MBP crash issue

My MBP has been having an issue for the past ~9 months or so. Basically, the screen will go black, and I am forced to do a hard reset. I have taken it to the Genius Bar, where I was told it was probably a OS error and I should reinstall. I have done so numerous times now, and the problem seems to only have gotten worse.

Basically, I'd like to hear your guys' thoughts on this and any possible solutions until I have the time to go to the Apple Store again (which won't be for a few months).

More specifics:

• Bought the MBP in summer of 2010
• It is Boot Camped with Windows 7
• What is weird is anything seems to trigger the crash but it will not do it the next time. For example, just after I logged in to post this, my MBP crashed. But as you can see, it did not crash the second time and I am able to post this. I have only identified one site that reliably crashes my MBP.
• If I am watching a video, the audio will continue for maybe 1 second, before getting stuck.
• I think this is probably a related issue, but on my Windows partition, a similar issue occurs. Any game I try to play will cause it the screen to fail before displaying the infamous "video card driver stopped responding and has recovered" message. This had never happened to me before previously and I was able to play DC Universe Online and Rift without error, even after the main MBP crash issue had started happening. This only started happening after I redid Boot Camp after reinstalling the Mac OS.
• When I was trying to play Starcraft II with a friend, I would always lag/disconnect during the time that my screen was out, which makes me think it's not just a video card error?
• It also boots up much slower now.

I have exactly the same problem. My MBP is a late 2010 edition.

The monitor will go black, I can still hear the fans and everything. However it will not hibernate (if I close the lid), and my only way out is to reboot using the power button.

I have run the diagnostics tests and they do not find anything wrong..

I only run mac osx... no windows here ;-)

Any ideas?

Basically, I'd like to hear your guys' thoughts on this and any possible solutions until I have the time to go to the Apple Store again (which won't be for a few months).

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It sounds like the hard drive is failing. Have you run any tests on the hard drive? Try booting the machine with your original install disk and run Disk Utility from the disk. Do a verify and repair. Let us know the results.

I have actually. I'm not very computer literate, but I've tried doing what I can. I've done the Apple Hardware Test with the Application Install Disk and the method you just described. They've both checked out numerous times.

I'll do it again ASAP and report back, but it's all come back normal every time.

I have done the tests from the install disk, both the regular and the extended. Nothing was found. I have also run S.M.A.R.T. test on the hard drive, and again everything was OK.

If you have Lion OS, you can try this update that came out today: MacBook Pro Video Update 1.0

Someone suggested it to me, but I don't have Lion.

Thank you for that

Downloading it now. Mine has always intermittently frozen. Thought that was normal though my MBAir does not freeze. Both are OSX Lion.


"About MacBook Pro Video Update 1.0
This update addresses an issue where MacBook Pro (15-inch Mid 2010) computers may intermittently freeze or stop displaying video."

Did the video update fixed the issue?

The motherboard had to be replaced. Has been working fine ever since!

moulitsa said:

The motherboard had to be replaced. Has been working fine ever since!

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Still hasn't given you problems? Where did you buy the motherboard?

jgezau said:

Still hasn't given you problems? Where did you buy the motherboard?

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Running fine (fingers crossed)!

I took my macbook pro to the retailer I had bought it from. They replaced the motherboard.