rMBP scroll flickering after software update

[arsalannn]

I just updated my rMBP which I've had since last August (hadn't done it for a few weeks, so the software updates may have been old). It's probably also worth mentioning that I have a bad habit of just putting my Mac to sleep, so this was the first hard reboot for a few weeks despite having put it through quite a bit of strain while rendering and editing photos.

When I restarted, I noticed a sort of spasm when I scroll, both vertically when browsing safari, and horizontally, for example when swiping between my dashboard and desktop. Even my icons stutter slightly when I hover over them. The effect is hard to describe -- it's definitely not the scroll lag which people with rMBPs sometimes complain about; it's more of a subtle flickering/spasm, almost as if the screen is catching on something as I scroll.

The problem only seems to occur when I have programs like Photoshop/Sketchup/AutoCAD open, so I'd assume it has something to do with the GPU. I reset my PRAM (I'm still fairly new to Macs and am not sure this was even relevant to the problem, but it's the one of the only troubleshooting options I knew how to do haha). Any suggestions?

 

[paukivbashne]

I just updated my rMBP which I've had since last August (hadn't done it for a few weeks, so the software updates may have been old). It's probably also worth mentioning that I have a bad habit of just putting my Mac to sleep, so this was the first hard reboot for a few weeks despite having put it through quite a bit of strain while rendering and editing photos.

When I restarted, I noticed a sort of stutter when I scroll, both vertically when browsing safari, and horizontally, for example when swiping between my dashboard and desktop. Even my icons stutter slightly when I hover over them. The effect is hard to describe -- it's definitely not the scroll lag which people with rMBPs sometimes complain about; it's more of a subtle flickering, almost as if the screen is catching on something as I scroll.

The problem only seems to occur when I have programs like Photoshop/Sketchup/AutoCAD open, so I'd assume it has something to do with the GPU. I reset my PRAM (I'm still fairly new to Macs and am not sure this was even relevant to the problem, but it's the one of the only troubleshooting options I knew how to do haha). Any suggestions?

smc reset
i had a performance lags after efi update so i did smc reset and it helped
As a recall it was because it stucked on integrated hd4000 when it needed to be switched to nvidia!
You can see if this is the issue by installing gfxcardstatus(very handy little app)

 

[arsalannn]

smc reset
i had a performance lags after efi update so i did smc reset and it helped
As a recall it was because it stucked on integrated hd4000 when it needed to be switched to nvidia!
You can see if this is the issue by installing gfxcardstatus(very handy little app)

Thanks! The app is very handy, and confirmed my suspicions -- it's a discrete graphics issue. smc reset didn't work.

Here's a video of what it looks like:
http://youtu.be/PO-G71S-EXA

 

[paukivbashne]

Thanks! The app is very handy, and confirmed my suspicions -- it's a discrete graphics issue. smc reset didn't work.

Here's a video of what it looks like:
http://youtu.be/PO-G71S-EXA

but everything was fine before latest updates ?
and it happens only on 650M ? i mean when it happens the app shows that the system is using discrete nvidia 650?

 

[arsalannn]

but everything was fine before latest updates ?
and it happens only on 650M ? i mean when it happens the app shows that the system is using discrete nvidia 650?

Yup. I have photoshop open in the background like 80% of the time my Mac is on, and it's never been a problem before. If I use the app to force the 650M, the scroll issues begin immediately. I haven't noticed it on integrated graphics yet.

I was hoping this would be an easy software fix since it happened right after I updated, but I'm starting to think it's a hardware issue that might have coincidentally started at the same time. I guess I'll have to get an appointment with the Genius bar.

 

[paukivbashne]

Yup. I have photoshop open in the background like 80% of the time my Mac is on, and it's never been a problem before. If I use the app to force the 650M, the scroll issues begin immediately. I haven't noticed it on integrated graphics yet.

I was hoping this would be an easy software fix since it happened right after I updated, but I'm starting to think it's a hardware issue that might have coincidentally started at the same time. I guess I'll have to get an appointment with the Genius bar.

totally agree
let me know how it ends!

 

[arsalannn]

totally agree
let me know how it ends!

Spent four hours at the Genius Bar today and the problem unfortunately isn't resolved.

It turned out to be a software issue. They booted from an external drive and the spasms disappeared. Tried reinstalling 10.8.4 without affecting my current setup; didn't fix it. Tried installing 10.8.3 from their server; that didn't work either.

The guy looked at the logs in safe mode and saw an error that suggested my mac was having trouble accessing the memory cache when switching to dedicated graphics (or something like that...). We ended up doing a clean wipe and reinstalling 10.8.4, which fixed the problem. The guy said he was very confident the issue was in a file on my OS that got corrupted when I updated, and that this shouldn't have affected my Time Machine backup which I made after the problem started happening.

Unfortunately I got home to restore and that wasn't the case, as the spasms are back. I'm going back tomorrow with the hope that there's a way to selectively restore parts of my Time Machine backup. I have a lot of software (including a Windows virtual partition) that I don't want to have to sort out the licensing for, which I'll have to do if I have to manually reinstall everything.

 

[janezblond]

I saw something very similar happen on an iMac setup where AutoCAD modified something in the gfx driver parameters that made VSync go crazy. Uninstalling AutoCAD fixed the issue even without a reboot. It might be that an app you are using set certain settings that just don't jive with the 10.8.4 drivers for the gfx card.

 

[arsalannn]

I saw something very similar happen on an iMac setup where AutoCAD modified something in the gfx driver parameters that made VSync go crazy. Uninstalling AutoCAD fixed the issue even without a reboot. It might be that an app you are using set certain settings that just don't jive with the 10.8.4 drivers for the gfx card.

hmm but would this affect my computer every time it switches to dedicated graphics, even if I have no apps open?

And the Apple guy also tried installing 10.8.3 and the issue was still there, so it looks like a file has actually been corrupted during the upgrade. Either way, I might as well try uninstalling things one by one since I have a backup; maybe I can pinpoint the problem. Thanks!

 

[janezblond]

hmm but would this affect my computer every time it switches to dedicated graphics, even if I have no apps open?

And the Apple guy also tried installing 10.8.3 and the issue was still there, so it looks like a file has actually been corrupted during the upgrade. Either way, I might as well try uninstalling things one by one since I have a backup; maybe I can pinpoint the problem. Thanks!

The interesting thing with the issue I had was that the flickering was absolutely terrible most of the time, the only exception being when AutoCAD was actually running - then it was almost unnoticeable. So to answer your question - yes, if an app installation modified something in the OS, you might have issues even if the app is not running.

Just deleting the app will probably not work either (even with cleaning apps), since modifications to the OS will not be undone unless the app provides its own uninstaller that is decent enough to clean up properly.

 

[arsalannn]

So this has happened again -- the spasms began appearing a couple days after switching to Mavericks. Except this time the spasms are apparent regardless of which graphic card is active. It's really annoying that I should have this problem (one that no one on the genius bar had seen before) twice, and they claimed it was probably just a one-time software issue. I don't want to have to keep worrying about updating my software if it corrupts my OS half the time.

Any advice on if I should bother asking Apple about it? (and how)? I'm studying abroad this semester with no access to an Apple Store, but I'll be back in a couple months, by which time I'll have gotten fed up with the problem and done a clean install.