# Help me please; MacBook gone insane! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 30, 2010, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-please-macbook-gone-insane/562389 "2010-11-30T07:13:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![King\_Bobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@King\_Bobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Bobo)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-please-macbook-gone-insane/562389/1 "2010-11-30T07:13:28Z")
I do not know what I did, but all of a sudden, my MacBook has changed screen colours and has a weird, almost 3D sort of look. If I try to connect to book-marked places, suddenly they are techicoloured. For instance, the Dope is various shades of blue, green and yellow. I can sort of see to type a message, but is grey on grey. Did I kill my MacBook somehow? Or have I just tweaked a wrong combination of keys to do something strange? Damn, this is a new-ish laptop, and hope I have not killed it. Any thoughts out there? Please do not berate me for spelling, grammar etc. I am typing blind here… What, if anything, did I do? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-please-macbook-gone-insane/562389/2 "2010-11-30T07:44:16Z")
I could be wrong, but that sounds like a hardware issue–as if the connector to the screen is loose or something like that. Do you have a separate monitor (or even TV) you can hook it up to, and see if it appears normal on that screen? ---
**Author:** ![King\_Bobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@King\_Bobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Bobo)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-please-macbook-gone-insane/562389/3 "2010-11-30T07:49:31Z")
T, this is a laptop that I have been using for a few months. is only connected to wall electric plug. Edited to add, never has been connected to anything else - as in stand alone laptop with wireless internet and standard powerpack that gets plugged into wall to charge battery. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-please-macbook-gone-insane/562389/4 "2010-11-30T07:50:32Z")
There are some accessibility settings for contrast and colour that will make the display look weird. Try: control-option-command-8 control-option-command-comma (press this several times) If they don’t help it’s something else. ---
**Author:** ![iamnotbatman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@iamnotbatman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamnotbatman)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-please-macbook-gone-insane/562389/5 "2010-11-30T07:52:11Z")
Try: control-option-command-8 But seriously, yeah, sounds like a bad video card or screen problem. Hopefully you’ve tried rebooting… ETA: looks like I was beat about the first part ---
**Author:** ![King\_Bobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@King\_Bobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Bobo)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-please-macbook-gone-insane/562389/6 "2010-11-30T08:00:22Z")
T, this whole technicolour stuff just happened this evening - desk top did not do it - so I am not thinking new download. I think maybe I did something to change the settings and want to undo them. I have tried all of the "display " stuff I know how to do and a few that I flirted with - no joy. Was wondering if anyone else did this and can tell me how to undo it - at least that is my hope. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-please-macbook-gone-insane/562389/7 "2010-11-30T08:05:38Z")
> [@King\_Bobo](#): > > T, this is a laptop that I have been using for a few months. is only connected to wall electric plug. > > Edited to add, never has been connected to anything else - as in stand alone laptop with wireless internet and standard powerpack that gets plugged into wall to charge battery. I’m not saying that it was connected. I’m saying that a way to identify the problem is to hook it up to something else. If it doesn’t have problems, then there’s something wrong with the laptop’s screen. ---
**Author:** ![King\_Bobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@King\_Bobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Bobo)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-please-macbook-gone-insane/562389/8 "2010-11-30T08:14:48Z")
Big T, Telly and Batman: Did what you said. Regular colour and background restored - laptop seems to be happy. Thank you all; I seem to be back where I was before I did damage - and love to you all - thanks for taking the time to help me out, I am very appreciative. But…what did I do and how can I avoid it in the future??? M. ---
**Author:** ![iamnotbatman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@iamnotbatman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamnotbatman)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-please-macbook-gone-insane/562389/9 "2010-11-30T08:19:05Z")
You either hit “control-option-command-8” or “control-option-command-.” by accident. Shouldn’t happen often. To correct: either “control-option-command-8” or “control-option-command-,” You can learn more about it and why it is an option under “Universal Access” in your system preferences ---
**Author:** ![King\_Bobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@King\_Bobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Bobo)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-please-macbook-gone-insane/562389/10 "2010-11-30T08:28:57Z")
You are right, I may well have slapped the keyboard when listening to sports news, and will try not to do it again. The 'why" of the slapping is likely fodder for another forum. Again, my most grateful thanks to all who came to my aid. This board is so awesome. I am so glad to be a part of it.