Very unhappy with my 8800!

[sooty1138]

Starting to regret my choices

Hey, I recently switched from a XP-PC to Mac Pro 3.G in February of this year.

So far I have not been impressed by the support service or the hardware. Had a dead pixel on my CD 23" monitor on purchase and had to complain until out of breath to get them to replace it.

Now, just starting Monday I am getting random green pixels all over my display. It first happened when I was on XP using Boot Camp. I just surfing the net and then my graphic got a green pixel edging. Closed Explore and tried loading Photoshop and it then disappeared. I thought it might be related to it not booting properly for me recently.

Now, each day it seems to get worse when it happens. Today I booted up and immediately had my mixed all over with green pixels. I turned off the monitor and switched the connection to the vid card 8800 GT 512. It occurred again but not as bad. I left the monitor on and slowly disconnected it. As I did so the green pixels worsen.

Some have said its not a hardware prob but to me it sounds like either the Monitor connections are not making contact correctly to the card. Dust? on the contacts? Or could it be internally. Could dust on the cards board be doing it. This is nuts. It cannot be drivers unless they just recently did an update and I saw nor performed one.

I have only had this thing for a few months and now its got probs.

I tried a screen grab when it occured on the Mac side but no anomalies appeared that I could see. Why would it? If its a connection/signal prob to the monitor it wouldn't show.

Next time it happens I am taken a picture and then emailing it to the tech I talk to who works for the reseller apple sent me to. He probably already knows about this issue, but from what I have read in the forums..Apple already knows about this issue but appears to be not helping or giving answers. Someone tell me if I am wrong...please. Seriously.

Any solutions people? The only thing I can think off to do before taking everything in to the reseller is to get a can of compressed air and use it on the connector/plugs and open the Mac Pro up and use it on the card.

 

[sukanas]

haha there goes the "mac, it just works"

i hate how apple makes advertising statements like that. dont get me wrong here, i love apple but i sometimes think they take their whole "mac fanboy" stuff goes too far. thats my opinion....

 

[Virtuoso]

Next time it happens I am taken a picture and then emailing it to the tech I talk to who works for the reseller apple sent me to.

I did that (Click for picture) - they might send you another monitor but chances are it will still have the same problem.

It happens under Windows and OSX. It also happens sometimes at boot time on both platforms (ie you can see the green pixels wrapped around the Apple logo and around the DOS text on a PC), showing it has nothing to do with video drivers as they haven't been loaded at that stage.

It may have something to do with inadequate screening on the cable, but since the cable is fixed to the monitor, there's no way of swapping it out to test.

The common factor is that the pixels always seem to cling roughly to areas of high contrast. If you drag a window or a picture around, the green pixels will follow it.

 

[Maury]

Just tried your test 5 times. I get no green pixels. Using a 30" ACD that I bought new during the summer of 2005.

Darn! No, you know what I mean! Thank's for the null result.

Maury

 

[Maury]

The dancing pixels issue is the fault of the monitor rather than the card. I'm on my third 30" Apple display and they have all suffered from it - I've

There's a difference between dancing pixels and green shadow. The former, as you note, is a monitor problem. The later is not. The former has movement, the later does not.

Maury

 

[Hmac]

I never had a single dancing green pixel on either of the two 30" ACDs I had hooked up to my 1900XT. When I switched over to the 8800GT, I got them about 1 in 5 boots on one monitor only. When I switched monitor cables where they plugged into the card, the dancing pixels occured on the other monitor. When I switched back to the 1900XT, the problem went away.

I conclude from my experience that the monitors are fine, the problem lies with the video card and/or the driver.

 

[kudukudu]

I did that (Click for picture) - they might send you another monitor but chances are it will still have the same problem.

It happens under Windows and OSX. It also happens sometimes at boot time on both platforms (ie you can see the green pixels wrapped around the Apple logo and around the DOS text on a PC), showing it has nothing to do with video drivers as they haven't been loaded at that stage.

It may have something to do with inadequate screening on the cable, but since the cable is fixed to the monitor, there's no way of swapping it out to test.

The common factor is that the pixels always seem to cling roughly to areas of high contrast. If you drag a window or a picture around, the green pixels will follow it.

I have this problem as well and have set up an expose hot corner to sleep/wake the display. Whenever I get the screen green/cyan highlights, quickly sleeping and waking the monitor will make the issue go away. A user here concluded this was a driver issue:

http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/macpro/topic4360.html (search on cyan)

 

[Maury]

I did that (Click for picture) - they might send you another monitor but chances are it will still have the same problem.

Ok, this IS what I am seeing. Except that changing the graphics card (I have three) makes the problem go away. So I don't see how the monitor could be the problem.

