Macbook pro won't boot.....

[bazookafx3]

Spork138.... I could kiss you right now.

I've been up since 11pm trying to get this to work (it's 5am now) and I had tried EVERYTHING, who knew it was a simple ram seating problem? Funny because I had just ordered new ram today. I used the screw driver trick and squealed like a little girl when it finally booted.

If I ever meet you in real life, I'm going to buy you a beer man.

 

[facemobile]

I can't believe this!!!

First off I'm a mac admin. I have over 200 of these things. At this point I would never buy another mac ever again. The sales rep called a few day's ago and asked me how it's going? I told him and he said yeah that pretty much the popular consensus. He then asked if the school was ready to make another purchase. I was reading this thread and someone said their MBP was only 18 months old and died but they were going to buy another one. Who is that stupid? If I bought anything, car, tv, computer and it only lasted 18 months, someone in support would want to quit the moment they got my phone call. All macs suck because the company has to make you buy another one. Several years ago Bill Gates invested $25 million into apple just to keep them alive. Now in order to stay alive they have to make these machines with a shorter lifespan. If you and I only bought macs once every 5 or 7 years, they would go out of business in 2. Find a better solution people or quit complaining about your macs.

 

[aHao]

Hi guys,
I have the same problem of the threadstarter with my macbook pro.

I put closed it and left it on (as I usually do when I go to bed), woke up and realised it doesn't wake up again. I hard reboot it again, but it never boots. I only get the HD running and a dim light of the power (not bright, not pulsating when closed lid). I don't get any chime or anything on my screen

SYMPTONS:
- dim power light when powered on
- HD spinning
- no chime sound
- no image, no start up screen

I tried everything suggested in this forum, draining the battery doesn't work, swapping ram doesn't work etc...

I eventually sent it to the macstore and they're going to replace the logic board for €650, which is a lot. I'm not going to repair it. Can I somehow convince them that it's probably the nVidia card causing the problem?
They are aware of the problem, but they said if it was the gfx card, then I would get past the chime and start screen and that i would still hear sound.
I bet the gfx card overheated and might damaged other components on the logic board. If this is the case, than they should compensate for this right?

I'm really disappointed in mac. I had this machine for 2 1/2 years, I spent a fortune on this machine and I hate the face that I'm probably going to buy a new mac just because I'm used to it now.

 

[arogge]

I press the power button to turn it on and I get the cd drive 'engage'-ing sound and the sleep light comes on dimly but the screen stays dark and there is no mac sound or anything.
-BlackFrog

That sounds like what killed my Mac tower.

 

[puttputt]

You can try the heat gun method. I did:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1057293/

 

[aHao]

You can try the heat gun method. I did:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1057293/

Great I'm going to try that!


THe apple store won't recognize my problem as the nVIdia problem. They have to do a test, but they say they can't run the test because my macbook won't boot properly. What if the gpu overheating caused damage to other components?

 

[almostinsane]

I had the same problem. The logic board needed to be replaced.

 

[aHao]

I called Apple and they said that my gfx card may be the problem, but it isn't the same problem as the infamous nvidia claim.

So no extended warranty, even though the components failed when they shouldn't...

It's really outragous , expesive machines like these should last longer than 2 years.

I'm not going to let them replace the logic board and gonna try every diy method possible to revive it.

 

[Thereis]

I had exactly the same problem with my macbook pro.
Brought in 2007 it has been my workhorse lap top and has never before let me down.
Yesterday put it in sleep mode, came back to start it up and lo and behold the black screen of death. It wouldn't boot up despite all of the suggested fixes above.
Battery out, power cable disattached and power button pressed for 30 seconds - no result.
command ctrl power - no result.
power, command p - r - no result.
Left it to drain - restarted from power cable - no result.
Spent most of the night trying and trying again to get it booted up.

Was absolutely mortified since there was no warning this happened just out of the blue.
Found this forum and tried everything and thanks to all of those who posted the advice.

