Ye Macce Threade

[Pars]

Didn't read the whole thread on the Apple discussion board from that point (tl;dr) but it sounded like either a BGA ball process problem or the graphics chip itself (or both).

 

Apple has had BGA manufacturing/design problems for years; my G5 Powermac had problems with the memory controller chip related to this issue.

 

Good luck Shelly!

[shellylh]

Thanks Dan. I may try that.

Thanks for the thread Haj. in the last day or so I had the graphics shift as descibed in this thread so I am guessing the external graphics card may be the problem. Is there a way that I can turn off the graphics switching (force the computer to use the integrated graphics card) while in target mode or in single user mode? I havenmt been able to get the computer to boot.

One thread said to move the ATIRadeonX*.kext file to another folder and then reboot. Do you see any problem doing this (this is possible in target or single user mode)?

Edited September 13, 2014 by shellylh

[HeadphoneAddict]

You can try to reset the SMC by pressing Left Shift-Control-Option-Power while it's plugged in.  You should see the power LED blink that confirms it's been reset.  This saved my daughter's Macbook Pro from needing a service once.

 

Also, more info here - http://macs.about.com/od/usingyourmac/qt/Resetting-The-Smc-System-Management-Controller-On-Your-Mac.htm

[shellylh]

^I've tried all those sort of fixes. 

 

I find went ahead and disabled all the ATI and AMD extension to force it to boot with integrated graphics with the following commands. 

 

---------

1) Turn on pressing (cmd+s) this will boot in single user mode so no graphics you will see ":/ root#"

2) Type the next sentences in order:

fsck -fy                                                             (to check the disk)

mount -uw /                                                      (permision read/write)

mkdir DisabledExtensions                              (Create a place to move the drives)

cd /System/Library/Extensions                      (Go to where the drivers are located)

sudo mv ATI* /DisabledExtensions                (move all ATI stuff to the place made before)

sudo mv AMD* /DisabledExtensions                (move all AMD stuff to the place made before)

 

sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions        (updates the access and modification timestamps for the Extensions folder)

reboot

 

----

 

When I did this the computer seemed to reboot.   I then installed gfxCardStatus to force the computer into Integrated Mode (and remove back all the extensions).  gxfCardStatus said that I was using an external monitor (which I wasn't) and was using the dedicated graphics card (which I probably wasn't) and wouldn't let me switch to the Integrated card.  Sigh.  

 

I started back up in single user mode and moved back the ATI and AMD extensions and try rebooting the computer and got the blue screen of death again.  The computer is kinda worthless if I can't use it with an external monitor.  I guess the only fix at this point is to pay apple $500 to replace something (that may go bad in the future again) or just wait for the new mac minis to come out (hopefully in Nov) - I was just using the laptop as a desktop.  

[Torpedo]

Having the computer checked at Apple's won't cost you a dime. My guess is the the GPU is screwing around, were this the case, I'd probably get a new one.

[shellylh]

You'd get a new computer or GPU? Just not sure I want to put money into a 3+ year old computer.

[Torpedo]

A new computer, in my experience when the GPU dies on a laptop, next comes the motherboard.

[Salt Peanuts]

Shelly, it'll probably be around $500-800 for the repair since they'll most likely need to replace the logic board.  FWIW, when I took my MBP in for this a while back, I was quoted ~$300 to fix everything and anything that was wrong with it (w/o them going through diagnosis at location) if I was fine with sending it to their repair facility (i.e., longer repair period).  I don't know if they are still offer such option, though.

[shellylh]

This problem seems so common on these computers, they should really fix it for free. I'm getting pretty fed up with Apple. My last MBP (15" 2008) had issue with the graphics card as well. At least they recognized that problem and fixed them for free.

[Salt Peanuts]

This is my third Apple laptop with some issues - first one had wifi adapter/logic board issues, second one something with GPU until I accidentally dropped it, and now this early 2011 MBP.  I don't think I'll be buying another one since it's looking like my work will be providing me with an Apple laptop for next several years.  I'll just build myself a Lightroom/iTunes box on the cheap for home.

 

Oh, and that 2008 MBP issue was with ATI chip, which may be why it got fixed.

Edited September 14, 2014 by Salt Peanuts

[shellylh]

I think I'm going to use the Air with an external monitor for now and wait and see if new Mac Minis come out this year.  I am hoping that they eventually agree to fix this problem for free since I usually give my old laptop to my mom.  

 

New question:  I downloaded a copy of Mountain Lion on my Mac Pro at school.  Can I use this on another computer to do a clean install of Mountain Lion on another computer (Air and Mac Mini)?    The Air currently has ML and the Mini has SL.  I assume that all OS X downloads are the same (and not specific to a computer) so this should be ok, right? 

[Pars]

Should be OK, as long as the computer supports it.

