Repeated screen lock-ups with NVidia graphics cards
Occurring pre- and post-graphics updates.
[Tuesday, February 26th]
Users with certain NVidia graphics cards, particularly the GeForce 8600M GT, continue to report random, repeated screen freezes. For some users, this issue was resolved with Mac OS X 10.5.2 and the Leopard Graphics Update 1.0. For others, the problem started appearing for the first time after these updates, or simply persists.
Those experiencing this problem generally see the following error messages in the Mac OS X console log:
- kernel[0]: NVChannel(GL): Graphics channel timeout!
- kernel[0]: NVChannel(GL): Graphics channel exception! status = 0xffff info32 = 0x3
If you started experiencing this problem after the Leopard Graphics Update and Mac OS X 10.5.2, you can uninstall these updates by following the steps listed in our tutorial on reinstalling the system.
If you haven't yet applied the aforementioned updates and are experiencing the issues, try applying them.
If you've applied the updates and the problem persists, try a PRAM/NVRAM reset: Shut down your Mac, then start it back up while immediately holding the following keys: Command, Option, P and R. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the third time.
Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.
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