Getting corrupt checkerboard like images on my desktop?

I have a Mac Mini 2010 with the latest OS - Maveric. About every 6 months I get corrupt images, described as snowflakes (or checkboard), on my desktop. So when I hover over desktop apps I get these corrupt images. I have been advised to reset the NVRAM which usually does the trick. However, it still occurs every 6 months.

I am using an HD TV monitor. And have also tried replacing the HDMI cable, yet it still occurs.

I am wondering if anyone else is experiencing this and what they did to resolve this issue.

Also, is it normal if this occurs every 6 months or so?

I look forward to hearing from you all.

Thanks

It's certainly not normal to have that happen at any time. It could be something related to the connection which is causing it. What kind of HDMI cables have you been using? Some are better than others. Also it could be the TV itself that's causing the problem but since it occurs every 6 months or so, it can be difficult to track down.

chscag said:

It's certainly not normal to have that happen at any time. It could be something related to the connection which is causing it. What kind of HDMI cables have you been using? Some are better than others. Also it could be the TV itself that's causing the problem but since it occurs every 6 months or so, it can be difficult to track down.

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I appreciate your response.

The last time I took it to the Apple Store they told me to try to replace the HDMI cable, which I did, which was about 6 months ago. I didn't have this issue until the other day. They did mention it could be the TV as you said, but really don't want to replace it.

It would be interesting to see if anyone will respond that experienced the same issue.

Mac Mini, Asus monitor, HDMI cable, started to get flashes of a partial black and white checkerboard pattern when using Firefox, sometimes in a corner of the screen, on the edge, or at the top. I needed an HDMI cable for something else, so I released it from the Mini by switching to DVI. No more checkerboards.

What could have caused them? The DVI adapter plugs into the Mini at the HDMI port, so the Mini is still outputting HDMI, but the result is different. So it can't be a fault in the Mini. The HDMI cable might be at fault, but it's not likely, since it's passive, and most likely either it works or it doesn't. The monitor, however, is using a different piece of electronics to process DVI instead of HDMI. So my best guess is that the fault is in the monitor, and I bypassed the fault by switching from HDMI to DVI.

Maybe, or maybe not. Unless you change out that HDMI cable you won't know for sure. And labeling a cable as passive is misleading since it must propagate the signal correctly.

chscag said:

Maybe, or maybe not. Unless you change out that HDMI cable you won't know for sure. And labeling a cable as passive is misleading since it must propagate the signal correctly.

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I agree that I won't know for sure unless I try another HDMI cable. I did try the same cable in another application and it worked OK. Maybe it will even work in the application that I intend to use it for. It would be nice if it turns out that even if it's not good enough to display Firefox on a computer monitor it is good enough to display a TV show on a TV monitor.

But it's correct to call it passive precisely because all it does is propagate the signal. It doesn't do any signal processing. It has no active components. It consists of nothing but conductors, insulators and support structures. That qualifies it, in the usual terminology of electronics, as a passive component. Even if it doesn't propagate the signal, it's still passive.