Luckily i managed to get an appointment at a genius bar at one of the apple shops (currently visiting california) today.

I mentioned that i understood that there were a batch of faulty Nvidia cards at the time i brought my lap top (thanks for the tip on the forum).

The guy checked my serial number, did a few tests and said they would repair it for free (900 dollars otherwise). They replaced the entire logic board within 4 hours and i got my lap top back on the same day. They intially said their turn around was 1-3 days, i asked for a special failure and they rushed the repair through.

Lap top now fixed within 24 hours and i have been very impressed with the service from Apple in resolving this issue 3 years after i brought the lap top and with no apple after care or existing warranty.

Hope this helps.

 

[aHao]

I had exactly the same problem with my macbook pro.
Brought in 2007 it has been my workhorse lap top and has never before let me down.
Yesterday put it in sleep mode, came back to start it up and lo and behold the black screen of death. It wouldn't boot up despite all of the suggested fixes above.
Battery out, power cable disattached and power button pressed for 30 seconds - no result.
command ctrl power - no result.
power, command p - r - no result.
Left it to drain - restarted from power cable - no result.
Spent most of the night trying and trying again to get it booted up.

Was absolutely mortified since there was no warning this happened just out of the blue.
Found this forum and tried everything and thanks to all of those who posted the advice.

Luckily i managed to get an appointment at a genius bar at one of the apple shops (currently visiting california) today.

I mentioned that i understood that there were a batch of faulty Nvidia cards at the time i brought my lap top (thanks for the tip on the forum).

The guy checked my serial number, did a few tests and said they would repair it for free (900 dollars otherwise). They replaced the entire logic board within 4 hours and i got my lap top back on the same day. They intially said their turn around was 1-3 days, i asked for a special failure and they rushed the repair through.

Lap top now fixed within 24 hours and i have been very impressed with the service from Apple in resolving this issue 3 years after i brought the lap top and with no apple after care or existing warranty.

Hope this helps.

What were the symptons? Was your keyboard responsive and have sound, just no image?

 

[Thereis]

The symptoms were that the MBP wouldn't boot up.
From the power off position, if i pressed the on button, there was a gentle whirring sound for a few seconds but nothing else. keyboard unresponsive and a black screen. Dim sleep light which brightened when the screen was folded down.
Much the same a previously reported comments which made me think it was the NVIDIA card.
The only response i had to all of the things above was when i did the command P-R sequence after the power on. That gave me a start up chime and some functionality to the keys but to no meaningful effect (caps lock could be activated on and off).

 

[aHao]

The symptoms were that the MBP wouldn't boot up.
From the power off position, if i pressed the on button, there was a gentle whirring sound for a few seconds but nothing else. keyboard unresponsive and a black screen. Dim sleep light which brightened when the screen was folded down.
Much the same a previously reported comments which made me think it was the NVIDIA card.
The only response i had to all of the things above was when i did the command P-R sequence after the power on. That gave me a start up chime and some functionality to the keys but to no meaningful effect (caps lock could be activated on and off).

My laptop has risen from the dead!!!!

I had exactly the same symptons. I tried to revive it myself at first but it didn't work. I took it to the service center and they told me that "the logic board and the gfx card is fried". To repair it it would cost me 650 euro.

I didn't want to pay that much so I just figure to buy a new macbook. Though I kept trying to boot the broken macbook. I kept swapping out ram, switching ram, battery out/in but with no avail.

BUT! Today, I came home, and I turned it on, it booted like normal (well a bit longer as usual). I mean wtf?! The service center told me it's fried, ... did they even look at it???

Right now I'm making backups from my HD and tonight I'll do some test if I can boot again after I shut it down.

My point is, the logic board isn't broken, even if apple tells you it is. They just want you to make a expensive repair.

My advice to people with the same problem is perseverence: Keep clearing the PMU and swapping ram.

 

[iEatfood]

It's been a long time since I last posted here.

