I'm working on a MacBook that someone spilled beer on. It seems to work when I can get it to power on (sometimes pressing the power button doesn't do anything), except the keyboard and touchpad don't work. I opened it up and cleaned some corrosion off the board and connector, but still no dice.
jeanaf, from your description I suspect the water went in through the keyboard rather than the ports on the left side and its a white or black Macbook rather than the new aluminium unibody type. It sounds as if you've only damaged the keyboard. The keyboard is intergrated into the top case / keyboard assembly, this isn't an expensive part and only takes about 10 - 15 minutes if that to replace. When the top is off, the logic board would need inspecting for any signs of liquid damage, with water usually a powdery white corrosion. This would need cleaning off with isopropyl alcohol to avoid failing later. It sounds as if you'll get off lightly. If you had the latest aluminium Macbook you would have a much larger problem.
I have a question i had a spill on my macbook the hard drive was damaged but the computer did end up turning back on , i removed the hard drive from my macbook pro and put it in my macbook to replace the damaged one. now if the hard drive goes to sleep the computer freezes i cannot adjust brightness and the computer does not sleep if i close the lid , so bassically it freezes if i leave it on energy saver ever time it tries to put the display to sleep. no a friend suggested that it is because i did not format the hard drive when i put i in. So my question is , could all these problems be arising from me having not formated the drive >? if someone could let me know that would be great. Thank you.
I have a question i had a spill on my macbook the hard drive was damaged but the computer did end up turning back on , i removed the hard drive from my macbook pro and put it in my macbook to replace the damaged one. now if the hard drive goes to sleep the computer freezes i cannot adjust brightness and the computer does not sleep if i close the lid , so bassically it freezes if i leave it on energy saver ever time it tries to put the display to sleep. no a friend suggested that it is because i did not format the hard drive when i put i in. So my question is , could all these problems be arising from me having not formated the drive >? if someone could let me know that would be great. Thank you.
You can't just interchange hard drives between machines without a reinstall. Frankly, I'm surprised the machine was able to boot off that disk to begin with since there is a good amount of variance between the hardware of the two machines.
Your friend is probably right. I would backup any data that you need on the drive, and do an "Erase and Install" from the correct System Discs that accompanied your MacBook.
You can't just interchange hard drives between machines without a reinstall. Frankly, I'm surprised the machine was able to boot off that disk to begin with since there is a good amount of variance between the hardware of the two machines.
Your friend is probably right. I would backup any data that you need on the drive, and do an "Erase and Install" from the correct System Discs that accompanied your MacBook.
Oh i see, hmm well then that presents a problem , i lost my original disc's earlier this year , if i buy leopard full retail would that help? i need to get it . i can't really afford it but i could manage it , just not both system discs and leopard, any advice would be great!
Oh i see, hmm well then that presents a problem , i lost my original disc's earlier this year , if i buy leopard full retail would that help? i need to get it . i can't really afford it but i could manage it , just not both system discs and leopard, any advice would be great!
Yes, you can purchase the retail version, or you can contact Apple and order a set of replacement discs (that would be preferable).
you know a couple of months ago I bought a very small - the size of a man's elect razor - video camera that is completely waterproof- shoots underwater - so it's mindboggling to me that computer manufacturers haven't adapted to the obvious need to waterproof keyboards since it's just a natural event for people to be drinking nearby.
yes, I too have made this horrific mistake. and now I'm scrambling to see how bad the damage is.
my story: 5 weeks ago I spilled some tea over my macbook pro's keyboard. not a lot and I thought I cleaned it all up; but realized later some of the backlights under the keyboard were out and I lost the function of the Z key. at the time I was editing a film for film editing class; maybe less than a week before the end of the semester - this could not have happened at a worse time; the pressure was huge.
now, after having what I thought was survived the event w/minimal damage my backlights went out totally but then when I shut down the other day, the next morning I booted up but the screen doesn't come on - nothing - not at all. fighting panic I do all the steps for troubleshooting, even insert an install disc (which is still there now since I can't see to eject it); and after doing some online research discover I may have a bad inverter, backlight, logic board, etc. The hard drive does seem ok, even after being on the tele with Apple they said they thought it was ok, just that I needed to bring it in to a service center.
that's where it really gets interesting. someone informed me there is a problem with the Nvidia 8600 graphics processors - of which mine is one. did the tea trigger a problem that was just waiting to go off? or was all this coincidental? if the case is opened and water damage is apparent, but is it the possibility the failure of the screen is not related but instead from the Nvidia?
umm I forgot to add I'm overseas right now and am struggling w/language barriers. I'll be back in the U.S. in July and if this isn't resolved by then I'll have to deal with it there. Hence the need for as much research as possible since I'm sort of on my own for now.
comments are welcome. I really appreciate people's views on this, and would like to hear about how people feel about not having their expensive equipment protected from something so obvious as a spill - c'mon - I think this is a joke -
so yeah spilled some liquid on my macbook pro- the silver aluminum one
but that was like sept of 08 BUT only now im getting kernel panics or whatever pretty frequently- is this related?
I wouldn't think it's related if the spill happened that long ago, but maybe. You might consider cleaning the logic board with alcohol and a toothbrush (I recommend drying up the alcohol with a hairdryer afterward).
EDIT: As a follow-up to my post above, the MacBook will turn on if I hold the power button for a few seconds. I've discovered that it turns off when I try to wake it from sleep mode as well. I created a separate thread for my problem, any advice would be appreciated.
I wouldn't think it's related if the spill happened that long ago, but maybe. You might consider cleaning the logic board with alcohol and a toothbrush (I recommend drying up the alcohol with a hairdryer afterward).
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I just got off the bus and noticed that my carryout soup container sloshed against the side of my black macbook that has the ports in it. It wasn't much liquid. I was advised to remove the shell and let the interior dry, but couldn't get the shell off. I also tried plugging in the laptop and booting it up several times (which I now know was the wrong thing to do). When I tried powering it up, a faded image of the login screen would appear very faintly and then disappear a second later. I just removed the battery and the power cord. Should I take it to the apple store immediately, or wait the 72 hours until the interior dries completely?
I just got off the bus and noticed that my carryout soup container sloshed against the side of my black macbook that has the ports in it. It wasn't much liquid. I was advised to remove the shell and let the interior dry, but couldn't get the shell off. I also tried plugging in the laptop and booting it up several times (which I now know was the wrong thing to do). When I tried powering it up, a faded image of the login screen would appear very faintly and then disappear a second later. I just removed the battery and the power cord. Should I take it to the apple store immediately, or wait the 72 hours until the interior dries completely?
Well, the damage is likely done at this point. But it wouldn't hurt to remove the battery and let it dry out for a few days.
If it doesn't improve, it's time to look at repair options.
SO i had liquid damge for a while now and i gave my pro to the mac store to see what they could do. They called me and said 'yeah liquid damage not under warranty and i could come pick it up if i didnt want the repair'
so fine I did just that cuse i dont have $1000 to spend on a logic board-(due to the kernal panics)
SO the macbook pro wont turn on anymore-it didn't work in the store.
the guy told me the liquid damage affects the mac over time and eventually kills it.
wtf it always turned on they had my pro for five days and probably touched it once and now it wont turn on?
and of course they said they cant do anything for me.
