MBP Motherboard problem?

The computer in question is a 2007 Macbook pro 15".

I started noticing the fans were making a lot of noise and the laptop was making a ton of heat but nothing was compromised except for battery life. A month or so later the screen flickered like crazy and then I force restarted it. It came up with the "kernel" panic after rebooting. I once safe booted it but then it would go to the flickering screen again. I took it into Apple in Calgary and they said it was a motherboard problem. I then bought a new Macbook and the genius said they couldn't transfer files. I brought both laptops home and I realized that the one with the supposed "fried motherboard" worked perfectly in colder conditions. I put the laptop in the heated garage (around 45-55 degrees F depending on location) and the old Macbook has worked flawlessly since. Right now it is currently doing a wireless transfer of files to the new macbook and has been working great.

Is it an actual motherboard problem or something wrong with the cooling etc?

Sorry for the long and vague description but I don't know much about computers.

Thanks in advanced everyone.

I would guess there's nothing wrong with the logic board. But there's likely a problem with cooling, probably a failed fan or possibly both. That would cause the temperature around the CPU and GPU to rise rather quickly forcing the thermal sensors to shut the machine down. Keeping the machine in a cool environment (your garage) offsets the heat build up.

Why don't you open the machine up yourself and see what's going on? Use the instructions at iFixit: The free repair manual.

chscag said:

I would guess there's nothing wrong with the logic board. But there's likely a problem with cooling, probably a failed fan or possibly both. That would cause the temperature around the CPU and GPU to rise rather quickly forcing the thermal sensors to shut the machine down. Keeping the machine in a cool environment (your garage) offsets the heat build up.

Why don't you open the machine up yourself and see what's going on? Use the instructions at iFixit: The free repair manual.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the help and the link sir.

I couldn't find a screwdriver small enough to open up the laptop myself. I will be purchasing one as soon as possible. Where could I buy a really small philips screw driver? Also I didn't want to open up the laptop because it is still doing a data transfer. (Should be done by tonight though )

Thanks again.

Xrunner38 said:

Where could I buy a really small philips screw driver?

Click to expand...

TONS of places:

- Many home improvement stores
- Harbor Freight
- Almost any local electronics/computer store
- Sears
- a "Bazillion" internet sites

Here's one to get you started:

NewerTech 11 Piece Tool Set

HTH,

- Nick

So a little update. It was doing a wireless data transfer fine but I had to move it and then it went into its flickering screen again . Weird thing is that it is still flickering but according to the new macbook it is still transferring files. The old macbook is still showing the same time left in the transfer and time on the clock.

Sorry for not opening the MBP up yet. I've been pretty busy.

Thanks for all your help. Greatly appreciated. This site is awesome.

P.S. Pigoo3 - Is that a German shepherd? My dog looks identical.

Xrunner38 said:

P.S. Pigoo3 - Is that a German shepherd? My dog looks identical.

Click to expand...

If your dog looks identical to mine...then he/she is a Newfoundland...and not a German Shepherd! 155 pounds of black, furry, slobbering friendliness!

- Nick

p.s. Maybe it's not such a great photo!

Here's a better one...with his "Summer haircut":

pigoo3 said:

If your dog looks identical to mine...then he/she is a Newfoundland...and not a German Shepherd! 155 pounds of black, furry, slobbering friendliness!

- Nick

p.s. Maybe it's not such a great photo!

Here's a better one...with his "Summer haircut":

Click to expand...

Mine is a black German Shepherd.

Xrunner38 said:

Mine is a black German Shepherd.

Click to expand...

I was thinking that after I posted.

My avatar photo doesn't show the ears very well...otherwise that would be a easy giveaway (floppy vs. pointed ears).

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

I was thinking that after I posted.

My avatar photo doesn't show the ears very well...otherwise that would be a easy giveaway (floppy vs. pointed ears).

- Nick

Click to expand...

They look pretty close when you take the ears out of the picture. You have a nice looking dog

Back to the Macbook. It finished a full data transfer! The only thing that is I still can't open my Microsoft word... it keeps telling me to register and it won't let me register. Also my photos didn't show up in iPhoto

EDIT - I restarted the new Macbook and everything transferred great.

So my new Macbook is working good and everything is back to the original settings like my old macbook was before.

One thing that drives me mad is sometimes I will close Safari and then it will delete all my usernames/login passwords for forums and forgets all my email account address and password. Is there any easy fix to this?

Thanks everyone! This forum is awesome.

Just another question for you guys. I have an Apple iTV and the remote when I scroll up and down screws with the Mac books volume and iTunes. It keeps playing a song on iTunes and then when I scroll up it turns up the MacBooks volume and when I scroll down it turns the volume down. How can I fix this?