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unibody macbook bad screen segment (pic inside)

D

Draddy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 16, 2007
238
0
Hey guys, my screen slowly got to this point over 3 days. at first I could tap the screen or reposition it forward or backward and make it go away, but now it's constant with no fix.


Any tips? Any way to fix this? The computer is unfortunately out of warranty for 1 year now.


Thanks,


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It's either a graphics card issue (logic board replacement) or a screen connection issue (much cheaper fix) or an issue with the panel itself. The only way to find out is to open it up. I'm thinking it's the connection since moving it used to fix it.
 
blackburn said:
do a command+shift+3, and check your desktop, there should be a screen-shot, if it appears in the screen-shot it's most likely the logic board, else it's cable or the panel itself.
Click to expand...

fantastic trouble shooting solution, I didn't think about that. Thanks.

Nothing on the screenshot, and if I shift the screen a bit, it gets better or goes away, so potentially the cable? Is this computer difficult to get to these cables?
 
So a new display isn't real expensive... just out of curiosity, can I put an LED display in my original non-LED macbook?


Thanks,
 
alust2013 said:
If it's unibody, it is LED-backlit
Click to expand...

oh that's interesting, I was almost positive that the very first ones were not, until they became called the "macbook pro". (I bought it the day they came out) I guess I was wrong.


Side question, my mouse stopped clicking about two years ago, i've just been tapping since (real annoying). Is this a replaceable part? It's not really listed on any of the spare parts websites.
 
Draddy said:
oh that's interesting, I was almost positive that the very first ones were not, until they became called the "macbook pro". (I bought it the day they came out) I guess I was wrong.


Side question, my mouse stopped clicking about two years ago, i've just been tapping since (real annoying). Is this a replaceable part? It's not really listed on any of the spare parts websites.
Click to expand...

Nope, all unibody models, and I think even the immediately previous generation were LED. I'm sure that's replaceable, you could probably find a replacement on ebay. Although I'm not sure how you would go about swapping it out, so I could be wrong.
 
Draddy said:
oh that's interesting, I was almost positive that the very first ones were not, until they became called the "macbook pro". (I bought it the day they came out) I guess I was wrong.


Side question, my mouse stopped clicking about two years ago, i've just been tapping since (real annoying). Is this a replaceable part? It's not really listed on any of the spare parts websites.
Click to expand...

Were you able to resolve this issue? Im actually not currently in USA (and there arent any macbook stores or people i trust here to fix a computer) and wont be back for about 6 weeks. Needless to say this is verrrry annoying.

I screenshot (no issue on screen shot image), opened the macbook up, disconnected the display from the logicboard and reconnected (segment was still missing). Im wondering if the issue is in the display itself?

Any chance you could follow up?
 
blackburn said:
Looks like your with (some) luck it's either the panel that got damaged or the cable. Its cheaper to grab a new cable first and try it. But disassembling the display assembly it's a pain:(
Click to expand...

On a Unibody the cable is actually more expensive than the panel in many cases to buy from someone reputable. I've seen it at $75 for an A1286 LVDS cable before, it's disgusting. Luckily, the cable is often not the problem, so this price gouging isn't that harmful. The cable can be bad if it's been opened before. There is little slack on the cable so lots of DIYers(and repair shops) yank and tug on it and destroy it trying to fit it into the display.

It's rarely if ever the cable, especially with the sturdier cables on these machines. The panel itself can become intermittent, a lot of people forget just how much tiny circuitry & connections are inside these parts.

It's likely the panel. Is this a regular or a pro? Seek out an LP133WX3-TLA*, where * is 5, or 6. It's one of the nicest of the panels that goes in there, and cheap since it is readily available and being produced in high quantities very regularly.
 
Its a unibody macbook (from 2008) so it eventually became the 13' macbook pro...

So I can tell that it's likely not the cable from the fact that positional changes (i.e. moving the monitor into certain positions and applying torsional stress towards the base) remove the problem. I think because of the nature of the problem that the cable feeds into segments of the display and that the appropriate segment is just not fully connected. that's my theory.

So i guess i may not be able to repair this on my own, but i have an additional question. I bought a 3 year warranty on my macbook, however i upgraded my ram (on my own) from 2 to 4 GB. Does this invalidate my warranty? I may just have someone bring me a new computer and wait the 6 weeks until i'm back stateside and have apple repair my computer.

Thanks, all the help is greatly appreciated
 
It's really easy to mess up that LVDS cable, but if it hasn't been opened, I doubt that to be the problem. On these models, those cables are stuck in there hard and made of steel.

Do you have the old RAM to put back in? It doesn't matter if it does void your warranty, if they never have a chance to know you did it.
 
no like a fool i sold my ram back to the company i purchased the upgrade from...

Either way i ended up biting the bullet and buying a new 2011 macbook pro and am having a friend bring it with her next week. It's much easier to have things brought to you than to ship back and forth. i cant help but be excited for my new computer...ill have to resolve this display issue in my current macbook another day.
 
I know I'm about five months late on this thread, but I'm having the same problem on the same MacBook model. Did you ever resolve this issue? I did try the screenshot trick, and the image looks clean.
 
I also have had this issue with the same macbook model effecting a strip of screen on the far right edge for over a year. Again if I adjust the angle of it the screen it usually goes back to normal. However it is getting worse to the point that i have to press on the screen to resolve it. I find each day I have to press somewhere different along the right hand edge squeezing the screen between my fingers from both sides.

I hope it doesn't break altogether. :confused:

But for the moment this seems a quick fix. :)
 
Last edited:
l.a.rossmann said:
It's really easy to mess up that LVDS cable, but if it hasn't been opened, I doubt that to be the problem. On these models, those cables are stuck in there hard and made of steel.

Do you have the old RAM to put back in? It doesn't matter if it does void your warranty, if they never have a chance to know you did it.
Click to expand...

Agreed... I'd bet a RAM issue.
 
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