Help! Macbook Pro won't start! Black screen + no chime!

So last night I was surfing the internet, and I fell asleep. Then I suddenly woke up at like 4 a.m., I closed the Macbook's lid, put it in its bag (that wasn't a smart idea!), and went to bed.
The next day, I woke up, took the Macbook out, opened the lid, but the screen stayed black! Not thinking about it, I pressed the power button until the Mac turned off completely, then turned it on again, and it worked!

I then used it for a couple of hours. After that, I got a phone call, closed the lid again, came back after ~5 mins, and the screen was also black! Except that this time it would stay black and won't turn-on properly!
It also didn't play a chime. I'm pretty sure I had the volume up high before I closed the lid, as I was watching a video on YouTube when I closed the lid.

I have tried unplugging it, removing the battery while it's unplugged, resetting SMC and PRAM, have tried booting from the Mac OSX disk. I also tried to leave it alone for a couple of hours, unplugged and without the battery. Nothing works! The screen stays in darkness and no chime can be heard!

My Macbook Pro is a 15 inch, early-2008 one, running Mac OSX Lion.

Also, my Macbook won't start with only the battery... I have to plug it in.
Only then can I unplug it. This never happened before!
Also, my lid light is on solid white, but it's dim.

Also, I like to say also.

Heeeelp pleeeasseeee!!

First, do not cross post. If you think you posted in the wrong forum, ask a Staff member to move it for you rather than posting again.

The problem with your 2008 MBP is likely a graphics chipset failure. That year MBP was powered by a nVidia chipset which suffered from sudden failure. Call Apple and ask them if your machine still qualifies for the free repair that they offered. I believe the warranty was extended on them for 3 years.

Sorry, I just joined this forum, you see

I'll take it to the local Apple Store here tomorrow, thanks!

Alright. I took it to the local Apple Store today, they say they'll give me a call tomorrow.

They told me my logic board is dead.. and a replace would cost ~760$. Not gonna happen.

I think I'll sell it on eBay as parts..
Is there a way I can wipe my hard drive?

Sorry to hear the bad news. Yes, you can wipe the hard drive by removing it from the machine and either use an adapter or external USB SATA carrier to attach it to your current working machine and format it. Use a 3 pass secure wipe to make sure it's clean.

Thanks for your help !
But..does the other machine have to be a Mac?

No, not necessarily. You should be able to format and wipe the drive with a Windows machine using "Disk Manager". You could even do it with a Linux box if you have one handy.

I see. Thanks for the help

RIP Macbook!

Bashar said:

So last night I was surfing the internet, and I fell asleep. Then I suddenly woke up at like 4 a.m., I closed the Macbook's lid, put it in its bag (that wasn't a smart idea!), and went to bed.
The next day, I woke up, took the Macbook out, opened the lid, but the screen stayed black! Not thinking about it, I pressed the power button until the Mac turned off completely, then turned it on again, and it worked!

I then used it for a couple of hours. After that, I got a phone call, closed the lid again, came back after ~5 mins, and the screen was also black! Except that this time it would stay black and won't turn-on properly!
It also didn't play a chime. I'm pretty sure I had the volume up high before I closed the lid, as I was watching a video on YouTube when I closed the lid.

I have tried unplugging it, removing the battery while it's unplugged, resetting SMC and PRAM, have tried booting from the Mac OSX disk. I also tried to leave it alone for a couple of hours, unplugged and without the battery. Nothing works! The screen stays in darkness and no chime can be heard!

My Macbook Pro is a 15 inch, early-2008 one, running Mac OSX Lion.

Also, my Macbook won't start with only the battery... I have to plug it in.
Only then can I unplug it. This never happened before!
Also, my lid light is on solid white, but it's dim.

Also, I like to say also.

Heeeelp pleeeasseeee!!

Click to expand...

Problem I had:

Macbook Pro 17" from 2008. After a Lion update I would push the power button and get a solid white light (from the sleep light), black screen and there would be no chime. I had a disc in so I would hear it spinning.

I thought it was because of the Lion update.


Fix:

The Macbook must have overheated when I was doing the Lion update. I tired SMC resets, taking the RAM out, PRAM zap, etc. I heard that this could be due to the Left Logic Board.

What I did was set the Macbook up like a teepee under the covers on the bed. I put lots of pillows around and covered it good. After it got really hot to the touch, I set it in another room upside down overnight. The next day it worked! I had the HDD out, so I powered it down and put it back in.

Problem was, I decided to do updates. About a year+ worth since that's how long it was down. So there was a 2GB combined Lion update. I did the update, restarted and the issue was back: solid white light, black screen, no chime.

I set it up like a teepee again under the covers and overheat it. That did not work. So a day later I powered it on, but this time I put it upside down on the bed with the lid closed, so the batter was facing up. With it powered on, I covered it really good. After about an hour give or take, I put it in the other room to let it cool. Once it was cool to the touch I powered it on and it worked.

