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MBP is it Dead?

P

pmgreen

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 7, 2012
8
0
Woke up this morning, turned on the MBP heard the fan come on and walked away for a minute. The screen remains black and no response from the keyboard (caps lock doesn't turn green). I've tried taking out the battery and plug, Shift while restarting.

I'm able to charge a USB device on it so I know there is power, just not a picture.

Any thoughts or is this now a doorstop?
 
pmgreen said:
Woke up this morning, turned on the MBP heard the fan come on and walked away for a minute. The screen remains black and no response from the keyboard (caps lock doesn't turn green). I've tried taking out the battery and plug, Shift while restarting.

I'm able to charge a USB device on it so I know there is power, just not a picture.

Any thoughts or is this now a doorstop?
Click to expand...

That could be a hard drive or a RAM problem. If you know how to work on computers, I would try opening it up, taking out one of the sticks of RAM and see if that makes a difference.

What version of MBP is it?
 
josephmccutchen said:
That could be a hard drive or a RAM problem. If you know how to work on computers, I would try opening it up, taking out one of the sticks of RAM and see if that makes a difference.

What version of MBP is it?
Click to expand...

It's a 2008 MBP 15 inch, let me know if anything else is needed.

I've done a lot of PC repair, never a mac though. Remove a stick, and boot up?

Thanks,
 
pmgreen said:
It's a 2008 MBP 15 inch, let me know if anything else is needed.

I've done a lot of PC repair, never a mac though. Remove a stick, and boot up?

Thanks,
Click to expand...

The RAM is pretty easy to get to. Here are a couple of links:

2008, Pre-Unibody:

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Install...h+Core+2+Duo+Models+A1226+and+A1260+RAM/652/1

Late 2008-2009, Unibody
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Install...ch+Unibody+Late+2008+and+Early+2009+RAM/822/1

Take one stick out, put the computer back together, boot and see if it gives you problems again. It's kind of like a trial and error. Let me know if you need any other help or if you found a solution. Take care!
 
Thank you so much for the info. I took out each stick and rebooted. No change. I did notice the latch release did blink/flicker at boot some times.
I hear the fan but just no response from the keyboard (other than the power) or screen.

Thanks for your help
 
pmgreen said:
Woke up this morning, turned on the MBP heard the fan come on and walked away for a minute. The screen remains black and no response from the keyboard (caps lock doesn't turn green). I've tried taking out the battery and plug, Shift while restarting.

I'm able to charge a USB device on it so I know there is power, just not a picture.

Any thoughts or is this now a doorstop?
Click to expand...

Try using an external monitor to check if it's a screen issue.

P.S. Initially reading your thread title, I thought this thread was going to be about "is the MBP dead/dying?". You might want to change it to be a little more specific to attract more possible help.
 
The external monitor was a no go. Any way to tell if it's the logic board or the graphics board?
 
pmgreen said:
The external monitor was a no go. Any way to tell if it's the logic board or the graphics board?
Click to expand...
It's all one part- the graphics chip is on the logic board. On these computers, it's almost certainly a graphics problem.
 
I've everything, the box is now a doorstop. Apple said it would be several hundred to repair since it's out the recall period. Needless to say, not the happiest day

WHen I get a new one, is there a way to pull the data from the old hard-drive?
 
pmgreen said:
I've everything, the box is now a doorstop. Apple said it would be several hundred to repair since it's out the recall period. Needless to say, not the happiest day

WHen I get a new one, is there a way to pull the data from the old hard-drive?
Click to expand...

Should be if it was not a hard drive faliure, but a logic board one.
 
You missed the recall date by just three months:

http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2377

I'd call AppleCare back up and let them know that you were not aware of the recall otherwise you would have acted on it immediately.

Explain to them that you are a very casual user and that's probably the reason why it took so long for the issue to surface.

Explain why you don't feel it's fair to be penalized for not using your computer more often than others in order to force an issue to emerge.

If you stand your ground on this there's a good chance they'll make an exception and replace the logic board at no charge or at least very discounted. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
pmgreen said:
It's a 2008 MBP 15 inch, let me know if anything else is needed.

I've done a lot of PC repair, never a mac though. Remove a stick, and boot up?

Thanks,
Click to expand...

A 2008 Model? I'm sorry to tell you your GPU is fried. You'll need a new logicboard.

Edit: Guess I'm late to the party. As far as getting your data, you should be able to boot your old MBP in target disk mode, where it will essentially act as an external hard drive. Else you can always pull the HD out and put it in an enclosure.
 
MrMacMack said:
You missed the recall date by just three months:

http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2377

I'd call AppleCare back up and let them know that you were not aware of the recall otherwise you would have acted on it immediately.

Explain to them that you are a very casual user and that's probably the reason why it took so long for the issue to surface.

Explain why you don't feel it's fair to be penalized for not using your computer more often than others in order to force an issue to emerge.

