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What should I do with my MBP?

B

billli

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 12, 2011
22
0
Waterloo, ON, Canada
Hi forum, first time here.

A little about me, I'm a 4th year computer science student, so I know a little about the ins and outs of computers, as well as the BSD kernel. My MBP is running 10.7.2.

I brought a MBP 2009 edition in late 2009 to replace my broken Dell laptop. As well as an apple care warranty for my MBP.
I brought those two items at my University campus, which was an authorized Apple dealer and service center.

Everything started great, (took a bit to switch to OSX from Windows, but eventually I removed Windows from bootcamp) However, problem started....

- The superdrive wouldn't read my disks, it spins up and down, but refuses to read, or reject my disk, I took it to the campus service dealer to get it fixed. (Not a problem, 1 day downtime, he replaced the drive and the cable.)
- Then my system management controller started acting weird, as my battery would not charge when I plug in my charger, the light would be very dim, I would have to wiggle, plug and unplug the magnetic connector to get it to become a solid bright green, (I made sure there wasn't anything foreign in the ports.) I took the computer back to the service agent and let him to take a look, he suspect that it was a logicboard issue as well as the system management controller need to be reseted. He suggested that he needed to have my Mac for 2 days to see what's wrong, fine. 2 days later, everything is fine again, but that only lasted a few weeks, now it is happening again.
- The tech at my university's authorized campus dealer also said that my Charger was not the right one. Which was a little surprising, because I am careful with my computer, and I know for a fact that the current charger I have is the charger that came from the box with the Mac. Basically I noticed that the charger would get really hot, hot enough, I wouldn't be able to hold it for long. I tried my friend's MBP charger, however it introduced a lot of unwanted white noise into the headphone, so that was very annoying.
- I went back to the service agent, and paid to get my memory upgraded to 8GB, because I had a school project that required a lot of memory.
- Now the grand finale problem, the problem that rendered my mac to a very expensive paper weight:
- I turn on my computer, login, and finder crashes. Nothing gets displayed, no icon, no wallpaper, no dock. No response to my keyboard
- I turn on my computer, login, everything starts "fine", open an app, the app crashes, as well as finder, then no response from my keyboard
- Pretty much I do anything, finder and everything would crash.

So now my expensive MBP is a very expensive piece of CNCed aluminum door stopper, and I have been getting by on my Android Tablet. (Funny how that turned out)

I booted into the system recovery menu, repaired, verified my disk, and as well as fixed the permissions. Everything is fine there.

One thing I did notice is that all the crash results is generated by the SIGSEGV, so something somewhere is causing all my apps and finder to sigfault. (Hint 1, memory, logic board issue)

I also created a new user account to see if it was my user account's fault, nope, same behavior across the board. (hint 2, that it probably wasn't a software issue)

It is kinda upsetting, I purchased a MBP believing that it was better than other laptops, because I am paying a premium for it. As a poor university student I was hoping to have the computer last me until the end of my university career. I have always defended my purchase whenever people bashed Apple for their expensive hardware, but this time it is just plain upsetting, I have upcoming exams that I need to study for, and all my stuff is on my computer. (I really can't afford to have downtime with it)

I know that you get a sour grape from every batch of sweet grapes. I am going to the Ottawa Apple Store today to see what they can do about my computer. Hopefully, they can either:
- Fix it, and have my data intact
- Give me a new computer of the same specs, and somehow give me all my files back from my hard drive.
- Little or no downtime for me as possible

I talked to my girlfriend about it, shes having issues with her 2011 13 inch MBP as well. Her mac's USB ports wouldn't work, and it is the second time that Apple has replaced the entire machine, so she lost all her files twice.... and had to go back to backups.

I will keep a post of what happens today, if the Apple Store doesn't solve my problem, I am going to write to the district Apple Manager, and switch back to Windows, and will in the future to tell my friends to not get Apples. (I was on the verge of becoming a dedicated Apple user until last night. 1 MBP, 1 Mac Mini, 1 Apple TV, iPhone) Because come and think about it, for the price of a Mac, I could get 2 non Apple hardware and have a backup in case of emergencies like this.

Thanks
Bill
 
sounds like you done got yourself some lemons. sorry to hear about that. all i can say is always buy applecare and try to sell within 3 years...

other than that I'm not sure what else your asking because it sounds like you practically got your mind made up. see how much the cost would be to fix it and ask yourself if its worth it. if not then buy a new machine, possibly windows if thats what you want.

if i were to pick a windows computer i like the lenovo's and the sony's seem very nice as well.
 
