Help! My early 2008 MBP just died

[elgrecomac]

Background

Mt early 2008 MBP was plugged into my external cinema display and my external power cord. I unplugged the monitor and power cord and folded up the mbp. When I opened up then MBP again to use it in a new location the computer screen was dead. I tried everything to restart it including booting from the original snowlep disk but still nothing. The disk still seems to be humming but the screen AND keyboard are dead as the light on the cap lock key does not turn green when pressed.


Did I just loose the logic board or is this the gpu?

Thx in advance

 

[AlphaDogg]

Dead GPU=dead logic board. Also, Dead logic board=dead logic board. So in either case, you need a new logic board.

 

[elgrecomac]

Yes but....

If it is the gou that failed then Apple will cover the repair due to a known nvidia chip (8600) issue but if it is just the logic board and not a result of the faulty gnu then it's my nickel...

 

[kbfr08]

Play around with the ram before you start pointing fingers at the GPU. Remove a stick, swap them, switch their positions, etc... Try everything with the ram first. I just had a macbook in with a similar problem, and the ram turned out to be bad, it had the same symptoms as your computer.

 

[teleromeo]

I always unplug my monitor and wait until the screen reappears before folding up.
Were you able to shutdawn/restart anyway ?
Try holding the power butten for several seconds to shut down and then restart, maybe that will help.

 

[elgrecomac]

Tried all this

I always unplug my monitor and wait until the screen reappears before folding up.
Were you able to shutdawn/restart anyway ?
Try holding the power butten for several seconds to shut down and then restart, maybe that will help.

Unfortunately witH no success. And I swapped out ram as well. Ugh

 

[kbfr08]

Unfortunately witH no success. And I swapped out ram as well. Ugh

This may sound stupid, but did you try holding the power button for 30 seconds to reset the PMU? The computer must be off when you do this.

Here's the last resort to tell if it's the GPU: block the left and right side fans with a towel, paper, etc... Just make sure that there's poor ventilation in the system. Let that run until it gets hot to the touch on the bottom (probably 15 minutes). Reboot the computer. If it chimes, then you've got a video chip issue, even if it doesn't boot past the chime.

 

[neenja]

take it into apple and mention the nvidia issue. i did that and got my mbp back in a couple days, up n working again.

 

[head honcho 123]

pretty sure it's ur dead nvidia gpu.

take it to an apple store and say it's a nvidia gpu problem. they'll do a free logic board replacement.

 

[Shacklebolt]

pretty sure it's ur dead nvidia gpu.

take it to an apple store and say it's a nvidia gpu problem. they'll do a free logic board replacement.

Aww. Don't be cruel.

 

[neenja]

hes not being cruel, i have the exact same model and mine died about 3-4 months ago. they replaced it for free

 

[elgrecomac]

I am impressed with Apple

Took my MBP to the Apple store and pleaded my case to the genius. He said it was not the video issue but, after talking with him for 10 minutes, he agreed to swap out the logic board gratis. I got a call the next day and it was done. The thought of forking over several hundred dollars was not a pleasant one but Apple handled this great. THANK YOU, APPLE!

 

[Badrottie]

Just picked up my MBP today even though GPU is NOT dead but they decided to replace logic board after the series of tests anyway.

 

[RayK]

Glad to hear apple took care of you all. Usually they re great and will help out the customer.

 

[head honcho 123]

Aww. Don't be cruel.

lol~

how was i cruel?!

 

[rhetorique]

that may be a weird question but do you need the receipt (or bill) to get a repair done or just the fact you got a mac is a sufficient proof of purchase in itself (for the nvidia issue)?

 

[head honcho 123]

that may be a weird question but do you need the receipt (or bill) to get a repair done or just the fact you got a mac is a sufficient proof of purchase in itself (for the nvidia issue)?

no need for any receipts or anything like that.

they have all the information they need from the serial number of ur mac.