2007 15 inch Mac Book Pro Issues

My 15inch Mac Book Pro never really had a problem in the past...

However, a few weeks ago the power adapter died as there was a tear in the cord so I went to the apple store and the genius sold me one of the power adapters for the newer mac book pro's claiming it is compatible with mine as long as it is 85w's.

Everything was fine on that end with taking a charge and etc but now my Mac Book Pro seems to of fried or something.

When I boot the computer it is a Plaid style glitch screeen and it wont get past that image. I tried to hook the lap top up to a monitor and there was no image on the monitor.

So does that mean the logic board is done or the video card? Are any of these reasonable to fix? Is it possible the newer power chord fried my machine?

In the meantime to see if I can get my data off the HD how do you mount a lap top to a desk top in OSX? I have a mac pro desk top I can use to get my data off...I have done it in the past but I forget the command keys. Thanks in advance.

That would be Firewire target disk mode - link.

And no, unlikely the cause is the charger - could be anything, but most likely is the hard drive has/is dieing and is not able to read the data required to boot the machine.

Good luck getting your data off it - why everyone needs to be keeping their computers backed up.

Unfortunately that glitchy pattern your getting on the screen is symptoms of a bad graphics processer , and you cant switch it out as its embedded on the logic board. The charger you bought is perfectly fine , just redesigned by apple .

Your probly better off getting an external hdd dock and removing your laptop hdd and mounting it from the dock to retrieve your data. But if you have a fire wire cable the mac pro will see the laptop as an external drive.

Hey guys. Thank you for the responses.

Good news(I think)

I mounted the lap top in target disk mode on my Mac Pro. I went into disk utility and did a repair disk on my lap top drive.

I then shut down the lap top and bam it was working again. I got an error report log that was pretty long and it said Kernel Panic.

So that is good news correct? This is the stock hard drive from 07 so I think I should still buy a new drive and upgrade to 4 gigs of ram, if I could even still find ram for it these days.

Sorry for Double Posting but I have a critical update...

Basically the same crash happened with the plaid lines screen. I again repaired the disk via my Mac Pro desktop in target disk mode and it fixed it again. I got exactly the same error report log. It makes no sense that if my video card or logic board was failing then why does repairing the disk temporarily fix it? Here is the error log...I am guessing this is a failing hard drive yea?

Interval Since Last Panic Report: 2944 sec
Panics Since Last Report: 1
Anonymous UUID: 1AC48EBC-9DB1-4261-8D7D-D187AD86AD1E

Wed Jan 16 23:45:44 2013
panic(cpu 1 caller 0x001AB0FE): Kernel trap at 0x00c69c1e, type
14=page fault, registers:
CR0: 0x8001003b, CR2: 0x000000bc, CR3: 0x015d4000, CR4: 0x00000660
EAX: 0x3c23d630, EBX: 0x04fe9804, ECX: 0x05086800, EDX: 0x00000000
CR2: 0x000000bc, EBP: 0x3c23d668, ESI: 0x00000000, EDI: 0xffffffff
EFL: 0x00010246, EIP: 0x00c69c1e, CS: 0x00000008, DS: 0x05080010
Error code: 0x00000000

Backtrace (CPU 1), Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)
0x3c23d408 : 0x12b4c6 (0x45f91c 0x3c23d43c 0x13355c 0x0)
0x3c23d458 : 0x1ab0fe (0x469a98 0xc69c1e 0xe 0x469248)
0x3c23d538 : 0x1a1713 (0x3c23d550 0x9 0x3c23d668 0xc69c1e)
0x3c23d548 : 0xc69c1e (0xe 0x48 0x3c230010 0xca0010)
0x3c23d668 : 0xc71baa (0xc1d00001 0x1000000 0x1000003 0x40)
0x3c23d6c8 : 0xc6428f (0x3c23d858 0x6 0x0 0x0)
0x3c23d828 : 0xc55402 (0x0 0x600d600d 0x7027 0x3c23d858)
0x3c23d8e8 : 0xe4301b (0xc1d00001 0x1000000 0x1000003 0x40)
0x3c23d918 : 0xe4e7ac (0x2440b000 0x1000000 0x88100090 0x3e)
0x3c23f8a8 : 0xe2a189 (0x2440b000 0x1000000 0x15 0x2440b01c)
0x3c23f9a8 : 0xc50b29 (0x2440b000 0x0 0x3c23fab2 0x80)
0x3c23fa08 : 0xc4569d (0x4abbc00 0x0 0x3c23fab2 0x80)
0x3c23fb38 : 0xc46f44 (0x4abbc00 0xc4a62c 0x3c23fbec 0x4)
0x3c23fc08 : 0xbd3c18 (0x4abbc00 0x1 0x0 0x13)
0x3c23fc68 : 0xbccbe6 (0x4abbc00 0x3c23fd2c 0x434f770 0x4abbc00)
0x3c23fc98 : 0x415e83 (0x4abbc00 0x434f770 0x434f770 0x0)
Backtrace continues...
Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):
com.apple.NVDAResman(5.4.8)@0xc4d000->0xeabfff
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(1.7.3)@0xc3f000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.6)@0x5ce000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.7.3)@0xbc4000
com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(1.7.3)@0xc3f000->0xc4cfff
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.6)@0x5ce000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.7.3)@0xbc4000
com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.7.3)@0xbc4000->0xbe0fff
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.6)@0x5ce000

