What caused this huge line to appear above my dock?

[Jessica Lares]

Unlike my last problem, this wasn't in a screenshot, so I took a picture. It appears even when I turn the machine on.

What happened? Is my display just finally going bad? Should I bother to run the diagnostics test to see if it tells me anything?

 

[Macman45]

It's either your background image or ( hopes not ) the GPU has issues. You might get an idea by running the AHT but I'd experiment by editing that background first.

 

[Jessica Lares]

It's either your background image or ( hopes not ) the GPU has issues. You might get an idea by running the AHT but I'd experiment by editing that background first.

It even appears at boot before the Apple appears.

I'll run the AHT now, just wanted to know if someone knew what would specifically would cause that.

EDIT: I couldn't get AHT to run? 😕 I held D and it sounded like it was looking for it, and then just booted into OS X when it couldn't. Tried about 10 times.

 

[yjchua95]

It even appears at boot before the Apple appears.

I'll run the AHT now, just wanted to know if someone knew what would specifically would cause that.

EDIT: I couldn't get AHT to run? 😕 I held D and it sounded like it was looking for it, and then just booted into OS X when it couldn't. Tried about 10 times.

Are you on a 2011 15"/17" MBP? If you are, it means that your MBP has succumbed to Radeongate (the GPU failure that affects every single Sandy Bridge MBP logic board with the Radeon GPU).

There is no real fix to this as every Sandy Bridge logic board with Radeon has this manufacturing flaw that causes the GPU to fail. The only best temporary way is a GPU reball/reflow.

 

[Jessica Lares]

Are you on a 2011 15"/17" MBP? If you are, it means that your MBP has succumbed to Radeongate (the GPU failure that affects every single Sandy Bridge MBP logic board with the Radeon GPU).

There is no real fix to this as every Sandy Bridge logic board with Radeon has this manufacturing flaw that causes the GPU to fail. The only best temporary way is a GPU reball/reflow.

Sadly, I am on a 13" with Intel HD Graphics 3000.

 

[Fondaparinux]

Sadly, I am on a 13" with Intel HD Graphics 3000.

If it is a GPU issue, you'd probably need a new Logic board. Around $1000. Might as well get a new laptop.

If it's the display, it's around $600. I'd get a new one either way.

 

[Jessica Lares]

Is a lot fainter this morning. By a lot. Since it's in my dock area, it doesn't get in the way much, and it's probably why I didn't notice it any sooner. I have to tilt my screen to see it now.

Yeah, even $600 is a bit much. I am going to save a bit of money and buy a base Mac mini to tide me until I can afford a Mac Pro then (or rather when they're avaliable within 24 hours, 😛).

 

[Jessica Lares]

Just wanted to update this. Managed to run AHT by pressing Alt-D instead of just D. Did a few PRAM resets and repaired disk permissions before that.

No errors though, and I did the one hour scan.

Like I said in my previous post, it's a lot fainter during the day and is most noticeable when the room is completely dark after 10PM.

Whatever. It's not bothering me (other than knowing it's there). I can live with it until the end of the year as long as it doesn't get any worse.

Thanks.

 

[christarp]

If it doesn't show up in screenshots, and it happens even during boot, it's a hardware fault. Either your GPU or your screen. It may simply be a loose cable or it could be an indication of a failing GPU. Just can't really be sure