I thought there was a correlation with Lion, but I think it is just a heat issue. While doing updates, the computer heats up.

So far it is still working. I downloaded smcfancontrol and set the fan speed to max. I am going to order a big cooling tray for it.

But it seems it was overheating and affecting some connectors on the logic board.



So in summary, the fix (at least for me) for the black screen, no chime, solid white light: is to overheat the laptop upside down under the bed covers and then let it set until it is cool. Then give it a shot. While I overheated mine, I took out the battery and HDD. Then download smcfancontrol.

overheating solution

My laptop had this same behavior... no chime, black screen. I tried all sorts of stuff and noticed that it felt hot! So I held it up next to the window AC vent and got it good and cold and then it started fine. Does that kind of behavior mean my battery is needing replacement?

Thanks! Janet

It could mean several things, but probably not the battery. But first tell us which Mac you have (year and model) and what version of OS X it's running?

Your Mac could be overheating and shutting down. That could be caused by several things such as a defective heat sensor or fan.

Thanks for your really quick reply!! I need to find out the model and year when I get home from work. I bought it in July 2010 and it's a 15" but I don't have the details.

OK, that's fine. From what you just told us, I'm going to assume that you have a 2010 15" MacBook Pro 6,2 model A1286, that's running at least Snow Leopard 10.6.X. You can correct us when you get home if any of the above is wrong.

It does appear from your brief description that your MacBook Pro may be overheating and shutting down. Which is why when held up to the air conditioner it cooled off and then started up.

This is something that you very likely can not trouble shoot yourself. Is your MacBook Pro by chance covered by the Apple Care extended warranty?

Unfortunately it's not covered. You guessed right about the model, etc. And it doesn't have the graphics card that gave some trouble either.

I will take it to a genius bar at our apple store and see if they can find anything. It's fine now... Thanks very much for the help!

applehilllane said:

My laptop had this same behavior... no chime, black screen. I tried all sorts of stuff and noticed that it felt hot!

So I held it up next to the window AC vent and got it good and cold and then it started fine.

Does that kind of behavior mean my battery is needing replacement?

Thanks! Janet

Click to expand...

If your computer starts fine after you got it cold from the AC...then the situation description should be amended to say...starts up fine when cold (has chime, display is fine).

What's happening is...the computer is not working fine when it gets hot.

My first two guess's would be a non-working fan (or not properly working)...and/or the computer may be dirty inside...impeading proper cooling air flow.

If the computer is getting hot enough to shut itself down...then BEFORE it shuts down...you should most definitely hear the fans going at high rpm. If you do not hear the fan(s)...then it/they are not working.

If you do hear the fans...then the computer may be dirty.

- Nick

p.s. Regarding the battery. This is unlikely the source of the problem.

macfixblacknoch said:

Problem I had:

Macbook Pro 17" from 2008. After a Lion update I would push the power button and get a solid white light (from the sleep light), black screen and there would be no chime. I had a disc in so I would hear it spinning.

I thought it was because of the Lion update.


Fix:

The Macbook must have overheated when I was doing the Lion update. I tired SMC resets, taking the RAM out, PRAM zap, etc. I heard that this could be due to the Left Logic Board.

What I did was set the Macbook up like a teepee under the covers on the bed. I put lots of pillows around and covered it good. After it got really hot to the touch, I set it in another room upside down overnight. The next day it worked! I had the HDD out, so I powered it down and put it back in.

Problem was, I decided to do updates. About a year+ worth since that's how long it was down. So there was a 2GB combined Lion update. I did the update, restarted and the issue was back: solid white light, black screen, no chime.

I set it up like a teepee again under the covers and overheat it. That did not work. So a day later I powered it on, but this time I put it upside down on the bed with the lid closed, so the batter was facing up. With it powered on, I covered it really good. After about an hour give or take, I put it in the other room to let it cool. Once it was cool to the touch I powered it on and it worked.

I thought there was a correlation with Lion, but I think it is just a heat issue. While doing updates, the computer heats up.

So far it is still working. I downloaded smcfancontrol and set the fan speed to max. I am going to order a big cooling tray for it.

But it seems it was overheating and affecting some connectors on the logic board.



So in summary, the fix (at least for me) for the black screen, no chime, solid white light: is to overheat the laptop upside down under the bed covers and then let it set until it is cool. Then give it a shot. While I overheated mine, I took out the battery and HDD. Then download smcfancontrol.

Click to expand...

Follow-up to above: This fixed my issue: Cooking the Books (or, Baking My MacBook Pro Logic Board) : Russell.Heistuman.com

I've had to bake the logic board a couple of times but it works every time. Been working great for months after being down over a year.

I also took out the wifi card and it seems to be a lot more stable. It was freezing up.