Help with my Macbook pro

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
So I have a macbook pro that, about a week ago, stopped doing what it's supposed to do: work. I believe, after a conversation with Apple Support and extensive searching in help forums, that I have found out that my problem has something to do with my logic board being fried.



About a week ago, I had some applications open and I closed my computer while they were open. When I went to open the computer again (like I've done countless countless times) my computer wouldn't turn on. Or rather, the screen wouldn't.



What I know:



-The only thing that works is the little light on the front of the laptop, the one that normally pulsates when the computer is asleep.

-That resetting the computer using the options found here don't do anything. (resetting PRAM and SMC)

-That for the past few weeks my computer seems to have been running very very hot for no apparent reason (I didn't do anything different out of the norm)



I read a report on Apple's website that talks about (here) NVIDIA chips being faulty on some macbook pros, but I feel that there is a deeper rooted issue with my computer. Nothing works when I turn it on aside from the little light at the front of the computer and my cd drive making a noise. (there isn't a cd in it)



Can anyone help me? Suggest what I can do? I don't really have the money to get it repaired and I don't feel like I should have to pay for it anyway, I didn't do anything different from the norm. It just stopped working.



Also, I already made sure that it wasn't that the screen was just turned off... lol...



Thanks in advance!



-Emory

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 2
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,322moderator
    Try connecting up an external display. If it works, your internal display or a connection to it may just be damaged.



    If an external doesn't work, it's possible that your logic board is broken. The symptoms are consistent with a logic board failure.



    Quote:

    I don't really have the money to get it repaired and I don't feel like I should have to pay for it anyway, I didn't do anything different from the norm. It just stopped working.



    Using a computer wears it out like any other product, which is why they come with a fixed-time warranty.



    If you have an older Macbook Pro, you might be eligible for the extended repair program though. Check here for more details:



    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377



    Quote:

    Also, I already made sure that it wasn't that the screen was just turned off



    The brightness buttons on the laptops can often fool people into thinking there's a problem as they can turn the screen off but it would have reset itself.
  • Reply 2 of 2
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    [...] If an external doesn't work, it's possible that your logic board is broken. The symptoms are consistent with a logic board failure.



    Indeed. I had the same symptoms on my 3 month old MBP last week. Upon restarting it never progressed beyond the grey screen with the apple and that running circular thingy anymore. Same thing when I tried starting up in 'safe mode' (holding the Shift key), or when I tried starting up from a Leopard DVD (holding the C key). The Leopard DVD never ejected anymore either. So I also concluded that it was a fried motherboard and took my MBP to Apple's repair people. They, however, diagnosed a broken harddisk.

    Apparently the internal HD and the CD/DVD reader/burner use the same port to shunt data to and fro the motherboard, so that when the HD broke it also blocked/stymied that port, which therefore blocked restarting from a DVD: the data couldn't get through to the motherboard!



    Anyway, a new internal HD (warranty) solved the prob.



    This was the SECOND MacBook Pro that went AWOL on me this year! The first one – a 1,5 year old MBP – WAS a fried motherboard, the second – 3 months old – a broken harddisk!



    Thank God for Time Machine backups: when I got my MBP back yesterday with its new HD I had it back up and running (over 100GB of data) inside an hour without losing even one byte!
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