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Macbook Pro display Won't turn on

No boot up, only sleep light

My symptoms for my 2007 15in MBP:
does not boot up, only makes hardware sound- not the startup chime, and the sleep light is the only signs of life. No screen or anything.

I tried resetting the SMC and PRAM with no luck. I finally took it to a nearby authorized service provider who told me it would cost $95 just to figure out what's wrong since it would not boot up.

The next day it was fixed for free. Apparently the logic board crapped out and apple covered it, even though it was long out of warranty.
 
same exact problem

im having the same exact problem with the no chime screen is off etc. im wondering how did you get apple to agree to fix it even though its out of warranty? its very obvious that the 8600 graphics card is the reason for the logicboard crashing i think its due to overheating. my graphics card was acting a little funky and my laptop was running extremely hot lately and now its in dead mode. trying to get apple to fix it but wondering what the best approach would be. i think its a joke that they dont recognize that its an issue when so many others have the exact same problem
 
gambler said:
im having the same exact problem with the no chime screen is off etc. im wondering how did you get apple to agree to fix it even though its out of warranty? its very obvious that the 8600 graphics card is the reason for the logicboard crashing i think its due to overheating. my graphics card was acting a little funky and my laptop was running extremely hot lately and now its in dead mode. trying to get apple to fix it but wondering what the best approach would be. i think its a joke that they dont recognize that its an issue when so many others have the exact same problem
Click to expand...

just bring it in and tell them your problems. mine was out of warranty when i bought it in. they offered the fixed rate price. i told them i thought it was the graphics card too but because there was no chime they said it was more than just the graphics card. good luck!
 
Waragainstsleep said:
I am curious to know how many of you have observed the following specific symptoms on a 15" or 17" MBP with the nVidia 8600M GT card.

When the power button is pressed, the following occurs:

No boot chime;
No video (internal or external);
No caps lock light;
Sleep LED comes on and stays on;
Sleep LED dims/goes out when the speaker grilles (ALS) are covered and comes back on when uncovered;
Unable to reset PRAM or really do much else;

[/email]
Click to expand...

gambler said:
im having the same exact problem with the no chime screen is off etc. im wondering how did you get apple to agree to fix it even though its out of warranty? its very obvious that the 8600 graphics card is the reason for the logicboard crashing i think its due to overheating. my graphics card was acting a little funky and my laptop was running extremely hot lately and now its in dead mode. trying to get apple to fix it but wondering what the best approach would be. i think its a joke that they dont recognize that its an issue when so many others have the exact same problem
Click to expand...

I too had these same symptoms about a week ago. I took my machine to the apple store. Studied the hell out of this thread while i waited for my appointment. Thanks guys

They couldnt run the test obviously, But after talking with the the employees for a few minutes they offered to change the logic board. 5 days later, got it back and it works great.

Saved me $1000, I am sorry to hear that some of you were refused repair. I had to be a little persistent to get mine done. I also had to be extremely kind even when the employees got rude. If I would have responded back as rude as they had, I dont think they would have done it.
 
adamleibo said:
I too had these same symptoms about a week ago. I took my machine to the apple store. Studied the hell out of this thread while i waited for my appointment. Thanks guys

They couldnt run the test obviously, But after talking with the the employees for a few minutes they offered to change the logic board. 5 days later, got it back and it works great.

Saved me $1000, I am sorry to hear that some of you were refused repair. I had to be a little persistent to get mine done. I also had to be extremely kind even when the employees got rude. If I would have responded back as rude as they had, I dont think they would have done it.
Click to expand...

Well done for persevering. Glad it worked out in the end and it just goes to show, even when an answer is initially "no", sometimes it can be reversed.
 
MBP Gray Screen and Video Problems

I have the 17" MBP and now the gray screen of death is the usual at start up:eek: - it also has been (even running techtool pro) video lines and scrambles. :confused: I did read that Apple is replacing the video cards even being out of warranty? PLEASE say it's so???:apple: Anyone have recommendations for the conversation for the Apple store Genius bar tomorrow? :eek:
 
bigkids1956 said:
I have the 17" MBP and now the gray screen of death is the usual at start up:eek: - it also has been (even running techtool pro) video lines and scrambles. :confused: I did read that Apple is replacing the video cards even being out of warranty? PLEASE say it's so???:apple: Anyone have recommendations for the conversation for the Apple store Genius bar tomorrow? :eek:
Click to expand...

