MBP Kernel Panic!!! AppleCare advice anyone?

[brendancd]

I'm about to call AppleCare --
2.4GHz (T7700) Intel Core 2 Duo MBP is overcome by kernel panics with some visual artifacts on the side, just to keep things interesting. SMC reset keeps the panic away for an hour or so -- then, a smear of dots here, a line there, and boom -- back to square one.

This particular MBP went to the service center in texas for the first time when it was about six months old when it refused to acknowledge its trackpad and keyboard.
It made an encore appearance at the service center just after its first birthday due to the same problem -- this time some minor stray pixels accompanied the problem.

As I am about to call applecare (I opted for the extended warranty)-- assuming they are going to tell me to take it in -- does it make sense for me to take it to the apple store where it was purchased or does it not matter? Should I call or just make an appointment at the genius bar?

Despite the levity of this post, I'm pissed. This MBP is a lemon -- it has spent over 3% of its 16+ month life being fixed.

Please share your experience, strength, and hope with me.

Here is a link to some hot kernel panic pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34816542@N06/sets/72157620635546093/

 

[MacDawg]

Just take it in and let them evaluate the problem

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[Sneakz]

Mind posting your Error reports? I have a feeling that its graphics failure.

 

[Smoothie]

Looks like your GPU may be failing. Do you have the Nvidia 8600M GT? See this:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377

 

[noodle654]

Looks like your GPU may be failing. Do you have the Nvidia 8600M GT? See this:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377

Yeah if you got the 8600M then you most likely have a bad GPU and you can go get it replaced. If you dont have time to go to the Apple Store, call AppleCare and they will send you a box ASAP and the repair will take shorter time than through an Apple Store.

 

[brendancd]

in reply to Sneakz

so at one point I was able to get to the log, copy, paste, and mail before I got hit with another kp -- I didn't realize that my copy was incomplete until I received the email on my other machine. Since then SMC reset failed to conjure os x -- only more of the multilingual kp message boxes.

BTW thanks to all who responded.

Anyway, here is what I did manage to get from the log:

Interval Since Last Panic Report: 10234 sec
Panics Since Last Report: 1
Anonymous UUID: E3C4F5A3-0020-4541-A2C7-0E97D0985782

Tue Jun 30 10:56:22 2009
panic(cpu 1 caller 0x00BB1643): NVRM[0]: Read Error 0x00020400: BAR0 0xd2000000 0x65358000 0x084700a2 D0 P2/4
Backtrace (CPU 1), Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)
0x5b2df868 : 0x12b4c6 (0x45ec20 0x5b2df89c 0x13355c 0x0)
0x5b2df8b8 : 0xbb1643 (0xde1e20 0xde1e20 0xda63ec 0x0)
0x5b2df918 : 0xe6adfe (0x7643c04 0x771e004 0x20400 0xbedbce)
0x5b2df958 : 0xe8e87d (0x771e004 0x20400 0x79b8204 0x898)
0x5b2df978 : 0xc84598 (0x771e004 0x46b5a098 0x0 0x5b2df99c)
0x5b2df9a8 : 0xc72b57 (0x771e004 0x46b5a004 0x1 0x5b2df9ec)
0x5b2dfa08 : 0xd140b1 (0x771e004 0x760f404 0x989d880 0x0)
0x5b2dfab8 : 0xd136d9 (0x771e004 0x7650c04 0x0 0x0)
0x5b2dfb38 : 0xe53476 (0x771e004 0x7650c04 0x6 0x2)
0x5b2dfbb8 : 0xe54262 (0x771e004 0x7646804 0x1000 0x5b2dfcdc)
0x5b2dfd38 : 0xe853fb (0x771e004 0x7646804 0x0 0x0)
0x5b2dfe88 : 0xd07353 (0x771e004 0x760f404 0x0 0x0)
0x5b2dfed8 : 0xbb1aff (0x771e004 0x760f404 0x0 0x0)
0x5b2dff18 : 0x425fbb (0x0 0x79caa00 0x1 0x19fec4)
0x5b2dff68 : 0x425118 (0x79caa00 0x75eb08c 0x75eb064 0x0)
0x5b2dff98 : 0x424dfa (0x7143d80 0x0 0x7606a80 0x0)
Backtrace continues...
Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):
com.apple.nvidia.nv50hal(5.4.4)@0xdf7000->0x104afff
dependency: com.apple.NVDAResman(5.4.4)@0xb98000
com.apple.NVDAResman(5.4.4)@0xb98000->0xdf6fff
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(1.7.3)@0xb8a000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.6)@0x5cd000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.7.3)@0xb02000

 

[Diode]

While it's a long shot you could try resetting the nvram/pram by following these directions:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

 

[bli625]

Just bring it in to an Apple Store and have them take a look at it.