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grmrMBP

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 20, 2014
11
0
Okay, I know this is long, but here goes:

Originally, our problem was a gray screen with lines but showed the Apple symbol and progress bar, which would go about 2/3 and then go to complete gray screen, then black screen, then restart. Apple store said it was the logic board (everything else was okay in their diagnostic test), but would not touch it as it was “vintage.” We replaced the logic board and then just had a black screen. You could hear the CD powering, but nothing else (no start up chime).

We ended up taking it to an Apple Certified Technician store who told us they “chase the symptoms” and determined it was the display to which they could replace for $300. I asked them if the logic board was okay since that is the only thing that was replaced and we at least had a screen with the old one. They said they didn’t have a way to test it, but could put the computer through a stress test.

Long story short, they said that the wrong thermal paste was used on the heat sink. When I picked it up ($165 later) it was working. I brought it home and started a Time Capsule backup, which was going to take hours, so I left the cover open all night. It went into sleep mode. I started playing around with it the next morning (checking emails, etc.). The backup was still in process when I clicked on “Enter Time Capsule.” As soon as I clicked on that, the screen went to all green tiling.

I immediately pressed the Cmd-Opt-R-P and it repeatedly cycled through the startup chime with the green tiling. I powered down and back up and got the same thing as after the logic board replacement - black screen with only the CD (or HD? - whirring sound) powering. I say that, but since I could not see anything, I really do not know. That is the only thing I could hear. :) I’ve tried SMC and even NVRAM, which won’t work since it doesn’t power on. What could be the issue now? Could it be the LVDS cable (part GS17616)? I assume LVDS has something to do with the video. I do not believe it is the display as we had a picture before it went black. I also was told it could be the HD cable. Any advise will be appreciated.
 
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So does that mean I got a faulty logic board? Even though it did work for ½ day?
 
Thanks for your post, and yes, sorry to say, we missed that deadline - my MBP was actually working then. When I told the guy at the Apple Store I had not received any notification, he said that they only changed out the ones that actually went bad by that expiration date. Doesn’t help me any.

Anyway, we replaced the logic board with a supposed brand new one (the guy is in my state and had great reviews with no other people having problems), and the MBP did work after they changed the thermal paste, so would it really be the logic board again? Someone on a different forum mentioned the hard drive cable. Would that cause it?
 
It does seem strange that you should get a bad logic board again so quickly after replacing it. I can't think of many other options though

If it's a bad cable to the storage it would act very differently, and you'd be able to easily boot into recovery mode. Trying to boot normally with a bad hard drive or SATA cable just results in seeing the "Couldn't find macOS" symbol
 
That makes sense. I can’t get it to boot into anything. I even tried the flashlight to the display, but it’s completely black like it’s turned off. Weird being that the power cord is green and the light in front is on. Oh well, perhaps I should start saving for a new one. :(
 
Thanks for your post, and yes, sorry to say, we missed that deadline - my MBP was actually working then. When I told the guy at the Apple Store I had not received any notification, he said that they only changed out the ones that actually went bad by that expiration date. Doesn’t help me any.

Anyway, we replaced the logic board with a supposed brand new one (the guy is in my state and had great reviews with no other people having problems), and the MBP did work after they changed the thermal paste, so would it really be the logic board again? Someone on a different forum mentioned the hard drive cable. Would that cause it?
If it were the HDD or HDD cable your MBP would either display a still image of the Apple logo, or a blinking "?" folder icon. I don't think it's the cable or HDD. I could be wrong though!
 
What about the video cable? Would the symptoms be no boot if it was the video cable? The reason I ask is because I was told it was my display, but then they got it to work again by changing the thermal paste, but then I got the same symptoms back the next day. If it was the display, I doubt it would have worked at all, so perhaps something is wrong with the cable..??? Grasping at straws here, but I just replaced the logic board and really don’t want to go through that again, let alone the cost of it! Thanks!
 
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to boot at all. When I press the power button I can hear something turning and the front white light is illuminated, but that is all. The screen does not turn on (like in sleep mode) even. Could it be anything besides the logic board?
 
OP:

You've got "RadeonGate" (research it). This means it has a failing discrete GPU and bad solder joints.
There's no real "fix" for it. Not one that will last a while.
You could try disabling the GPU via software (again, do the research), doing this will limit you to running with the integrated graphics only. But it will run.

It's really time to start looking for a new MacBook.
 
OP:

You've got "RadeonGate" (research it). This means it has a failing discrete GPU and bad solder joints.
There's no real "fix" for it. Not one that will last a while.
You could try disabling the GPU via software (again, do the research), doing this will limit you to running with the integrated graphics only. But it will run.

It's really time to start looking for a new MacBook.

I had the same problem this week. My beloved 17" started screen glitching. It started intermittently rebooting and playing up by the next day. Today it wouldnt boot at all, just got to the white screen and stopped. I applied the software patch to disable the GPU and was surprised to find it worked great!

Yes, I am only on the integrated now but it works great. Even Photoshop works great. Hardly any dip in performance at all. I can cope with this until a new MBP comes out that suits my needs...(32GB, Keyboard, inputs etc) Could be a while I know! :)
 
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