MBP Early 2011 15" running ridiculously slow

[maxsundell]

So well, hi guys!

I've just gotten a pretty old macbook from a family member since he got a new computer so he said that if i can fix his old mbp i can have it, however i've tried all i can really think of.

What i've tried:

- Cleaning it by opening the back-panel (the screws securing the logic board are stuck so i cant get to the cpu/gpu to try to reapply thermal paste)
- Reinstalling OS
- Reinstalling OS with a complete whipe
- CMR Reset

The battery is completely dead and the warrenty is long gone. I'm not willing to pay anything (except for a new battery) so unless you guys actually think theres a chance i can fix it i'm just going to give up on it.

Geekbench score is around 800 Single-Core, 2800 Multi-Core

 

[Gav Mack]

800 sounds low for a 2011 iirc. Have you tried another HDD/SSD?

If so you may have to get the right screwdriver to remove the logic board for a re-paste, they can be fairly tight but I've found never impossibly so unless it's been opened up before and tightened by a bodybuilder!

 

[maxsundell]

800 sounds low for a 2011 iirc. Have you tried another HDD/SSD?

If so you may have to get the right screwdriver to remove the logic board for a re-paste, they can be fairly tight but I've found never impossibly so unless it's been opened up before and tightened by a bodybuilder!

I think we got a 2.5 hdd laying around i'll try that however about the screws the fittings are completely destroyed so theres no way opening them with a normal screwdriwer. (i do have T6 and PH00 screwdrivers)

 

[Gav Mack]

I think we got a 2.5 hdd laying around i'll try that however about the screws the fittings are completely destroyed so theres no way opening them with a normal screwdriwer. (i do have T6 and PH00 screwdrivers)

It's been opened before then, Apple engineers would have used new screws if any were rounding. Give it a go with the HDD. Do the fans spin up a lot?

A very steady hand and a dremel is required to cut slots in the screw tops and get replacements ordered up. Wash the logic board down with isopropyl and have a good look after with a magnifier to see any metal filings are left on the board else it could short it after. After taking it apart examine the CPU/GPU to see if has been re-balled (soldered)

 

[Swampus]

Battery completely dead? 100% dead? That will cause it to run pretty slow in itself. 700MHz, I think?

Go to terminal and type:
sysctl hw.cpufrequency

This will tell you the frequency that your CPU actually running.

Agree with Gav Mack too. Given that disassembly was done in such a reckless manner, it's reasonable to assume that the same will hold true for whatever work was actually done.

The question, then, is why was it dissambled and by whom?

Is your family member the original owner of this machine?

If the heatsink compound was redone badly or if the very thin application that's normally recommended was used, but you happen to have one that the heatsink doesn't fit properly, it's easy to end up with a situation that is much worse than the way it shipped from the factory. Upon boot, it would immediately throttle in a desperate move to protect itself.

What are your temperatures looking like? Are they reasonably even across cores?

 

[simonsi]

Yep - for the OP - I think all MBPs will run slow when only mains power adapter available as when running at full speed they draw more than the power adapter on its own can provide.

 

[maxsundell]

Battery completely dead? 100% dead? That will cause it to run pretty slow in itself. 700MHz, I think?

Go to terminal and type:
sysctl hw.cpufrequency

This will tell you the frequency that your CPU actually running.

Agree with Gav Mack too. Given that disassembly was done in such a reckless manner, it's reasonable to assume that the same will hold true for whatever work was actually done.

The question, then, is why was it dissambled and by whom?

Is your family member the original owner of this machine?

If the heatsink compound was redone badly or if the very thin application that's normally recommended was used, but you happen to have one that the heatsink doesn't fit properly, it's easy to end up with a situation that is much worse than the way it shipped from the factory. Upon boot, it would immediately throttle in a desperate move to protect itself.

What are your temperatures looking like? Are they reasonably even across cores?

CPU temps are idling at about 35 degrees Celsius which is completely normal however core 2 and core 6 says "---" indicating that they are not working i suppose? Terminal says hw.cpufrequency 2000000000. I should have mentioned that i myself damaged the screws trying to get to the logic board (they were completely stuck from the beginning) so i guess theres nothing wrong with the cpu then which completely leaves me out without any clue what to do.

 

[Swampus]

...however core 2 and core 6 says "---" indicating that they are not working i suppose?

