mcminty
Moderating your content for the Australian Govt.
+879|6985|Sydney, Australia
Hai guys,

I was greeted with this during uni today:

https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3646/3365643394_ee5bf899c7.jpg

The screen should obviously not be showing that. XD

Just wanted to know what you guys think about my assumption... I can shut down and leave it for a while, then upon restarting, the laptop is ok to use (to an extent). There is some light horizontal banding on the top two 1/3rd's of the screen. This progressively gets worse until the display doesn't refresh regurarly (so using the laptop is impossible) or the display is covered with this kind of static. There are areas on the display that fluctuate between being normal and being messed up.

So I'm thinking it's the craphics card. Do that sound likely? What else do you think could cause something like this?


Helpful posts gets my karma/mod-love . Thanks,
kylef
Gone
+1,352|6757|N. Ireland
Graphics Card / connection between system and monitor. Got Applecare?
mcminty
Moderating your content for the Australian Govt.
+879|6985|Sydney, Australia

kylef wrote:

Graphics Card / connection between system and monitor. Got Applecare?
I didn't have the $579 extra that it would have cost when I ordered it. Last month I looked into getting Applecare, but apparently the warranty had just expired. So I couldn't buy Appplecare. By two months...

AussieReaper
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
+5,761|6416|what

Yeah it'd be your gfx card. Possibly overheated (laptops tend to do that).

No choice but to take it to an outside repairer and replace either the whole thing or the gfx card.
https://i.imgur.com/maVpUMN.png
ceslayer23
IN YOUR MIRROR
+142|6624|CLOSER THAN I APPEAR
basically they same thing happened to my laptop.  turns out the monitor went bad, it wasnt the video card.  either way its a pretty expensive repair job, luckily i had a working screen the same size so i could replace mine
Jenspm
penis
+1,716|6996|St. Andrews / Oslo

You'll want to talk to Bertster on this one.
https://static.bf2s.com/files/user/26774/flickricon.png https://twitter.com/phoenix/favicon.ico
Pochsy
Artifice of Eternity
+702|5806|Toronto
Kind of off topic but...

What type of graphics card do the Pros come with anyways?
The shape of an eye in front of the ocean, digging for stones and throwing them against its window pane. Take it down dreamer, take it down deep. - Other Families
ghettoperson
Member
+1,943|6913

I just spoke to Bertster about the same thing on my housemates laptop. Basically, if it's the graphics card you're looking at maybe up to 700 GBP to get it fixed.

What happens if you hook it up to an external display?
Gooners
Wiki Contributor
+2,700|6896

Sounds like a hot GFX card?

Maybe get one of those cooling pads?
ceslayer23
IN YOUR MIRROR
+142|6624|CLOSER THAN I APPEAR
yeah try hooking it up to another monitor, see what happens
kylef
Gone
+1,352|6757|N. Ireland

Pochsy wrote:

Kind of off topic but...

What type of graphics card do the Pros come with anyways?
MacBook Pro - probably an 8600GT (256/512).
Wallpaper
+303|6257|The pool
Doesnt Apple let their shit run at ridiculously high temps? Id try a cooling pad or external monitor, and if that doesnt work youre probably fucked
mcminty
Moderating your content for the Australian Govt.
+879|6985|Sydney, Australia
Went to the Apple Store in the city today on my way to uni. Apparently I have to make a reservation for the genius bar.. so I can speak to their tech guys in the store. Once I actually get to do that, it should be pretty straight forward. I hope. Unfortunately I'm going to be away all weekend, and I'm unable to book an appointment for next week. So as for how long this will take, I don't know...


- - - - - - - - -


Gooners wrote:

Sounds like a hot GFX card?

Maybe get one of those cooling pads?
The temp readings that I was getting this morning from the iStat widget were around 43/34 degrees for the GPU Diode/Heatsink. Heading to high 40's/30's the problem got worse. See next quote..

Wallpaper wrote:

Doesnt Apple let their shit run at ridiculously high temps? Id try a cooling pad or external monitor, and if that doesnt work youre probably fucked
Yup. Running graphics/video editing programs, and with the laptop on my lap, I can sterilize myself.. The reported temperatures can get to around 75 degrees for the GPU.

Ironically, I was going to soon look into a laptop stand + cooling thing cause I think that they run too hot.


kylef wrote:

Pochsy wrote:

Kind of off topic but...

What type of graphics card do the Pros come with anyways?
MacBook Pro - probably an 8600GT (256/512).
Yup, I've got the 8600M GT 256MB.


ghettoperson wrote:

I just spoke to Bertster about the same thing on my housemates laptop. Basically, if it's the graphics card you're looking at maybe up to 700 GBP to get it fixed.

What happens if you hook it up to an external display?
The fuck it'll cost me ~$1300AUD to get this fixed. I've got a few mates who have had problems (eg. a girlfriend of one had her macbook die) like this, just out of warranty. Apple just fixed their stuff for free...

