Strange display problem

My MacBook Pro does this every once in a while:
http://fc06.deviantart.com/fs31/f/2008/188/c/1/What_s_up_with_this__byuilleanngirl.png
http://fc07.deviantart.com/fs31/f/2008/188/8/f/Andthis_byuilleanngirl.png
This colorful distortion sort of follows my cursor around and flits about the screen... Everything still works, but it's hard to see things, to put it mildly. Restarting the computer fixes it for a while. It's only happened about three times, with about a month or two between times. Those screenshots are from July 6, and it's just done it again tonight. It seems to happen when I'm playing a video of some sort (the first two times it was in iTunes, this time it was youtube) but nowhere near every time. I can't duplicate it on command.
After last time I created a troubleshooting user account, and turned on fast user switching so that next time it happened I could see if it was happening in that account to. So tonight I tried that, and yes, it was indeed there too, though to a lesser extent.
Also, it started happening soon after I replaced the battery, but I don't imagine that's the cause, is it?
So, is this a known issue, and if so, how bad is it and what can I do about it? Thanks.

If you look through the MBP forum you'll see several threads where people have complained about display-related issues. Some are the weird abstract art kind of thing similar to what you've got, others claim to have a 'rippled' effect while scrolling, and some people have the dreaded black screen of death (e.g.: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1478474&tstart=15 )
Some people speculate that this is related to the defective Nvidia chip issue (you'll find several threads on that topic as well). The fact that you're graphics card is coming up as X1300 instead of the Nvidia 8600 seems to suggest that this may be the root of your problem (read through the link above and you'll see others reporting having an 'X1300' as well).
You should probably first call Apple and describe your problem. Some people were offered a repair despite being a few weeks out of warranty, others had to be more forceful in requesting a free repair by pointing out that they heard about the Nvidia GPU issue. Some people were basically told they were SOL and would have to pay to get it fixed. Thus, the responses are not entirely consistent. I think people have said you'll have better luck calling Apple Customer Service than the Apple Care Tech Support.
If you can't get a satisfactory resolution from Apple, try to remember if you bought the computer with your credit card. If so, you might have automatic warranty extension coverage through your credit card company (most likely an additional year). You'll probably need your receipts and such to prove you actually bought the computer.
Hope that helps.

Similar Messages

MacBook Pro (mid 2009), strange display problem

Hello everybody,
This is my first post here, so thanks everybody who will read my post.
In February 2010 I bought two MacBook Pro 13 inch, for me and my girlfriend. Both of them are still working awesome, just one of them seems to develop a problem. I will try to detail it here, just that it's pretty strange even to explain.
When I look close to the screen, in seems that the colors in the images (web page elements, photos and so on) are not smooth (when changing from one color to other) rather they have very sharp edges. Next, when I look at the open menus (ex. the Apple menu in the left corner) it has some horizontal tiny lines. More, when I move the mouse over some elements (like the icons in the bar) some small square appears (like a net). I did reload the Mac and I was able to stop the same small squares over the Mac logo while booting. They are bearly visible, but for sure are there as I compare with the other Mac which has no such problems. This small squares net can be seem all over desktop and it seems that it flickers at around 2 seconds (there, not there, there...)
I know that it may be hard for you to understand, so later I will try to add a screen capture, if you don't understand my issue.
I do not have this issue if I connect an external monitor! So, I don't believe is from the graphic card / chipset.
If anybody encounter this kind of problems please give me an advice. Please consider the following:
- I'm pretty good with technical stuff, so don't be shy to give technical details
- I don't have Apple Care
- I have been already to two authorized centres (I live in quite a small town in Austria); one told me that they will open in 3-4 months, the other told me that they can send it to Vienna, but it will take about a month and will be very expensive around 700-750 euro (aprox. 800-850$). How they know it will be expensive if they don't know the issue?!. I assume that they mean full replacement of the display, but in this case I would rather sell it for spare parts and buy a newer one
- There is another authorized repairing centre at about 60 km from my city, I will try to make them a visit tomorrow, still I would glad if somebody can give me a hint.
- As I extended the memory in my Mac (2GB to 4GB) I know the layout inside the unibody case, just if you want to tell me to check some cables (btw, this with the memory upgraded is the one working, the other one was never opened or technically touched in any way).
Thank you all and have a nice day!

