MacBook – OpenGL acceleration with Intel HD 3000

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1 – Original issue

I own a Macbook Pro 15" from Early 2011, which suffers from the well-known-but-denied-by-Apple GPU problem.
TL;DR: the AMD Radeon HD 6XX0M is dead and the Macbook can't boot, or can boot but with huge graphic glitches on screen.

2 – Workaround

There is a workaround to this problem, which consists to disable the AMD GPU and only use the Intel HD 3000 chipset. The main way to do this is to use a software like gfxCardStatus.

However, since my Macbook wasn't booting (stuck on blue screen after Apple logo), I managed to disable my AMD Radeon HD 6490M by entering single-user mode and deleting the following files from /System/Library/Extensions/:

AMDRadeonAccelerator.kext
AMDRadeonVADriver.bundle
AMDRadeonX3000GLDriver.bundle
AMDRadeonX4000GLDriver.bundle
ATI2400Controller.kext
ATI2600Controller.kext
ATI3800Controller.kext
ATI4600Controller.kext
ATI4800Controller.kext
ATI5000Controller.kext
ATI6000Controller.kext
ATI7000Controller.kext
ATIFramebuffer.kext
ATIRadeonX2000.kext
ATIRadeonX2000GA.plugin
ATIRadeonX2000GLDriver.bundle
ATIRadeonX2000VADriver.bundle
ATISupport.kext

3 – Remaining problems

But, as I said, this is just a workaround to get OS X to boot. I now have 2 main issues:

  • I can't plug an external screen on the Thunderbolt port
  • I can't play any avi or mkv video

I know there isn't any solution for the first issue, since the Intel HD 3000 is not even physically linked to the Thunderbolt port.

However, I am looking for a solution to the second issue. The Intel HD 3000 chipset may not be a killer GPU, but I am sure it can handle a simple video, and even 1080p videos.
When I open a video file in VLC, I get the following error:

OpenGL acceleration is not supported on your Mac
Your Mac lacks Quartz Extreme acceleration, which is required for video output. It will still work, but much slower and with possibly unexpected results.

And in the logs:

vout_macosx error: no OpenGL hardware acceleration found. this can lead to slow output and unexpected results

I think Mac OS X is trying to get OpenGL acceleration thanks to the AMD GPU. And since the GPU is supposed to work properly, it never tries to get the adequate features from the Intel HD 3000 chipset.

So, is there any way to get more from this chipset?

Best Answer

I'm having the same issue with GPU on my MBP 2011 and was using the same solution as yours (plus additionally disabled AppleIntelHD3000Graphics.kext). Saving money for motherboard replacement (or the new Haswell MBP whatever)…

I'm able to play most of videos with Miro player.

Although, I'm starting to have difficulties with my eyes since it's not possible to control monitor brightness anymore…