Macbook Pro 2.4Ghz Video Problem

[jumpman25]

I have a 2.4Ghz Macbook Pro with an 8600M GT. Yesterday I was using the computer and everything was working great. I watched a movie on it last night without any problems. Last night when I was done using the computer I shut it down and now today there is no video. The screen is simply blank when I turn the computer on. It seems everything else is working aside from the screen. When I turn it on I hear the hard drive churning like its booting up. I can hear the sound get louder and quieter when I hit F4 and F5. I've tried resetting the SMC and PMU and it didn't do anything. Just wondering if anybody has any other ideas. The computer is out of warranty now so I'd rather not pay apple to look at it. Just seems weird for the computer to work flawlessly for 2+ years and then suddenly stop working with no signs of any problems. Any help is appreciated. Thanks

 

[DanTehMan]

try powering it on with an external monitor, if you get video on the monitor its the display. If nothing on either then its your logic board.

 

[John Doe 57]

Just seems weird for the computer to work flawlessly for 2+ years and then suddenly stop working with no signs of any problems.

This happened to me on an iMac and a MacBook Pro. The iMac was nearly 3 years old and the MBP was about 1.5 years old. Both were working fine and then all of a sudden, a black screen. This is most defiantly a Logic Board Failure and if you're not willing to pay to have Apple fix it, I don't blame you.

The repair for a Logic Board is very expensive, at least is was for me. The repair for both cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $1400 to $1800. I had AppleCare cover it so I haven't exactly walked in you're shoes.

 

[JediMeister]

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377

'Nuff said.

 

[John Doe 57]

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377

'Nuff said.

Thats what I thought was wrong with my MBP, but it wasn't the NVIDIA card.


Edit- I now see the 17-inch 2.6 GHz MBP model is not stated to have card problems. This is the model I have. The 2.4 GHz is, so jumpman25, you either have a bad graphics card or a bad logic board. Hope its the card because that a free repair regardless of having AppleCare.

 

[grx]

MBP Nvidia

Jumpman25, DanTehMan is correct, try an external monitor or you can attempt to VNC to your MBP if you have VNC enabled. If either work, it's your GPU. FYI, The mac will default back to the embedded GMA X3100 if you use the external monitor

My '07 MBP died two months ago due to the Nvidia problem. I was able to back it up by booting it as a target disk to my other mac (I know convenient to have the second mac and FW cable handy). Anyway, took it to the APPLE Store, they booted the machine off their diagnostic hard drive and pronounced the video chip as the problem.

They did ask for my uname/pword and whether I had a backup. 1.5 weeks later I had a new mother board installed Free of Charge! Needless to say I was thrilled since I was YEARS out of warranty. Hope you're as lucky.

 

[jumpman25]

Thanks for the replies. I tried hooking it up to an external monitor and the external monitor was blank like the internal screen. I'm going to call apple on Monday and see what they say. Hopefully its that nvidia issue and they can replace it for me. Seems kind of pointless to pay more for a repair than the machine is worth.

 

[jbrenn]

That has happened to me 4 times on 2 different macbook pros. They will tell you that the "rev 2" wont fail but that is a load of crap. They will repair not replace the computer. Search for are "all 8600 gt owners screwed".

 

[JediMeister]

According to the article you're supposed to carry it in to have them verify it is suffering that issue. If the system is past the 1 year warranty AppleCare may not be able to set up a mail-in repair for it without going to a second level agent.