the fact that VPU recover is catching the failure indicates that your video card is not set to manufacturer gpu and memory speeds.

VPU recover will automatically scale back down the gpu and memory speeds at first sign of computational failure of your graphics card.

Put them back to default and lock the settings.

EDIT: Also I recommend you uninstall the ATI Catalyst sweet and drivers and use the Apple provided drivers.

 

[clyde2801]

I'm wondering why it's not locking up in os x. Is there a mac program that would push the card as hard in that environment as gaming does in bootcamp?

 

[alphaod]

I get that error message when my GPU overheats and halts to protect itself. I would look to see if the cooling fan is functioning correctly or not.