what killed my macbook?

hi everyone! first time posting, so sorry in advance if i do anything wrong!!!

ok, before getting into details, i've had a number of mac products and well aware of their warranty/repair policies, as well as their not-so-convenient service options (won't sell internal pieces, barely ever do any repairs, mostly just replace parts, etc). i've had luck fixing some of my apple products in the past following DIY suggestions/repairs from forums like this one as well as online tutorials. and of course, well aware that applecare repair is always best, if its an option. i say all that to say that i already know i should just take this to a technician, and it will probably cost me a pretty penny, BUT i wanted to try and see if anyone had any suggestions before i suck it up and buy another laptop. so, here goes.....

while on a long vacation last month, my trusty little macbook (2007, 13 inch, core 2 duo, a1181, clearly out of warranty) decided to stop working. i shut down and when rebooted, i got the folder with question mark flashing. there were no mac repair shops or apple stores where i was visiting, so couldnt get anyone to look at it immediately following the outage, and also didnt have my install discs with me, so couldnt reboot from/reinstall the system. i was pretty sure it was a dead hard drive, but not being 100% (and still hopeful), and after having a similar problem with my ibook years ago, i decided to open and see if there was anything wrong with the logic board. nothing that i can tell, nothing fried, nothing spilled. so had to chuck it up to being a dead hard drive. and it was.

immediately after getting back home from vacation, i purchased a new harddrive (upgraded from 120GB/5200 RPM to 500GB/7200 RPM) and reinstalled everything. with the new and exciting extra space, i even upgraded the OS to snow leopard (as far as i can go without updating my RAM) and updated my Microsoft Office and Adobe CS to the latest available. however, after i had installed the new hard drive, i noticed my screen had lines going horizontally and the screen was very very bright and faded. also the "return" key was no longer working, and my dvd burner would no longer burn any dual layer dvds (found this out while making a dvd back up of the new os disk in case i traveled again, smart advice from the forums). at that point wasn't sure if this was a result of me moving anything inside when i had opened it while on vacation, or if its a sign of a failing motherboard (as in, the new hard drive causing more stress to it?). following the advice i read on another forum, i took a screen shot and opened the picture file on another computer and didnt see any lines at all. from what i understand, if the image showed without lines on the other computer, the problem was most likely a loose display cable and not a bad logic board. (*please let me know if this is incorrect)

so then i decided to re-open my macbook to make sure all the connectors were secure. i've been very careful all times when opening and handling everything and even double checked the entire thing twice. i put everything back together, and low and behold.... the macbook now doesnt power on. the power adaptor lights up when connected, and the battery shows its charging, but the power button seems to not be working. there are no chimes, no spin up, no lights, nothing. just doesnt even work. im assuming this has to do with the keyboard/top case connector ribbon, since the power button is connected to the keyboard, but no way of knowing. its the only thing i can think of since its the piece i touched the most when opening/closing, but i didnt tear or pull it in any way. when disconnecting the ribbon, i handled it with a spudger and nothing was damaged (that im aware of). i ordered a replacement ribbon off of ebay and reading the ifixit.com and powerbookmedic.com tutorials to change it when it arrives. hopefully this will fix the problem, but not sure if thats even the issue.

so anyway, just wondering if after reading all this, anyone had any idea what (out of all these issues) killed the power button? also, any tips on powering on without the power button would be much appreciated! i read somewhere that using the apple remote might be a temporary solution, but i think the mac needs to be on already for that to work. if not, please let me know!

thanks and sorry for the long-winded email. just wanted to be as informative as possible.

Great detail...but there's gotta be a way to "boil" this down to the bare essential details.

- Nick

thought about that, but figured i'd get asked a million side questions, and, well, just didnt want to annoy/turn away anyone reading this. figured one long post is easier than making out all the details in a long thread... (but i soooooo didnt want it to be that long, i promise!!!)

ok, maybe this is a faster explanation....

hard drive crashed
replaced dead hard drive (with more GB, higher RPM)
updated system + software
then get horizontal lines on screen, return key not working, superdrive not burning dvds
open mac to make sure wires aren't loose
and now mac doesnt power on. power adapter and battery work fine. power button doesnt.

macbook 2,1 (2007, 13 inch)
intel core 2 duo
a1181
out of warranty

anyone have any idea what went wrong?

After reading everything...I'll take a stab (with the info so far) what it sounds like.

First assumption is that this MacBook was working 100% before the HD crashed...and 2nd assumption...that this MacBook was working 100% before what sounds like at least 2 times being opened up (to explore the problems further).