Since you bought the Applecare extended warranty, they will either fix or replace your computer.

If you're an attractive female, then you will probably just get a new computer, though.
 
TBH, I ain't asking for much, just want to get my computer working again without losing data. (But then, I wouldn't mind getting a new computer after all the **** I've gone through, and I bet even if they fix it, more stuff will happen to it in the future)

But I mean the apple care is coming to an end (Sept 2012), I wondering if I can extend it by purchasing another subscription of it?

Otherwise, I will get them to fix it, and I know the machine will break again, so I will get my gf to do the talking next time, she seems to be able to get her hands on three new MBPs with a broken USB port.

Thanks for listening :)
 
billli said:
TBH, I ain't asking for much, just want to get my computer working again without losing data. (But then, I wouldn't mind getting a new computer after all the **** I've gone through, and I bet even if they fix it, more stuff will happen to it in the future)

But I mean the apple care is coming to an end (Sept 2012), I wondering if I can extend it by purchasing another subscription of it?

Otherwise, I will get them to fix it, and I know the machine will break again, so I will get my gf to do the talking next time, she seems to be able to get her hands on three new MBPs with a broken USB port.

Thanks for listening :)
Click to expand...

can't renew applecare. once 3 years is up apple will not deal with the problems. i guess they had to set the limit of their extended warrantee somewhere and figured after over 3 years it would end up costing them more money.

as for it breaking again...i honestly couldn't tell you. i know people who have had their macs for 5 years and do not baby them in the least bit and they're still kicking. my first mac, i never had a problem with it for over 2 years then i sold it.
 
True, I suppose I can try to sell it, and then spend a bit more for an upgrade... :/ Well time to fix problem at hand. :/ Another problem I just thought up. I am a student, and currently I am in another city for an internship. However, all my CDs and DVDs are in my storage (which is in another city) How would I be able to prove that I purchased 10.6? or if the Apple Store need to reinstall my OS, would I have to buy the OS again?
 
billli said:
TBH, I ain't asking for much, just want to get my computer working again without losing data.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately any computer can have problems. Just because you're using a Mac doesn't mean it's always going to be a perfect experience. Since you have Applecare it will take care of fixing your computer. Data loss is on you, though. If you don't have your system backed up, you always run the risk of losing data if something goes wrong. Whenever you take a computer in for service you should make sure that it's backed up first.
 
I dont think you will have any trouble with proving you got 10.6 regardless. Id just take it in and see what they say. Sounds like my friends early 2008 model he had nothing but issues with his and I got the same as his but 17" and never had one issue with mine. Tell apple your problem and who knows they could replace it with a new one. Thats what happened with my friends lemon MBP.
 
VMMan said:
Since you bought the Applecare extended warranty, they will either fix or replace your computer.

If you're an attractive female, then you will probably just get a new computer, though.
Click to expand...

Chick to the left of me got a free battery out of warranty, Chick to the right of me got a free iPhone 4. Me: sitting here with my broken mac with faulty memory hardware.


I took my computer to the Apple Store in Ottawa, a fellow named Alex P. helped me with the troubleshooting. According to him, it seems that the hardware is still working the way it is supposed to, which was somewhat a relief, however I feel there is still something odd going on.

What Alex did was, he plugged an Ethernet cable into my Mac so that it can PXE boot from a configured image from a backend server at the Apple Store.

They did:
  • Stress test: everything passed
  • Hardware test: everything passed
  • Reset the ACL on my machine
  • Replaced my charger, apparently it was broken, odd… (But reading the reviews here… thank god I have the Apple Care?)

However nothing worked.

Then he proceeded to install 10.7 onto my machine, however, at about 20 minutes mark, that failed as well, so now my machine is at a state of:
OSX 10.5, upgraded to OSX 10.6 (all minor version upgrades until 10.6.8), upgraded to 10.7 (all minor version upgrades until 10.7.2), partially downgraded to 10.7.

So now my computer is literally a random mix of 3 different operating systems. Jolly, at least Alex was able to get the machine into a more “stable” environment, and I was able to backup all my files. However the machines experienced a number of kernel panics near the end of my backup operation.

Then I wiped the drive hoping to do a clean install of 10.7 from a USB stick, however, that all went to hell, since the installer wasn’t able to xar_verify the BSD package. (Memory issue?) So now I have a machine, with an empty drive, jolly! Well at least I was able to recover all my files with relative ease (Although I had to delete Starcraft II and WoW since they were taking up 40+ gigabytes of space)

What promotes me from figuring that it is a hardware memory issue, is that all of a sudden I am getting kernel panics, as well as segfaults from every program, the in store installation would not finish, and my failed attempt at installing a fresh copy of 10.7 from the USB stick. So right now, my macbook is literally a heavy piece of CNCed door stopper.

