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davidg4781

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Oct 28, 2006
2,922
447
Alice, TX
There’s another thread talking about GPU failure but doesn’t really have the same symptoms I’m having, or none were mentioned.

I use this for basic browsing, very few gaming, but tonight I was messing around with Home Sharing to an Apple TV and running speed tests (moved router around). I went outside for about 20 minutes and when I came back I noticed Messages hadn’t updated. The display flickered a bit, I thought it was going to sleep.

Now the fans raced up, display is dark, and it seems it’s unresponsive.

I have a DVI (I think?) display somewhere to test, but I’ll need an adaptor and to dig it out. Maybe I can try HDMI to a TV, just to see if it still works?

Does this sound like the GPU failure? Maybe it knew I was ready to replace it with a 14” AS MacBook but Apple didn’t deliver. 😕

Edit to add I unplugged everything but power and I still have the same issue. I really can’t think of any other simple trouble shooting tonight. And I need to wake up in 5 hours.
 
I just wanted to put an update on this...

I opened the bottom up and it was a little dusty but nothing too outrageous. Maybe some dust got somewhere and shorted it out? I cleaned it up as best as I could without pulling out the logic board. When I reinstalled the RAM I got the 3 tone issue (not recognizing RAM or something like that). I swapped sticks, put them back in, and I'm back to the original issue... display not turning on, no boot chime, fans on high.

I plugged it in to my TV (nice I can just swap out the Apple TV and use the same HDMI and power cables). I had the same issue there so I'm assuming it's not related to the display.

If no one has any ideas this is what I plan to do. Once I get some time off I'll try to pull it apart, clean it up, and check if it'll start again. If not, I'm going to need to pull the SSD to save any date and be able to wipe it. Everything SHOULD be backed up to the Time Machine drive and/or iCloud but I might lose some larger videos like Transformers VHS>digital rip or Palm Prē keynote.
 
Does your model have the discrete AMD Radeon graphics chip? If so, these are well-known for failing.
 
Does your model have the discrete AMD Radeon graphics chip? If so, these are well-known for failing.
Yes it does. It doesn't seem I have the same symptoms but I guess they can fail in different ways. If this is the case, from what I can tell, I can try to reflow for a temp fix or replace the GPU or logic board.

For the money, I don't mind buying a new Mac. I was in the market for one anyway. But I would want to find a good home for this vs just throwing it out or keeping it in my closet.
 
If this is the case, from what I can tell, I can try to reflow for a temp fix or replace the GPU or logic board.
AFAIK AMD never shipped fixed versions of these GPUs (unlike NVIDIA) so even if you replaced the board or GPU it would eventually fail again. A shame :(
 
AFAIK AMD never shipped fixed versions of these GPUs (unlike NVIDIA) so even if you replaced the board or GPU it would eventually fail again. A shame :(

Yup.

It’s a pretty good machine for basic use or file storage. I had hoped to use it as a house wide time machine and file server. But as more things go to the cloud (home camera systems) it seems kind of easier to use the cloud.
 
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