Replaced my Macbook Display: Backlight comes on, but no display?

I replaced the display on my 13" Macbook. When I turned it on it booted and the back light lit, but the display does not come on. I think that the ribbon cable was securley fastened on the back of the replacement hardware.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

The only thing I can recommend is that you go back over your work. Pay special attention to any connectors or cables that may be loose or for broken connectors. Take a look at the video cable - make sure it's orientated correctly and not being pinched. I'm assuming you installed an exact replacement display?

Regards.

I disassmebled everything and the display cable does not seems to be pinched. I guess it's impossible to tell if there is a problem with the lower potion of the cable thats black and wraps around the hinge area?

Why did you replace the display in the first place ? Could it be that it wasn't a display issue to begin with but a video card problem ?


Clay

The display was smashed. Even though it was smashed, I could see mouse movement in portion of the screen so I assumed it just needed to be replaced.

kroddz said:

The display was smashed. Even though it was smashed, I could see mouse movement in portion of the screen so I assumed it just needed to be replaced.

Click to expand...

Well I guess that answers that I tried

Clay

The thing that is most frustrating is that I took it to the Mac Store to see what they would suggest. They dissembled it and said that it wasn't under warranty and that it would cost $550 to replace or they would resemble it as no charge. So I chose to do the repair myself. When I opened the machine I found three screws missing and the Mic cable broken. I have no way off proving they did it though.

Anyway, thanks for trying.

kroddz said:

I disassmebled everything and the display cable does not seems to be pinched. I guess it's impossible to tell if there is a problem with the lower potion of the cable thats black and wraps around the hinge area?

Click to expand...

Usually, that's where the trouble is. When the cable is removed from the connector to attach the display it becomes loose and sometimes binds under the hinge causing it to disconnect at the other end. See if you can't get in there and make sure it's tight. Go to the ifixit web site and look at their step by step. You'll see where I'm referring to.

As far as the so called Mac repair shop leaving out screws and breaking your mic cable, there's not much you can do except to go back and complain.

Regards.

I disassembled everything step by step and reassembled using a new display data cable. Same results. The notebook boots, the backlight comes on, but no display.

Looks like you might have a bad GPU - which would mean a logic board replacement. But before you give up, try hooking an external display to your MacBook to see if it works OK. If you get video on the external, that would narrow it down to the GPU or board.

The connector which accepts the video cable might also be bad. That is it might be cracked around where the connector is mounted to the board. Those kinds of things are hard to spot especially with multi-layered boards.

One more thing.... I'm assuming the display you have is an exact replacement for the one that broke.

Regards.

Actaully, the display is a Samsung display. I was going to return it and order an apple replacement screen from OWC.

Thanks for tips. I'm new to the Mac world.

Regards.

OK, that sounds like a good plan. The folks at OWC are great and only carry the best in Mac parts. Keep us posted.

Regards.

I was just going to ask the same thing as Chscag, if you got the exact panel for that machine. That very well could be the issue if not.

I'm writing this from my Macbook. I went out this morning and purchased an adapter for and external monitor. When I plugged it in and booted, both screens came alive. So I removed the external and rebooted and everything is working properly. Everything except my internal microphone and in the grand scheme of things, that's not that bad.

Anyone have a clue what may have happened? I'm assuming that when it was shipped to the Mac diagnostics center, that they must have done some kind of configuration with an external monitor that affected the config of the main screen.

Thanks for all of the tips along the way!