Mac Book Pro responds favourably to a hard slap

[Rod]

I'm not prone to posting jokes so this is a true story. An associate brought me his 2 year old MBP which was having serious issues with the Spinning Pizza Of Death. After startup every action would cause the SPOD to appear for 5 minutes or more and the next action would cause the same. Basically unusable. So I went thought the numbers. Repaired permissions, verified the HD, found an Issue, used the restore partition to fix the HD, rebooted, same problem. Reset PRAM, SMC, removed startup apps, you name it. I did notice it was running a bit hot so I gave it a good Vacumn around the fan outlet and keyboard, got a lot of crap out and as part of the process with the lid closed and switched off I gave it a couple of sharp slaps on the base while turned upside down. Lots of dust and debris were dislodged onto the screen. Turned it back on and suddenly no problems. No more spinning pizza, running like a dream. So now I'm thinking loose connection, damaged HD, dislodged RAM card. Owner is happy but for how long? The one thing that failed was Apple Hardware Test, just would not complete after 3hrs. He has extended Apple Care so I've advised him to get it looked at when he returns to UK.

 

[chas_m]

Damaged HD, almost certainly (well, a stuck "needle" reader ...). Your "fix" might be permanent if that's the case, or very temporary. I'd back the whole thing up and replace the HD just on principle since it is likely to be the original drive and there's a good chance whatever got "stuck" will get stuck again.

 

[pigoo3]

I did notice it was running a bit hot so I gave it a good Vacumn around the fan outlet and keyboard, got a lot of crap out and as part of the process with the lid closed and switched off I gave it a couple of sharp slaps on the base while turned upside down. Lots of dust and debris were dislodged onto the screen. Turned it back on and suddenly no problems. No more spinning pizza, running like a dream. So now I'm thinking loose connection, damaged HD, dislodged RAM card.

A couple of complete guess's here:

1. Like you mentioned...could be a loose connection.
2. Since you mentioned dirt/debris..."running a bit hot". Unless you opened the computer up & did a good cleaning. Maybe things are so gunked up in there...that the fan is not running properly (gunked up with fuzz). So the fan isn't running properly...and giving it a slap either got it going or knocked/dislodged enough dirt...that it got the fan running. Got to open it up to verify.

- Nick

 

[Rod]

A couple of complete guess's here:

1. Like you mentioned...could be a loose connection.
2. Since you mentioned dirt/debris..."running a bit hot". Unless you opened the computer up & did a good cleaning. Maybe things are so gunked up in there...that the fan is not running properly (gunked up with fuzz). So the fan isn't running properly...and giving it a slap either got it going or knocked/dislodged enough dirt...that it got the fan running. Got to open it up to verify.

- Nick

Yes I agree but since they still have Apple Care I'm reluctant to crack the case. I have instructed them to purchase a USB HD for a full backup and on thief return to UK get it checked out by Apple. In the mean time at least their current project can be completed and sent.;D

 

[pigoo3]

Yes I agree but since they still have Apple Care I'm reluctant to crack the case.

I don't think opening the case is a problem. Folks upgrade their ram all the time on Apple notebooks. And on many newer models the bottom cover must be removed to do the ram upgrade.

But if you have concerns about this...I can totally understand.

- Nick

p.s. I'm surpised to hear that a newer computer (still with Applecare...unless it's extended Applecare) has gotten so dusty/dirty inside. It must be used in a pretty dusty environment.

 

[chas_m]

Certain models of Macs cannot be opened without violating the warranty (the retina MacBook Pros as an example). Older models, not so much.