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topconsurveyor

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 15, 2014
10
0
First of all I want to say this is a wonderful helpful forum and I've been reading and researching nonstop.
I am very new to the Mac world, I just got my first iPhone 5 about a year ago and liked it so much I bought a used A1226 MBP a few months ago for $100. Loved it a lot and was learning how to use it daily, I'm good with windows computers but never realized how different macs would be. Anyways a month ago I went to use my MBP (OS unknown) and it fired up just fine but the screen never turns on. As far as I can tell the computer is fully functional (volume control makes beeps, caps lock light goes on/off, etc) only problem is the screen just stays black, nothing at all. I have done a ton of reading on this and had deduced that I have the infamous Nvidia problem and pretty much gave up for a few weeks. Yesterday I thought I would do some more reading and see if there were any other ideas on quick fixes. I came across a good thread here with similar MBP's with same problem. I tried the usual ram resets and nothing ever worked, then I came across a new recommendation to hold the power button down and hit "s" then release the hit enter then hard shut down then restart. Magically my screen worked!!!! I was so happy. I thought it was cured and started working with it like normal. After a few hours I shut the lid on the MBP, which I guess puts it in sleep mode, then reopened it a few minutes later and now I'm back to the same problem. I figured I would try the fix that worked earlier but now it doesn't seem to fix it. I'm guessing now it has some problem with the screen waking up from sleep mode?

Does anyone have any ideas on what to do now? I've put manyany hours into researching this problem and I'm ready to give up on her. :(

Thanks in advance for all you help!

topconsurveyor
 

topconsurveyor

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 15, 2014
10
0
Update: I've been spending roughly an hour every day trying different things to get this MBP screen to "wake up" for the past week or so. Last night out of the blue, I have been using it for the USB power to charge my e-cig and I plugged in my e-cig charger then hit the power button to turn on the MBP and the screen came on with the computer this time! I wish I could figure this out I really need this lappy right now since I lost my job a few days ago.
 

topconsurveyor

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 15, 2014
10
0
Try to Reset the SMU to see if that helps.

I've tried the various resets (pull battery and power cord and hold power button down for up to a minute) hold command + option + P + R at startup until I hear the chime a couple times. Tried those resets a hundred times with no results, then I read a thread stating this was possibly a "wake sleep" problem since the computer itself wakes up and runs perfectly normal, only problem is screen does not turn on. That thread said to hold power and hit "S" then enter, to put it to sleep, then hold power to force power off, then hit power to turn it back on, the first time I tried that it magically worked. However the first time I shut the lid it went to sleep and then the screen wouldn't wake up again and I was right back to the same problem, only this time the "force sleep, power off then on" trick wouldn't work to fix it again. After that I just kept trying the various resets and the same sleep on/off trick a hundred times and nothing worked. Then out of the blue this morning I plugged in my USB e-cig charger then hit the power button to turn it on and it magically decided to work again. Now I'm afraid to turn it off or restart it or even shut the lid because I have to be able to use it for a while. Not sure what to do now.
 

topconsurveyor

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 15, 2014
10
0
A little more info now that I am able to access my MBP A1226, the OS currently installed is OS X 10.9.4, also I seem to have a couple vertical lines along the left edge of the screen (one is green one is red) and I've noticed they sen to change if I pick up the MBP and move it around. Does this sound like a possible screen cable connection issue?

I'm also wondering if these problems would be consistent with the infamous Nvidia problem since I know I have one of the MBP's with a mfg date that would be included. But since I'm able to randomly get my screen to work I don't think this could be the issue, from what I've read if I had the Nvidia problem then once the screen goes black it would never come back until it was replaced with a new one. Just wondering.
 

topconsurveyor

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 15, 2014
10
0
Update: well after it magically started working again a week ago I've just left it on and never closed the lid and have been using it daily to fill out job applications online and the wife and I usually watch a movie on it every night, no problems. After the movie last night I left it on as usual but forgot to unplug the external USB speakers. Woke up thus morning and the MBP had shut off on its own somehow and now I'm back to the original problem once again. I've tried all the various resets again to no avail, tried about 50-60 restarts and still black screen. Today I think I'm going to open it up and try reseating the ram and possibly reseat the screen cable, will update again later.

Just still curious if these symptoms and behaviors are indicative of the nvidia problem?

Any other suggestions would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
topconsurveyor :)
 

topconsurveyor

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 15, 2014
10
0
fixed it :)

I guess I had the bad Nvidia chip problem, I took the MBP apart today and baked the logic board upside down in the oven at 375 degrees for 8 minutes, reassembled and now it works like new again.

Here is a link to the youtube video I watched and followed, i'm by no means good with working on electronics or computers but I did it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqjeKqWbTg4
 
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