11-04-2009, 08:24 PM

hi!

i think this is a software problem, but not 100% sure. I'm not sure how to explain it - here's a screenshot:

http://content.screencast.com/users/...1/00000024.png

check out the little corrupted bits around the files, as well as the bar in the middle of the screen. it does this from time to time when i open my laptop, and continues to get worse (takes over more and more of my screen). today it was so bad i had to shut down my computer and restart...after i restarted and (knock on wood) to now it's been okay which leads me to believe it's software and not hardware. I'm not sure how to describe what's going on exactly, so I've not been successful in searching forums.

any ideas are great! thanks so much!

11-04-2009, 08:58 PM

Looks to be a heat related GPU problem. Which Mac and what version are we talking about?

11-04-2009, 09:49 PM

heat related sounds about right...this fella runs hotter than pamela anderson on a bed of coals (am i dating myself? )

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook1,1
Processor Name: Intel Core Duo
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 2 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MB11.0061.B03
SMC Version: 1.4f12
Serial Number: 4H6251GWU9C

i'm running 10.5.6

11-04-2009, 09:53 PM

Interesting. The first generation MacBooks used a relatively cool-running integrated graphics chipset. I'd be willing to bet your fan(s) are not working at all or not properly. You can try a utility like iStat or smcFanControl to see what speeds the fan(s) are running at. You may also want to bump them up to full throttle to see if they sound normal (should be no more than a whisper). Also, a few short blasts of compressed air near the vents should clear any dust build up.

11-04-2009, 10:00 PM

degrees are in fahrenheit

11-04-2009, 10:01 PM

The temps look high, but the fan appears to be running at a good clip. I take it the sound is normal? Any visible dust build up around the vent (below the display, at the back of the machine)?

11-04-2009, 10:02 PM

nope, and i've done the compressed air business before...not very recently but within the past 3 months, i think. sounds normal.

11-04-2009, 10:05 PM

Another thing to check would be to see if you have any runaway processes that are beating the heck out of the machine. Open up Activity Monitor, go to the CPU tab. Sort the display by CPU % and see what (if anything) is consistently spiking the CPU.

11-04-2009, 10:08 PM

dashboard client is my highest and it didn't go over 7% in the time i watched it. thanks for the help, by the way!

11-04-2009, 10:15 PM

Welp, my guess is heat related. I could be completely off base, but those temps at the heatsinks look fairly high to me. One thing you could try (just to rule out software to some extent) would be to create a new user account and see if the problem persists. If it doesn't it might be something that you're running, but I have my doubts.

Another idea might be to run the Apple Hardware Test:

Intel-based Macs: Using Apple Hardware Test

And finally, if all else fails, if it were my machine, I would take it apart and clean the innards out thoroughly with compressed air. If you do this, take care not to let the fan spin while you blow the fan blades clean.

11-05-2009, 11:28 AM

cool beans, i think that's what i'll end up doing. thanks again for your help!