I'd like to add my name to the list here, I've got a late 2006 MBP that powers up, but doesn't do anything but rev the drives and light up the power light. It's not actually mine, it was just given to me to try to fix.

Tried reseating the RAM
Reset SMU several times, with long breaks between
Can't reset PRAM or boot to safe mode, Keyboard does not start
Inserted and force-ejected CD
Fully charged and discharged battery

So, yeah, nothing's working for me. It's really embarrassing that ATI didn't step up and take responsibility for an identical issue to the one nVidia Macbooks were affected by. I know it's an old computer, I've just grown to expect Macs to have impressive longevity, and things like this disappoint me. I'm taking it in to the Apple store today, I'm going to have them make use of actual testing to determine if it's a faulty logic board or just bad RAM or corrupt SMU.

 

[iEatfood]

Update: Took it to the Apple store, turns out it couldn't get past PRAM because I was using a 60W charger. If anyone else still has this problem, be aware that it can be caused by a faulty charger or an inadequate one.

Good to know that the initial assessment of "Give us $300 for a new logic board" wasn't quite accurate

 

[Clynn09]

Macbook Pro not Booting

So somehow my father dented the bottom left corner of my macbook Pro (on the back of the screen that has the apple symbol) in June 2010 but it didnt seem to affect it at all. Near the end of this past December it started to not boot when i turned it on. When I turn it on everything starts to spin up and the screen comes on but it stays grayish-white and after a minute or so there is this question mark folder that startes flashing on the screen.

I took it to the Apple store here at my school and they replaced the hard drive and everything and when i got it back it worked for like a day then started doing the same thing. So i decided to take it back to the actual store that i bought it from and they said that the dent on the back of the sreen, along with corrotion was what was keeping it from booting and that they cant cover it under Apple Care. I cant remember what they said was messed up but they said it was going to cost me almost as much as a new computer to even fix it.

Im not a computer wiz and forgive me if Im wrong here but I thought that all of the important hardware and stuff that made the computer work was under the keyboard. I just dont see how a dent in the back of the screen is keeping it from booting. I mean the screen lights up and everything else. I just dont get it cause the dent was there for like 6 months too and it didnt stop working until now.

 

[RocketLove]

Same Issue

So I've been having the same issue the past couple of days. This morning the computer was turned off all night, I went to turn it on, there was a dim light that was on and it sounded as if everything was turning on right except the screen.

I'll have to do some of the following suggestions, hopefully one of those work, since I really don't want to pay over a grand to fix it.

One silly question, I'm a bit computer illiterate and I can't find out what PSU is or what it means. I keep seeing it for the suggestions and can't find out exactly what it is.

 

[arogge]

One silly question, I'm a bit computer illiterate and I can't find out what PSU is or what it means.

That is silly. PSU means Penn State! Or, you could try something like Power Supply Unit.

 

[bogrigore]

First of all SCRATT is both a genius and my hero )
Secondly I tried his method with no impact whatsoever. Then, I ran out of coffee and cigarettes and tried to power up my macbook with no ram inside. I got nothing but a blinking light instead of the dimmed light of death. Then i put the ram back in and.... MAGIC! I am so happy I am actually posting on a forum.

SO SCRATT UPDATED

1. Get rid of the PSU.
2. Get rid of the battery.
3. Do the >10 second thing on the Power Button with everything off.
4. Take all the RAM out. (This was what made the difference IMO).
5. Do the >10 second thing with the Power Button again.
6. Have a cup of coffee.
6a. POWER HER UP WITH NO RAM
6b. Have another cigarette.
7. Do the >10 second thing with the Power Button again.
(I have to wonder if whatever that does takes a lot longer to drain / clear the PMU than Apple thinks.)
8. Stick the RAM back in.
9. Stick the battery in.
10. Connect the power.
11. Blow on your fingers, and fire her up.. et voila: Your Mac is back.

Hope that helps some people anyway
Yes It does!