If you have the nVidia 8600gt and it fails their test for that specific issue, the repair will be free of charge. They will replace the complete logic board assembly.
 
Yeah for Me - They are going to fix it 4 FREE

Thanks for pointing out the ongoing issue I took my MBP into the Apple Store and they hooked it up to the LaCie and low and behold he told me I got good news. :D we are going to replace the logic board and the graphic cards and NO CHARGE ;) Thank you all for keeping up on the fixes even if it's out of warranty. Here as I use my husbands old 14" iBook that runs so slow but I'm so happy to be having my repaired I will deal with this one with a smile!
 
Just happened to me too

Just happened to me. Thanks for all the advice. The helpline has said they will fix it if it is the graphics card issue. Have an appointment at the apple store tomorrow. Fingers crossed!
 
Nvidia or logic board?

Hi Folks,

I have the same problem: put my macbook to sleep a couple of nights ago, and when I came back an hour later, got the black screen. I hear whirring when I start it up, as if it is working, but no chimes. I am waiting for a decision from the techie, but because of the lack of chimes, he warns that he may have to replace the logic board for about €800 or €900 - much more than the $330 that iuzila reported earlier.

Having seen this thread, I rang Applecare to see what their policy is, but the staff member who answered only told that if the technician decides that the problem is the logic board, I will be stung for the cost myself. He could not estimate a cost as, saying that it varies with each reseller. I asked whether they had seen many failed logic boards and he answered "No, just a few".

So with that, I am looking for advice on how to proceed. It sounds like the logic board problem is linked to the Nvidia card issue, or else the same batch has faulty logic boards too, but Apple is unaware of the extent of the problem. I purchased the Applecare Protection Plan, but nothing was mentioned about Nvidia, or that the warranty would have been extended to three years anyway (so have I been conned into paying for something that I was entitled to free of charge?), and it expired just two weeks ago. If I have to pay the full cost of replacing the logic board, I might as well buy a new macbook, but how can I trust that the same problems will not pop up again? And if it is something that Apple is aware of but refusing to acknowledge....well I'd rather not think about that.

Please let me know your thoughts. At the very least I think I should get a second opinion if they refuse to fix it free of charge, as the chipset test sounds a bit unreliable.

Update:
I just had a call from my mac reseller to say that the repair is done and will cost me nothing, so a failed chipset test is not the end of the road. I cannot describe how happy and relieved I am. I'm surprised at how quickly it was carried out too. : D
 
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I'm glad I found this thread. I have similar issues to most of you guys, esp. midatlantian. My Early 2008 MBP won't boot for more than a mere second. The Apple genius bar said it was a problem with the logic board and sent it off for repair, charging the $310 fee. I wasn't able to convince the genius that it could be the faulty nVidia issue, because he said the laptop wouldn't boot. I will definitely check the invoice after I receive it back.

It left a sour taste when such an expensive laptop could completely fail a little after 3 years. I've had many Windows laptops and desktops that are still working today.

Do you know if the board does get replaced, could the nvidia issue happen again or did they fix that?
 
adamleibo said:
I too had these same symptoms about a week ago. I took my machine to the apple store. Studied the hell out of this thread while i waited for my appointment. Thanks guys

They couldnt run the test obviously, But after talking with the the employees for a few minutes they offered to change the logic board. 5 days later, got it back and it works great.

Saved me $1000, I am sorry to hear that some of you were refused repair. I had to be a little persistent to get mine done. I also had to be extremely kind even when the employees got rude. If I would have responded back as rude as they had, I dont think they would have done it.
Click to expand...

:confused:
This exact thing happened to my MacBook Pro 17" Aluminum, and this thread has been very helpful (a huge thank you to my brother who found it while helping me). Everything was fine, I put my screen to sleep last night, and when I woke up the screen wouldnt work!