So if the HD crashing was the initial problem...pretty much no big deal...(as you did) get a new HD & install it (very easy).

At this point I would have had 6 questions:

- Was the new HD properly formatted before the OS install?
- What OS version was initially installed on the new HD?
- How did you install the OS (what sort of disc)...what color was it?
- Do you get the "friendly" startup chime?
- After the new HD was formatted & the OS installed...did the MacBook work fine?
- What OS was the MacBook then updated to?

So boiling things down (according to the info given so far):

- the dead HD was the initial problem
- replacing the HD & installing the OS (initially) everything was ok (maybe...not sure with the info so far)
- MacBook starting having most problems after the OS was updated to the most recent version (need to know what version)...the latest is actually OS 10.7.0 "Lion".

I'm thinking that the HD install went fine...and something got damaged, electrically shocked (static electricity), or not assembled properly when the MacBook was taken apart & put back together...leading to all the problems.

This is the best I can "theorize" so far with the info given.

- Nick

assumptions correct, the computer was working 100% perfectly fine all this time.

to answer your questions:
- the harddrive was formated before installing os
- i installed tiger on the new hd, from my mac install discs, which were 10.4.9, then did all the system updates to 10.4.11
- i installed snow leopard from the disc, its white with a leopard on it. i was told i could skip installing leopard and just go from tiger to snow leopard without any problems. it was wayyy cheaper than leopard and until i upgrade the ram on my mac i can't install lion. do you tink this could have been the problem? do i need to install leopard and then snow leopard?
- i dont get any start up chime, friendly or not, nothing happens when i hit the power button
- after i installed the hard drive, (first time booting after the crash) the display had lines, return key stopped working and superdrive couldnt burn dual layer dvds (did burn cds ok and regular dvds ok). everything else (system wise) was working perfectly fine, and after doing the screen shot test, i assumed it was a display cable problem, not system/software, so i installed snow leopard, and upgraded everything even with these problems.
- after the snow leopard upgrade, i did system updates to 10.6.3 (i think) or might have been 10.6.4, really dont remember, but i did it until system updates told me there were no new updates to install.


just to be clear, the problems started after i installed a new hard drive, not after the snow leopard update (and i cant update to lion because i only have 1GB of ram on my computer, not the required 2GB for lion). i did the system upgrade with the problems already there.

im assuming its just the topcase/keyboard connector ribbon that wasnt put back properly after i opened the computer. my new ribbon is being delivered today, so hopefully that will solve this problem. at least power button and keyboard, since i have yet to see if my initial cable "adjusting" worked (since i couldnt power on after...)

will keep everyone posted.

Keep us posted after you install the new cable.

cable installed. and i'm back on my macbook.

sadly, my display still has lines going across the screen, return key still doesnt work, and in the process of checking the disc burner to see if dual layer dvds are still a problem...

fun times.

any suggestions on fixing this screen problem, por favor, iim all ears.

The Lines in the display could be a few things. This is a Macbook and not a Macbook Pro correct?

The ribbon cable from the LDC to computer might be damaged, the LCD could have issues or something with the video chip in the macbook, but MacBooks in general did not have video issues like the MbP with Nvidia chipset did.

On the keyboard either the ribbon is damaged or the keyboard itself. Is there any sines of any liquid that might have spilled on the keyboard?

its a macbook, not macbook pro. no water damage that i am aware of. although, while i was away when the hard drive initially crashed, i was in the caribbean, and with it being rainy season, not sure if the high humidity all day/every day would count? but im sure if that was the case more of the keys would be damaged as well... i also keep the keys pretty clean, constantly brushing out anything with an eyelash brush, so nothing stuck in there either. the keyboard itself has never had any problems ever. the return key just never worked after i put in the new hard drive.

out of curiosity, could the fact that i replaced the dead drive (120GB / 5400 RPM) with a 500 GB / 7200 RPM drive cause this? (display, return key, burner problems)

No, the drive size has nothing to do with the rest of it working. I have a feeling you kinked the ribbon cables going to those devices when putting in the new drive.

me too. although i have been searching the net, and seems like most people posting any of these issues (display with horizontal lines and white out, return key specifically, and dvd burner errors) are using leopard or snow leopard. my computer is wayyy out of warranty, so wouldnt bother taking it in, but got me thinking... if snow leopard OS install is what caused the problem, think they would offer to fix it? ive never actually purchased an os update from the store before this, just always used what came with the computer, so not sure what their policies are if your os install affects your machine?

oh and correction on my note above, i am up to date on 10.6.8, not 10.6.4