MB 1,1-7,1 MacBook model a1811 screen not working

[the man with some Macs]

Hello fellow Mac enthusiasts, I am having a problem with 2 MacBooks that I got for $15 off marketplace. Now they were $15 so I wasn't expecting much to happen, when plugged in the status lights turn on on both of them but nothing appears on screen and the back light doesn't turn on. On one of them the hdd spins up and the other one only the fan spins up. I have tried removing the battery and swapping the ram on both, I haven't even gotten a boot chime.

 

[rampancy]

If you're not even getting a boot chime that means the motherboard is likely dead.

There is the slight possibility that the machine could still be booting even if there's no boot chime (like if the speakers aren't working properly) but if there's no sound indicating drive activity (e.g. the fast clicking of the drive being accessed by the system) that's not a good sign.

I don't know if by "swapping the RAM" you mean exchanging the RAM between the two machines, but putting in known good RAM is another way to diagnose this issue.

You could also open up the Mac and try hotwiring it using the power pads on the motherboard; this would isolate a faulty keyboard/topcase with a bad power button.

Lastly, another possible source of failure couild be a bad PRAM battery.

 

[the man with some Macs]

it was good ram and thanks for the info, I will try the power pads