Early 2008 MBP Won't Turn On

[Yakusoya]

I have an early 2008 MBP that suddenly froze and now won't turn on. It was working fine and I was just surfing the net. It went to screensaver for a bit and when I moved the mouse, it froze. I did not spill any water on it or had any impact damage. So I did a hard restart by holding the power button and then power on. It would chime get to the grey screen and then the screen started flickering for 5 minutes without starting up. So I hard restarted again and this time, it only did the 2 beeps, but no chime. The sleep indicator light stays on steady with no blinks. After like 5 seconds, it does another 2 beeps by itself and it repeats itself until I force shut it down. It doesn't do the chime anymore and the screen stays black.

I tried removing the battery and booting, resetting SMC, removed every device that was connected to it, same thing. I pressed the button on the battery compartment and it lit up 4 lights (out of 5). I'm wondering if this could be related to that NVIDIA defect that has plagued this particular model?

If they end up replacing the logic board or any other hardware, will they wipe my data, too? Because I haven't backed up recently. Is there any way to back up before I take in my MBP to the Genius Bar?

 

[seveej]

I have an early 2008 MBP that suddenly froze and now won't turn on. It was working fine and I was just surfing the net. It went to screensaver for a bit and when I moved the mouse, it froze. I did not spill any water on it or had any impact damage. So I did a hard restart by holding the power button and then power on. It would chime get to the grey screen and then the screen started flickering for 5 minutes without starting up. So I hard restarted again and this time, it only did the 2 beeps, but no chime. The sleep indicator light stays on steady with no blinks. After like 5 seconds, it does another 2 beeps by itself and it repeats itself until I force shut it down. It doesn't do the chime anymore and the screen stays black.

I tried removing the battery and booting, resetting SMC, removed every device that was connected to it, same thing. I pressed the button on the battery compartment and it lit up 4 lights (out of 5). I'm wondering if this could be related to that NVIDIA defect that has plagued this particular model?

If they end up replacing the logic board or any other hardware, will they wipe my data, too? Because I haven't backed up recently. Is there any way to back up before I take in my MBP to the Genius Bar?

According to this document (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1547), two beeps relate to a memory error. In practice this means either a RAM problem or a logic board error of some sort (and yes, it might be the nVidia).

Try removing all memory chips, check for visible dust (use an air blower if you have one) and try reseating them one by one. Also a chip might be broken, so if your machine is loaded with two, try booting with only one (or the other).

(Use the step-by-step guide at http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Install...h+Core+2+Duo+Models+A1226+and+A1260+RAM/652/1 if you're not familiar with handling RAM )

If this does not help, it's off to the genius bar.

The five leds on your battery are an indicator of how well charged the battery is.

P.S. The failure is probably not in any way related to your HDD, so your data should be safe. When/if taking it for service, mention that you're not backed up, so they'll take care of not f:ing up your drive.

 

[RSL]

If they end up replacing the logic board or any other hardware, will they wipe my data, too?

A priori not (for the logic board replacement). They didn't wipe my drive.

 

[Yakusoya]

According to this document (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1547), two beeps relate to a memory error. In practice this means either a RAM problem or a logic board error of some sort (and yes, it might be the nVidia).

I did max out my RAM about a year ago though but no problems since then, so why now?

Thanks for your tips, I'll try them before I head to Genius Bar!

 

[ibd]

If apple wants to replace your logic board, don't do it. Bake it instead. Trust me, I'm an engineer

 

[Yakusoya]

So I removed the RAM and reseated it. Same problem. Went to Genius Bar and they told me I'm already past 4 years, therefore I'm not qualified for the NVIDIA GPU defect repair program. They offered to fix my logic board for $310 and I left...

I'm currently attempting the bake. But that's only a temporary fix (if it will even fix). Is there any other way to retrieve my data?