MBP: Persistent start up/wake from sleep issues

Hi All,

My mid 2008 15" MBP (2.4ghz / 10.5.5) has become a major pain to turn on/wake from sleep for the last month or so. It's one of the ones that has the vertical stripping issues (although I haven't noticed it doing that for a while).

At first I thought it was because I'd let the battery run down too low, but lately I've realised that's not the case.

Basically if I turn it off or put it to sleep and come back after a few hours it almost always is unresponsive. The monitor won't come on, the hard drive doesn't spin. Even if it's been plugged in and charging!

Usually it takes a good 10-20 mins of stuffing around to get it going. I try hitting the on/off button, taking out the battery, putting it back in and eventually it gets the picture and turns on/wakes up.

Any ideas? It's kinda driving me nuts!

Thx
B.