Early 2008 Mac will not Boot. Black Screen, Lit Light, No Chime

[lilaznzoul]

Mac OS X Tiger
Version 10.5.8
2.4GHz, 2GB RAM.

My mac has been having the symptoms stated in the title for a week now. I have been forcing shutdown many times and attempting reboot to start up my mac.

Also, during this time - moving the Mac causes it to freeze and forcing me to shut it down. Additionally, (during the recent days as well) I've installed the SMC firmware update 1.4 to have my Mac charge with the new magsafe chargers.

It's completely dead now. Everytime I try to boot the Mac, it:
1) Light becomes lit
1.5) The hardware bootup click/"ca-chink" noise does not occur. (This is when I know/feel like my mac is working).
2) HD or Optical Drive runs (not sure which)
3) Screen is black and is not lit.
4) After 5 seconds or less, it automatically shuts down
Note: Step 4 does not occur all the time, it's more or less every other time I attempt to boot my Mac. Also, if I do leave it running, the fans reach maximum speed.

I've read other forums stating that I should remove the RAM and reseat it in the other slot, and attempt to boot. And also, to repeat for the other slot. It didn't work. I hope it's not the HD - I really need my data to continue my work.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what to do? Applecare is out of the question. This mac is as old as Mother Earth.

Thanks for replying in advance!

 

[coopertwist]

Did you get any feed back on what could be causing this? Mine just started doing what you described.

 

[Leoport]

Possible Cause

I had this problem while I had a MacBook

It could be the Logic Board has fried itself. I remember going to the genius bar with my Black MacBook and having to wait 2 hours for a verdict.

If this is the problem the cost for a replacement is usually between £300-£400

 

[hackerwayne]

Mac OS X Tiger
Version 10.5.8
2.4GHz, 2GB RAM.

My mac has been having the symptoms stated in the title for a week now. I have been forcing shutdown many times and attempting reboot to start up my mac.

Also, during this time - moving the Mac causes it to freeze and forcing me to shut it down. Additionally, (during the recent days as well) I've installed the SMC firmware update 1.4 to have my Mac charge with the new magsafe chargers.

It's completely dead now. Everytime I try to boot the Mac, it:
1) Light becomes lit
1.5) The hardware bootup click/"ca-chink" noise does not occur. (This is when I know/feel like my mac is working).
2) HD or Optical Drive runs (not sure which)
3) Screen is black and is not lit.
4) After 5 seconds or less, it automatically shuts down
Note: Step 4 does not occur all the time, it's more or less every other time I attempt to boot my Mac. Also, if I do leave it running, the fans reach maximum speed.

I've read other forums stating that I should remove the RAM and reseat it in the other slot, and attempt to boot. And also, to repeat for the other slot. It didn't work. I hope it's not the HD - I really need my data to continue my work.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what to do? Applecare is out of the question. This mac is as old as Mother Earth.

Thanks for replying in advance!

Few possibilities.

1. Theres a short somewhere in the Mac can be the keyboard itself, so remove the top case and inspect the logic board. Only do this if you're out of warranty.

2. If your Mac uses the X3100, it can be the graphics card problem, in this case theres nothing you can do but buy a replacement board which will be quite costly.