The sleep light was on like normal, and I could hear the fans running, but no screen, and no CAPS LOCK light. And there was no chime when I restarted it. But the whenever it restarted the whole computer seemed to be asleep.

I took it to the Apple Store and had an appointment this afternoon, armed with the apple report my brother found: support Article TS2377

He basically waved the article away because it specifically mentioned 2.2 and 2.4 ghz NVIDIA 8600s. But it also clearly says Early 2008 MacBook Pros. By him waving it away, and saying mine was a 2.6 ghz, I assumed he knew what he was talking about and mine was newer than that. I've had lots of Mac Laptops and I couldnt remember exactly when I bought this one. So he hands down told me that this didn't apply to my computer and took it back for a test.

They tried to start it and because there was no chime, and there was no RAM "alarm" when he tried to start it after removing the RAM, he said it was my Logic Board, and it was going to need to be replaced, and it is not under warranty. My options were to pay them $510+ at the store, or send it out for $310 and have them probably wipe my hard drive...not to mention he said they will automatically fix everything that is wrong with it and add it to the tab without any choice from me, since I was going to have to pre-authorize them to do so before I could even send it.

Well I am a copywriter and had plenty of stuff on here that wasn't backed up (bad, I know) and this sounded like the worst idea ever. After talking to him about it, I said I was going to think about it and take my computer home. Then he went in the back and came out authorized to "match" the $310 depot cost in order to keep the repair in the store and increase the chances of me recovering all of my data on the hard drive (which should not be affected by the logic board). He acted like he was doing me a huge favor. I still told him I would think about it, and got the offer in writing.

THEN, when I got home today, I took my serial number, looked it up on the apple support site, and it says "Early 2008 MacBook Pro 17"... Why in the world didnt he just offer to fix it. Instead he tries to blame the logic board. The ironic part is that the NVIDIA is soldered onto the logic board, and both the logic board AND the NVIDIA have to be removed to fix it.

I mean, seriously.... this is a KNOWN issue that Apple has publicly addressed. There is a common NVIDIA failure in these models. So why did he just bypass that whole Apple Support document I handed him on a silver platter and act like my model was newer than that, and it doesnt apply. It does actually.

My computer was working perfectly last night, and after about 3 years, my super expensive laptop is not working, and I'm supposed to pay for it despite this known issue? Not happy with how this has gone so far....

Tomorrow I will be calling the support line, and hopefully I can get this taken care of 1) without paying for it, and 2) without wiping my hard drive. Not really sure how this happened out of the blue. :confused:
 
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I have the same problem with my MBP from 2008.

I brought to a Apple reseller and told them I suspect it to be the graphics card issue.
The took it in for repair but was told later on that it has something to do with the RAM on the logic board, and that Apple wont cover it :(
I am not saying they are lying but it has all the symptoms of the screen now turning on even though light in the front is on and when you connect it to an external monitor it wont show up neither.

I'm considering taking it to another Apple reseller and try my luck their even though it will cost me $100
 
Sorry for bumping this thread, but instead of making a new thread I'll just post here:

Last Sunday (Sept 11) I woke up and tried to make my computer wake up from Sleep mode. Had all the symptoms listed in this thread. Computer chimed, heard the fans, heard the DVD spin, LED light on in the front, but no display. Took the battery out to reset the SMC. Still no luck. Went down to the local Apple Store.

Very friendly and nice. He ran some tests and said it looks like the logic board. I asked if my computer was covered under the nVidia warranty (I knew it was). He told me it was but they would have to run more tests. He said if the computer didn't chime (he couldn't hear in the loud Apple store), the nVidia warranty would not apply and I would be charged $310 to replace the logic board. If it did chime it would be free. He told me they would call me the next day and let me know on the status.

Never got a call the next day so that late afternoon I called and the lady looked up my order. She informed me that it was covered under warranty and would be done the following day Tuesday (13th). Never got a call the following day so I called Wednesday. The person informed me it would be done by tomorrow and they would call me. No call the following day.

