Is there a reasonable fix for this?

8/7/2011 6:37:53 AM

you sure it's not the ribbon cable in the hinge?

8/7/2011 9:14:15 AM

Make sure this wasn’t one of the recalled models.

8/7/2011 9:38:40 AM

I had same issue apple replaced no problem. It requires a new logic board(mother board) which is not user replaceable.

8/7/2011 4:00:08 PM

if you know how to take the laptop apart, it could be considered user replaceable, but you'd have to shop on ebay to get the part, which is gonna be sketchy and expensive.

8/7/2011 8:55:09 PM

The 9400M is not known as being a defective chipset. The 8600M GT is defective and is under a 4 year warranty for that part.

8/7/2011 9:04:27 PM

wasn't all nvidia chips of that era were prone to overheat issues as part of a design flaw?

8/7/2011 9:08:17 PM

It wasn't overheating. It was some type of laminate or some shit that was coated on the chip. I think thermal cycling caused it to stop working. I think there were some reports of the 9600m and 9400m being prone to it too, but that was an early report by a less than reputable source.

8/7/2011 9:36:05 PM

sounds like a design flaw

8/7/2011 9:43:31 PM

Yeah, with the 8600m GTs. I have not heard of the issue being recognized by Apple and Nvidia as being a design flaw as there was with the 8600m GTs (which for the record affected ALL manufacturers). The 8600m GT is the only one covered by the extended 4 year warranty on the part.

Here is the info on the situation with the 8600m GTs:

http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2377

Now, i am not saying his 9400m is not defective. It most certainly could be. The FIRST thing I would do is take it to an Apple Store before opening it up and fucking it up even worse. See what they say and get their opinion. If it is still in warranty, the will most certainly fix it. If it is out of warranty, see if they will fix it free of charge. It is not unheard of for Apple to fix something that is out of warranty, especially when the issue is widespread. Insist and be persistent if you have to.

After some research though, most people were running into the issue when they first got the laptop and not 3 years later. Again, go the Apple Store and see what they have to say. If you start opening it up and fucking around with it, you will only give them reason to not fix it. If they do say no, then start opening it up. If the setup is anything like the earlier MBPs, the cable just snaps onto the logic board and I could definitely see it coming loose.

8/7/2011 10:22:24 PM

Apple? admit something wrong? never... They just sweep it under the rug and pursuade you that you are holding it wrong or in some sort of fault...

8/8/2011 12:46:13 PM

Put it in the oven

8/8/2011 2:36:20 PM

I think I found the issue, and I don't think it's a design flaw. It's a communication flaw between Apple and Nvidia. The 9400M uses a shared VRAM in order to display what we see, unlike the 9600 which has dedicated memory.

The 9400 is using the ram, but the Apple machine doesn't see that space is already used. Since so many processes are running at the same time to keep your macbook "fast," it constantly competes with that space in the ram.

Which explains why it flickers more when you have more processes running.

Thoughts on this?

8/8/2011 11:42:18 PM

Solved it. No more flickering...

I readjusted the display. Kind of difficult, but someone online said there was the possibility of a display causing issues if it was all bowed from the top.

Do you notice your edge slightly lifting from the sides by like some small margin like 2mm? yeah, it can cause flickering with your display. Not sure when it doesn't do shit to the 9600...

8/10/2011 4:47:45 AM

Couldn't edit, but smoothcrim won this thread with a solution.

Thanks a lot!

8/10/2011 5:02:25 PM

get a laptop that's not a shitty piece of shit aimed at the lowest common denominator who are duped by fancy marketing programs showing people dancing around

8/10/2011 5:49:07 PM

^this

8/10/2011 6:03:35 PM

You're one those computer nerds huh? I'm sure Macintosh didn't make their computers a certain way just to make a political statement.

8/11/2011 6:14:40 PM