Mac Mini or Apple Display issue?

[bazookaman]

Yes. It's a video. What better way to show a video problem?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3j64v5z9rtk9fy...2.mov?dl=0

I've had the MB replaced in this 2012 Mini once before due to a similar yet different video issue. The previous video problem was an unrecoverable problem. This one comes and goes and as the video shows, I can "erase" it by moving another window over the affected area.

[OWC Larry]

Depending on the model.... it could be a memory issue if it is sharing the DDR3 system memory for the VRAM which I think, actually, they all do.

Either way - that looks system based vs. an issue on the display.

Get the display on a different system to be sure... but it's likely the Mac mini imho, but could simply be caused be the Memory set in the Mac Pro. We saw an issue way back when in 2012 with a certain rev die that was transitioned to and made short order eliminating that from our approved. Hopefully is just the memory causing issue with the video chipset... as that is easy to then resolve.

[bazookaman]

OWC Larry wrote:
Depending on the model.... it could be a memory issue if it is sharing the DDR3 system memory for the VRAM which I think, actually, they all do.

Either way - that looks system based vs. an issue on the display.

Get the display on a different system to be sure... but it's likely the Mac mini imho, but could simply be caused be the Memory set in the Mac Pro. We saw an issue way back when in 2012 with a certain rev die that was transitioned to and made short order eliminating that from our approved. Hopefully is just the memory causing issue with the video chipset... as that is easy to then resolve.

Funny you should mention the memory thing. Back when I first experienced a video issue (a different one) I got you guys to swap out the old OWC memory with the newer sticks.

[OWC Larry]

If it's our memory - and from the swap - not likely the memory then.

[Lew Zealand]

Hi bazookaman, I have that exact same issue with my 2012 Mac Mini and in fact, I've done both of the tests (changing RAM and displays) and the display doesn't matter, it's not a display problem. Changing RAM did help quite a bit. I believe after about 6 weeks of using different RAM, the issue has come up once, late last week.

The problem is that both switches came within about 2 weeks of each other and in fact weren't planned, they just happened. When the video artifact came up last week, I realized that I hadn't seen it in quite a while.

I'm planning on getting one more RAM upgrade for this machine soon so I can keep you posted if that changes things further. The monitors aren't likely to change however and by the way I have 2 monitors on my Mini and the problem has happened on each one, so that also points away from it being a monitor problem.

[Black]

bazookaman wrote:
Yes. It's a video. What better way to show a video problem?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3j64v5z9rtk9fy...2.mov?dl=0

I've had the MB replaced in this 2012 Mini once before due to a similar yet different video issue. The previous video problem was an unrecoverable problem. This one comes and goes and as the video shows, I can "erase" it by moving another window over the affected area.

Sign in required for video.

[bazookaman]

You only have to sign in if you want to or if you want a db account. You can just X out of the sign up box.

[RAMd®d]

My money is on the video chipset.

I have a similar problem with my 2010 mini.

There are far more artifacts, though intermittent and not very frequent.

Moving the cursor cuts a swath through the artifacts, as does moving a window. This seems to be a result of the mini getting too warm and triggering a defective component (chip, cap?)

If I use iSTST to turn the fan on from Default to Medium, I sometimes see the temperature drop. I have another app to install that gives more control to the fan(s) in Macs.

I *had* a problem when using my 2012 mini to watch a TWIT Live podcast. There was some kind of chroma artifact combined with a slight dimming *only* in the video within the browser, after viewing for about 4s. If I moved the cursor anywhere on the screen, the artifact vanished, and the video brightness returned to normal.

The next time I watched the podcast, I didn't even notice that the problem stopped. I would have assumes it was at TWiT's end, except for the cursor momentarily clearing things up. But it hasn't surfaced again, in over a month.

[Lew Zealand]

RAMd®d wrote:
My money is on the video chipset.

I have a similar problem with my 2010 mini.

There are far more artifacts, though intermittent and not very frequent.

Moving the cursor cuts a swath through the artifacts, as does moving a window. This seems to be a result of the mini getting too warm and triggering a defective component (chip, cap?)

If I use iSTST to turn the fan on from Default to Medium, I sometimes see the temperature drop. I have another app to install that gives more control to the fan(s) in Macs.

I *had* a problem when using my 2012 mini to watch a TWIT Live podcast. There was some kind of chroma artifact combined with a slight dimming *only* in the video within the browser, after viewing for about 4s. If I moved the cursor anywhere on the screen, the artifact vanished, and the video brightness returned to normal.

The next time I watched the podcast, I didn't even notice that the problem stopped. I would have assumes it was at TWiT's end, except for the cursor momentarily clearing things up. But it hasn't surfaced again, in over a month.

It's probably not a temperature related thing in the 2012 Minis as I occasionally run Handbrake encodes and I don't see any video problems during those when the processor is at 99°C for a few hours.

[bazookaman]

Yes. This doesn't seem to correlate with heat at all. I frequently handbrake bluray rips for hours at a time and never get the problem. It's more likely to happen when I'm entering a transaction in moneydance. Or composing an email. Basically not taxing the machine at all.