Leopard's graphics glitches
For a number of users, Mac OS X 10.5.x (Leopard) exhibits various display glitches and distortions that were not apparent on identically configured systems running Mac OS X 10.4.x (Tiger). The problems include displacement of elements to other portions of the screen, inverted colors, randomly appearing artifacts and more. The problems are especially prone to occur in graphics intensive applications like Time Machine.
Here's an example:
A wide array of cards is affected, including those from ATI and NVidia, as well as built-in Intel graphics chipsets.
The solutions to this problem differ based on severity of the problem, Mac/graphics card model, user willingness and Apple's whim. Here are a few options:
Update card drivers Make sure that your graphic card's drivers are up-to-date. Search VersionTracker for the name of the manufacturer of your card. If you're not sure which card your Mac uses, check the EveryMac Web site.
Calibrate display settings In System Preferences, navigate to Displays then Color, then Calibrate. Follow the steps and check for alleviation of color-related issues.
Seek a replacement graphics card Some cases are the result of faulty graphics cards, or graphics cards that display fault under Leopard but not Tiger. As such, some users are having success obtaining replacement cards from Apple that do not exhibit the issues under Leopard. Here's a service provider locator.
Some example posts from an Apple Discussions thread:
- "Apple sent me a replacement ATI X1900 XT card I have fitted it and the glitches have gone. Fingers crossed that they wont return.
- "It is a problem with the Ati card. Leopard pushes it too much and it overheats. Talk to Apple - they will most likely upgrade your card. It is a recognised problem. "
Downgrade to Mac OS X 10.4.x Use our tutorial on reverting to an earlier version of Mac OS X to go back to Tiger. Far from ideal, but acceptable for some users.
Wait for an update Apple has been known to include enhanced graphics card drivers, which are otherwise unavailable, with new Mac OS X updates. Mac OS X 10.5.2 may hold fixes for these issues.
Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.
Resources
I recently learned by the empirical method that any changes made under Leopard to an Apple Address Book that originated in Tiger are not readable under Tiger. Any new cards added under Leopard will not appear when you open the Address Book in Tiger, and any edits done under Leopard to cards that were created in Tiger will not appear under Tiger. Apple informed me that the only way to solve the problem is to export the entire Address Book as vCards under Leopard (making sure that the Preferences are set to include the Notes field) and to import the vCards under Tiger. The xlm file structure was changed under Leopard.
I do not know how many other problems there may be in reverting from Leopard to Tiger, but I suggest doing a lot of research first.
In general, when a graphics card comes with a Macintosh computer, the drivers are supplied by Apple as part of the system software, and you cannot download better ones from the vendor of the card.
Hmmmm... a wide array of cards is affected. Somehow that doesn't sound as wrong as you make it out to be, since "A wide array" comes off as singular to me. Yes I know that the word "cards" is plural, and cards are clearly affected, but I don't find it nearly as offensive as your post.
They/we/you are (is?) people, that's for sure. Smile a little bit. Go have an ice cream cone.
If you criticize one person's grammar and use incorrect grammar yourself, what?s the point?
Case in point: subject-verb agreement... ?One(sing.) can hardly proofread HIS/HER [not THEIR(pl.)] own work?
It is a greater problem today than in the past-- or it seems that way since more people are expressing themselves publicly via the internet. YOUR vs YOU'RE. TO vs TOO vs TWO. THERE vs THEIR. No spelling checker will catch these mistakes. The solution to the problem is to proofread what you write. A former colleague taught her students to read backwards, starting from the end of a paragraph to catch errors. Even with proofreading, if the writer is not sufficiently educated and motivated, mistakes will happen. Read most blogs and you will find that people are more interested in expressing their ideas than ?getting it right.?
And it requires much effort NOT to respond to all of the mistakes!
Not to mention ITS vs. IT'S.
IF the beef was with "A wide array of cards is affected," then MacFixIt has it correct since 'array' is singular and is the subject of the sentence. It does NOT matter WHAT prepositional phrase follows/modifies the noun. Go back to school and learn some grammar!
Would you say that "ONE WHOLE BUILDING of more than 200 public employees and their children in day-care WAS or WERE demolished by the explosion."?
a load of steaming codswallop, APPLE
The best solution, bar none, for the problem of downgrading the OS is to have a recent backup handy. Investing a few bucks in Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper!, and using them, is the proverbial stitch in time that saves nine. Pardon me if I'm less than sympathetic to those who fail to take reasonable precautions.
Of course we all wish the new OS would arrive problem and bug free. But this has never happened and never will happen. Complaining about it is an exercise in futility. If you can't deal, then you should by all means wait until a stable version is reported and all your third-party software has been updated for compatibility. Anything else is plain foolishness.
---
Don't anthropomorphize computers.
They hate that.
Runned AHT extended test (replaced 1x1GB by 2x2GB RAM) stopped at 1,5 hour of test. Very hot at the top of the iMac.
Partitioned the drive, installed original 10.5 disks.
Started install of Adobe CS3 Std by original DVD. While still installing CS3, put Parallels Desktop 3 build 5582, put original WinXP Pro SP2 (by iso image, faster). CS3 finished. iMac still very hot.
Then tried // Windowed mode, Full Screen AND Coherance? Launched IE PC side, toyed 5 min with modes put Coherance as default mode and quit // (saved the PC state). Relaunch of // make a change of IE window still opened and quit // again? there major video glitches ! Vectorial coloured graphics all over the screen changing while moving mouse. Moving windows (Mac side) would sometimes redraw things back, but not always. Even menu bar affected. Problem stops after fast-user switch ! Back to original user: still there !
A full restart seemed to correct things. Had to see tomorrow how things evolve on normal DTP+// use.
- by imacca January 21, 2008 1:43 AM PST
- Hi everyone,
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
(14 Comments)I had the same issues on a brandnew 20'' IMac, but only on the main display. External screens brought everything up just fine. Pulling the application, that seemed buggy on the IMac-screen, to the external display showed no errors at all there.
Returned my Mac to the dealer - who declared it DOA, sent it back to Apple and gave me a new one.
So I guess this is rather a display-panel issue than one of the graphics-card.
Best regards,
Michael