MacBook Pro mid. 2010

[mba1975]

Hi there everybody
I'm new to his forum and also quite new to the world of Mac, especially when it
come to troubleshooting.

My wife gave me an old mid. 2010 MacBook Pro about three years ago,
and i broke, or stoppped working properly at the beginning of march, thereabouts.
The screen broke, not as in the glass broke, but the screen went black, like the connection
beween screen and computer was severed.
And since it has been standing on shells, waiting to resurrected.

So before I put in the hands of a repair man, I would like to hear your comments on
what may be the problem.

Here is what happens, when it is powered on:

It boots up, when he powerbutton is pressed, gets passed the "chime" sound, takes quite
a while, but boots in to what should eventually become he start screen, where I would
type in my password, to make it boot to my desktop. But it stops booting right there, the
option to write the password does no appear.

The keyboard lights up, but Apple Logo on the back of the case of the screen does not.

I have read about various key combinations for pressing at start up to get to a re-install option,
but no luck so far.

I have attached a few photos.

Any thougts as to how to resurrec it? I really liked that machine.

Kindly
Morten

 

[Amethyst1]

Hi there and welcome to the world of (early Intel) Macs

The MacBook “thinks” the internal screen is still working and displays the password prompt there.

If you enter your password blindly and press Enter, does it boot to a desktop? It should at least show the wallpaper and allow you to move the mouse cursor over to the external screen.

You can try booting in “clamshell mode” which completely disables the internal screen and uses just the external one: Connect an external keyboard and mouse, turn on the machine and immediately close the lid. The password prompt should eventually appear on the external screen. Log in and you should see the normal desktop.

As to what’s wrong with the internal screen — can you see something when you shine a bright flashlight at it? If so, the backlight isn’t working.

 

[mba1975]

Thanks for your reply Amethyst1.
I will try typing in my password "blindly", good idea, haven't even considdered that option. Now I just have to really think about what that password could be.....

I'll try the clam mode as well.
Thanks alot for great advice.

/Morten

 

[tensixturtle]

In the past I have temporarily used MacBooks in headless when there is something wrong with the display/backlight. I unplug the display cable from the logic board, then the computer defaults to outputting to the external monitor, kind of like a Mac mini. If you want, you could then remove the display so it is not in the way. It is not a fix but I think it might work temporarily, especially if you do not want to put money towards it.

 

[mba1975]

Thanks tensixturtle.
Sounds like a fine solution. I will try that.
Thank you.

 

[mba1975]

It worked, thank very youvery much.

 

[Amethyst1]

It worked, thank very youvery much.

You mean entering the password blindly and/or clamshell mode? Glad you got your problem solved.

 

[mba1975]

You mean entering the password blindly and/or clamshell mode? Glad you got your problem solved.

Clam mode wonderfully easy solution, thnx.