Seriously guys don't give up on your machine so easily..

I actually frequent other places on the web but joined today simply to add some feedback to this thread. It was very helpful to me.

I had the exact symptoms that many of you describe above.
My Core Duo 17" MBP is definitely a "Friday" machine.

USB has always been flakey on it, the LCD has a vertical line that comes and goes, and well, it's always been poorly. This particular machine is the only Mac I have ever used in the field for work in environments that are dirty and hot, and has more than paid for itself, so I put it's quirks down to it's relatively hard life compared to my other more cosseted Macs.

In a nut shell I was running Parallels, had gone to lunch, came back and the screen had gone to sleep. Which is strange as I don't actually have it set to go to sleep.

I use synergy to share a mouse and keyboard between this Mac and my almost 10 year old original 17" PB, which is still going strong as a home server. I tried to SSH in, and all the usual stuff but my machine was well and truly in the land of nod.

I ended up finding the exact same symptoms as everyone here.

Screen blank.
Lid light on full when lid closed.
Lid light dim when lip open.
No chime. DVD clicks. Won't boot at all.

I tried all the tricks I know.

In the end I was trying many different combinations of holding the power button down with no battery in, no mains attached etc.

Tried to boot with no battery.

And so on.. I spent a good 25 - 30 minutes doing that and reading horror stories on the web..

About a month ago I picked up a new Unibody 17" simply because I knew this machine was on the way out... So I was very happy that I had done that, but still sad to see a dead MBP sitting next to a brand new 17" and an original 17" from yester-year both screaming along happily.. The build quality on those first G4 17" PBs is something Apple should take a real long hard look at, and try to get back to.

I also have a lot of work from the last two days on the HD in this machine and did not fancy ripping it apart to re-house the HD.

So I persevered.

1. Get rid of the PSU.
2. Get rid of the battery.
3. Do the >10 second thing on the Power Button with everything off.
4. Take all the RAM out. (This was what made the difference IMO).
5. Do the >10 second thing with the Power Button again.
6. Have a cup of coffee.
7. Do the >10 second thing with the Power Button again.
(I have to wonder if whatever that does takes a lot longer to drain / clear the PMU than Apple thinks.)
8. Stick the RAM back in.
9. Stick the battery in.
10. Connect the power.
11. Blow on your fingers, and fire her up.. et voila: Your Mac is back.

Hope that helps some people anyway.

Peace.

 

[neenja]

i have an exact similar problem. early 2008 15" macbook pro. was working perfectly fine at work. when i was off, i put the comp to sleep by closing the lid (as i usually do) and packed up my things. got home, tried to boot up and this situation happened. i hear the fans, hear the dvd drive.. but nothing. i see the dim light when lid is opened and brighter when closed.

ive tried everything. removing ram, holding power, pmu, literally every single method here that people said has worked, I have tried. my last hope is to let the laptop sit while "on" and just let the battery completely die.. then try to plug in the psu and power up again.

if tomorrow.. i wake up with the battery dead.. plug it in and it still does this.. im gonna test my luck by walking into an apple store. i printed out the nvidia symptom post that apple made on their support page to bring in.

sigh.. go figure.. i literally said to myself that I would make a backup via superduper tomorrow (sunday). its been several months since my last backup.

any further help would greatly be appreciated.. thanks guys.

 

[neenja]

tried to let the mbp run itself out of battery life last night. plugged it in this morning and no luck.

i have an appointment with apple at 1215 today. hope something can be fixed. i printed out the apple support article about the nvidia cards.. hopehopehope they can do something.

worst case scenario, if the harddrive is fried.. would replacing it bring the laptop back to life?

