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2008 MBP Won't start

C

CadetStimpy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 2, 2008
11
0
Hello,

I've got a 2008 MacBook Pro 15" and it just wont start up anymore. Shut it down on Friday evening and it won't start up since. As I write this I realise that it was Friday 13th :(

I switch the power on, you can hear the hard-drive spin, the DVD drive spin, the fans are going, but black screen and no startup chime. Caps lock light won't come on, so I'm wondering if the keyboard is the problem?

I tried inserting the OSX DVD, and restarting, but no joy, and now the DVD won't eject. Tried resetting the SMC as per here, but again no joy.

This time last year I replaced the original 200GB disk with a 500GB hybrid drive, but that's been working fine. Until now.

Is there anything else I should try before getting the screwdrivers out?
 
Have you tried any of these steps?


Is it the left or right MacBook Pro?
2012_01_31_RAMguide_MacBookProOverView.png
 
Hi,

Thanks for the reply - yep have tried the standard fixes recommended by Apple Support. And it's the older Macbook Pro - A1260.

Cheers
 
simsaladimbamba said:
Then maybe this is the culprit?
Click to expand...

hmmm you might be onto something there - I use an external monitor side by side with the MBP and there's no signal going to it. A friend of mine has a Windows PC with the same video card, and he's paranoid about it overheating and has it sitting on a USB fan thingy to prevent this.

what's making me think it's the keyboard is that the caps lock light wont come on, and the eject button won't work - if the NVIDIA card was gone, surely the keyboard would still work?
 
If it's still under 4 years old, I'd bring it to apple ASAP and have the logic board checked anyway. Don't want to wait too long and find out the graphics is the issue after your 4 years are out.
 
SDub90 said:
If it's still under 4 years old, I'd bring it to apple ASAP and have the logic board checked anyway. Don't want to wait too long and find out the graphics is the issue after your 4 years are out.
Click to expand...

Good thinking - only thing that worries me is would they give me grief due to me having non-standard hard drive (Seagate Hybrid) and Crucial memory?
 
CadetStimpy said:
Good thinking - only thing that worries me is would they give me grief due to me having non-standard hard drive (Seagate Hybrid) and Crucial memory?
Click to expand...

Depends on who you get. The geniuses that actually know what they're doing WON'T give you a hard time, but some others will give you a hard time. Though to give you a fair warning, if they DO replace the logic board, they may also swap your hard drive and ram with what was shipped with it. If you have the originals on hand, I'd put them back in.
 
SDub90 said:
Depends on who you get. The geniuses that actually know what they're doing WON'T give you a hard time, but some others will give you a hard time. Though to give you a fair warning, if they DO replace the logic board, they may also swap your hard drive and ram with what was shipped with it. If you have the originals on hand, I'd put them back in.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips - nearest Apple Store is a 8hr round trip, so might try an approved service center locally. I can pop in the original memory, but I donated the original hard drive to a friend in need.

Had a spare keyboard lying around and just popped that in, but still no joy - no lights on keyboard, so I'll try the video card route with support.
 
And finally...

Just to finish this thread off...

Took the Macbook to the service center and they were going to run the NVIDIA test, but they can only run the test if the startup chime sounds, which in my case, it doesn't. Service guy reckons the main logic board is gone, so I've just ordered a 2011 MBP from the refurb store :(

Thanks to everyone for your help.
 
CadetStimpy said:
Just to finish this thread off...

Took the Macbook to the service center and they were going to run the NVIDIA test, but they can only run the test if the startup chime sounds, which in my case, it doesn't. Service guy reckons the main logic board is gone, so I've just ordered a 2011 MBP from the refurb store :(

Thanks to everyone for your help.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this happened to my GF, they basically told her that the MBP was too dead to even run the test that would identify if it was the video card and would basically charge $400 to determine what was going on. Rough luck.
 
It's fixed!

Hi,
Managed to get my MacBook Pro fixed - found a guy in Ireland who was able to diagnose the problem - apparently the machine overheated, and burnt out a thermal sensor - and then fix it - by replacing the thermal sensor - all for EUR100.

He also gave the interior of the machine a good clean out, he reckoned the fans were a bit dusty which didn't help cooling. He's not sure what caused the overheating - it could be the NVIDIA issue - but the laptop is now working fine again.

He's also suggested using the SMCFanControl application:
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/23049/smcfancontrol

Now that it's booting up, I'm going to take it back to the Apple dealer and see if they can run the NVIDIA test.

PM me if you want the contact details of the guy who fixed this for me.
 
CadetStimpy said:
It's fixed!

Hi,
Managed to get my MacBook Pro fixed - found a guy in Ireland who was able to diagnose the problem - apparently the machine overheated, and burnt out a thermal sensor - and then fix it - by replacing the thermal sensor - all for EUR100.

He also gave the interior of the machine a good clean out, he reckoned the fans were a bit dusty which didn't help cooling. He's not sure what caused the overheating - it could be the NVIDIA issue - but the laptop is now working fine again.

He's also suggested using the SMCFanControl application:
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/23049/smcfancontrol

Now that it's booting up, I'm going to take it back to the Apple dealer and see if they can run the NVIDIA test.

PM me if you want the contact details of the guy who fixed this for me.
Click to expand...
Yes, I would be glad to have the contact of the guy who fixed it, because I have exactly the same problem. Thanks in advance and regards. Lorain
 
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