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urrl78 · Mar 9, 2004, 05:05 PM

When first booting up my LCD is messed up for up to 4 minutes, depending on room temperature. I see long vertical threads of shivering pixels; they seem to be twinkling like a fabric of black stars. Apple charged $49 for phone support, saying if their advice (Zapping the PRAM, Apple Hardware Test, etc) did not work I will get my money back and send in the laptop for repair. Well I booted up just now and the pixels showed up again for about 2 minutes. (My room is warmer than at my job cubicle). I just wanna know if anyone ever experiences this problem before giving my beloved 17" into Apple's hands. My last service experience with Apple was not good; I had to send my 667 DVI in a total of 5 times before they fixed all of the additional problems they created with it.

Detrius · Mar 10, 2004, 07:54 PM

The LCD has a fluorescent backlight. As an Apple Certified Tech, we are taught not to make any decisions on the quality of an LCD until it has been on for a while (up to a half an hour).

It's hard to say without seeing the issue, but I have seen issues that I would say are a little similar to what you are describing that have been caused by the logic board.

Also, keep in mind that there is a difference between Apple fixing your machine and your local Apple Certified Repair Center fixing your machine. As the 17" requires a hair dryer to remove the logic board, I would suspect that anywhere you take it is going to send it to Apple so they don't have to mess with it themselves. I personally have had very good experiences with Apple repairs (for the ones that I felt were too complicated for our company to come out profitable).

urrl78 · Mar 11, 2004, 06:29 AM

Thanks so much for your insight. I will probably take it to an Apple certified repair center and expect it to be sent to Apple. Actually I expected Apple to send me a delivery box when I called the second time and said their software remedies did not work. But they say now to go to a repair center. That seems odd, especially after they seemed to first lead me to believe once I paid the $49 for the phone advise, and it did not work, then all I would have to do is send it in and the $49 would be refunded since it is a hardware issue.

urrl78 · Mar 15, 2004, 06:14 AM

Took it to an Apple store on 3/15/04. The Apple genious took one look and said it was the motherboard. I am somewhat relieved I have a diagnosis but will be without my 17" for about 7 days. (SIGH...)
Hoping Apple will treat me well. Say, maybe I could talk someone there into an upgrade to 1.33 Ghz since the motherboard must be replaced anyway...

urrl78 · Mar 18, 2004, 05:54 PM

Amazingly it is back on 3/18, just 3 days. The shivering pixels appear to be gone. Apple says it was a software problem after all. The Apple genius said something about blocks? While I was there at the Apple store to take it home the Apple genious took it in the back and took about 5 minutes to put on some feet. My 17" seems and looks as good as new. Whew...

Detrius · Mar 19, 2004, 09:21 PM

Originally posted by urrl78:
Amazingly it is back on 3/18, just 3 days. The shivering pixels appear to be gone. Apple says it was a software problem after all. The Apple genius said something about blocks? While I was there at the Apple store to take it home the Apple genious took it in the back and took about 5 minutes to put on some feet. My 17" seems and looks as good as new. Whew...

Software issue? Weird.

If you can't get your serial number by clicking on the version number in the "about this mac" window, then your logic board has been replaced.

urrl78 · Mar 19, 2004, 09:54 PM

I did see the serial number however in my cool office at the job I did notice some shivering pixels but not as bad as before. I remember the Apple Genius saying something about an archive and install if it happens again. So I did a clean erase and install just to be sure. I am having a devil of a time trying to get my Quicktime MPEG2 player to work. I am downloading 10.3.2 upgrade like I had before to see if that helps. As to the pixel shivering I will shut down tonite and see what happens in the morning. I still think it's hardware, but I'll just have to wait and see.

urrl78 · 06:21 AM

Well there was absolutely no improvement in the shivering pixels. Just to emphasize that the anomaly is contingent on temperature I held my 17" in front of the AC vent in my car before I walked quickly into the Apple store. Sure enough, when I opened the laptop from its sleeping stage the Apple genious let out strange grunt under his breath. The screen looked so bad it was almost looking like a photo negative. This time the genious made sure the repair techs at Apple understood the problem was dependent upon room temperature and the problem would only last minutes after booting up the machine. I also made him record the exterior condition of my laptop so if it came back damaged I would have evidence that it was not sent to them that way.

As to the MPEG2 player component, I had to download it again, but for free, since Apple has a record of it on my account. It seems the component was programmed to expire in December of 2003 (???). Why mine kept going until the erase and install I will never know. I discovered the solution after reading that one guy with the same problem set his date back before December 2003 and the component worked. I tried it and the same thing occurred, so then I downloaded the updated version.

f1000 · Mar 23, 2004, 09:52 PM

Do you have to chill the screen itself or the main body of the computer to cause the anomaly?

My guesses:
Bad VRAM
Cracked traces
Faulty connectors

In any case, it's clearly a hardware problem that you aren't going to be able to fix yourself. Send it in to Apple and don't worry about it.

urrl78 · Mar 25, 2004, 10:37 AM

Good news and bad news. Good news: They are going to replace my LCD display and its "bezel", whatever that is. This beats the motherboard replacement I was expecting because my old LCD had one blown pixel, though hardly detectable on the lower left edge of the display. Bad news is they don't know when they will receive the replacement LCD parts. Meanwhile I may wake up screaming in anguish from recurrent nightmares of getting my laptop peppered with festive red and white dead pixels, with chocolate stains in the LCD, but I guess there's nothing to worry about... Will keeep you posted.

Mac Zealot · 09:57 PM

The 'shivering' is either caused by a fault video chip/connection to that chip on the logic board, a bad video cable, or a bad LCD.

If apple hasn't given you back your $49 yet, start calling. it is NOT a software problem I can guarantee that

[Edited for that bit of confusion that caused.. sorry about it!]

The Placid Casual · Mar 26, 2004, 08:32 AM

Originally posted by Mac Zealot:
*puzzled* you have a $3000 laptop and don't know what a bezel is?

Oh boy...

At least you know what the LCD is.

Polite to the last...

Mac Zealot · Mar 26, 2004, 02:33 PM

Sorry, I don't want to be insulting.. just found that a little odd.... my fault mostly.

urrl78 · Apr 9, 2004, 05:53 PM

Got my 17" back today. At the genious bar I checked it out. Brand new LCD with no dead pixels and logic board was replaced, because I clicked on "About this mac" and did not get a serial number when I clicked on the version number like I did before sending it off. They also said the logic board was replaced. Other than a missing foot, which the genious replaced in 5 minutes before I left, the thing looked better than when I sent it in. But when I got it to the car and checked it one more time half the screen had the lines again. I rebooted a few times and they disappeared completely. Doesn't appear to be temperature related this time. And since it happened only one time I think I will keep it a few days just to see that the problem does not happen again. I can't get mad at Apple because they tried and were careful not to damage my 17" like they did to my previous 667 DVI. I'll just try it tomorrow morning when it is cold and hope it does not happen again.