Having a few problems with my Macbook Pro and wondered if anyone could shed any light on it. I know this is a car forum but I figure I might get some advice that isn't jargon based I have a Macbook Pro that's around 4 years old now. Last night it completely froze up with coloured lines running across the screen so had no choice but to pull the power. It's now having trouble booting up. On booting up the Apple logo remains whilst the loading wheel just freezes. I have tried: - Safe mode - tries to enter but freezes in the same spot as normal login but has additional white lines running down the screen. - Booting from disc - Doesn't want to know. - Hardware test from startup - runs the test and shows error '4VDC/1/40000003:VideoController' - Reset NVRAM - No difference, freezes in same spot - Start up in Single-User mode - This actually worked and I got into the system as normal. However the screen froze after around 10 mins of usage. This is the only way I can get in to the system for a short while. I have to use this laptop for work so any help would be appreciated before I have to trek to the apple store . My computer knowledge is a little sparse but does that hardware error play a significant part or perhaps it's more a glitch in the operating system? Many thanks.
aye sounds like the video card is on the blink if you google it that error you will find lots having the same problem have a look at the link below may help getting them to fix it is it still in warranty? http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377
Cheers Mushy, I did stumble across that link earlier although I'm having trouble getting back into the system again to check what card is in there. Unfortunately it's not still in warranty. Can the video card be replaced separately to the whole Motherboard? EDIT - I have the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT card so fingers crossed it might be covered by the warranty.
Nvidia foot the bill for these repairs due to it being their faulty (and well known) cards, so speak to your local apple store. They might still do it free even out of warranty.
i'm not a apple fan but thats one good thing i have to say about them they do tend to bend over backwards in cases like this being a known fault
I had the exact same problem on my old macbook pro, as it was almost 3yrs old so i thought it would cost me a fortune to repair, booked a session at the Apple genius bar in Glasgow to enquire about a repair and apple replaced it free of charge there and then - result!.
Cheers for the help, I've booked it in to the genius bar next weekend. Will go armed with a print out of the problem from their site Fingers crossed. Even though out of warranty it's just inside the 4 year window mentioned on their site. Are these cards soldered to the Motherboard or can they be replaced separately? If it needs a new motherboard and I have to foot the bill it's probably going to write the laptop off.
They will need to replace the whole mobo I believe. Can't beat the support. This is why I buy Apple devices (and for the outstanding OS) but some people miss out on this because they believe Apple to be some kind of evil empire. The retail stores are superb for getting problems solved and devices replaced/fixed.
Pleased to say Apple fixed it for free and it's all sorted. Other than having to be at the genius bar (ugh) it was a pretty painless fight in getting it fixed. Would have been 400 if I had to pay Thanks for the help
