Macbook Pro Shall Not Pass Gray Screen

[GeddyGeForce]

Apple MacBook Pro "Core i7" 2.4 15" Late 2011

(Identifiers: Late 2011 15" - MD322LL/A - MacBookPro8,2 - A1286 )



Received this MBP as a challenge to fix. They said it "needed a new motherboard".

I installed a new hard drive an booted to a USB drive with El Capitan Installer - Installed perfectly.

Updated that El Capitan as recommended by Apple - Went smoothly.

UpGRADED the OS X to High Sierra, went ok ... ? Had to reset the SVRAM a couple times.

But after I began updating HS, I had to rest the SVRAM several more times. It was never the same since.

Ended up going BACK to El Capitan. Which "worked" ok. However now the thing hangs, and it boots incredibly slow (Apple Logo with Progress bar freezes about half way). If I start in Recovery mode, the Apple Logo passes, then it goes to the grey screen and STOPS. Nothing is allowing it to pass the grey screen. Is the Balrog killing this MBP?

Maybe that answers the question of why the fans spin way up at the grey screen. Hellfire.

I removed the hard drive all together and it won't even get the Disk Utilities in Recovery! Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

BTW: I am able to consistently boot to AHT, and when I run the Advanced Test (Long Test) It passes perfectly.

 

[chscag]

Welcome to our forums.

Just a hunch here... but it sounds like the hard drive you installed may be the problem. Did you also change out the SATA cable at the same time?

And yes, if you removed the hard drive, naturally you could not get into DU Recovery.

Try another hard drive and swap out the SATA cable at the same time. Then install El Capitan.

 

[ferrarr]

Can you attach an external drive? An enclosure for the internal?

 

[GeddyGeForce]

I removed the HDD, and connected it to a USB enclosure to prove that the HDD (SSD) is not the issue.
The MBP booted in "Option mode" from the now external HDD, and the same thing happened. Blank grey screen. Ugh!

Through this troubleshooting process, I do recall a few times when the screen had weird graphics anomalies across the display. That should have been my first clue. I was unaware of the rampant failure of the dedicated graphics chips in these MBP models until now (shame on Apple for using an inferior chip).

Instead of disabling the dedicated graphics chip with "hacks" etc., I decided to give the "reball / reflow" method a shot.... Yeah, I know, it's not a permanent solution, but it will be good enough to fix it up so that I can give the thing to my nephew to bang on it.

I received this MBP as a challenge, so it has cost me nothing (but time) up until now.

I will update my progress after I give that a go.

 

[MacInWin]

If you have access to a reflow service, I have read that replacing a capacitor on the Motherboard will fix the graphics issue. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXIecM5_7G4

EDIT: Also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzcgT_fiVTA

 

[GeddyGeForce]

Can you attach an external drive? An enclosure for the internal?

Thank you for this idea!
I attached the original hard drive (New SSD) to a USB adapter and booted from that (holding Option Key). It seemed to boot ok, but ended up doing the same exact thing (grey screen of death). So it's without a doubt the GPU failure.
Please READ ABOVE ^^^ I reflow'd the GPU, and it worked ONE TIME. After that same thing ... grey screen of death.
Frustrated and fed up, I have to cut my losses. I spent WAAAY too much time on this already. I just hate to "lose".

 

[GeddyGeForce]

..... Sorry, I edited below - Jeeze what a mess. Again, sorry.

 

[GeddyGeForce]

If you have access to a reflow service, I have read that replacing a capacitor on the Motherboard will fix the graphics issue. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXIecM5_7G4



EDIT: Also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzcgT_fiVTA

The FIRST video is interesting ... but I don't know if I'm willing to go to all that trouble for it NOT to work. I have TOO much time invested already, I just posted this thing on Craigslist and Facebook for sale (salvage). Cut my losses.
IF no one bites, I'll revisit this repair in the future when I have absolutely nothing else to do.

The SECOND YouTube video refers to a 2010 MBP. I have a Late 2011 MBP with a GPU issue.
I checked this guy's service website and he clearly states ... Well, you can see by a screenshot of that site ...

View attachment 28848

 

[MacInWin]

Might be interesting to contact them, as they offer, and ask if they know anyone that DOES service the 2011 model. But if you are selling it now, no reason to spend the time. I think I've seen a video somewhere that someone is fixing a 2011. Same capacitor, but they replaced it with a more robust one that should not be as susceptible to failure. Also didn't require scraping the MoBo to get to a solder pad as the pads were in the same place as the defective one. Maybe that's why they don't service the 2011?

 

[MacInWin]

This may be why. Replacing the GPU is a very long process. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js6DNbZDJ1o