rMBP screen tearing, graphical glitches, disappearing text. (screenshot attached)

[appletwig]

As above, ive been trying to figure out how to solve screen tearing on my rMBP and here are my findings.

My setup - base rMBP, Mountain Lion, fresh install with only gfxcardstatus and VLC.

How i trigger screen tearing -
1.) Set gfxcardstatus to auto launch upon login and keep rebooting till problem comes up

2.)switch around gfxcardstatus graphic modes as well as Apple's graphic switching settings until growl notifications of graphic mode switch stop appearing, afterwhich i log out and log back in to find major tearing.

3.) Screen tearing is just something waiting to happen with gfxcardstatus turned on, the signs stated below show it would most definitely happen after logging out and logging back in, so it may happen naturally without intentional triggering

Signs that screen tearing is about to happen - slow login, slow logout, weird positioning of password field at login page, gfxcardstatus refusing to acknowledge graphic mode switch (no notifications appearing stating success of switch), vlc refusing to open, disappearing text in text fields like youtube search bar, page tearing on google results.

Remedies - only way to get rid of the screen tearing when it happens is a reboot

Solution so far - do not use gfxcardstatus (bummer) , I am also not 100% sure avoiding gfxcardstatus will solve it, but so far i haven't encountered screen tearing with gfxcardstatus off.

Am starting to wonder if the hd4000 is the culprit as it is also causing other problems for the entire new line of macs like crashing etc.

Help and input appreciated, thanks!

 

[Orlandoech]

Its known that gfxcardstatus is causing lots of
Graphics issues with the rmbp.

 

[appletwig]

Have you encountered similar problems with gfxcardstatus, or gpu switching for that matter? It seems not many here on macrumors have encountered this problem as compared to apple forums. There are even videos of retina graphic problems on youtube for that matter. Heres a discussion on the apple discussion forums - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4047428?start=0&tstart=0

 

[Brandon263]

My rMBP was constantly crashing on waking up/ after disconnecting from my external display when I was using gfxcardstatus. I uninstalled it and everything is perfect now.

 

[appletwig]

This entire gpu switching and gfxcardstatus problem is extremely hard to troubleshoot. Its been almost a week and I still have no idea which is the culprit. As alot of other people on apple discussion forums and youtube are experiencing it, I am holding back on returning this unit for a replacement until people have figured out if it is truly hardware problem. What a headache this entire purchase is.

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My rMBP was constantly crashing on waking up/ after disconnecting from my external display when I was using gfxcardstatus. I uninstalled it and everything is perfect now.

Other than crashing, did you experience graphical glitches or tearing while using gfxcardstatus?

I've started experiencing weird flickering when i forced gfxcardstatus on integrated and then opening VLC. Even a reboot could not get rid of the flickering problem and i had to do a clean reinstall. Weird thing is in the lion reinstall screen (the one we enter into while holding option key), i was still experiencing flickering and graphical glitches. Only when i started reinstalling mountain lion, then the weird nonsense stopped. Right now, on a fresh reinstall, have yet to experience the flickering and tearing, so far. Its really quite a nightmare.

 

[M5RahuL]

I have this issue with Safari 6 ... Gfx installed... But, none of the issues you have described. I will un-install GfX or disable it and see how things work.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1419609/

 

[Brandon263]

Other than crashing, did you experience graphical glitches or tearing while using gfxcardstatus?

The screen would just go black at some times, and there were green blocks and other artifacts when playing videos. I still have slight tearing now, but only when I use the 1920 x 1200 scaling.

 

[NStocks]

I don't have anything extra installed since I'm returning this model due to factory damage (scratches) and Apple are sending a replacement.

I'm glad because it has issues. The screen is one but another major issue is when loading websites.

Take for instance iCloud. When my inbox loads, it take a long time and it's very very laggy. (nothing to do with internet speed as I get 80mb/s and it also happens on Amazon)

I've attached a screenshot but I sincerely hope a software update fixes this problem should my replacement still have it. (I know that not everybody is experiencing these issues, but that shouldn't stop Apple resolving it.)

When I turn it off or restart, often the page will stay white with part of the UI still on screen, it's not ghosting just lag I guess?

I'm using 1680 x 1050 resolution.