2008 MacBook Pro #2198

Hello,

I just received a 2008 MacBook Pro Ecm 2198

The laptop does power... the fans will start and the hard drive light lights up and then everything goes off.. never posts

I pulled the memory and battery, and plugged in, then the laptop will start fans, hard drive, hard drive lights up, and the laptop will beep... but never posts anything on screen

install one memory card, and restart.. and goes back to just powering on for a few seconds
replaced the battery and installed other memory card... restart and same thing... just powers on the fans for a second, and dies

the battery shows it's charging on indicator on battery

anyone have any ideas?

Please help

John

It sounds very much like a dead or defective logic board (mother board). That model had problems with the graphics chipset and was under an extended warranty for some time by Apple. That period is over now. The reason the machine beeped was because you removed the memory modules. You did not get the POST sound. Replacing the logic board on a machine that old is not economical.

I thought that to receive any beeps, the bios would need to powering up? yeah, I don't want to sink any cash into it, since it's a 2008, was hope for that it just needed reset or a simple part... are the graphics in the board or separate card?

Macs do not have a BIOS, they use EFI instead. The beeps are generated by the firmware which delivers the POST indication. The graphics chipset (nVidia) is surface mounted - soldered - to the logic board. Pretty much impossible to do any kind of work on the logic board without specialized equipment. A refurbished logic board for that model will cost around $400 or so. Just not worth it because after replacing the board, there may be other things that turn up.

True, I would not spend 400 on it, I was reading on you tube that people actually remove the boards and bake it in oven for 15 minutes at 250, something about it melts soldier and fixes the issue from where it over heated in the first place... have you heard of that?

Yes, the procedure is known as "reflowing" and does on occasion work to get the logic board (graphics chipset) up again. Some folks have reported that it was only temporary while others say their board is working again. If you got that 2008 MBP for free or cheap enough it might be worth trying.

You can get the instructions for removing the board at iFixit: The free repair manual. You'll need to look it up by your model number.

where is the actual model number? I found the sn and ecm #

and I did get it for free

Give me some idea of which 2008 MacBook Pro you have? For example: 15" or 17", early 2008 or late 2008? I can look up the model number for you if I have that info.

its a 15 inch 2008 2.5 ghz processor like a 250 hard drive... don't know if its early or late

I pressed the command p and r keys... it lasted longer... maybe 3 seconds before it crashed this time

Yeah, you reset the PRAM - NVRAM when you pressed CMD + P + R. But if the logic board is dead, no joy.

Here are the two model numbers: (By the way, on some models, the model number appears on the bottom of the machine, take a look there.)

Early 15" MacBook Pro = A1260 (Feb 2008)

Late 15" MacBook Pro = A1286 (Oct 2008)

I suspect though that the instructions for removal of the logic board are going to be the same for both models. The ifixit site will probably also list several other models in their take apart instructions.

its a 1260 found it on bottom small print

what temp should I bake it and how long?

took the fans out and the vents are plugged up with lint

I have no idea of what temperature to bake it at. Some folks have also used a hot air dryer or hot air soldering equipment to reflow the logic board. You might want to do some more Googling around to see if you can get some idea of the procedure. I worked in electronic repair for the US Govt for years and we just replaced entire boards. Factory repair service did the reflowing and replacing of parts for us. I'm going to be away for awhile as I have to do some running around this afternoon. I'll be back later.

Thanks for your help!!

According to this:

Solder - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The solder most commonly used in electronics melts at around 360-370°F.

But you may not want to go that high...since then ALL solder on the logic board will liquify...and everything may flow together...making one LARGE circuit. Not good!

Definitely do a search for procedures other folks have used.

- Nick

actually, the oven method worked, it will now power on and begin to start now

but the fan connector on the board broke, brittle from cooking, and the white wlan one also broke when attempting to plug them in.. won and lost..

the replacement board is not worth getting... and I can't see soldiering wires onto them tiny connectors..... so It's junk

also, the board was getting hot as it was restarting over and over, since no os was installed.. i'm sure it would not be long till it melted again

I may load up the os.. but for now, I shelved it
I could tap into the other side fan...

but again, don't think its worth the time

Sorry to hear the reflow didn't turn out the way you wanted it to. But since you got the machine for free, all you're out is some time - and some good experience.