OK, if anybody is curious, here is the outcome. I took the device to an Apple authorized repairing center and they told me that the display it's the problem. I didn't get details (but I'll ask when I'll pickup my device) if the LCD was damaged, or some cables, but they said the whole display need to be replaced.
The prices (in Euro, but you can make the conversion)
- the initial checkup and problem identification: 80 Euro (I have to pay this only if I choose not to repair the device at their service)
- the repairing (display + work): 500 Euro
Not to happy to pay such an amount of money but what can I do?
Nevertheless I want to believe that this was somehow bad luck, as I have more than four Apple devices that run just fine.
Best regards,
Calin

Mac Pro has strange display problems

Hello,
i have a strange problem with my new Mac Pro.
since maybe 1 week the 2 TFT Displays, connected to the nvidia Geforce 7300 GT went black for 2-5 seconds. The 2 Screens display "No signal" during that time.
Is there a way to test my GFX Card ?
any other ideas howto debug that problem at all ?
I am in warranty, but from my point of view, iwant to check first myself, if there is a method to do so.
Best regards
fidel

Hi,
i am going to test the One display test. Thx for this idea
Regarding Monitor Model:
ViewSonic, VX 924
http://www.viewsoniceurope.com/de/Products/LCDX/VX924.htm
Both monitors are connected directly, without any adapters. So no sub-d, only DVI usage.
Regarding AHT:
Is it supposed to check GFX cards too ?
Regarding SMC/PRAM/NVRAM:
I am kinda new to OS X. Could you explain me that in a more detailed way please ?
Regarding 101:
Cant find that point in the 101 page
http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/
thank you very much for the input so far, i am going to test the things, could take some time as i am away for some weeks now. Thank you both.
best regards
fidel

IPhone 3g white - Strange Display Problem

Hi!
Sorry for my english, I don't speak it very well.
I have a problem whith the display of my iphone 3g white model.
http://mt12.quickshareit.com/share/img_39362126d.JPG
http://mt14.quickshareit.com/share/img_39376f950.JPG
http://mt14.quickshareit.com/share/img_39387ac9b.JPG
As you look in the photo, it has some strange line not regular around the "ear hole" (sorry the interpretation, I mean where you put your era to answer )
The phone is always in the socks and it never fall down.
I use it very carefully..
I don't know why there is this signs.
They don't appear in the same time but in 1 week.
Please help me.

hello italian friend!
the people who sold you the device, upon looking at it and realizing it has a defect, should provide you a replacement one, no need to waste too much time and energy trying to get in touch with Apple! After all, you are under warranty through your contract with your cell phone provider first and foremost!
Good luck
Dr Sly

Very strange display problem just started

Hi ... I'm wondering if anyone can help with a strange problem I've just started to experience.
I'm running Win XP via Bootcamp. All had previously worked absolutely fine -- until today. Whenever I boot into Windows, I get past the welcome screen, my desktop appears for about 1-2 seconds, then -- boom -- goes black.
Totally black screen -- no cursor or anything.
Windows is still running, I can tell -- and if I press keys, I know they are working still (eg. can still shut down/restart through key combos). But the display is totally gone.
I'd used Boot Camp without problems yesterday -- but the last thing I did was shut down and install updates. So presumably something in the latest windows update has clobbered the display in some way. But I have no idea what, or how to solve the problem.
Further info:
If I F8 boot into VGA mode, exactly the same thing happens.
I've also F8 booted into safe mode and disabled the graphics card driver (ATI card) then rebooted into normal and still the same problem occurs.
I'd be hugely, hugely grateful for help, as I'm at my wits' end here ... Thanks

