Macbook Pro - will not boot, fans start, sleep light comes on, switches off

[gingerprinceuk]

Newcomer to the site here but Help wanted please!

I have the following spec Macbook Pro, which is no longer powering up:

Macbook Pro 15" GLOSSY, model number A1150
Intel Core duo 2 Ghz processor
ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics
1.5 Gb RAM
80 Gb hard drive

The unit will no longer power up.
When you push the power button the fans start up, the DVD drive is initiated, the sleep light powers on bright BUT it will then all just power down after approximately 15 seconds.

It sometimes does this but will then power up when you try again and then functions fine. Then you can restart and this happens again. Or it can keep going fine, restarting over and over happily for a couple of days and then back to this.

I have re-seating and checking/changing the RAM - still the same.
Tried resetting the SMC many times - still the same.
Tried resetting the PRAM but it will not work, as it powers down before it gets chance.
Purchased a new power adapter.
Battery seems ok - although hasnt been checked. It charges and the green bars show on the back.

Could anybody help or have any advice?
It would be much appreciated as i'm really struggling here.

Cheers

 

[gingerprinceuk]

Anybody got any ideas what the problem is and/or what can be done to fix?

Any input or advice would be much appreciated guys.... Cheers!

 

[d1mkaz]

The unit will no longer power up.
When you push the power button the fans start up, the DVD drive is initiated, the sleep light powers on bright BUT it will then all just power down after approximately 15 seconds.

I have re-seating and checking/changing the RAM - still the same.
Tried resetting the SMC many times - still the same.
Tried resetting the PRAM but it will not work, as it powers down before it gets chance.
Purchased a new power adapter.
Battery seems ok - although hasnt been checked. It charges and the green bars show on the back.

Cheers

same here, happened 1st time last week, than just hold the power button to switch off then on, and everything started up fine. Yesterday it did the same... black screen, sleep light on. And I tried everything mentioned before (SMC, PRAM, took RAM off and back in) - IT DOES NOT BOOT. I wanted to run DISK UTILITY from installation DVD, DVD went in but screen still black and Disk would not eject (force or any other method) looks like keyboard does not respond too.
Took the hard drive off, and checked it from other mac using Disc Utility, result is - HDD is fine.
Booked appointment at Apple Care - but that's only next Wednesday .

Any help would be great!!!

 

[gingerprinceuk]

Thanks for your input - at least I know its not just me that has this problem then! Not very reassuring for either of us though.

Cant get my head around what it could possibly be - other than the dreaded logic board failure. Although, i'm not sure if it would act this way if it was the logic board? As I say it can sometimes come on and stays on functioning fine. But then once it goes there is no knowing when it'll come back on. Never sure if its something i've done to make it come back on or just pure luck!

The one thing I did wonder about is if the Sudden Motion Sensor is stuck in someway? Or is the unit thinks it is sleeping? When it goes off it makes the similar noise you would hear if you'd just held the power button down to power the unit down.

Alternatively, could it be the power supply thats playing up?
It was also taking a long time to charge at one stage.

Anybody with any help /advice for us here?

 

[gingerprinceuk]

To d1mkaz:

Does yours actually power down then a few seconds after the sleep light comes on like mine? Or does it just stay as a black screen?

If yours stays as a black screen and sleep light on then I think it's a different problem and relates to the Nvidia issue that tainted Macbook Pros at one stage - lots of info on this problem on the net and Apple actually extended the warranty period for certain units in order to have the logic boards replaced.

If it does physically power down around 15 seconds after it starts then its the same problem as mine

 

[d1mkaz]

To d1mkaz:

Does yours actually power down then a few seconds after the sleep light comes on like mine? Or does it just stay as a black screen?

If yours stays as a black screen and sleep light on then I think it's a different problem and relates to the Nvidia issue that tainted Macbook Pros at one stage - lots of info on this problem on the net and Apple actually extended the warranty period for certain units in order to have the logic boards replaced.

If it does physically power down around 15 seconds after it starts then its the same problem as mine

Yeah, it is does not powers down, it stays on with black screen, and I found out that there is that "faulty" nvidia inside, but Apple Genius said it's not graphic card - it's logic board.... and it's 700 uk pounds to fix

 

[moel]

dude...didn't you say 'apple authorised repair centre' yesterday?

They aren't apple geniuses, you'll only find an apple genius in an Apple Store.

 

[noire anqa]

If you purchase a copy of tech tool and boot from that it can perform a range of hardware tests. failing this the apple install disks also provide hardware testing abilities - though i've often found these to be sub par.

As far as preliminary diagnostics you say you've tested the ram, is that with brand new ram? i.e. ram that you know to be functional?

Additionally have you tried connecting to an external monitor? perhaps the internal display cables have gone awry.

 

[d1mkaz]

dude...didn't you say 'apple authorised repair centre' yesterday?

They aren't apple geniuses, you'll only find an apple genius in an Apple Store.

I went to "geniuses", they where trying to run some tests, but unsuccessfully, so took it out somewhere for 5 min, then said 700 uk pounds and it's logic board faulty and need to be changed.

I went to certified Apple Repair they just pressed the power button looked at it and said 200 uk pounds and they can fix the logic board, if the graphic card faulty, they can change it, leaving the same logic board. I think if it's nvidia - then all logic board have to be changed.

 

[gingerprinceuk]

My problem is different from yours dm1kaz..... as yours at least powers up but stays with a black screen - which indicates the nvidia problem.

Mine actually physically powers down after about 15 seconds of the fans coming on and the sleep light on for same time.

It will not boot from disk. I've tried RAM that I know to be working ie. taken from another machine and the problem is the same. Tried that RAM in both slots as well.

The unit does sometimes power up and then performs really well. It could then carry on like this for a good while. But will then randomly just not start and can stay like this for ages.

Does anybody have any advice on this problem at all? Cheers

 

[noire anqa]

The unit does sometimes power up and then performs really well. It could then carry on like this for a good while. But will then randomly just not start and can stay like this for ages.

Since you can sometimes get the machine to boot, can you not try a diagnostic dvd? keep trying till you eventually get it to boot from the disc and run some hardware tests!

it's very difficult to know whats going on from the information you've provided alone and it seems like you've tried all the basics. we really can't figure out more without additional information.

that said, since you've eliminated the ram and the hard drive as points of failure it stands to reason that you have a faulty logic board or power supply (note i'm referring to the internal dc board, not your external power brick). a diagnostic cd will be able to both verify this and pinpoint the exact problem.

lastly, since you appear keen to hear ideas and speculation, i would imagine the issue is the power supply. it takes more power to start a machine than to keep it running (well, thats a huge abstraction and is highly dependent on the tasks performed, but go with it for now). You might have busted capacitors that fail to retain charge or fail to charge up in sufficient time.

i highly, highly recommend you turn the display brightness to minimum or use an external, self powered, display. turn the sound off and use only one stick of ram. try to boot up from a diagnostic dvd and post back the result.

good luck!