BSD process name corresponding to current thread: WindowServer

Mac OS version:
9L31a

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 9.8.0: Wed Jul 15 16:55:01 PDT 2009;
root:xnu-1228.15.4~1/RELEASE_I386
System model name: MacBookPro4,1 (Mac-F42C89C8)

System uptime in nanoseconds: 22233853246
unloaded kexts:
(none)
loaded kexts:
com.sony.pci.SxS 1.0
com.sony.driver.sxsus10drivers 1.0.0
com.apple.driver.InternalModemSupport 2.4.0 - last loaded 21015379947
com.apple.filesystems.autofs 2.0.2
com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothSerialManager 2.1.9f10
com.apple.driver.AppleHDAPlatformDriver 1.7.1a2
com.apple.driver.AppleUpstreamUserClient 2.7.5
com.apple.driver.AppleHDAHardwareConfigDriver 1.7.1a2
com.apple.driver.AppleHDA 1.7.1a2
com.apple.GeForce 5.4.8
com.apple.Dont_Steal_Mac_OS_X 6.0.3
com.apple.driver.AppleGraphicsControl 2.8.15
com.apple.nvidia.nv50hal 5.4.8
com.apple.driver.AppleHDAController 1.7.1a2
com.apple.driver.SMCMotionSensor 2.1.1d2
com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireIP 1.7.7
com.apple.driver.AudioIPCDriver 1.0.6
com.apple.driver.AppleIRController 113
com.apple.kext.AppleSMCLMU 1.4.5d1
com.apple.driver.ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin 3.4.0a17
com.apple.driver.AppleLPC 1.3.1
com.apple.driver.AppleBacklight 1.6.0
com.apple.driver.AppleTyMCEDriver 1.0.0d28
com.apple.driver.BroadcomUSBBluetoothHCIController 2.1.9f10
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTCButtons 1.7.4f1
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBMultitouch 189.35
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTCKeyEventDriver 1.7.4f1
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTCKeyboard 1.7.4f1
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBMergeNub 3.5.2
com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIMultimediaCommandsDevice 2.1.1
com.apple.iokit.SCSITaskUserClient 2.1.1
com.apple.driver.XsanFilter 2.7.91
com.apple.iokit.IOATAPIProtocolTransport 1.5.3
com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIBlockStorage 1.2.2
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBHub 3.4.9
com.apple.driver.AppleAHCIPort 1.7.0
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelPIIXATA 2.0.1
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBUserClient 3.5.2
com.apple.driver.AppleFWOHCI 3.9.7
com.apple.driver.AirPortBrcm43xx 367.91.22
com.apple.driver.AppleFileSystemDriver 1.1.0
com.apple.driver.AppleSmartBatteryManager 158.10.5
com.apple.iokit.AppleYukon2 3.1.13b2
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBEHCI 3.4.6
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBUHCI 3.5.2
com.apple.driver.AppleEFINVRAM 1.2.0
com.apple.driver.AppleRTC 1.2.3
com.apple.driver.AppleHPET 1.4
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIPCI 1.2.5
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIButtons 1.2.5
com.apple.driver.AppleSMBIOS 1.4
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIEC 1.2.5
com.apple.driver.AppleAPIC 1.4
com.apple.security.seatbelt 107.12
com.apple.nke.applicationfirewall 1.8.77
com.apple.security.TMSafetyNet 3
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement 76.2.0
com.apple.driver.DiskImages 199
com.apple.BootCache 30.4
com.apple.iokit.IOSerialFamily 9.4
com.apple.driver.DspFuncLib 1.7.1a2
com.apple.NVDAResman 5.4.8
com.apple.iokit.IOHDAFamily 1.7.1a2
com.apple.iokit.IOAudioFamily 1.6.9fc5
com.apple.kext.OSvKernDSPLib 1.1
com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginFamily 3.4.0a17
com.apple.driver.AppleSMC 2.3.1d1
com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport 1.7.3
com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily 1.7.3
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBBluetoothHCIController 2.1.9f10
com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothFamily 2.1.9f10
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBHIDDriver 3.4.6
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBComposite 3.2.0
com.apple.iokit.IOBDStorageFamily 1.5
com.apple.iokit.IODVDStorageFamily 1.5
com.apple.iokit.IOCDStorageFamily 1.5
com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIBlockCommandsDevice 2.1.1
com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIArchitectureModelFamily 2.1.1
com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIFamily 1.5.0
com.apple.iokit.IOATAFamily 2.0.1
com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireFamily 3.4.9
com.apple.iokit.IO80211Family 216.1
com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily 1.6.1
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily 3.5.2
com.apple.driver.AppleEFIRuntime 1.2.0
com.apple.iokit.IOSMBusFamily 1.1
com.apple.iokit.IOHIDFamily 1.5.5
com.apple.iokit.IOStorageFamily 1.5.6
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIPlatform 1.2.5
com.apple.iokit.IOACPIFamily 1.2.0
com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily 2.6

