09-14-2009, 11:59 PM

I have a 15 inch Macbook Pro from around 2007. I am still running Mac OSx.

I was browsing the internet tonight when the screen froze, and shut down.

After trying to turn the computer back on, the start-up screen with the Apple Logo comes on, except the screen has Pink lines running down the screen.
The loading symbol starts spinning but after a few seconds the screen goes black. I can still hear the fans running but nothing happens, the screen is black and nothing is happening.

The computer still beeps when doing a hard restart but again it doesnt turn on.
One time I turned it on and the flashing globe came up. Every other time the apple sign comes up

Im guessing a dead harddrive but I couldnt find anything detailed exactly what is happening with the pink lines and not able to start up.

I am a college student which means I use my computer everyday so any help from you guys would be appreciated.

Any advice on how to get this resolved quickly and efficiently would be helpful.

I am going to call AppleSupport tomorrow, my applecare warranty should still be valid.

The closest apples store is 2 and a half hours away and the computer store on campus takes months to fix your computer.

Thanks in advance,
Charlie

09-15-2009, 12:14 AM

I'd take it to an Apple store. That sounds like the Logic Board/vid chip issue that just may be covered under an extended warranty. My wife's died like yours, the next morning I bought her a new one but took the old one into the Apple store that night just to see what was up. They scanned the SN and said hers had some kind of packaging defect or something and they replaced the logic board in 6 days under warranty (even though it was 2 years out of warranty), no questions asked.

FYI: If it were the hard drive it would still boot and you'd get a question mark on your drive during boot meaning it couldn't access the drive. This sounds more like the Logic Board/Video chip issue where the 8600 vid chip gets small cracks in the solder joints and loses connectivity over time. You'll also find some tests to perform to see if its the vid chip or something else. I think like if it still boots and makes the normal startup chime, etc then its the vid chip. See if you can hook it up to an external display and that would most likely narrow it down to the faulty chip as well. Either way google 8600M video and Macbook Pro. You'll find more info than you'll have time to read.

Good luck!