Ah, so you have a first-gen model from the looks of it. If I might make a suggestion, please update your tagline as follows to assist others in helping you:
MBP (Early 2006)
You can expand upon this as you like.
Perhaps I wasn't reading the original post, but what version of Windows were you running at the time?
As I recall, that model line of MacBook Pros needed an EFI firmware update to operate Boot Camp. Before the mid-2006 speed bump, these models also needed an SMC firmware patch. With the EFI update, your "Boot ROM revision" should be MBP11.0055.B08
If you can boot to Safe Mode, try using the Add/Remove Programs or Programs and Features applet in your Control Panel to uninstall the ATI driver properly. Should that fail, search out "ATI Catalyst Uninstaller" using your favorite Web crawler. The first thing to come up should be AMD's uninstall tool, which you can then run to get rid of the driver.
Once you've done this, reinstall the ATI software from your Leopard/Boot Camp DVD and re-run the Boot Camp 2.1 patch from the Web; this should properly update the ATI software and get you back on track.
We would also need to rule out whether a recent update caused this issue, in which case rolling back to a prior restore point may help. You may lose documents created between the restore point time and the present, but this is normal.
The only other possibility I can suggest is to rebuild your entire Boot Camp setup and take notes as you get back up to the point where the blackout occurred. This way, you'll have some documentation handy whether you repost here or contact Apple directly.
Good luck,
Nate
Message was edited by: Nathan Alden

Strange display problems

I'm thinking that my video card is on the fritz, but I'm not sure how to tell. After starting the computer up, the mouse arrow moves around like normal, but when doing anything that the computer has to "think" about (running the mouse over the dock to display the names of the programs kept there, or simply opening a folder), the "animation" is extremely slow and very choppy, and i can hear a tiny high-pitched noise coming from inside the computer (not from the speaker). Scrolling, pop-up menus, anything that requires any kind of motion elicits the same strange noise and jerky/choppy animation. When I start the computer in safe mode, I don't have any of these issues. I have an ATI Radeon x800 xt video card in a dual 2.0 g powermac G5. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I have opened it up and given it a good dusting. That helped a little, as actually for a few days the computer wouldnt even start up all the way. Re-seating the video card seemed to help, but now I have all the weird problems I described. Is there a safe way to give the contacts a more thorough cleaning?
I have a 160 g hard drive, of which approx. 110 g are being used.

4.6 strange display problem

You can see in the image above that the display of the game is offsetted by some amount vertically. The white section is not supposed to be there. In fact the blue is meant to be flush with the bottom of the screen.
This happened by making two changes to a previously perfectly working project: change the SDK to the new 4.6 Flex release candidate including 3.2 air player with support for Stage3d. The other change is in the Air Application Descriptor file: changed the xmlns to end in number 3.2 instead of 2.6. Nothing else has changed. In fact, if I revert to the 4.5.1 SDK, the graphics show as expected.
I have looked for a couple of hours for a solution, but I haven't found anything...
OS: mac
IDE: Flash Builder 4.6 trial
Device: the Flash Builder device simulator, but also seen on a real device
Application settings: fullscreen, landscape, renderMode=direct/gpu (same thing), size: 1024x600
Stage alignment: TOP_LEFT
Stage scaling: none
Project type: Mobile ActionScript
As I said, just the fact of changing to 4.6 introduced the problem and I can toggle it at will be reverting to 4.5.1, so the code hasn't changed. I can add that the white section in the graphic is actually a repeat of the last row of pixels (bleed basically) all the way to the bottom of the screen. With other graphics, that section changes - so not always white.
Thanks for any tips

I received a tip that setting the fullscreen app variable in the application descriptor file to 'false' instead of the normal 'true' for a game will solve the problem while you are developing on the desktop. It works. Thanks Matt.

Strange display problems: lines, missing icons, pieces of windows that stay on screen...