If you think the hdd if failing there is a way to check if that's the problem .

Use a 8 or 16 gig flash drive from a working mac and do clean install of osx the usb stick. Plug it into the troubled machine and at start up hold option key till you get to the boot loader screen and then select to boot from the usb drive.

You should be able to run osx from a usb stick or external drive , just for testing purposes. it will run a bit slower than it would from the hdd , but if the hdd is the problem and not the graphics it should run with out the plaid glitches on the screen.

If it is the hdd and not the graphics that would be a new one on me Ive never seen a failing drive cause graphics trouble, but I havnt seen every problem there is either lol .

In the kernel panic logs I see in the backtrace these lines that trouble me.

com.apple.NVDAResman(5.4.8)@0xc4d000->0xeabfff
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(1.7.3)@0xc3f000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.6)@0x5ce000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.7.3)@0xbc4000
com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(1.7.3)@0xc3f000->0xc4cfff
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.6)@0x5ce000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.7.3)@0xbc4000
com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.7.3)@0xbc4000->0xbe0fff
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.6)@0x5ce000

This would indicate a failing graphics chip.

Ive seen these graphics chips fail in several different ways .

Sometimes the screen just goes black and never recovers.

Sometimes they cause strange artifacts , lines , or odd shapes . '

sometimes they intermittently work fine for days and then stop working . Restarting several times will sometimes bring it back for a while.

They also are known to have strange patterns ie. wavy images , checkered screen, and even seen them split the image into 12 or 16 separate images.

All in all it depends on the graphics chip and what part of it has failed or what section of the chip is not making a strong contact with the board.

dawson1112 said:

If you think the hdd if failing there is a way to check if that's the problem .

Use a 8 or 16 gig flash drive from a working mac and do clean install of osx the usb stick. Plug it into the troubled machine and at start up hold option key till you get to the boot loader screen and then select to boot from the usb drive.

You should be able to run osx from a usb stick or external drive , just for testing purposes. it will run a bit slower than it would from the hdd , but if the hdd is the problem and not the graphics it should run with out the plaid glitches on the screen.

If it is the hdd and not the graphics that would be a new one on me Ive never seen a failing drive cause graphics trouble, but I havnt seen every problem there is either lol .

In the kernel panic logs I see in the backtrace these lines that trouble me.

com.apple.NVDAResman(5.4.8)@0xc4d000->0xeabfff
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(1.7.3)@0xc3f000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.6)@0x5ce000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.7.3)@0xbc4000
com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(1.7.3)@0xc3f000->0xc4cfff
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.6)@0x5ce000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.7.3)@0xbc4000
com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.7.3)@0xbc4000->0xbe0fff
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.6)@0x5ce000

This would indicate a failing graphics chip.

Ive seen these graphics chips fail in several different ways .

Sometimes the screen just goes black and never recovers.

Sometimes they cause strange artifacts , lines , or odd shapes . '

sometimes they intermittently work fine for days and then stop working . Restarting several times will sometimes bring it back for a while.

They also are known to have strange patterns ie. wavy images , checkered screen, and even seen them split the image into 12 or 16 separate images.

All in all it depends on the graphics chip and what part of it has failed or what section of the chip is not making a strong contact with the board.

Click to expand...

scary...I can understand why restarting might get it to work but why does repair disk get it up and running every time. There is nothing random about that. I do not think the hard drive is bad because it most likely would not mount even. Could all those kernel panic lines just be caused by tangled up software that just needs a fresh install?