Maury

 

[Maury]

I never had a single dancing green pixel on either of the two 30" ACDs I had hooked up to my 1900XT. When I switched over to the 8800GT, I got them about 1 in 5 boots on one monitor only. When I switched monitor cables where they plugged into the card, the dancing pixels occured on the other monitor. When I switched back to the 1900XT, the problem went away.

Can you be a little more specific here? You simply unplugged the cable from port 1 and plugged it into port 2 and presto?

I conclude from my experience that the monitors are fine, the problem lies with the video card and/or the driver.

I'm 90% down this road too.

Maury

 

[sooty1138]

Okay. Has anyone tried unplugging the connections to the powersupply that comes with the Mac Pro and plug it in again? Not the power cord but the one that leads to the mac pro and the monitor. I have done this twice now so far when the green anomalies come on the screen and they disappear when I disconnect and reconnect the line to the powersupply.

I know this is not scientific but wondered how that would make them disappear. I have turned the monitor off and on and that does nothing. I have unplug the monitor connection to the mac and that did nothing. Not I unplug the single line that goes to the power supply and they disappear. It has not solved the issue but it removes them, be it temporarily when they return later at some random time.

Anyway, I will follow this direction to see if it respond everytime the same way. Just wanted to know if anyone has tried this...while the machine and monitor were on.

SOOO could it be somehow connected to the power supply for the monitor?????

 

[Hmac]

Originally Posted by Hmac
I never had a single dancing green pixel on either of the two 30" ACDs I had hooked up to my 1900XT. When I switched over to the 8800GT, I got them about 1 in 5 boots on one monitor only. When I switched monitor cables where they plugged into the card, the dancing pixels occured on the other monitor. When I switched back to the 1900XT, the problem went away.

Can you be a little more specific here? You simply unplugged the cable from port 1 and plugged it into port 2 and presto?

My green pixels only occur only on the monitor that's plugged into port 2 of the 8800GT, whether the machine is booted in Windows XP or OSX. Also, I note that periodically, when booting into XP, that same screen comes up black...like it's in sleep mode. Also, I note (again only in XP) that periodically both monitors will lose their resolution settings. The performance of my 8800GT is better than the 1900XT was, but I never had ANY of these problems with the the older card.

I don't believe the problem is with either monitor. It's either a defective card, a card that's in need of a firmware update, or bad drivers. I think it's VERY likely that the XP drivers are a total piece of cr@p when booting into XP.

 

[akm3]

I have been using my new 8800 GT for a couple of days, and no problems so far. Everything looks great in OS X and Windows, including games such as Crysis, Supreme Commander, Age of Empires III, Universe at War, etc. As you said, you might have gotten a bad card.

Off topic, but that is the best/most under-rated game ever. And you don't have to be a kid to enjoy it and be good at it...like it uses your brain, n' stuff.

Sorry I can't help the OP, just a shout out a SupCom fan.

 

[AlexisV]

Maybe it would be helpful if someone told us what version of the driver they are using in XP or Vista? If the latest one i causing problems, try an earlier one.

 

[Hmac]

Maybe it would be helpful if someone told us what version of the driver they are using in XP or Vista? If the latest one i causing problems, try an earlier one.

I tried several different drivers for XP, starting with the current one listed on the Nvidia website at that time. They wouldn't install ... "not compatible with the hardware found".

I finally found one at Guru3D (174.93) which would install. It's not perfect, but at least it does work for my purposes.

I note that there is a new Nvidia driver for XP as of May 13 (175.16). I guess I'll give that one a try - see if it will even install.

I don't anticipate that a new XP driver will help with the green pixel problem on the OSX side - IMHO that's going to take a new OSX driver, a firmware update, or both. Assuming that the card isn't broken, of course.

 

[Mackilroy]

Hmac, I've got those drivers installed under Windows XP and they work excellently for me. Barring some weird issue I don't know why they wouldn't install for you.

 

[Hmac]

Hmac, I've got those drivers installed under Windows XP and they work excellently for me. Barring some weird issue I don't know why they wouldn't install for you.

I did just download and install 175.16 and that went fine. On the positive side, both monitors came to life, and playing COD4 with the new drivers gave me noticeably better frame rates. On the negative side, I still occasionally get green pixels all over monitor #2 on both XP and OSX.

 

[sooty1138]

Just an update here. Not sure what the connection is but is it possible that the power supply for the monitor could cause this? The reason why I say this is that a few times when the green pixels came and stayed for a long time on the 23" cinema display monitor I unplugged the line from the monitor to the power supply (not the power cord) and then plugged it back in and the pixels were gone. Now just a while ago I did it again when the green pixels came on and they disappeared but came back about 5 seconds later. I tried unplugging it again and this time they did not come back. At least not yet as I write this. I have tried this a few times now and it seems to work.

Anyway, I am not computer tech so just wondered if there is a connection (no pun intended) here. Just wanted to give you an update as to what I try to narrow the issue down.

