Macbook Pro graphics crash/freeze

Hi guys,

So just as I get my iMac sorted my Macbook has got issues and need some help.

Macbook Pro mid 2012, 2.9 i7 and 750gb HDD
The only difference from factory spec is upgrade to 16gb Ram and optical drive replaced with a 256gb Samsung evo SSD.

Recently the screen has started glitching (see pic) and at the same time the system hangs/crashes.

I close the lid, the apple logo stays lit and when this occurs the following scenarios happen;-

1)I open the machine it did not go to sleep and is still stuck. I have to do a hard shut down and reboot.
a) it reboots fine
b) I get three short beeps, which I believe means a RAM error? quick tap on the machines base and it boots fine.

2) I give the bottom of the machine a good slap (as I was annoyed). Reopen the machine and
a) its all good??
b) the screen glitch has gone but system has still crashed
c) nothing and go to hard reboot

I am struggling to understand why sometimes I get a bad RAM error on boot but the problem seems to be graphics related. Because I can hit the machine into losing the glitch could this be dry joints on the GPU/Logic? and is this why its crashing?

That is a whole host of strange issues. From the picture I would say GPU but then you mention the beeping indicating memory. Followed by the freezing and locking up. But smacking it around sometimes temporarily fixes issues. Definitely has unique stuff going on.

You would not by chance be close to an apple store and could make an appointment with the genius bar?

Also have you tried running an Apple Hardware test on it just to see if it shows anything to narrow it down?

Lisa

thanks for the reply and I think you read my mind.

I've had time to have a good look today so I've been doing multiple AHTs with quick/advanced, 2/1 sticks for the past 4 hours.

All sticks passed the quick test but one stick did flag up an error with the advanced test. I've already contacted crucial and the pair are being replaced.

I also opened up and stripped out logic to check for connections, dirt etc...
It's all back together and Im typing now so only time will tell.

Thanks for the input

Graphic errors like that usually point towards ram issues as the AHT confirmed.
There are no known issues in the Mid 2012 MBP 13 besides the problem with the HGST HDD's - which doesn't affect you. In some cases the HDD cable fails, but as a result it would only freeze the current image on you LCD and not result graphics issues.

A good program to have, to monitor your machine overall is TechTool Pro. Very helpful if AHT is not available, often also more accurate that AHT.