My computer has been sluggish prior to this, is it possible I got some sort of malware ?

Does anyone know how to run a hard ware test if you lost your original install disk? Also I was wrong this is a early 08 MBP 4.1...

What OS X are you using?

You should be able to press the D while booting up to access AHT on your hdd , if AHT isn't on your hdd it may take you to a network AHT .


http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509

It really sounds like the known Nvidia video card issue to me, my 15" early 2008 went through this 4 times, until it got way too hot for the components around the video card and ended up catching fire (it was way above operating temperature, 105C or more) It would require a new logic board, the home repairs and professional reflow repairs will only temporarily repair it. It was covered under warranty for 4 years after purchase, but all of these are now out of warranty. The apple store has a special diagnostics to run to identify affected models, they can also send it out for repair for $315 if I remember correctly, I just took a early 2008 17" from my work in a few months ago and that is what we were charged. There in house repair is going to be $1000+.

This issue can disappear with less stress on the video card and can come and go. I have seen one that works perfect, but once a slightly graphics heavy program is even load, does not have to do anything, it will go gray with weird marks all over the screen. Shut it off and power it back up it was fine. So there is many ways for this to come and go, but it is best to have apple test it, they will do it for free.

dawson1112 said:

What OS X are you using?

You should be able to press the D while booting up to access AHT on your hdd , if AHT isn't on your hdd it may take you to a network AHT .

No, I don't think I could do that. I am on Leopard. I was talking more third party or something.

Intel-based Macs: Using Apple Hardware Test

Click to expand...

rustyk123 said:

It really sounds like the known Nvidia video card issue to me, my 15" early 2008 went through this 4 times, until it got way too hot for the components around the video card and ended up catching fire (it was way above operating temperature, 105C or more) It would require a new logic board, the home repairs and professional reflow repairs will only temporarily repair it. It was covered under warranty for 4 years after purchase, but all of these are now out of warranty. The apple store has a special diagnostics to run to identify affected models, they can also send it out for repair for $315 if I remember correctly, I just took a early 2008 17" from my work in a few months ago and that is what we were charged. There in house repair is going to be $1000+.

This issue can disappear with less stress on the video card and can come and go. I have seen one that works perfect, but once a slightly graphics heavy program is even load, does not have to do anything, it will go gray with weird marks all over the screen. Shut it off and power it back up it was fine. So there is many ways for this to come and go, but it is best to have apple test it, they will do it for free.

Click to expand...

Wow. Do you have any articles proving that these computers have this issue? That is ridiculous. That is a defective. Your computer caught fire and they didn't offer to fix it for free? Trust me I used to work at an Apple Store and with the right kind of complaint/issue they would of. That is insane and unacceptable by their standards. Anytime i had a product have an issue that was faulty design they fixed it for free. Even out of Warranty. That is just part of the Apple Brand. Its a shame the store you went to didn't have the class and common sense to honor that.

I know it is a four year lap top but still these lap tops should of been recalled if that is the case... I have Dell Lap Tops from 2002 and still run fine! And by fine I mean they don't catch fire.

The graphics chip problem is not model or even mac specific. It occurs in just about all laptops built from 2006 on. It happens in the play stations , the xbox 360's , hp laptops , dell laptops , etc,,,,
It not only effects Nvidia but also it effects ati radeon as well. As far as the heat issue ive never seen one catch fire but I know heat is a definite issue in laptops , especially when used on a couch of bed , and especially in an environment that has smokers and a lot of dust in it.


The problem is actually the type of solder used to connect the graphics chip to the board . The old type of solder contained lead , witch helped keep the solder from cracking as it heated up and cooled down over repeated uses. In around 2006 the federal gov banned the use of lead solder in electronics and manufacturers were forced to use an alternative solder containing tin. The tin is more brittle than the lead solder and much more prone to heat damage from melting or cracking. Nvidia has suffered the hardest as there chips tend to use more wattage than the ati chips thus creating more heat.

This is why there are lots of laptops from the older years that just seem to keep running and running with out a hitch. But with the ones after 06 if they are not cleaned out and allowed to continue to run hot they will eventually more than likely fail in 2 to 5 years.

The best thing for just about any laptop is to keep in cleaned out every couple years , don't use it on any kind of surface that can block the fan or cause heat to build up.

Sorry I made a mistake in the above The new solder is now tin-silver-copper instead of the old lead-tin solder. The new solder has a higher melting point but is also more brittle and prone to crack .

True it affected alot, but really xbox 360 is the same issue, but not becuase of nvidia. as for an artical, here is apple's artical. MacBook Pro: Distorted video or no video issues.