 

[neenja]

i created another thread about my problem here. just wanted to follow up about how my visit went at apple.

i took it into apple and the geniusbar guy ran some diagnostic tests along with the nvidia diag test. determinded that the mbp powers up but doesnt boot and no video shows (exactly what was happening).

he filled out an order form for a new logicboard and got his manager to override it so the $600 charge was waived!

they had to order a new one since non was in stock.. so ill be gettin my mbp back roughly around wed-thurs. i of course had to sign a waiver form stating i would be ok if i were to lose data. im keeping my fingers crossed that the hd is still alive and that only the logicboard was fried.

but all in all, im just glad ill still have a working mbp. apple rocks

 

[neenja]

just wanted to update this thread and let everyone know how awesome Apple support is.

Picked up my mbp 3 days later and it was back up and running. Logicboard was replaced for free.

 

[grassynoel]

Also very impressed with Apple service

Same result here! MBP (purchased jan '08) wouldn't boot - same symptoms as OP (no chime, no KB, etc). I tried all the tricks posted here but no joy. Thereis' result inspired me to make Genius appt.

Now, I'm pretty sure this is NOT the NVIDIA isuue, because the thing never boots far enough -

Genius said she couldn't run the NVIDIA diagnostic because it wouldn't even boot enough to load it - BUT, they would replace the mobo for free!! (otherwise $900!!!!)

Don't have it back yet (left it there yesterday AM) but she said the board was in stock and possibly done by today.

I had exactly the same problem with my macbook pro.
Brought in 2007 it has been my workhorse lap top and has never before let me down.
Yesterday put it in sleep mode, came back to start it up and lo and behold the black screen of death. It wouldn't boot up despite all of the suggested fixes above.
Battery out, power cable disattached and power button pressed for 30 seconds - no result.
command ctrl power - no result.
power, command p - r - no result.
Left it to drain - restarted from power cable - no result.
Spent most of the night trying and trying again to get it booted up.

Was absolutely mortified since there was no warning this happened just out of the blue.
Found this forum and tried everything and thanks to all of those who posted the advice.

Luckily i managed to get an appointment at a genius bar at one of the apple shops (currently visiting california) today.

I mentioned that i understood that there were a batch of faulty Nvidia cards at the time i brought my lap top (thanks for the tip on the forum).

The guy checked my serial number, did a few tests and said they would repair it for free (900 dollars otherwise). They replaced the entire logic board within 4 hours and i got my lap top back on the same day. They intially said their turn around was 1-3 days, i asked for a special failure and they rushed the repair through.

Lap top now fixed within 24 hours and i have been very impressed with the service from Apple in resolving this issue 3 years after i brought the lap top and with no apple after care or existing warranty.

Hope this helps.

 

[simeybinker]

This thread needs to be stickied or something...

symptoms:
when power button pressed for start up, disk drive would grumble/grind... but no chime, no grey screen - just stayed black with the fans whirring quietly. the sleep light would be half-lit.

diagnosis:
various pressing of the power button
reset the SMC (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964), no success
reset the PRAM (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379), no success
removed battery and tried boot up, no success
removed 2GB Cosair RAM chip and left 1GB no-name RAM chip in, no success
removed 1GB RAM chip, and left 2GB RAM chip in.... FULL SUCCESS!!

if I didn't have success, I would have gone onto more drastic methods like:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1057293/

but all is well.

later today I'm going to put the 1GB chip back in to confirm that was the issue.

Sim

 

[section45]

fixed boot problem

I had a plaid apple and then the sequence (spinning wheel) wouldn't complete.

reset pram, held down the power button with power cord and battery out.
Then took out ram.

I swapped positions of the two chips. In my case, 2 2meg chips.
Held down the power button again for 10 seconds

Put power cord back.. and all was fixed.

The computer needs the ram to boot.. and perhaps, they got unseated from the proper place just enough not to work. Or just the act of taking them out and putting them back in fixed it.

I have 15" macbook pro with duo core intel - old body style. with 10.6 running.

I knew it had to be software or hardware related. I ran the disc utility and it found no problems. I could boot in Safe mode (shift key) and also boot and T mode. I knew the drive was good since both of those worked to boot. So.. the problem had to be ram or OS.

Good luck