MacBook Pro 2010 Semi-Randomly Crashes

[JeremyGreen]

My MBP 2010 (15") has been having a strange issue that I can't seem to solve.

First, the issue--
I believe it is related to the graphics card. It amounts to this sometimes, mostly when gaming (though it has happened randomly otherwise) the display will go black, and the last 1/2 second of audio will stutter and loop (usually sounds like static). The computer stays on, thus requiring a hard reset every time this happens.

I have found that I can reproduce it fairly easily with high graphical intensity games, although it recently happened once with seemingly no cause.



Now, the catch is that this has only happened on my Windows partition. I've taken this to the Genius Bar at the Apple Store and they couldn't reproduce the problem on Mac, so they said they can't help.

However, this is still happening after a complete wipe, re-partition and a reinstall of windows.

Anyone have any ideas to help?

 

[JeremyGreen]

A quick bump. . .

Anyone have any ideas? Anything I could try in order to better understand this problem?

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome. Sorry we didn't get back to you until now.

Since it only happens on Windows, it's not something that is supported by Apple. Boot Camp is, but not Windows issues/troubleshooting.

-I gather by your description that you are running Windows via Boot Camp?
-If so, have you installed the latest Boot Camp drivers?
-Which version of Mac OS X and Windows?
-Have you tried switching the video chip - Intel integrated to NVIDIA discrete - i.e. turning off "Automatic graphics switching" in the Energy Saver preference pane?

C

 

[JeremyGreen]

Thank you for the reply!

- Yes I am running it via Boot Camp, and I have tried many driver sets. This has been a problem for many months, so I've had it across a few different driver updates.

- Mac 10.6.8, Windows 7 Home Premium, and I'll post the exact version once I cross boot and check. I don't think I've fully updated that since my clean install, but as of 2 weeks ago when I wiped and reinstalled, I had whatever the latest update was for 7 HP.

- As to this last point, it is something I've seen recommended before, but is it actually something I can do on my Windows partition? I thought that particular setting only existed on OS X...

 

[JeremyGreen]

I am running Window 7 HP 6.1, SP1 at the moment.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Oops...sorry. I wasn't thinking. It automatically defaults to the NVIDIA chip in Windows via Boot Camp.

You stated you have tried many driver sets...do you mean downloaded Windows hardware drivers from third-party companies, or the Apple-supplied Boot Camp Windows drivers?

C

 

[JeremyGreen]

I began by using the boot camp drivers then tried downloading the chip specific drivers and driver manager from nvidia. On my current install, I'm only using the Boot Camp drivers.

 

[Cory Cooper]

The chip specific drivers will not work. You have to use the Apple supplied drivers.

If the issue persists, I don't know of a fix if everything is up to date. Will research it a little further in the meantime.

C

 

[JeremyGreen]

I have tried it on a fully updated system in the past, and will ensure everything is entirely up to date and run a test tomorrow.

 

[JeremyGreen]

I figured as much about the driver set, by the way. I made an attempt with additional drivers on my previous install after the Genius Bar couldn't provide any help, but I'm currently on a fresh install with only the Apple Drivers.

 

[JeremyGreen]

Still crashes with everything completely up to date.

 

[JeremyGreen]

Gonna bump this again, with a little more information. . .

I ran the Mac Hardware extended test on loop for 8 hours and nothing turned up, whatever that means.

Someone forwarded me this:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4088

Which I've seen before, I think, but points to an issue with my particular run of computers. Sadly the updates they have up there do nothing for my ability to effectively dual boot.