Chosen Solution
I have a mid 2009 17in MBP 2.8GHz. The screen/display flickers with green symmetrical lines at random times. Its makes watching a video or gaming frustrating. They so up almost symmetrical around images. I did find a temporary fix doing a google search. If I apply pressure with my hand to the bottom of the laptop underneath the area of the left option key, it magically goes away. When I release the pressure it comes back. Is there a permanent fix?
There are a couple of things you can checkout, hopefully one will resolve the issue. Are you up to it? do you have the correct tools and work area (ESD mat & strap) and lastly the skills to work with delicate parts? If you do read on. At this point you need to know what kind of trauma you system encountered as that will help in fingering out what direction you will need to go. As an example did you drop or bang your system or did something spill into it or did you sit it onto a wet surface? Also has the system been serviced before or is the system used? If you don’t know you’ll need to open the bottom plate to inspect things. Let us know what you discover and well guide you to the next steps.
What I believe is happening to your machine is your GPU is de-soldering itself from the Logic Board causing the green lines in your video. My guess is you will eventually lose video all together or have the green and pink lines permanently. Since lead solder has been banned, lead-free solder tends to crystallize and crack over time which causes the separation. While gaming and watching videos you put extra stress on the GPU. Also letting the laptop breath is important to keep it cool. Leaving the machine running on a couch or other soft surface causes it to overheat which is the biggest cause of the GPU failure. We see it all the time most commonly in the HP DV series of laptops. You need a high quality re-flow/re-work station to do the repair. We have a service to fix that problem for $69.95 if interested.
What is your service to fix this problem?
Hello, I had the exact same issue, my solution was i flipped the macbook upside down and opened the screws and took the bottom plate off locate the LVDS cable usually is a wide thick cable in the top left with a cushion on top for protection flip the silver lock up and slide the cable out very carefully and check the connections if it all looks good plug it back in very carefully you should hear two clicks on both sides. This confirms it is plugged in properly. Clip the silver thing back. I did this and problem went away no more flashing green screen anywhere. I figured it is the video connector from the motherboard to the monitor. Kinda like an HDMI cable, a faulty HDMI cable does similar problems so thats my solution for it. im not a professional or anything, but I like to mess with things. So do this on your own risk!! hope this helped!
I had the same issue after my macbook fell from the table: flickering pixels and sometimes flashes. I fixed it easily, maybe this will be helpful for somebody: Open the backplateCheck for the loose connectorsGently push in connectors with a plastic tool.In my case some connector just got loose after the hit. I guess it was the main display cable connector near the charging portWish you all luck :)