I haven't had the opportunity to test it on an external monitor. I'll do that when I get home from uni today.
kylef
Gone
+1,352|6757|N. Ireland
I have heard of Apple replacing things free of charge even after warranty expires, and I know yours hasn't been expired for all that long. The good thing about talking to a Genius is that you are face to face so it's not as simple as saying 'no' over the phone. If I were you, I wouldn't bring up the warranty unless they say - although it probably will be in the screen in front of them.

When I was getting my MB checked out I saw a girl come in with water damage to an iPod (they have tools to check for water damage). The guys just said something along the lines of "yeah it's a bit of red {signifying damage} there, but I'll just say it's a bit of red fluff" and they gave her a new one right there.
Little BaBy JESUS
m8
+394|6412|'straya
My friend's Macbook Pro died (shes noob and couldnt tell me what actually happened) and wasnt under warranty. it cost her $50 more to buy a new one than the amount it was going to cost to fix.
mcminty
Moderating your content for the Australian Govt.
+879|6985|Sydney, Australia
Ha. Well, I did some research at uni and discovered that Apple has acknowledged a problem with the 8600M GT and the Macbook Pros from when my one was made. Apparently they are prone to just failing.

So, there is a "we'll fix it for free" clause from two years after the purchase date. I qualify for that. Now I just need to go see the Genius tech guys.

Little BaBy JESUS
m8
+394|6412|'straya

mcminty wrote:

Ha. Well, I did some research at uni and discovered that Apple has acknowledged a problem with the 8600M GT and the Macbook Pros from when my one was made. Apparently they are prone to just failing.

So, there is a "we'll fix it for free" clause from two years after the purchase date. I qualify for that. Now I just need to go see the Genius tech guys.

Congratz
kylef
Gone
+1,352|6757|N. Ireland

mcminty wrote:

Ha. Well, I did some research at uni and discovered that Apple has acknowledged a problem with the 8600M GT and the Macbook Pros from when my one was made. Apparently they are prone to just failing.

So, there is a "we'll fix it for free" clause from two years after the purchase date. I qualify for that. Now I just need to go see the Genius tech guys.

Great to hear. Although prepare to be 7-10 days without it. Worth it though, I'm sure.
Benzin
Member
+576|6262
I was just about to post that you probably have a bad GPU, since Apple got a whole bunch of them (Engadget did a long report about it late last year, I think), but at least Apple was stepping up and fixing them for folks out of warranty for free. One thing I will give Apple: you do get customer service.
elite.mafia
Banned
+122|6717|USA
This is why I don't buy Mac's.
lol

Anyways, in order to see if it's a GPU or the monitor, PLUG A MONITOR INTO THE COMPUTER and see if it works. If it does, it's the screen. God damnit why has no one said that already?
Morpheus
This shit still going?
+508|6263|The Mitten

elite.mafia wrote:

This is why I don't buy Mac's.
lol

Anyways, in order to see if it's a GPU or the monitor, PLUG A MONITOR INTO THE COMPUTER and see if it works. If it does, it's the screen. God damnit why has no one said that already?
Umm........

ghettoperson wrote:

What happens if you hook it up to an external display?

ceslayer23 wrote:

yeah try hooking it up to another monitor, see what happens
EE (hats
elite.mafia
Banned
+122|6717|USA

Morpheus wrote:

elite.mafia wrote:

This is why I don't buy Mac's.
lol

Anyways, in order to see if it's a GPU or the monitor, PLUG A MONITOR INTO THE COMPUTER and see if it works. If it does, it's the screen. God damnit why has no one said that already?
Umm........

ghettoperson wrote:

What happens if you hook it up to an external display?

ceslayer23 wrote:

yeah try hooking it up to another monitor, see what happens
Not sure what you're getting at?
Morpheus
This shit still going?
+508|6263|The Mitten
just pointing that people had, in fact, suggested to check it on another monitor...
EE (hats
elite.mafia
Banned
+122|6717|USA

Morpheus wrote:

just pointing that people had, in fact, suggested to check it on another monitor...
I was being sarcastic, I had only skimmed the thread and missed those posts.
Anyways I'm willing to be it's the screen, much more likely.
ghettoperson
Member
+1,943|6913

mcminty wrote:

ghettoperson wrote:

I just spoke to Bertster about the same thing on my housemates laptop. Basically, if it's the graphics card you're looking at maybe up to 700 GBP to get it fixed.

What happens if you hook it up to an external display?
The fuck it'll cost me ~$1300AUD to get this fixed. I've got a few mates who have had problems (eg. a girlfriend of one had her macbook die) like this, just out of warranty. Apple just fixed their stuff for free...
They're a company not a charity. I'd be very doubtful they'd do that for free, it's a fucking expensive operation. As it happens, yeah there was an issue with the 8600's, so you're fortunate. My housemate isn't that lucky, he had the x1600.

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