MacBook Pro turns on, shows Apple logo or desktop, and cuts out.

[Mars478]

Have this MacBook Pro from 2009, 2.53GHZ, A1286. It will boot, show the Apple logo, and sometimes get to the desktop. Very quickly after it will turn off completely, as if someone pulled the battery (computer completely turns off, not just the backlight or screen). So far my troubleshooting has been:

-Tried swapping both RAMs into each slot respectively.

-Tried booting from a USB flash drive with HD removed.

-Tried booting the computer from a charger with the battery unplugged.

-I tried the NVRAM zap and SMC reset.

The only thing that fixed it temporarily was leaving the computer unplugged completely with the battery unplugged overnight. Then it worked fine, until the battery ran itself down and I tried booting it this morning with a charger plugged in. Any ideas?

 

[Mars478]

No help?
Next step I have tried is reapplying thermal paste which as of now I am not sure whether it has helped.

 

[MCAsan]

sounds you are trying to resurrect the dead. time for a burial and purchase of a replacement.

 

[niteflyr]

Genius bar appointment.

 

[iMacC2D]

Removed.

 

[gochi]

Genius bar appointment.

yep - unless OP wants to reformat.

 

[Mars478]

sounds you are trying to resurrect the dead. time for a burial and purchase of a replacement.

You give in too easily.

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Genius bar appointment.

Nope, I can do everything the Genius Bar can do, better and cheaper myself.

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First of all, Hi Mars478. Recognised that name immediately from the 68kMLA forum a while back.

I had this happen with a 2010 MacBook (White Unibody). Was an electrical short in the Top Case / Keyboard Assembly. Disconnecting the ribbon cable and starting the machine from the jumpers on the Logic Board allowed the machine to boot and run perfectly fine. Transplanted the system into another Top Case and it's worked fine ever since.

You're still up for a part replacement by the sound of it, but it doesn't necessarily have to be the Logic Board with these symptoms.

This is the most interesting theory I've gotten to date. Thanks for proposing it, I'll take a look. So far I've replaced the thermal paste and haven't checked yet. Nice to see you too, I remember your name too!

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yep - unless OP wants to reformat.

Reformatting won't solve my problems, of you read OP it stated I ran computer off an external flash drive with HD disconnected.

 

[niteflyr]

Nope, I can do everything the Genius Bar can do, better and cheaper myself.

Why are you asking for help then?

 

[BigBeast]

You give in too easily. So far I've replaced the thermal paste and haven't checked yet.

This was a complete waste of time. There was no indication that it was an overheat issue, such as loud fan noise. Besides the fact that while old thermal paste may make your computer run hotter than normal, it will rarely (if ever) force a shutdown due to high temps. Usually a forced shut down has to do with inadequate ventilation rather that straight up old thermal paste.

Reformatting won't solve my problems, of you read OP it stated I ran computer off an external flash drive with HD disconnected.

Actually, it says you tried to boot from a USB hard drive. You make no indication on the success of your attempts.

Also, your last statement:

The only thing that fixed it temporarily was leaving the computer unplugged completely with the battery unplugged overnight. Then it worked fine, until the battery ran itself down and I tried booting it this morning with a charger plugged in.

doesn't really make sense. Did the battery still contain a charge when you initially unplugged it before leaving it for the night? If it runs fine with a charged battery, shuts down when the battery is drained, and then doesn't power on after plugging in a charger, it sound like either the adapter is faulty (a common issue) of there is a problem with internal power/adapter connections.

Did you run Apple Hardware Test?

 

[MCAsan]

You give in too easily.

I rarely give in. I just carefully pick my battles. Trying to hold on to hardware that old is not a battle I would pick.

 

[Mars478]

Why are you asking for help then?

I am asking to see if there are other people who actually know how to work on computers themselves without paying out the ass to have someone else do something they can do themselves. You know, intelligent people?

It seems everyone on this forum loves to give Apple their money blindly instead of attempting to fix the problems themselves. I am looking for advice from the technicians here to see if someone else has experienced a similar issue. Reminds me a lot of people with cars, taking them to service centers to have them change a bulb and getting charged hundreds.

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This was a complete waste of time. There was no indication that it was an overheat issue, such as loud fan noise. Besides the fact that while old thermal paste may make your computer run hotter than normal, it will rarely (if ever) force a shutdown due to high temps. Usually a forced shut down has to do with inadequate ventilation rather that straight up old thermal paste.



Actually, it says you tried to boot from a USB hard drive. You make no indication on the success of your attempts.

Also, your last statement:

doesn't really make sense. Did the battery still contain a charge when you initially unplugged it before leaving it for the night? If it runs fine with a charged battery, shuts down when the battery is drained, and then doesn't power on after plugging in a charger, it sound like either the adapter is faulty (a common issue) of there is a problem with internal power/adapter connections.

Did you run Apple Hardware Test?

I am guessing it was overheating and shutting down the computer as a precautionary measure. So far, after I replaced the thermal paste, the computer hasn't shut down a single time yet.
The USB hard drive booted but it would display the same "shut down randomly" symptom.

I tried two different power adapters, one known good. Battery is good.
Don't have original discs for Apple Hardware test.

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I rarely give in. I just carefully pick my battles. Trying to hold on to hardware that old is not a battle I would pick.

What a shame. Too bad this computer is worth about 500 dollars on eBay. For someone like me, that is not old hardware. Keep in mind, not everyone can afford the latest and greatest. This computer is still very capable and very usable. My daily MacBook air is from 2010 and serves me valiantly every day.

 

[iMacC2D]

Removed.