Foot Light Type Stripes On Screen: Confirming It's A Hardware Problem

[PGB1]

Hi All,
I have a 2007 MacBook Pro. I realize it is long past time to replace it. (Hopefully very soon)

After replacing it with an Air, I still will need this old MacBook Pro to access some documents that will not be able to open in any OS past 10.11.6. (Turbocad TC3 file type is one example. The new version won't open the old files.)

Problem:
The screen suddenly has vertical stripes, reminiscent of stage footlights. (Screen shot of the screen with a blank page is attached) The problem arrived instantly. I can still read what is on the screen, but the shadows are present.

Tried:
After reading on line, I reset the SMS, did the PRAM reset. Ran everything that Onxy had to offer regarding maintenance and cleaning. I blew out the computer with air. I verified that the fans are working. I also did many re-starts and some shut down and restart.

To Confirm: Is the display going bad?

Thanks For Your Advice,
Paul

 

[MacInWin]

To Confirm: Is the display going bad?

Yes. You can still use it, for what you need, I think, if you get an external monitor for it. the stripes are symptoms of a hardware failure in the display itself, not in the GPU. But you can verify that with an external monitor.

EDIT: I don't use Turbocad, but if the current version doesn't open the older version format files, then at some point, when TC changed the format, they must have provided some provision to open old files and save in that new format. You might talk to them about that and see if that conversion process is available to you now.

 

[pm-r]

Yes. You can still use it, for what you need, I think, if you get an external monitor for it. the stripes are symptoms of a hardware failure in the display itself, not in the GPU. But you can verify that with an external monitor.

You could do what Jake suggested or maybe pick up a used MacBook of the same or similar era that's still in good working condition and transfer your files while the old one is still in working condition.

But not that critical No Doubt as I'm sure you have a backup of all your data that you could use if your old one fails.

If you use Facebook, check out the marketplace for your area for a used Mac model and there's usually a very good buy among those for sale, at least there are in this area but be aware of some sellers charging far more than the Mac is worth.

I doubt very much if the screen on your MacBook Pro is worth replacing if that is actually what the problem is.



- Patrick
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[PGB1]

Thank You Jake & Patrick for taking time to reply and for good suggestions. I appreciate your help.

I never thought of trying my external monitor to find out if the stripes were from the internal monitor or video processor. I also never thought of simply using an external if this display fails. Or, buying a used MacBook Pro, as Patrick suggested. Both very helpful solutions. I'll try the monitor when I'm home today.

Thanks Again Jake & Patrick!
Paul


Side Note About The TurboCAD Troubles-
As explained to me by a technical support person at IMSI (the makers of TurboCAD) there never will be a way to open older .tc3 files in the newer versions of their CAD programs. Technically, the user's drawings will remain inaccessible on any machine except the one that created them.

It seems that IMSI engineers used parts of the ".tcf" file format coding illegally taken from another company, I think called CSI. They also took some pen colors from CSI. A tort judgement mandated that they stop using the .tc3 format and stop supporting it.

That left users of this version with drawings that can not be accessed except on that version of TurboCAD.
And, the version that uses .tc3 can not be used on 64 bit machines. (Supposedly one can convert the tcf files to DWG or DXF but it never worked. Ever)

Actually, they issued an unannounced update that stops this version of the program from being re-installed if moved to a new computer or an OS is updated, but I figured out a sneaky work-around when I upgraded to 10.11.6 & TurboCAD quit working.

So that's why I'd like to keep this MacBook Pro working- at least until I can convert all of my 2-D drawings to pdf so I can at most view them on an new machine. How to be able to view Isometric & 3-D ones in the future = ??

 

[jpdemers]

The problem is that the backlight for the screen is failing (that's why the stripes are fuzzy). An external display would be the most sensible solution, since you don't intend to use the MB as a laptop in the future.
Can you export the files in some other format? (Not familiar with the TurboCAD, but exporting to other formats seems to be a pretty common feature of software in general.)

 

[PGB1]

The problem is that the backlight for the screen is failing (that's why the stripes are fuzzy). An external display would be the most sensible solution, since you don't intend to use the MB as a laptop in the future.
Can you export the files in some other format? (Not familiar with the TurboCAD, but exporting to other formats seems to be a pretty common feature of software in general.)

Thanks, JPDemers for your screen advice. I appreciate it. Today, I'll test an external just to confirm the problem's the display.

You suggested exporting the TurboCAD TC3 files. Unfortunately, the best it can do is a pdf, a screen shot or paper print. At least something can be viewed later (not so much the 3-D drawings).

Although the application offers exporting to DWG & DXF, it's never worked. The drawings get scrambled terribly- if they will open at all.

When I first got the application, IMSI technical support said "We're working on a solution.". Follow up calls for 2 years: "We're working on a solution". After 2 years: No technical support available.

 

[ferrarr]

Usually, exporting as pdf, means it will keep all attributes in the document and should be readable by a newer app to open.

 

[PGB1]

Thanks Bob for your explanation regarding PDF. I usually Cmd-P, Save As PDF, so I assumed these files were just pictures of the CAD drawing.

Does the fact that the pdf will keep the attributes mean that a different CAD application that can open pdf files can edit the document as though it were still a CAD file?

Thanks,
Paul

 

[pm-r]

Thanks Bob for your explanation regarding

OT here, and basically a question for the Forum administrators, but have they or I done something with my browser that is preventing the OP tag on a members icon that I used to get when the original poster replies or post to a thread they generated, such as PGB1's posts in this thread oh stopwhere the op tag doesn't show on his replying posts?

Divide disabled something and my Google Chrome browser that I cannot find or has it just quit working?

My apologies if I have posted my question in the wrong place. But the problem is happening in this thread, at least that I can't see.



- Patrick
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[PGB1]

OT here, and basically a question for the Forum administrators, but have they or I done something with my browser that is preventing the OP tag on a members icon that I used to get when the original poster replies or post to a thread they generated, such as PGB1's posts in this thread oh stopwhere the op tag doesn't show on his replying posts?

Divide disabled something and my Google Chrome browser that I cannot find or has it just quit working?

My apologies if I have posted my question in the wrong place. But the problem is happening in this thread, at least that I can't see.



- Patrick
=======

I don't know if this helps with your diagnostic work Patrick, but the OP sash appears in Firefox and Brave. It does not appear in Opera. (At least on my machine with 10.11.6)
Paul

 

[ferrarr]

Does the fact that the pdf will keep the attributes mean that a different CAD application that can open pdf files can edit the document as though it were still a CAD file?

I don't remember, when I was doing it for work (10+ years ago), I was just going between Photoshop or Illustrator, and the software our cardboard guy was using for the boxes. I forgot the name of the CAD program that the machine ran from. He could use a PDF, but he preferred DXF or DWG. Most of the work he did came from package engineers, and we were run the creative arts side of it.