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OT: MacBookPro advice, weird square graphics appeared....
Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 10:05 pm
by SubLixx
......across the screen, multicoloured squares then everything freezes indefinately. Turning it off then on seemed to sort it atfirst, but as soon as I reboot now the squares cover the screen and I can just make out the apple logo. Then the screen is just plain blue (a nicer blue than the blue screen of death on PCs).
Can any Mac wizzkids offer any ideas as to what might have happened? Graphics card gone etc?
Thanks amigos
I will appreciate your advice.
Re: OT: MacBookPro advice, weird square graphics appeared....
Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 10:28 pm
by doc holiday
Re: OT: MacBookPro advice, weird square graphics appeared....
Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2009 3:12 am
by theque
not sure, but my house mate had the same problem, was told it is probably graphics card or logic board, so the computer was not worth repairing, problem got worse over a few months and is now pretty mush useless.
Re: OT: MacBookPro advice, weird square graphics appeared....
Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2009 3:53 am
by adventurepants_
theque wrote:not sure, but my house mate had the same problem, was told it is probably graphics card or logic board, so the computer was not worth repairing, problem got worse over a few months and is now pretty mush useless.
translated from Apple speak that means "we want you to buy a new one"
Its rubbish though, as long as there is physical stock left then laptops are economical to fix, including having motherboards and videocards replaced. The only part of a laptop that gets too expensive to fix is the screen if its completely broken, which can end up as high as half the retail price. go to your Apple store and get a quote for repair.
Re: OT: MacBookPro advice, weird square graphics appeared....
Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2009 5:47 am
by thefinger
i intimidated the manager at my local genius bar into replacing a completely trashed screen for $300. thing was literally bent in half.
he asked me for $890 at first ...
just don't give up.
Re: OT: MacBookPro advice, weird square graphics appeared....
Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2009 6:23 am
by SMonk
MBPs from early last year (or so) all have a manufacturing flaw in their graphics circuits.
Apple supposedly repairs it (for free) even if it's no longer under warranty, though.
Re: OT: MacBookPro advice, weird square graphics appeared....
Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2009 7:10 am
by SubLixx
That's exactly what was occuring, now it won't boot. I bought it back in 2007

Seems like I'll have to contact my insurers to replace it. Will I have to give them the computer, as I don't want them to have a HD full of pics of my family & music ideas etc?
Re: OT: MacBookPro advice, weird square graphics appeared....
Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2009 10:51 pm
by doc holiday
as SMonk mentioned it is a known problem. call apple on it.
Re: OT: MacBookPro advice, weird square graphics appeared....
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 2:12 pm
by theque
SMonk wrote:MBPs from early last year (or so) all have a manufacturing flaw in their graphics circuits.
Apple supposedly repairs it (for free) even if it's no longer under warranty, though.
hey man you got any more information on that, would be good if it can be repaired outside of warranty. cheers
Re: OT: MacBookPro advice, weird square graphics appeared....
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 3:12 pm
by SubLixx
My thread seems to have been hijacked by theque!
Anyway, with reference to my original query, should I just take it into an Apple Authorised Dealer or just contact Apple?
Is there anymore information anywhere regarding the graphics card being a problem?
Thanks for the help so far people, it is very helpful!
Thankx Amigos
Re: OT: MacBookPro advice, weird square graphics appeared....
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 4:00 pm
by photonal
Start up your MacBookPro with the Apple Hardware Test Disk (Probably on Disk 1 of your OSX install disks which came with it) - this will run diagnostics and report the defect, probably a problem with VRAM.
Search Apple Support for your problem to see if it is a known common issue for your MacBookPro model.
I had a similar issue with an iMac, it was out of warranty and the programme to fix this known problem ran out last December - however the people at Apple were really nice about it and gave me a special case ID, with which I could get it repaired at an authorised Apple Centre.
So I'd try the same.
Good luck!
Re: OT: MacBookPro advice, weird square graphics appeared....
Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 7:24 am
by theque
sorry for the hijack