Macbook Pro Late 2011 sudden failure

[mini1]

I have a late 2011 Macbook Pro 15” running OS 10.13.6. It has an SSD from 2013 otherwise its stock.

It generally does not get that much use beyond weekend Skype calls, surfing the Internet and word processing.

I was on a Skype video call last night and the screen just died....camera still on but the other person lost me. I restarted the computer it showed the Apple logo with a very slow progress bar (boot normally take 3 seconds) this took 2 minutes.....then a blank light blue screen for about 1 minute.....CPU almost overheating fans on high.....and then it will cycle restart over and over.


Tried putting in safe mode - won’t go in at all

Tried putting in recovery mode - also no response beyond a blue screen with red vertical stripes

Tried putting it in Internet Recovery and finally a response - allowed me to run hardware test basic - passed - ran hardware test advanced - froze on checking ram for an hour

Opened back of unit, removed ram and replaced with same pair - made no difference

Before I start throwing parts at it like ram what do you think is the problem?

I can probably repair myself if I can diagnose it.

 

[Rod]

Sounds like a Logic Board failure from the symptoms.

 

[chscag]

I can probably repair myself if I can diagnose it.

Not unless you have a pro type soldering station handy.

Your machine shows the classic example of a GPU failure which was common for your model MacBook Pro. You can do some googling to see how others dealt with it. Otherwise as Rod stated, you probably will need to replace the entire logic board.

Good luck.

 

[mini1]

My first though was logic board, but yet the keyboard still works. On past units I’ve owned I lost connection to the keyboard when the logic board has failed. I found someone locally who knows Mac so I’m bringing it to them for a diagnosis. The unit has such low hour usage it would be sad to part it out....I’m hoping it can be saved at a reasonable price.

 

[chscag]

You need to understand that the logic board itself did not fail, it was the GPU. Unfortunately, that may mean changing out the entire logic board. You're dealing with a machine that's 9 years old so hopefully the Mac repair place you take it to has the parts and know how to do the repairs.

 

[mini1]

Diagnosis was failed GPU, cheapest repair seems to be unsoldering the AMD card and switching to the Intel card. Computer should be in action tomorrow. The question becomes how long will the Intel card run? Should I sell the unit sooner rather than later as a working computer before that crashes?

 

[chscag]

I'm surprised that if they can unsolder the AMD card, then why can't they replace it? Also there is free software that disables the AMD and only allows the Intel integrated GPU to work. I would try that first before spending money on repairs.

gfxCardStatus by cody krieger

 

[iggibar]

What do you mean by "switching to the Intel card?" I haven't heard of any GPU swaps from AMD to Intel on these, so I'm assuming you meant bypassing the AMD and running on the CPU built-in Intel Graphics. You don't have to touch the AMD chip, and just need to solder a new wire to bypass the GPU, and run a quick code to permanently bypass the AMD graphics from running. You're obviously going to get a cut in graphical power, but at least the computer works.

The Intel graphics will work for as long as your CPU runs. They are almost bullet-proof.

 

[mini1]

I got it back, everything works again. The repair tech told me I’d lose access to the display output - never used it not a problem - and the brightest control - that’s a minor problem. Any work around for brightness on the built in Intel? Won’t adjust from the keyboard or menu.

 

[mini1]

Just wanted to let everyone know who might have the same problem the solution to the brightness problem ...... install “brightness slider” from the app store. Brightness can be adjusted from this app from the upper right system tray on a slider drop down menu for the Intel GPU. My computer is back to exactly how it was before, just likely more reliable now.

 

[Inuevo]

My problem too - is software the answer?

... there is free software that disables the AMD and only allows the Intel integrated GPU to work. I would try that first before spending money on repairs.

gfxCardStatus by cody krieger

Hi chscag, That sounds like a neat and effective solution to a common problem with the 2011 MacBook Pro. I reported the same issue here myself a few weeks ago. If it's as good as you suggest, I'm wondering why it isn't generally recommended as a free alternative to repairs. I would like to try it but I abandoned my old machine to a dark corner when it became virtually unbootable, even in safe mode. And presumably there is no way of installing and running this software if I can't boot? But assuming my problem is the AMD GPU card, and assuming I can manage to start up and run for long enough to install this software, are you confident my old MacBook will rise from the ashes and have a new lease of life?!