Help with funky Mac issue.

Hey all, been probably 8 years since I've posted in the computer forum on ATS, back when this part of the site would've been on BTS. Anyway, I have a mid 2011 macbook pro that's running on Maverick. Sometimes when I close the screen (as in physically put it down) and pul it back up, the screen is black. My cursor is on there and it moves just fine. I can swipe to different screens and they appear, but only for a fraction of a second before turning black again. After hitting buttons at random trying to see if I could get my screen back to normal, I must've hit the music play button, so it started playing music which came through fine, and the top right notification of artist/song also appeared. These all show me that it's a software issue and not a hardware issue, I just don't know how to fix it. It probably only happens 10% of the time, maybe less, but it's really annoying because the only way I know how to fix it is to restart the computer. Any ideas? I'm fairly certain it also happened with 10.8 mountain lion, but pretty sure it never happened with 10.7 lion (my favorite osx).

a reply to: Schmidt1989

Just had mine fixed recently because it was weirding out and we could never get it to replicate the problem at the store. Turns out when things malfunction oddly and randomly they replace the logic board…which is what was done to mine and it now runs without a hitch.

Don't know how to help you fix the issue other than taking it to the Genius Bar at the Apple store.

I am still running Lion. I never upgraded and have no issues (*knocks on wood).

a reply to: Schmidt1989

Hi I have the OS X 10.5 and I haven't got the problem you have. I have another. Can you help with how to put a link to another site on with a MAC. Mine plays up which drives me mad when I want to put on a video or a source for info.

I will ask a mate who has a Mack if he has had your trouble. Shiloh

Your Mac stores certain settings in a special memory area even if it is turned off. On Intel-based Macs, this is stored in memory known as NVRAM; on PowerPC-based Macs, this is stored in memory known as PRAM.

Information stored in NVRAM / PRAM includes:
◾Speaker volume
◾Screen resolution
◾Startup disk selection
◾Recent kernel panic information, if any

If you experience issues related to these functions, you may need to reset the NVRAM or PRAM.
1.Shut down your Mac.
2.Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command (⌘), Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
3.Turn on the computer.
4.Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys before the gray screen appears.
5.Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
6.Release the keys.

It's worth a try. This usually cleared up problems for my mac pros. I know I had problems on my 2013 Air with waking from sleep and the screen would remain off. It only happened twice, but was annoying. An update seems to have fixed it a couple months ago.

a reply to: jtrenthacker

Yes, he beat me to it. Reset PRAM.

I would say make a backup (ALWAYS have a backup...) and if PRAM reset doesn't work you may need to reformat your computer. Sometimes video drivers can get corrupted.

If that's not it it could be a loose cable, take to store if you have a warranty.