NVIDIA graphics card causes kernel panic [was: I need to go back to thunderbird 44 after the update to 45 on 2010 MacBookPro]
My 2010Mac suffers kernel panics when the NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M graphics card runs. Sadly there does not seem to be solution to this problem. This means I can't use some programs like Google Chrome. This update to 45 had added Thunderbird to the list ! How can I go back to version 44?
Modified by Wayne Mery
All Replies (10)
How is Thunderbird related to the Mac kernel panic, and why do you want to go back to v44? In any case v44 has never been an official release version. The last previous release version was 38.7.2.
Thanks for responding. I have gfxCardStatus running which warns me when that graphics card is active. As soon as Thunderbird re-started it indicated that the graphics card was in use and that Thunderbird was responsible. Experience tells me that after an unpredictable length of time this will initiate a kernel panic. How do I get back to 38.7.2?
I'm not familiar with a Mac. Can't you simply disable the NVIDIA card until you found a solution?
Wrt Thunderbird, verify whether hardware acceleration has been disabled. It should be disabled by default.
At the top right of the Thunderbird window, click the menu button 
, then select > Preferences > Advanced > General tab
Make sure 'Use hardware acceleration when available' is unchecked.
Apparently the card can't be disabled. 'Use hardware acceleration when available' was already unchecked. How do I go back to earlier version of Thunderbird?
I really doubt that a downgrade to an older version of Thunderbird fix the problem. Downgrading is not recommended as it will expose you to unpatched security vulnerabilities. http://kb.mozillazine.org/Go_back_to_an_old_version_of_Thunderbird
Please tell us, does starting Thunderbird in safe mode help?
Also, if safe mode does not help, please file a bug report at https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=Thunderbird
(look forward to your posting)
Starting in safe mode seems to force the problem NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M graphics card to be active (as indicated by gfxCardStatus, v2.3) even when there are no applications running so I can't tell if starting Thunderbird has any effect or not.
Starting in normal mode now and the graphics card is not in use until Thunderbird (or GoogleChrome, Opera or video playing etc.) engaged. Some change has been introduced in Thundrebird 45 that causes use of the problem card to be forced.
I think you'd need to solve your problem with the NVIDIA graphics card in the first place. It can't be normal that the graphics card is causing a kernel panic, regardless of which program is actually using that card.