My white 24" iMac has recently started having problems with the display. Because I'm able to capture it with Grab and due to the nature of the problem, it doens't appear to be hardware related. But, not sure. See the screen cap I took below as an example of one of the problems I'm seeing.
I'll try to describe a few other display anomalies I'm having:
Moving a window leaves the background that it was on intact all around the edge of the window, where the drop shadow would be.
The Dock, which is set to be hidden until my cursor moves into that area, will appear sometimes with some of the icons missing, but, the shadows for those icons are visible on the Dock. Or, there are weird lines and patterns around each icon.
While using Safari and a few other apps, I'll frequently get colored lines and patterns that suddenly appear across the screen, and then disappear when my cursor moves over that part of the screen.
When I click on the minimize button, the window uses the Genie effect to move into the Dock, but, often leaves a bit of the window on the screen. It will sometimes clear when I drag another window over the area, or the window I'm dragging will start looking like it does in the screen cap below.
My graphics card is a NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT. I updated the firmware to ROM Revision 3467, but, it didn't seem to make any difference. The only think I can recall doing before this problem happened is I installed the iTunes 10.4.1 update. I'm running OS X 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard).
This iMac is about 4.5 years old, so, it's not covered by warranty anymore which means I can't take it to an Apple Store for troubleshooting. I'm hoping someone knows how I can fix this. It just started doing this a week ago. Thanks!
Tom

Hi Michelefree,
My iMac does not have a separate video card, so, I was not able to replace it as suggested above. Apparently with the Intel iMacs, or at least the one I have, the video "card" is actually a few chips on the logic board. I was told the only way to fix this is to replace the entire logic board, which is too costly (no longer within warranty).
I did a bit of research and discovered that the problem seems to be related to how hot the computer gets. I noticed this, too. When I started using my iMac first thing in the day, no problems. As the day progressed and the computer heated up, I'd start having all these video problems.
I found a utility called smcFanControl which allows you to speed up the mininim fan speeds inside the computer, which helps keep it cooler. Since I installed this, I've had very few video problems. So, it appears to have "solved" my problem for now.
I wish there was a better solution than this band-aid fix, but, it's a lot cheaper than having the logic board replaced or buying a new iMac, the only choices I was given by Apple. Hope it works for you, too!
Tom

N96 strange display problem plz help

hello,
my N96's display is not working a white thick line is coming at the right side of the screen and other screen area is black + fizzy , i had "camera feature not supported problem " with my N96 from two days till display also got problem,, i was running APP UPDATE for nokia from mobile and then after restart lcd blank i have also
replaced lcd and strip + display IC's
no success
Please any help will be appreciated .. Thanks ,,

This is a known (and very annoying) bug with the N96.
Hopefully they will fix it in the next software update. The exact date of this update is unknown but shouldn't be too far away.
It is also unknown if this update will actually fix the problem or not.
You should complain to nokia using the "contact us" link near the top of the page. The more people that complain the more likely they are to fix it.

Strange display problem band through screen -=Pictures included=-

I bought a refurb intel imac and had it delivered on May 30th. June 2nd, I brought the computer in to the apple store to repair the bleeding backlight on the LCD (corners were very bright); I just picked it up again on June 5th.
At first, I was very impressed with the turnaround time on the repair (3 days, 2 of which were weekend days). However, once I got the imac home & set up again, I was disappointed to see a thick discoloured bar down the entire vertical length of the screen!
The band is really strange; it changes colours depending on what colour is on top of it, and seems to flicker. I've determined that it only appears when the display is set on "millions of colours", not "thousands" or "256". I've also tried resetting the PRAM with no luck...
What are my options here? Is there an easy fix that I can try myself? Or is it more likely that the Apple store techs damaged something internally when they installed the new LCD? I really don't want to lug this computer back to the store, wait several more days, then lug it back home again. It's a huge inconvenience especially since the imac is all-in-one so I'm left using my old PC that was looking forward to a peaceful retirement...I just don't see any other choice...
iMac 20" core duo 2.0 Mac OS X (10.4.6) 1GB RAM; 128 MB Video

