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fiihala

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 6, 2010
1
0
I have a white Macbook that is 2 years old and I just took it on a trip but it wouldn't turn on. I had forgotten my charger and figured it was just out of battery. I open it up, press the power button, then it makes the chiming sound but the screen stays dark. The little light that comes on when the computer is on comes on briefly, only to turn right off again. Then it looks like I have the brightness way down low because at the right angle you can sort of see the login page, but when I try to turn the brightness up nothing happens. I tried pressing enter and then putting in my password, then the screen went totally black. I've had it plugged in all day and I have removed the battery and replaced it. I've also tried resetting the SMU or whatever it's called like people suggested on other forums. Nothing. Any ideas?
 
Take it in for service. Sounds like a bad inverter, possibly, which is what powers the backlight. Could be worse, and still might be, but you probably can’t fix it on your own.

Last thing to try on your own first, I guess, would be to reset the PRAM. Shut it down completely, then turn it on while holding down Cmd-Opt-P-R together. Wait for it to chime at least twice (many people recommend waiting for 3-4 chimes), then release the keys. That will reset the settings, brightness possibly included, in case this is just some weird settings issue.

jW
 
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