 

[Maury]

Just an update here. Not sure what the connection is but is it possible that the power supply for the monitor could cause this?

It might be making things more difficult, but it's not the only problem. Why?

MP with 7300 on 30" CD = works fine
MP with 1900 on 30" CD = works fine
MP with 8800 on 30" CD = green pixels

So it's more than _just_ the power supply - that might be part of the problem, but not all of it.

Maury

 

[sooty1138]

Well, I do not see how unplugging the monitor line to the power supply, let alone unplugging the power cord to the power supply, should remove the green pixels if it was vid card related. Not sure how that would effect the card. Someone explain that too me.....really...please!

Yes, I have the 8800 GT 512. But if the green pixels, temporarily I know, are removed when unplugging the monitors power......that should not effect the vid card .... should it???

I mean just touching the monitors power button does not do the trick. You have to unplug its power source either of the twos ways I said above.

The tech guy I am dealing with (reseller) said he will order all the parts, come to my house and try to find out what it is. Replacing the logic board would be an 1.5 hour job if I understood him right. Of course ordering the parts might take a couple of weeks. He is going to order a new vid card and logic board. As for the monitor I have had it replaced once already for dead pixels.

Needless to say I am starting to regret switching to a Mac. BUT I will give them a chance to fix it.

 

[Maury]

It seems to affect people with ATi cards just as much as Nvidia cards and seems to happen when the monitor changes power state, ie from power save, sleep or from a reboot. Sometimes switching screen res fixes it, sometimes you just have to reboot and keep your fingers crossed. Very annoying and looks very unprofessional when you're trying to show something to a client.

It's very important to distinguish the "dancing pixels" problem from the "green shadow" problem. They may look the same, but they appear to be different problems.

The former appears to be a problem with signal strength reaching the monitor. It's been reported with all sorts of different video cards, and seems to be corrected via mechanical changes -- moving the cable, changing the monitor, etc.

The second is definitely something to do with the 8800, either driver or firmware. Removing the 8800 and replacing it with either the 7300 or 1900 fixes the problem. It can also be fixed by sleeping the monitor and re-waking it again.

The problems may have the same underlying cause and even the same physical problem in the monitor, but it appears the reason it's _triggered_ is different.

Maury

 

[macbaj]

I'm curious. . . have people only been observing this behavior on 30" ACDs?


I have a 23" older ACD and never have yet to see this problem with my 8800.

The reason I ask is because at 30" the card has to use Dual Link-DVI to push those resolutions. There could be a bug in the firmware if the problem only exists on 30" ACDs. . .

 

[sooty1138]

I have the Cinema Display 23" and the green pixel orgy is happening on mine.

The tech I am dealing with is ordering all the parts he thinks he needs that might end up the issue. He is ordering a new graphics card and logic board. Seeing if its one or the other. He is going to come over to my house when the parts arrive but warns me there will be some down time. Especially if its the logic board.

My only problem with this is the green pixel is intermittent. He might have to wait 5 minutes, 30 minutes, or 5 hours before the things happens. They can happen 5 minutes apart or 5 hours. Not sure he wants to sleep over for that. lol.

Anyway, unplugging the power to the monitor and replugging is my work around until its fixed.

I wonder if I complain on the phone with Apple they will give me a refund because I am at that point and wanting to go back to a PC. Where I feel safe. lol.

 

[Maury]

I'm curious. . . have people only been observing this behavior on 30" ACDs?

Yes, it appears that way. The "dancing pixels" occurs on other monitors too.

The reason I ask is because at 30" the card has to use Dual Link-DVI to push those resolutions. There could be a bug in the firmware if the problem only exists on 30" ACDs. . .

That's my working hypothesis.

I have decided to stick with the 8800. After reading other reports here and on MacInTouch, I turned on the "sleep corner" and found that it solves the problem 100% of the time. Simply pop the mouse into the corner and put the monitor to sleep, wake it back up, all fixed. Annoying, but no longer fatal. And games just freakin' FLY on it.

Maury

 

[brn2ski00]

I did that (Click for picture) - they might send you another monitor but chances are it will still have the same problem.

It happens under Windows and OSX. It also happens sometimes at boot time on both platforms (ie you can see the green pixels wrapped around the Apple logo and around the DOS text on a PC), showing it has nothing to do with video drivers as they haven't been loaded at that stage.

It may have something to do with inadequate screening on the cable, but since the cable is fixed to the monitor, there's no way of swapping it out to test.

The common factor is that the pixels always seem to cling roughly to areas of high contrast. If you drag a window or a picture around, the green pixels will follow it.

My iMac has 0 screen issues and costs thousands less. But I would be livid if this was happening to me.

 

[Eithanius]

My iMac has 0 screen issues and costs thousands less. But I would be livid if this was happening to me.

Costs thousands less....?

Sounds to me it's even more expensive, if you know what i mean...