Macbook (late 2006) will not start fully.

[Meldar]

This is the worst and most mystifying problem I've yet run into with my MacBook.

It's from late 2006, but the RAM (3GB) and HD (Western Digital 595GB) are not original. That said, I'm confident neither of these are the cause, as I've had 'em installed for 2 years and 4 months, respectively.

The problem: I press the power button. Computer makes the starting sound. Fan whirs on. Grayish-blue screen with Apple logo. Spinning tick wheel underneath. You know the drill. But then, it just suddenly and inexplicably turns off. Fan off, black screen, no HD activity. Nothing. Aaand repeat...nothing seems to change.

This started 10 minutes ago. I'm on a friend's computer now, since I'm at college - this also means that I do not have my installation DVD or indeed any of my wide array of computer-fixing tech components save for my mini screwdriver set.

Since I know it's gonna come up - The last thing I did on the computer was shut it down while it installed the latest update for Safari (which I don't use). Seemed everything was going okay - it turned off and I left for dinner, came back all set to write an essay and the darn thing won't make it to the login screen.

So naturally, there are no error messages or anything like that. No weird beeps or noises from the HD or elsewhere.

Frankly, I'm just plain mystified.

System specs (in case it's relevant):

MacBook (black) 13" late 2006
3GB DDR2 SDRAM
640 GB (595GB) hard drive
64MB Intel GMA 950 graphics

Mac OS X 10.5.8 Leopard - I do not own the installation DVD, I got it from my school (and I don't go there anymore).

Nothing out of the ordinary as far as recent hardware or software changes are concerned. I've ruled out the battery as a problem as well, since it is at 92% of its original capacity (how, I don't know) and the computer does the same start-up-then-shut-down routine whether the battery is in or out.

Please help if you can. Even if you just post guesses as to what's wrong, that might help.

As I said, I'm a college student. I have a LOT of technical knowledge and will understand whatever jargon you throw at me, but I don't have tools or resources readily available. I am in central Pennsylvania and the closest Apple store is actually quite far - closer to my home, and I may make the trek back if at all necessary or possible.

If I don't immediately respond, it's because I'm not at this computer all the time, but rest assured I'll continue to check this thread as much as I can.

Thanks in advance for any and all help!

 

[GGJstudios]

Troubleshooting: My computer won't turn on
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck

 

[Meldar]

Gee thanks, but maybe you should have read my thread before posting - most of those steps Apple says to take are for people who really have no idea what they're doing.

My computer is plugged in and has power, and if you noticed, I described seeing the screen and hearing the fan.

My aim is solving this problem without spending an hour on the phone with India.

As for the second link - hello, my computer won't turn on. I can't run Disk Utility or fsck if I can't get to a shell prompt, let alone log in.

Thanks for posting though. :|

 

[GGJstudios]

Gee thanks, but maybe you should have read my thread before posting -

I did read your thread. If you follow those links and read, including related articles, you may find your solution. If you don't want help, don't ask for it. You're on your own.

 

[Meldar]

Right, ok, fair enough. Even so, it's a bit rude to just post links with no explanation as to their relevance, and the second one (involving force-run of fsck, etc) is not close to what I need because again, I cannot even mount the hard disk and log in.

I do want help. Usually I can solve these things on my own, but all my other computers, supplies, tools, and spare parts are a two-hour drive away and I don't feel like it.

I'm worried because I have no idea how to fix my computer, or even what it is I need to fix. All my stuff is backed up, and I have the ability to stick the HD in another computer if need be - it's just, I kinda need this computer to work now and to put it bluntly, I am right now experiencing severe disappointment at my reliance on technology...

Thanks for the links. Apple never seems to have exact solutions to things. The SMC fix, for instance - nice to know, doesn't do a thing. =/

 

[flopticalcube]

Thanks for the links. Apple never seems to have exact solutions to things. The SMC fix, for instance - nice to know, doesn't do a thing. =/

Well, it does if that's your problem. Its not in this case. You probably could solve your issue with a restore disk or OS disk but as you said, you don't have one. Its probably a messed up hard drive. If you do get it fixed, you might think on investing in an 8GB thumb drive and have a bootable copy of Leopard or Snow Leopard on that.

