Macbook Pro 2010 Kernel Panic

I have a Macbook Pro 2010 and after upgrading to OS X Mountain Lion so that I could play Guild Wars 2 on it on the go I began to encounter several Kernel Panics which would restart my laptop. Frustrated I began to do some research and found that this was a common issue with my particular model of video card, the GeForce GT 330M.

I noticed the crashing a lot while using Chrome as well because the browser likes to switch over to the more powerful NVIDIA card as opposed to the integrated Intel Card.

Apple’s TS4088 has more information.

Your options are thus:

1. Try restarting the NVRAM. Instructions here.
2. Try installing the video card update here.
3. Scheduling an appointment with the Genius Bar regarding TS4088. They can run a test for this issue and may need to replace the Graphics Card.
4. Using a graphics switcher like gfxCardStatus to only use the built-in Intel card.

Sources:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4152749?start=0&tstart=0

http://www.neowin.net/news/nvidia-driver-problems-with-lion-on-2010-macbook-pros

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2011/08/buggy-nvidia-drivers-giving-2010-macbook-pro-owners-lion-upgrade-headaches/