What are these black rectangles on my Mac's desktop?

Montivarch said:

@Nick
Sorry about that! Operating under the assumption it is a software issue, do you have any suggestions on what kind of software problems I have?

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Hard to say exactly...but probably something that was installed is conflicting. With 1000's and 1000's of apps out there... couldn't even begin to guess.

Take inventory of EVERYTHING that you have installed. It could even be something that you installed a while ago...and forgot about. Worst case scenario...wipe the HD & reinstall the OS.

In your above post you said that you assumed that it was a software issue. This gets back to my earlier suggestion...that you boot the computer from an external HD with a fresh install of the OS...and see if the problems persists.

You could also carefully install any necessary apps onto that external HD so you can work from it longer term...to see if the black rectangle problem remains. The "trick" to this is...you CANNOT launch any apps installed on the computers internal HD...otherwise...you could duplicate the problem on the external HD.

So your choices are:

- uninstall all apps you installed on the internal HD...then ONLY install necessary apps
- completely wipe the internal HD & reinstall the OS
- run the computer from an external HD (without using any apps from the internal HD)

Try any of these...and see if the problems persists.

- Nick

I did go through earlier today and I uninstalled anything I don't use leaving only 1)Google Chrome, 2)Windows Office (for Mac), and 3)Minecraft. All that's left are standard Apple applications (iTunes, iMovie, iPhoto, etc.). I'm not generally a download or app guy so the list of suspects is short.

Montivarch said:

I'm not generally a download or app guy so the list of suspects is short.

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Some folks are "download & install junkies"...so I wasn't sure about your habits.

Those apps you mentioned seem fairly mainstream. It's always possible that something was installed & uninstalled a while ago...but maybe everything wasn't completely removed...who knows.

It all comes down to how much of a problem this black rectangle issue is...and thus how radical of a solution you are willing to undertake...with a complete HD wipe & OS reinstall being the most "radical".

If this problem sometimes only occurs once every 1-2 months...maybe it's not a big enough deal to do a complete HD wipe...and OS reinstall. Up to you.

For me...I would have to find a solution. And if this meant wiping the HD, reinstalling the OS, and reinstalling my day to day apps...then that is what I would do. Since I would REALLY want to find a solution...and have a stable computer. But this is just me.

- Nick

Update: So I have a better example of multiple black rectangles I just witnessed.

And I created a new user, as suggested, and I still got the black rectangles (I have one picture of the new profile with the black square on the left side of the screen).

Two other notes:

1) The appearance of these BRs is almost always proceeded and accompanied by crippling "lag/glitching" of my computer. Mouse movements and things are jerky and slowed down.

2) As you can see in the two pictures posted while I was logged in as the new user, one has a little black square and the other picture shows no black rectangles at all. When I changed the desktop image, the black square went away.

That is starting not to look good. I am wondering if it's hardware? Do you have any Apple care left? To tired to go back and read your OP.

It is a GPU problem.

Could be the driver - doubtful or there would be some widespread reports.
Could be the memory.
Could be the card overheating.
Could be the card is slowly dieing.

Still suggest taking it to your local Apple store and let them have a look.

I second Tom's suggestion. Looks like a graphic card glitch to me as well, ISTR some issues with the Nvidia cards in some models.

Definitely a GPU problem...

Well, I'll probably take it in and have it checked. Who does Mac repair/diagnostics?
Also, just in case it means anything:
Chipset Model: Intel HD Graphics 3000
Type: GPU
Bus: Built-In
VRAM (Total): 384 MB
Vendor: Intel (0x8086)
Displays:
Color LCD:
Display Type: LCD
Resolution: 1280 x 800
Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Built-In: Yes

Montivarch said:

Well, I'll probably take it in and have it checked. Who does Mac repair/diagnostics?
...

Click to expand...

Perhaps your local Apple Store.

Montivarch said:

Well, I'll probably take it in and have it checked. Who does Mac repair/diagnostics?

Click to expand...

Just so you're aware. If the gpu is at fault...then you're going to need a replacement logic board...and you're NOT going to like the price!

- Nick

I'm inclined to agree that it's a hardware problem with the GPU... except for that oddity with the volume slider that was resolved with a software update. Maybe there used to be a way to make it turn blue prior to the software update, but I can't make it go blue here (10.8.4) no matter what I try. I'm leaning to some file corruptions in the System Library, perhaps the graphics drivers and who knows what else. Before running up a bill for diagnostics/repairs, I would follow the suggestion before to make a clean installation to an external drive and boot from that. That will provide a definitive answer.

As a side note, if the System Library does have corrupted drivers, then it could be that the drive is failing. So before anything else, make a backup of your important files!!!!!!!

^^^^ excellent analysis - give that a go

Alright, I'll give the clean install and let you know what I find.