 

[Meldar]

Mac thumb drive, huh...I could try that, I suppose.

Now I'm gonna be wracking my brain to figure out what on earth I did to mess up my hard drive. My old one has lasted over 4 years (it still works, I just got a bigger one) and this one is supposedly very high quality; I haven't done anything I shouldn't have, but I suppose it's too early to say that for sure. Oof I'm confused. Gonna be thinking about this one for awhile...thanks, though. Hope it's not the HD...

 

[Meldar]

I'm gonna try booting into safe mode and/or a PRAM reset, since SMC didn't do anything...thanks for the guide link flopticalcube, hope it might help me.

If anyone else has potential solutions to my problem (or if you know what my problem is) I'd like to hear 'em. Still without a computer here.

 

[hoopyfitz]

i saw this on facebook...but like the same thing happened to me with a 2008 macbook pro...

turned it off for about an hour (which i only do one ever few weeks) then when i turned it on the exact thing happened, shut off at the gray apple logo. after about 20 tries to turn it on and get past the start screen the problem sort of evolved, and it started just turning on (heard the hard drive and fan) then turned right off, no screen activity.

It had applecare so they fixed it...It was the main logic board, just stopped working. They didnt give any explanations, but that that that was causing the problem. So, i would look into any logic board problems....the thread below might help


http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1995151&tstart=0

 

[Meldar]

On Facebook, huh? So I had the right idea.

-

Thanks for the thread link - it's really long, but I may skim through some of it to see if any of it applies to me. Mine is a MacBook, not a MacBook Pro.

I had, earlier, reached the conclusion that I may be having logic board issues because SMC and PRAM resets did nothing, and booting into safe mode flat out did not work. Holding the option key down at startup brought up the one available boot option (my hard drive) but when I clicked it, got the same result...Looks like I'm computer-less for awhile.

It's odd, though - I had not been having any problems with graphics or the display at all, save for the occasional flicker - which, mind, I thought was just the four-year-old LCD losing its juice. So if this is a logic board problem (which seems likely), I don't honestly know what would be causing it.

On that MBP thread, it seems like everyone was talking about either NViDIA or ATi chips. My MacBook's got an Intel GMA 950 chipset with 64MB of shared system memory, not either of the ones that came/come with MBPs...not knowing anything about MBP GPUs, I can't say if I can rule out anything...

Nice to know, though, that my problems are caused by hardware and not something I did software-wise.

So at this point, it would seem as though I'm stranded in central PA with no computer and no way of getting it fixed, or even looked at by an Apple person, until (possibly) this weekend...or more likely, the middle of October, when I'm going home for a bit.

Oof.

Well thanks for the help!

So now the question is: what is wrong with my logic board?

 

[TheShinyMac]

Try taking out the battery and only running on AC power

 

[Meldar]

the computer does the same start-up-then-shut-down routine whether the battery is in or out.

Thanks for trying, though.

 

[Messy]

This funnily enough happened to a friend of mine. He has a late 2006 MB, he 1.83ghz one, same spec as yours pretty much. Thankfully we came across a solution on another forum.

To be honest, after reading through this thread, you come across extremely arrogant and very rude. I'm assuming based on your responses you're young, if so they i guess to an extent this behavior and general attitude can be expected.

Maybe if you treat others who are genuinely taking the time to attempt to help you with a little more respect, people might be a little more enthusiastic to help you.

 

[Meldar]

Nice attempt at trolling, but no I am not young (though maybe so by your standards, I don't know) and to be honest, I lack the self-confidence to even know how to be arrogant. About computers, especially - so I'm a bit of a nerd with 'em, that's true, and I'll admit that I've done my fair share of repairs in the past...but never dealt with a logic board failure; hence, this thread.

I don't view posting unhelpful links as a genuine attempt at taking time to help me, either, since I take offense from the insinuation that I have not bothered to scour the web, especially the Apple website, prior to asking for help on a third-party forum.

And scour I have, and it's all too apparent that my motherboard is dead; this thread now serves little purpose other than speculation (and whatever you would call posts like yours).

I'm getting a new MBP as the only "solution" to the problem at hand is an $800-$1000 replacement logic board for a model of computer no longer in production. Unless you have a better idea, I don't need this thread anymore.