Jolly, time to go to the Apple store again. Hey at least I got a free replacement charger.
 
billli said:
Then he proceeded to install 10.7 onto my machine, however, at about 20 minutes mark, that failed as well, so now my machine is at a state of:
OSX 10.5, upgraded to OSX 10.6 (all minor version upgrades until 10.6.8), upgraded to 10.7 (all minor version upgrades until 10.7.2), partially downgraded to 10.7.
Click to expand...

Ok, so he failed to install the OS, and sent you home with that? Go back and complain. You could either call AppleCare before going back, or go back to the store and ask for a manager. This is horrible customer service.

If they can't fix the MBP on the spot, they should take it in for repair, or give you a replacement unit. Of course, if they offered to repair it, and you refused the offer, that would be your fault...
 
thundersteele said:
Ok, so he failed to install the OS, and sent you home with that? Go back and complain. You could either call AppleCare before going back, or go back to the store and ask for a manager. This is horrible customer service.

If they can't fix the MBP on the spot, they should take it in for repair, or give you a replacement unit. Of course, if they offered to repair it, and you refused the offer, that would be your fault...
Click to expand...

Oh its okay, I refused the service, because I took the opportunity to back up all my files. (He was able to get it to a semi stable environment, where I can drag and drop my files in Finder, and not have Finder crashing)

I am going back to the store today, and if I am not satisfied, I will do whatever I can to get the outcome that I want.
 
Just an update.
Went back to the Applestore a second time, they couldn't figure out what is wrong with the machine, (as in, their installer refuses to install on my MBP, and they swapped out the RAM and everything) So in the end, they gave me a replacement machine.

Problem solved, now I just gotta reinstall everything.

Thank god I had the Apple Care
 
I had the late 2009 version of the MBP with the 15inch screen and Intel 2.53 GHz Core 2 Duo Processor, everything is stock option.

I had it replaced with the 2011 version of the MBP with the 15inch screen and Intel 2.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, everything else is stock option.

I haven't had time to play around with it yet, just been installing office and all that.

I wonder what the performance will be like compared to my old one.
 
billli said:
I had the late 2009 version of the MBP with the 15inch screen and Intel 2.53 GHz Core 2 Duo Processor, everything is stock option.

I had it replaced with the 2011 version of the MBP with the 15inch screen and Intel 2.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, everything else is stock option.

I haven't had time to play around with it yet, just been installing office and all that.

I wonder what the performance will be like compared to my old one.
Click to expand...

Wow! They replaced it for free? That's a good deal... By free of course I mean apple care but I was under the impression they replace with same model always.
 
Nope they replace with equivalent if the model no longer is stocked (which would be the case for a 2009). I had something about the same happen and they replaced my 2008 with 2011. Of course I fell Applecare is worth the price after that.:D
 
Aye aye, I wouldn't have minded if they replaced it with the exact model, but I doubt they actually produce that model anymore. So no complaints here :)
 
When I got my replacement, I had 7 days left of Applecare and they had no problem selling me a new Applecare for the new MBP.
 
i hate phones said:
glad you got a replacement :) out of curiosity, do you get to buy apple care for the replacement? or do you only get what's left of your current apple care?
Click to expand...

What the Apple Genius did was that he told me that I still have a good old 10 months of Apple Care left, such that I can either get it the remainder returned to me, and then I can purchase another AppleCare and apply it on the new MBP.


However, I am going to ask around to see if I can purchase a New Apple Care as well as transfer my left overs to my new MBP, such that I would have 3 years and 10 months of coverage date.

Otherwise, I would just get a refund and then purchase the AppleCare Again.
 
From everything I have heard and read, Apple will not let the warranty extend past 3 years.
 
billli said:
What the Apple Genius did was that he told me that I still have a good old 10 months of Apple Care left, such that I can either get it the remainder returned to me, and then I can purchase another AppleCare and apply it on the new MBP.


However, I am going to ask around to see if I can purchase a New Apple Care as well as transfer my left overs to my new MBP, such that I would have 3 years and 10 months of coverage date.

Otherwise, I would just get a refund and then purchase the AppleCare Again.
Click to expand...

Wont be able to do that, the maximum you can have is 3 years.
 
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