Problems with Video Display on a new Aluminum iMac

[drh64]

I have had this happen on two different IMacs and only when we run AC 11.

It seems to be triggered by Itunes running at the same time.

Has anyone else witnessed this before? Any suggestions?


http://www.connect-arch.com/graphics-problem/scatter.mov

[Thomas Holm]

Joeri wrote:
So I did : fresh installation of OS 10.4 : no more issues to report...

Yes, the ATI graphics problem didn't exist in X.4. But I wouldn't go back anyway. The issue doesn't show uo every day for me, and now that i've learned (from a post in this forum) I just have to put the machine to sleep (one short press on the power button and click "sleep" in the dialog that appears - which is the hard part because I can't always see the button to click among the avant-garde color puzzles) and then wake it up again, and it's gone, for a while.

It IS an Apple/ATI issue. It's possible to trigger it without Archicad. Some other graphics-intensive programs, and intensive use of CoverFlow in iTunes, will set it off.

So I'm hoping for X.5.7. The previewers have reported "additional graphics issues solved". But I wouldn't bet on it.

[Anonymous]

Thomas wrote:
But I wouldn't bet on it.

Thomas, that's for sure! What I've learned from Apple interventions : this problem is NOT known, so there's no such problem.
The youtube movie (posted by Gergely) wasn't convincing enough to even consider 'something' 'could' be 'possible' wrong with 'certain' hardware-software.

At some point I had a fresh installation of OS 10.5, no other software installed. I did trigger it using ITunes... Apple's response : we provided you of new hardware components, you seem to have a software problem. My answer : yes indeed, and both OS and ITunes are ..... Apple's(!). OS 10.4 is working fine, OS 10.5 isn't. Why do I have to contact GS then? Apple's response : probably you'll have to wait for further OS releases. My answer : If you tell there's no problem, who is working on it then? Apple : we will note your comments and.....

[Karl Ottenstein]

I have not experienced the crazy colored cracked glass in many months - yet in the past several days it has happened twice, with only Mac Mail and Safari running. Only recent updates have been to iTunes, FrontRow, etc - so it has to be related to some Apple plug-in.

Thomas wrote:
...and now that i've learned (from a post in this forum) I just have to put the machine to sleep (one short press on the power button and click "sleep" in the dialog that appears - which is the hard part because I can't always see the button to click among the avant-garde color puzzles) and then wake it up again, and it's gone, for a while.

I don't know if the same keys work on the Swedish version, Thomas, but here is a keyboard-only way to put your Mac to sleep:

press ctrl-eject keys together to get the shutdown menu

In the US version, pressing the S key puts the computer to sleep. (Pressing return does a shutdown.)

So, a method that works even if you can see nothing on the screen. 😉

Cheers,
Karl

[Anonymous]

Karl wrote:
I have not experienced the crazy colored cracked glass in many months - yet in the past several days it has happened twice, with only Mac Mail and Safari running. Only recent updates have been to iTunes, FrontRow, etc - so it has to be related to some Apple plug-in.

When it happened to me on my MacBook Pro it definitely seemed to be heat related. It would only start after a few hours work and would go away after the machine cooled down a bit. Perhaps the heat sinks on your card are getting dusty.

[Karl Ottenstein]

Matthew wrote:
Perhaps the heat sinks on your card are getting dusty.

Could be - thanks for the suggestion - will check tomorrow. Two new kittens may have contributed more than dust. 🙂

Karl

[Thomas Holm]

Karl wrote:
I don't know if the same keys work on the Swedish version, Thomas, but here is a keyboard-only way to put your Mac to sleep:

press ctrl-eject keys together to get the shutdown menu

In the US version, pressing the S key puts the computer to sleep. (Pressing return does a shutdown.)...

Thanks, Karl! I had no idea these shortcuts existed. But the S key works here too (Sleep is "Vila" in Swedish, and there are no shortcut hints in the dialog - which BTW is the same as the one triggered by the short press of the power button)

[Thomas Holm]

Joeri wrote:
What I've learned from Apple interventions : this problem is NOT known, so there's no such problem....

To sum up the ATI issues in Leopard:
Representative image:
http://archicad-talk.graphisoft.com/viewtopic.php?p=136599#136599

Gergely Kmethy has confirmed GS knows about it, that the've talked to Apple about it and Apple has passed the issue to AMD / ATI. http://archicad-talk.graphisoft.com/viewtopic.php?p=136657#136657

drh64 suggested here http://archicad-talk.graphisoft.com/viewtopic.php?p=136847#136847 that this is an ATI hardware issue, triggered by Leopard's more intensive OpenGL use.
I think he's right. 😞

And to add to the pain, this issue might be impossible to fix by software updates only.

Apparently not all support people at Apple are aware of it. I think GS should try to raise the issue once more. We at least don't want it in Snow Leopard. Gergely?

[Andy Thomson]

I'd just like to chime in here - I have had to restart 6 times today because of this.... we have the same problem on 4 other identical machines - really starting to bug me that apple isn't fessing up to this problem....:

Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac8,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.8 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: IM81.00C1.B00
SMC Version: 1.30f1
Serial Number: QP9040D3ZE4
ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro:

Chipset Model: ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 256 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x9583
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-B2250L-259
EFI Driver Version: 01.00.259
Displays:
iMac:
Resolution: 1920 x 1200
Depth: 32-bit Color
Core Image: Hardware Accelerated
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
Built-In: Yes
Display Connector:
Status: No display connected

[Karl Ottenstein]

andyro wrote:
I'd just like to chime in here - I have had to restart 6 times today because of this.... we have the same problem on 4 other identical machines - really starting to bug me that apple isn't fessing up to this problem....

So, are you saying that the 'trick' suggested by others below of just putting the machine to sleep and then waking it does not work for you?

Karl

[Thomas Holm]

Some info - or rather, compassion - on Macfixit: http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20090320111948165
Please note the Apple forum links too.