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MBP 5,1 9600 switching problem (i.e. it won't)

M

mark.s

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 24, 2008
12
0
Hi,

I have a 5,1 MBP bought in March 2009. I haven't used the 9600 for about 6 months, but now when I try to activate it under Energy Saver, and go through the whole logout/login process it doesn't enable. I still end up with the 9400.

I've ran the hardware test and it only lists the 9400. I've reset the PRAM, no effect. System Profiler has no mention of the 9600.

I also tried installing Windows to see if the 9600 would show up there, but I get a blank screen when booting the XP CD. I get the same blank screen when trying a Linux CD. Is this perhaps because the MBP is trying to use the 9600 but it's borked and not displaying anything? I've had Windows running under Bootcamp on this machine in the past without issue.

Note that I did use the 9600 for a while last year, and had no issues with it at the time.

Anyone had any similar experiences to this? I'm wondering if the whole broken 8600 issue extended itself into the 9600s as well... The Inquirer had some details on this, but I haven't seen any widespread issues reported on the net.

I don't have Applecare for this machine, so it's now out of warranty. If this is a manufacturing defect, I'd hope that Apple would fix it regardless, but maybe that's just me being optimistic...

Any comments?
 
As far as I'm aware there's no extension for failures on the 9600M like there is for the 8600. Does sound your card is fubared from what you're saying, have you tried running the Apple Hardware Test? (Insert install disk, restart and hold down D).

Worth talking to Apple to see what they say, chances are you may need to pay though. Where abouts do you live? In the UK major electrical goods have a 6 year warranty under the sales of goods act, after the first year the onus is on the customer to prove the fault is with the item (have to pay for an independent engineers report to see if they confirm the fault as mechanical breakdown), if so can take it up with the point of sale for repair/replacement.

There's a similar EU directive, don't know about anywhere else though.
 
Yes, I've ran the hardware test - the 9600 isn't detected at all, and the test comes up clean.

I'm in the UK. I've been putting off heading into one of the Apple Stores with it, but it looks like that's what I'll have to do.

Thanks for the generic warranty info. I'll look into that.

This machine is my 6th Apple laptop (started with an iBook G3) and is the first to have any sort of issue.
 
Have you tried resetting the SMC? I had an issue recently with my MBP 5,1 whereby the built-in iSight wasn't being detected, not by the AHT CD or System Profiler. It also didn't show up in Device Manager under Windows 7. I repaired permissions. Zapped the PRAM and reset the SMC and all was back to normal.
 
mark.s said:
Yes, I've ran the hardware test - the 9600 isn't detected at all, and the test comes up clean.

I'm in the UK. I've been putting off heading into one of the Apple Stores with it, but it looks like that's what I'll have to do.

Thanks for the generic warranty info. I'll look into that.

This machine is my 6th Apple laptop (started with an iBook G3) and is the first to have any sort of issue.
Click to expand...

If the AHT isn't picking it up then can't see anything other than a repair fixing it.

For more info on the Sales Of Goods Act see here: http://whatconsumer.co.uk/the-sale-of-goods-act/ the main issue being that as faulty your MBP is no longer "fit for purpose" That has to be taken up with the retailler from whom you bought the item, not the manufacturer. Did you get it from Apple?

Least you do have some protection for this even if it's over a year old, good luck and hope it gets sorted for you.
 
mark.s said:
Yes, I've ran the hardware test - the 9600 isn't detected at all, and the test comes up clean.

I'm in the UK. I've been putting off heading into one of the Apple Stores with it, but it looks like that's what I'll have to do.

Thanks for the generic warranty info. I'll look into that.

This machine is my 6th Apple laptop (started with an iBook G3) and is the first to have any sort of issue.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, doesn't sound good. I would book a genius appointment and see what they say first, at least they can give you an estimate of a repair.
I don't remember hearing anything about failures with these machines. Do both of your fans work fine? Long straw is maybe overheating if the fans are too dusty or not working properly?
 
thefunkymunky said:
Have you tried resetting the SMC? I had an issue recently with my MBP 5,1 whereby the built-in iSight wasn't being detected, not by the AHT CD or System Profiler. It also didn't show up in Device Manager under Windows 7. I reparied permissions. Zapped the PRAM and reset the SMC and all was back to normal.
Click to expand...

You've just made my day :)

I reset the SMC and it's now listing both GPUs in system profiler, and I can switch to the 9600 with gfxCardStatus without an issue.

Many thanks for the suggestion.
 
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