Nah, they just do that sometimes. I don't know why. Those aren't physical cores anyway. Idle temp looks good. Do you have a link to your Geekbench run?

 

[Swampus]

So well, hi guys!

I've just gotten a pretty old macbook...

I should have mentioned that i myself damaged the screws trying to get to the logic board

I don't want to come across as giving you a lecture, but you've given no indication of how familiar you are with Macs, so let me just err on the side of communicating a few things:

1) This is not a three year old $300 Wal-Mart laptop. You can check eBay's recently sold listing to see what people are currently paying for them (honestly, I think folks are paying way too much considering what you can get new or refurbished directly from Apple, but that's what folks are paying, so that's what they're worth).

2) Proceed with caution. Do not make things worse. Don't approach it like a situation in which you have nothing to lose. You (or your relative) could easily get $500+ today will full disclosure about its current state.

3) It also follows from the above that, if we're unable to help you here, the machine may still worth the cost of a legitimate professional repair. If you live in the United States, one of those options is a $310 flat rate repair from Apple. But that's a tier based system and it's priced depending on the physical condition of the unit and there is about $300 dollars between tiers. My guess is that the damage you did to the screws would bump to the highest tier of $1200 (more than the machine is worth).

4) A Mac's personality is not even fully developed at age three. There is likely still plenty of good computing left in this. It's not the best set of GPUs that one could hope for, but combined with the still powerful quad core processor, it's still more than adequate for nearly any 2D work and quite a bit of 3D work.

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Yep - for the OP - I think all MBPs will run slow when only mains power adapter available as when running at full speed they draw more than the power adapter on its own can provide.

Aye. The battery acts as a buffer when you're flat out like a lizard drinking (as would be the case with a Geekbench run).

 

[Gav Mack]

Yep - for the OP - I think all MBPs will run slow when only mains power adapter available as when running at full speed they draw more than the power adapter on its own can provide.

If the battery is toast The 15 MBP also does the same with the smaller 60w power pack when it should have the 85 watt model.

Tip to the OP - full disclosure please, not here to judge only to help lol.

Hold d on startup and run the apple hardware test let us know the results.. Sure your model has aht built in.

 

[maxsundell]

If the battery is toast The 15 MBP also does the same with the smaller 60w power pack when it should have the 85 watt model.

Tip to the OP - full disclosure please, not here to judge only to help lol.

Hold d on startup and run the apple hardware test let us know the results.. Sure your model has aht built in.

Holding down D at startup does absolutely nothing except slowing down the boot up time. I've tried multiple times now and it just launches directly into mac os x after a minute or so.

 

[Swampus]

Hmmm. Do you have the optical media (machine specific grey disks) that came with the computer? AHT should be on Snow Leopard disk 2.

 

[Gav Mack]

Holding down D at startup does absolutely nothing except slowing down the boot up time. I've tried multiple times now and it just launches directly into mac os x after a minute or so.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1509

Has to be before the white screen, be quick! If you have lion or newer installed it should be built in. If not plug in an ethernet cable and it will run the internet recovery aht. If you have snow leopard take the hard drive out, aht should run via internet cos you have recovery in your EFI.

Failing all that with your slow MBP go to the App Store and get mavericks for free. Use diskmakerx to make a usb boot drive and then clean install 10.9.1 on it. After all that you will have aht!

 

[maxsundell]

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1509

Has to be before the white screen, be quick! If you have lion or newer installed it should be built in. If not plug in an ethernet cable and it will run the internet recovery aht. If you have snow leopard take the hard drive out, aht should run via internet cos you have recovery in your EFI.

I'm holding the D button just as i power on the computer and it STILL launches into mac os x arggggggh

EDIT: I got into the AHT by using ALT + D and i'm currently testing for errors.

 

[Gav Mack]

I'm holding the D button just as i power on the computer and it STILL launches into mac os x arggggggh

You must have snow leopard and the original DVD yes? I just added more to my previous post, Update SL to 10.6.8 and go to the Mac App Store and get mavericks for free. Make a usb install drive with diskmakerx. Install that you will have the latest OS and the aht built in and via internet..

 

[maxsundell]

You must have snow leopard and the original DVD yes? I just added more to my previous post, Update SL to 10.6.8 and go to the Mac App Store and get mavericks for free. Make a usb install drive with diskmakerx. Install that you will have the latest OS and the aht built in and via internet..

The only error it found was that the battery is indeed faulty