Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Ummm... can anyone explain this screen to me?

K

KeenMetal

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 11, 2007
18
0
Yesterday I was browsing the web, and then everything froze, and the screen displayed a strange mosaic pattern on top of everything else. See screenshot 1.

Suspecting it was the plugged in Hawking HWUG1A USB WLAN stick, I unplugged it and restarted my MacBook Pro (held down power button), and during startup it froze again – screenshot 2.

After a second restart it was ok again, but it seemed like Mac OS X reset something, as the startup took a little longer than usual. Then, 30 minutes later, exactly the same thing happened – it froze and I needed two restarts.

I've now stopped using the WLAN adapter and haven't experienced the problem again yet...

Does anyone know what this is? What in the world would cause the system to display such strange patterns? Can a USB adapter corrupt the display driver??? :confused:

(Btw, the LCD received a shock a long time ago, that's the reason for the crack on the top right corner and the malfunctioning black pixels running around the edge of the LCD, that has nothing to do with the mosaic patterns :)

Enlarged parts:
img1.png
img2.png


__________________
Late 2007 15" MacBook Pro, 2.4 Ghz C2D (SR) with a cracked LCD (but it still works!), 4 GB RAM, 500GB HDD; 16GB iPod Nano
 

Attachments

  • screenshot1.jpg
    screenshot1.jpg
    147.5 KB · Views: 117
  • screenshot2.jpg
    screenshot2.jpg
    214.4 KB · Views: 90
My PowerBook G4's graphics card went bad and did something similar, although much worse. Affected everything, even the DVI output.

If they don't replace your screen, they should at least replace your logic board.
 
Hmm, well then, the overwhelming majority suggests it is a GPU overheating issue. And I remember that my MBP was very hot to the touch at that moment, I guess that's the problem. Strange though... why would it overheat while browsing?

I already had my logic board replaced for free in 2009 because my NVIDIA 8600M GT failed, leaving me with a black screen. That was a widespread issue with that particular model, caused by thermal issues due to NVIDIA's poor packaging if I remember correctly.

And I thought the new replacement GPU's wouldn't have these problems anymore... :mad:

______________________
Late 2007 15" MacBook Pro, 2.4 Ghz C2D (SR) with a cracked LCD (but it still works!), 4 GB RAM, 500GB HDD; 16GB iPod Nano
 
Is that arcing line in the upper right something in front of the display or is that seen in the display? (and the smaller one in the lower right). If it's in the display then I'd say is a cracked panel and not a GPU. Yes I've seen the cool effects of bad or even just over heated GPU or graphics memory (I was an overclocker at one point in my gaming career). However, I've seen cracked or "over flexed" displays and they can create some pretty crazy looking images as well. One might think that it would simply not display for the affected sections but you can get rainbows, fuzz, etc.

To me it almost looks like someone tried to close the lid by pulling at the upper right corner but the hinge was bound somehow and the display flexed (or took a nose dive while opened?)
 
The replacement GPU all have the same issue and there is no evidence that the replacement are free of faults. If you had previous issues, I would try to see I'd you can get a replcement to an iCore model or even the late unibody
models.
 
KeenMetal said:
Hmm, well then, the overwhelming majority suggests it is a GPU overheating issue. And I remember that my MBP was very hot to the touch at that moment, I guess that's the problem. Strange though... why would it overheat while browsing?

I already had my logic board replaced for free in 2009 because my NVIDIA 8600M GT failed, leaving me with a black screen. That was a widespread issue with that particular model, caused by thermal issues due to NVIDIA's poor packaging if I remember correctly.

And I thought the new replacement GPU's wouldn't have these problems anymore... :mad:
Click to expand...

It's not "overheating" it's FAILING - which means that no matter the temp it could be crap now. You should take it to Apple or a certified Apple repair center and get it replaced again.

ALL 8600GT M have the "bad bump" material that cracks and does not hold the solder joins - this means they are ALL defective and will fail very quickly if subjected to changes in temp. I've read that the desktop 8600GT had this same issue, but since a desktop is not subjected to as many temp changes as a laptop most of those cards don't reach their failure point until after the warranty has expired. In a way we got lucky they started failing at the rate they did.

I think that you have 3 years from the purchase date under the GPU extension for that model. If it's out of that period I would call Apple and keep talking to people until you either got a replacement board or MBP.



KeenMetal said:
Late 2007 15" MacBook Pro, 2.4 Ghz C2D (SR) with a cracked LCD (but it still works!), 4 GB RAM, 500GB HDD; 16GB iPod Nano
Click to expand...

Just a note but you should put this in your sig in the User CP. Don't know why one would go to the trouble to paste in a sig every time they post, but it makes quoting you get weird...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back