It appears this other post on another thread shows a similar pattern. You might have to be logged on to see it:
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=2487810#2487810

Strange display problem on the Internet with jpgs

Hi,
For some time now I have problems with jpgs on some Internet sites. They don't show up properly. But only on this MAC, every other computer is ok. Here is a screencap of what I see:
http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2690530
It happens only on specific websites but now it also happens on MY OWN website (http://www.patrickeischen.com)! I didn't change a thing on this page, it was ok 'til now.
I use Firefox & Safari. Can anybody please help me?
Message was edited by: Danielle Kamp

Hi Danielle:
Cant use the link to your screencap, -wants login info.
What do the jpgs look like? Sometimes I get a small square and question mark on some webpages where images should show but I just fault the webpage, or internet. Sometimes a reload works.
Sounds like a software glitch on your PM G5, Have you repaired permissions recently?
-Robert

Strange Display Problem - please check out/

Recently discoverd in certain tones and contrasts on my screen from N97, there is a dark gray outline, a overlay shadow in the left side of the screen. the touchscreen has been replaced recently.On black or white background you cant see.
Attachments:
DSC_7519.jpg ‏509 KB

As a teacher of marketing & multimedia presentation design, Garr Reynolds says at his site: "Design is a big, big deal. We all have a responsibility to understand its potential and its power. You do not need to be a designer — but you do need to become more design sensitive or 'design mindful'."
In particular, according to another experienced designer: "Color should be used in the same way that type size is used: to emphasize importance, not decorate a page."
Reynolds' page about why design matters is worth reading...
http://www.garrreynolds.com/Design/whydesign.html
Also this about graphic design fundamentals...
http://www.garrreynolds.com/Design/basics.html

The display problem of Adobe Reader 11.0.09

Hi, everyone,
My operation system is Windows XP SP3 Professional.
I encountered a strange display problem of Adobe Reader 11.0.09.
The problem happened not only at Adobe Reader 11.0.09 Chinese Traditional, but also English United States.
The display problem such as two pictures as follow.
The strange problem was that menu bar covered by toolbar items or disappeared.
Please tell me how to resolve the problem.
Thanks a lot.

Thanks for your help, Ajlan huda.
Could you tell me where I could find the system requirement about Adobe Reader patch 11.0.09?
I couldn't find any information about system requirement of Adobe Reader patch 11.0.09.
I knew Adobe Reader 11 could install on Windows XP SP3 just all.
I could install and upgrade Adobe Reader to 11.0.09 as the following picture.
I will roll back the version of Adobe Reader from 11.0.09 to 11.0.07 and test the problem appear or not.

ITunes display problems?

Ever since I updated to 5.0 I have had these strange display problems. Everything is working fine, it's just really bothersome and was wondering if there was any sort of way to fix it or a cause for it.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y151/inadezhda/Picture6.png
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y151/inadezhda/Picture1.png

hi mellilah,
I updated my itunes to 5.0.1 but I still have the problems,
but I was able to discover the reason for my display probs.
I use shapeshifter to change the look of my os x. when I
restore the normal aqua-theme the display-problems with
itunes are gone. so I put itunes into the exclude-list of shapeshifter
and everything is fine now.
maybe you are using shapeshifter to....
bye
martin

Hello to all: My iMac has developed a video display problem. It displays everything in cartoon like colors - purple, green, blue. Can this be repaired? Is there a way to output to a different monitor? Thanks in advance! isplays

Hello -
My iMac has developed a video display problem. Everything now appears in a strange, cartoonish way. Purples, greens, blues. Can this be fixed, and if so, any idea how much it might cost? Also, could I output to a seperate monitor? I plan to replace the unit , but cannot right now. Thanks!

Go to System Preferences > Universal Access > Seeing.
In the Display area, reset it to "Black on white" by clicking that checkbox.
You can also reset it by pressing Command-Option-Control-8

Strange display problem

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