I finally got a call today (Friday 16th). The man from the Apple store was VERY nice. Told me they replaced the logic board, but they are still having issues with the computer (would not say what). He said they would be sending it out for higher up Apple techs to look at it and that it was all covered under warranty and I would have it back in 3 to 5 days.

I informed him I had 4 years of data on the MacBook Pro that is not backed-up (stupid stupid me I know). I informed him I went out and bought a Western Digital 1TB external HD while my computer was at his store so I would be ready to back it up when I got it back. I asked if I would lose the data on the drive when they sent it out and he said there was a 50/50 chance. He told me if I brought my external HD down to them tonight they would pull the HD out of the MacBook Pro and save everything to my external drive for a $99 labor fee. I am going to have this done before they send it out. Hopefully the internal drive is not the problem and I will have all my data backed-up. I'll know more when I go down to the Apple store after work.

Seems like everyone in this thread had their Macbook Pros back within 1-3 days repaired and running great. I'm going on the 5th day without my computer and they are still having major issues with it and no still no end in sight.
 
So I dropped off my external HD after I wrote that last post. No idea if they were able to backup my MacBook Pro before they sent it off to get worked on.

The Apple store sent my Macook Pro to Apple's repair facility in Texas. No idea when I will have it back.

Been without my MacBook Pro since Sept 11 when I dropped it off. Going on 10 days. No idea when I'll have it back. :(
 
These failures are still occurring. Just had one fail a couple of weeks ago. I knew it was the nVIDIA issue; the AASP confirmed it. It was just over the 4 year mark, and the AASP said Apple wouldn't cover it. Called Apple and after speaking with a supervisor, they agreed to provide a new motherboard (logic board) for no cost, but left us on the hook for labor charges. Better than nothing, but somewhat frustrating considering that this isn't a cheap Dell P.O.S. and we purchased applecare.

I would say if you are having problems getting it diagnosed, try a different service provider/apple store. If you are having trouble getting it covered, call tech support. Whatever you do, when you talk to apple, be really nice to them. That seems to help get them to do things for you.

Most problems with this vintage of computer ARE going to be the nVIDIA problem. Some of them may not be identified as such because the POST doesn't complete (the boot chime indicates a successful POST), but most systems I have ever dealt with could be prevented from successfully POSTing if there was a serious problem with the graphics/video device.

Interestingly, I have seen reports of amateur reflows getting the machines to work again. There is also a company in Florida that is doing reflows with professional equipment (which means it should last a while, unlike the amateur jobs) for $200. They have videos on youtube. If you're getting quoted a large chunk of change, that may be something to consider.
 
Got an e-mail my MacBook Pro was ready for pickup today. Went in and picked it up. They did a backup of my HD to the external HD I dropped off before they sent the MBP out to have the work done on it in Houston, TX.

I was charged nothing and am VERY happy with Apple Customer Service.

The paper I got back with the repairs done to the machine say:
- Logic Board, 2.4 GHz (item number: 605-1791)
- Top Case (item number: 620-3977)

So my question is, did my screen get fried when the NVIDIA video card took a dump? Or is replacing the Top Case part of the service when replacing the bad logic board because of the NVIDIA issue?

Again, couldn't be happier!
 
Actually the keyboard is a separate part from the top case. They must have found a problem with something else like the power button, sleep switch or trackpad. Either that or the new logic board is a slightly different version which required a different top case for compatibility.
 
I have been having exactly the same problem as everybody else on this forum. I can hear the computer start along with the startup chime. The fans work, all the keyboard lights work, but the screen remains black. It happens completely randomly, and it will start working again within the hour or up to several days later. I have also discovered that the computer does work if connected to an external monitor.

It seems like it could be the same nvidia problem that everybody else is having; however, my computer was manufactured in 2009 which is too late to qualify for the free repair. The video card is from a later model - NVIDIA Geforce 9400M. I never bought an extended warranty, so the computer is not currently covered by a warranty. Does anybody know if this computer could still qualify for a free repair?
 