If you stand your ground on this there's a good chance they'll make an exception and replace the logic board at no charge or at least very discounted. Good luck and keep us posted.
Click to expand...


Thanks I contacted Apple Executive Customer Service and was essentially told tough doodie, there is nothing they can or will do for me. And little ms snotty said there is no-one else to escalate.

Prior to the crash I was considering buying a new MBP in June, now I'm not so sure it's worth it.

----------
snaky69 said:
A 2008 Model? I'm sorry to tell you your GPU is fried. You'll need a new logicboard.

Edit: Guess I'm late to the party. As far as getting your data, you should be able to boot your old MBP in target disk mode, where it will essentially act as an external hard drive. Else you can always pull the HD out and put it in an enclosure.
Click to expand...

How do you do that, target disk mode?

Thanks,
 
pmgreen said:
Thanks I contacted Apple Executive Customer Service and was essentially told tough doodie, there is nothing they can or will do for me. And little ms snotty said there is no-one else to escalate.
Click to expand...

You can escalate to Tim Cook. There have been scattered reports of people getting good results by doing so. Although, I'm not sure if anyone has contacted him about this particular issue, nor what the rate of success has been if he has been contacted directly about it.

I would probably put something in it about how first replacement should be free in your case, since you've never had it serviced before for anything (I'm assuming here,) and you even bought AppleCare with it. First logic board replacement being free in that case is not unreasonable, imho. The question is, will Tim Cook agree?

Then again, if you were going to buy a new MBP in 3 months anyway, I probably wouldn't bother. I'd post it on eBay for spare parts. You can probably get a couple hundred for it from the right person. Display is probably still good, and if it's the hi-res matte one, that alone can be worth a couple hundred to the right person. So ... yeah ... sell it on eBay for parts, and then put the proceeds towards a new one. That's what I'll do with the one that I gave to my wife when I bought a new one back in Dec 2012.

AFAIK, aside from the image retention issue with the retina, and SMC-related performance bugs (which I think may be corrected now???) the current gen of systems don't have any issues that are as major as the defective GPU issue that the early-2008 MBP had.
 
Last edited:
pmgreen said:
I've everything, the box is now a doorstop. Apple said it would be several hundred to repair since it's out the recall period. Needless to say, not the happiest day

WHen I get a new one, is there a way to pull the data from the old hard-drive?
Click to expand...

I saw your comment on calling Apple service, though curious...have you tried an Apple store? If there's one in close proximity, you may give them a shot. Ya never know!

If you're comfortable working on computers---it's not that tough a repair. Check ifixit.com for the info, manual and 'how to (not)' videos;) As well, shop eBay for a seller of Mac parts...that's a common one (the '08 L/B), as there was a massive defect from nVidia on the 8600 gpu.

As others mentioned, timcook@apple.com, never know---could work?

J
 
duervo said:
You can escalate to Tim Cook.

Then again, if you were going to buy a new MBP in 3 months anyway, I probably wouldn't bother.
Click to expand...


I sure would bother! It's worth a whole lot more working than broken and an email to Tim is absolutely free. I would write a nice, humble letter to Mr. Cook explaining all the stuff Mr. MacMack said and requesting an exception since it is so close to the warranty period. They don't really owe you anything, so I would approach it hat-in-hand, asking for leniency and whether there is anything they can do to help you out. Anything at all would be appreciated!
 
Ccrew said:
"a period of four years from the date of purchase" per your link. More than likely it was out long before the December cutoff.

And to all of you saying "Write Tim Cook!" It just ends up in Executive relations, and they've shot him down.
Click to expand...

The other problem is that IIRC it was an Nvidia issue and Apple would absorb the cost. As for sending an email to Cook, yeah that's where it ends up as he has a staff who handles those kind of things but it doesn't hurt trying. Maybe a nicely written "Casey Kasem" type get out the Kleenex type email never hurts. :)
 
pmgreen said:
Thanks I contacted Apple Executive Customer Service and was essentially told tough doodie, there is nothing they can or will do for me. And little ms snotty said there is no-one else to escalate.
Click to expand...

Well you've done what you could. It was worth a try. I'd probably drop it. Writing to Tim Cook will just prolong your frustration and result the same as where you're at now. Sorry to hear that. What are you going to do next? Not purchase PC's now?
 
pmgreen said:
Thanks I contacted Apple Executive Customer Service and was essentially told tough doodie, there is nothing they can or will do for me. And little ms snotty said there is no-one else to escalate.

Prior to the crash I was considering buying a new MBP in June, now I'm not so sure it's worth it.

----------



How do you do that, target disk mode?

Thanks,
Click to expand...

Connect both computers using a firewire cable, boot the non-functionnal MBP while holding down the "T" key, it should show up on the other computer just like an external hard drive would.
 
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