Broken graphics card in old Macbook?

[cfhjag]

Hello,

I've got an old macbook which still seem to work (it starts up and all) but the screen is just black. I tried to plug in an external screen but still nothing at all.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what it might be? My spontaneous guess is obviously the graphics card... is this something I could fix myself or should I just give it up? I really want to use it as a media center computer for my home network.

Thanks for your help!
H

 

[killerrobot]

Depending on the model, the graphics card is most likely soldered to the logic board. Depending on the cost of a new/used logic board, it might just be cheaper to find a used mini for a media console.

I'd start your search on ifixit.com to find out about parts and tutorials for your machine.

 

[cfhjag]

Yeah I had a quick go at opening the whole thing and putting it all back together in hope of that it would have magically worked afterwards but nothing. Obviously...

It's a pretty old computer but since my PB G4 is still working flawlessly it just feels like it should be ok.. Don't really feel like going into an Apple store and ask them to fix it since it'll cost too much.

Nothing else I could do? I might give ifixit another go and try to find the graphic card or something. Just feels like a waste to let a computer go just because the screen is wack...