 

We haven't had any trouble with my son's 2009 MBP for what that is worth.

[grawk]

Shelly, yes, that's ok.

[Salt Peanuts]

Well, I spoke too soon - it appears my GPU has died. Fuck, fuck, fuckity, fuck.

[shellylh]

Fuck, that sucks!!!   Apple really needs to do a recall. 

 

For what it is worth, disabling the ATI and AMD extensions did allow me to boot the computer using the Intel graphics card.  I couldn't use an external monitor though.  You may not have to move all the ATI and AMD extensions but I tried just moving ATIRadeonX2000.kext and it didn't work. 

 

1) Turn on pressing (cmd+s) this will boot in single user mode so no graphics you will see ":/ root#"

2) Type the next sentences in order:

fsck -fy                                                             (to check the disk)

mount -uw /                                                      (permision read/write)

mkdir DisabledExtensions                              (Create a place to move the drives)

cd /System/Library/Extensions                      (Go to where the drivers are located)

sudo mv ATI* /DisabledExtensions                (move all ATI stuff to the place made before)

sudo mv AMD* /DisabledExtensions                (move all AMD stuff to the place made before)

sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions        (access and modification timestamps for the Extensions folder)

reboot

Edited September 24, 2014 by shellylh

[Salt Peanuts]

Well, I managed to reboot using the steps noted by Shelly.  I then installed gfxstatus, which promptly told me that I'm using external monitor (which I wasn't) and I can't use integrated only.  I'd have left it alone, except removing all those ATI and AMD extensions made the damn thing run like safe mode in Windows 95 so I did the following -

1. I went back into single user mode and moved all the extension back.
2. Then I reset PRAM couple of times until it let me reboot.
3. This allowed me to reboot long enough to set gfxstatus to integrated only.

Shelly - it appears gfxstatus won't let you set integrated only if the extensions are removed.  Also, running with integrated only, my 2011 15" MBP isn't letting me use external, it's not a Thunderbolt display, though.

 

Now backing up all my files since that's what I was doing when the damn thing died on me.

Edited September 24, 2014 by Salt Peanuts

[shellylh]

Haj, 

 

This is exactly what happened to me.  gfxstatus wouldn't let me set it to integrated only and told me I was using an external monitor.  I also couldn't use an external display (20" cinema display from around 2006).  Perhaps if one moves fewer extensions then things will work a bit better (I was too lazy to go through them one by one).  Unfortunately, I could never get it to boot without the extensions off.  Perhaps I should try again.  How many times did you reset the PRAM before it let you reboot? 

 

That's weird that you can't use an external.  My office machine is a 2011 13" MBP, and I use a 27" Thunderbolt display with no problem, using the integrated graphics. 

 

I assume this is because too many extensions are turned off.   This is certainly doing more than just turning off the external graphics cards.  

[Salt Peanuts]

How many times did you reset the PRAM before it let you reboot? 

 

I kept doing the PRAM reset/reboot until it stayed on long enough for me to switch to Integrated only on gfxstatus.  FYI, right now I have all the extensions moved back and running on integrated only via gfxstatus and non-Thunderbolt external isn't working.

 

EDIT - Just switched to "Dynamic Switching" via gfxstatus and external monitor is back.

Edited September 24, 2014 by Salt Peanuts

[shellylh]

Hmm, that is too bad (about the external monitor not working when gfxstatus is set to integrated only).  I'd be worried about letting it switch to the external graphics card.   I reset the PRAM about 10 times and still nothing (although I did get a blank gray screen once instead of the blue screen of death).  

Edited September 24, 2014 by shellylh

[Salt Peanuts]

Yeah, I'm switching back to "Integrated Only" once I'm done re-calibrating my MBP screen to have it match as close to my external.  I guess I won't be using Photoshop much - at least Lightroom should run well enough.

[shellylh]

How do you check the md5 checksum on a DVD (in Mac OS X 10.8.5)?  Disk utility doesn't seem to do it anymore. 

 

I downloaded and burned a version of Ubuntu to a DVD and want to check and make sure it burned correctly before installing.  

[chiguy]

How do you check the md5 checksum on a DVD (in Mac OS X 10.8.5)?  Disk utility doesn't seem to do it anymore. 

 

I downloaded and burned a version of Ubuntu to a DVD and want to check and make sure it burned correctly before installing.  

 

There's a guy running md5 checksums on DVDs here: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=834540

[shellylh]

That is from 2009 and I'm not sure that guy knows what he is doing.

[shellylh]

I've never had a Linux distro that was't perfect, and I've downloaded and burned a lot of them.  Hundreds.  Maybe thousands.

How do you know they were perfect?

[chiguy]

I've mainly used Red Hat based distros and they have usually included a media check when you try to install.  I'm not entirely sure what that does as I haven't looked into it.  Does your distro have a built in media check?