Difference between orginal and replaced Logic Board

I recently sent in my 2007 2.4ghz Macbook Pro due to issues with the screen going black and not coming back on. I did research and think the issues are with a faulty Nvidia 8600m card. The computer monitor randomly shut off and would not come on for 5 mins then all was fine till a week ago it shut off for 30 seconds and then the next day it ran fine for 5 hours then monitor went black. I let it sit for many hours and still would not come back on. Talked to apple support about possible faulty graphics card and took it to apple they said i would have been covered but my computer is 4.5 years old - after talking to the wife they said they could send it in and it would cost me $210 plus $100 for parts and labor to fix it. So ok the computer was free so what the heck why not. I got a call 3 days later the computer was fixed and went to local apple store to pay and pick it up. I went to the apple store and told them i am not taking it home till i look at it with a tech so they set me up the computer booted kinda slow and noted a firmware issue so updated that and it seemed to function better. but the tech noticed what he called theater lighting effect on the monitor and asked since i got the Logic board and the top cover replaced the rest of the computer was under a 90 blanket warrenty thus if anything else went wrong with the computer in 90s it would be replaced free of charge. He said i could take it home and use it for a bit and send it back or they could send it back now - so the tech noted that the LCD and maybe the inverter needed to be replaced as well. He seemed concerned that i was made happy. So i have to wait to get it back then will give a full report.
Things I would like to know
the original Logic board was part # 661-4341
new logic board is part # 605-1791
What is the difference and why can i not find this part number any place other than in forums of people who got theirs back?
I did take a peak at the system profile to make sure it was sent back at as a 2.4 and noted it had a Nvidia 8600m card as well? I gather some were made bad and then the issues corrected and new ones made?

They also replaced the top cover which had a power button that was partly broken (meaning it was not even with top case) and replaced the trackpad
original apple part number 922-8036
replacement part number 620-3977
what is the difference?

thanks will keep u in formed I would look to see if they extend the Nvidia issue for another year if so i better keep the paper work and see if i can get a refund?
 
mac book video problems, black screen

ok i had my mac go black screen. first i had a kern all panic had to reboot 2 times. then black screen no chime. after a long time pulling my mac apart and reading here i found out it was a bad memory chip. put one in at a time my mac works now,. i thought it was the 8600 card but not the case. my mac was bought in 08 and not in warranty. apple won't honor to fix video card if it goes bad since the recall. but might do a $350 flat rate to fix my mac if it get broke.
 
Forgot I still had this thread subscribed.

Yeah I posted last August, took it to Apple, and the Genius wouldn't cover it under the Nvidia warranty because it wouldn't boot. They charged me $310 and I paid it. They replaced the logic board.

The issue later that month Amazon had the Kindle laptop sale and I ended up buying a MBA. I've barely used the MBP since, but I don't think selling the 2008 MBP would get me much... just using for file storage and iOS programming.

If you can't afford a new computer, yeah fix it... otherwise beforehand I almost considered a mac mini.
 
2013

It's 2013, those of us with these faulty macs are now out of luck.
I called apple (why not?) and confirmed.
I've been a lucky person with apple laptops. I had a powerbook g3 which was in and out of warrantied repairs until the non apple warranty repair company messed it up and voided the warranty.
Next I had a powerbook g4 which died a month before the extended applecare expired. I turned it in to the apple store. It came back after a short time and a 2 weeks later it died again. When I brought back, the store claimed it was a new issue, it was out of warranty and would cost $400 for a logic board. I swore off Apple laptops from that date - until recently, I bought a used macbook pro in late 2012 and wouldn't you know, in march it refused to start, black screen but DVD-drive makes noise. It turned back on after leaving it alone for 2 weeks. I quickly removed personal data from the machine.
When calling apple I received the same story, expensive logic board.

During the past several years I've bought a number of cheap PC laptops and not one had any logic board issues. Compaq, HP, MSI, ASUS etc.
For those of you reading this, save your money and time.
 
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Bad apple thay should replace them all under warrant as it is the ic gpu chip that is at fault you pay 1000s for a mac that only lasts 18 months even the 2012 models do the same

I get a lot of macs all models in my shop for repair with this fault we just replace with a new revised gpu
 
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