Patterned crashing after logic board replacement on MBP

[Angerhouse]

My MBP had its logic board replaced yesterday and I thought it'd work fine. I booted into Windows via Bootcamp and started playing Battlefield 2142 after about one minute or so the whole thing locked up so I had to hard-reset. I tried multiple times and it showed the same sympton. Then I booted into OS X and played Unreal Tournament 2004, same problem, entire system locked up and forced me to hard-reset. And I am able to duplicate the same thing over and over again.

However, normal browsing or just generally "using" the computer never crashed it. I guess it's safe to say that the system only crashes under heavy stress?

Is it a defected logic board that they put in? Or what else could it be? This has never happened before.

Thanks for all your comments.

 

[merl1n]

My MBP had its logic board replaced yesterday and I thought it'd work fine. I booted into Windows via Bootcamp and started playing Battlefield 2142 after about one minute or so the whole thing locked up so I had to hard-reset. I tried multiple times and it showed the same sympton. Then I booted into OS X and played Unreal Tournament 2004, same problem, entire system locked up and forced me to hard-reset. And I am able to duplicate the same thing over and over again.

However, normal browsing or just generally "using" the computer never crashed it. I guess it's safe to say that the system only crashes under heavy stress?

Is it a defected logic board that they put in? Or what else could it be? This has never happened before.

Thanks for all your comments.

It sounds like a bad replacement logic board. Bring it back to wherever you had it serviced, explain that the system crashes under heavy load (you may have to demonstrate it to the service tech).

 

[Angerhouse]

Yeah, I did just that. They also think it's a faulty logic board.
It's the first time I sent my MBP in for repairs (aside from a battery replacement).

Is this something that's gonna happen a lot? Cuz I am still not too late to get AppleCare.

 

[merl1n]

Yeah, I did just that. They also think it's a faulty logic board.
It's the first time I sent my MBP in for repairs (aside from a battery replacement).

Is this something that's gonna happen a lot? Cuz I am still not too late to get AppleCare.

Not really. I think this was just a fluke.

I do recommend getting AppleCare as it is an insurance policy and I have made use of it a number of times over the course of many years. I have had many Apple laptops and some of them had to go in for repairs at one time or another (usually after the initial one year warranty) for screen replacements, disk drive failures, and in one case a logic board failure.

You have invested a lot of money in your MBP and the cost to repair them is extremely expensive. With AppleCare (other than the initial cost for it) there are no charges at all, including shipping.

My MBP is now 15 months old and (knock wood) has had no problems whatsoever. But I have the added assurance of AppleCare in case it does.

 

[Angerhouse]

Ok, I got my MBP back again from the repair people. They decided that it's not a faulty logic board this time. They decided it was my hard drive and therefore replaced it with a brand spanking new one.

But the problem still persists! Every time I play a graphic intensive game in either Boot Camp and OS X, the computer would lock up!

So far I have a new hard drive and a new logic board.. but the problem that was never there before the logic board replacement is still there!

What do you guys think the problem is? and what can I do?

 

[Angerhouse]

I've tried the following this afternoon with no luck..
Reseted PMU
Reseted VRAM
Ran MemTestOSX.. checked out fine.

The same locking-up happened once when I was running 3DMark06 in XP under Boot Camp. However, I ran 3DMark about 5 times, but only locked up once. I don't think 3DMark is that resource intensive anyway.

Does anybody have any guesses as to what the cause of the problem could be?

 

[merl1n]

I've tried the following this afternoon with no luck..
Reseted PMU
Reseted VRAM
Ran MemTestOSX.. checked out fine.

The same locking-up happened once when I was running 3DMark06 in XP under Boot Camp. However, I ran 3DMark about 5 times, but only locked up once. I don't think 3DMark is that resource intensive anyway.

Does anybody have any guesses as to what the cause of the problem could be?

I would bring it back and tell them it is still crashing and that their tech support guy was wrong. Show them by duplicating the problem both in MacOS and Windows (boot camp).

 

[Angerhouse]

I would bring it back and tell them it is still crashing and that their tech support guy was wrong. Show them by duplicating the problem both in MacOS and Windows (boot camp).

I ran the extended apple hardware test and the computer is diagnosed ok.

I just got off the phone with Apple and they pushed off the problem has software related. The guy on the phone said it's because of the game manufacturers. The games are "suddenly" not compatible with the hardware. Which, all in all, I believe is just their rubbish excuse.

I am thinking when I have time I will bring them to a different technician but there's no way I can duplicate the problem without playing a game.

 

[Angerhouse]

Hm, I decided to speak to an Apple customer service rep, and he decided to replace my MBP with a brand new one that has a bigger hard drive.

The problem is not, technically, solved but I am satisfied with the outcome and Apple's customer service.