My internal hard drive disk has stopped working on my Macbook. It does not mount, neither it appears in the disk utility.

It is not recognized at the boot up, so I get the famous question mark. I tried with another disk and it is the same, so I guess the problem comes from the logic board.

The disk I'm using is good, and it works when connected with USB (this is what I'm running now). But of course I would prefer to put it inside and connect it with SATA.

Now, I'm wondering what should I do. A new logical board is expensive, and it would be too bad to change it completely, because everything else is working perfectly. So, I'd like to get some advice, maybe for how to check the connectors, change the disk controller or add a new one, or whatever can help to get a more practical solution.

Thank you for your help.

⟐ Answered May 25, 2013 at 1:03 am -0700

⟐ Edited May 24, 2013 at 2:57 pm -0700

Is replacing the Hard Drive controller on a MacBook Pro 2009 Unibody a DIY project. Can anyone shed some light on instructions on how to do it? I replaced cables and swapped hard drives on my poor MacBook and haven't had any luck getting passed the blinking ? folder.

Thank you for your help!

⟐ Edited May 24, 2013 at 2:57 pm -0700

⟐ Edited May 24, 2013 at 2:57 pm -0700

⟐ Edited May 24, 2013 at 2:47 pm -0700

⟐ Edited May 24, 2013 at 2:46 pm -0700

I've got a mid 2009 13 inch unibody macbook pro with a dead battery.

How challenging would it be for someone with limited tools but some desktop building experience to replace the battery himself?

2.53 ghz intel chip

Serial: W8935a3l66e

It had its DVD drive replaced with an extra hard drive.

I saw a guide to 2009 mac books, but they seemed to a have the old body in the pic.

Also, what's the best place to order a replacement battery?

Thanks.

⟐ Edited May 24, 2013 at 2:46 pm -0700

It powers up fine and everything seems to work except for the the keyboard. It still works great with an external keyboard.

It is out of warranty.

Do I have to replace the logic board or is there something else that cane be replaced to salvage this laptop?

Regards,

Frank

⟐ Edited May 23, 2013 at 5:08 pm -0700

I don't have any warranty. I want to know what it is so I can make a decision. Obviously I want to fix it, because everything else is working well. I will appreciate your help.

Sorry if my English is not good. It is my second language.

⟐ Edited May 23, 2013 at 5:08 pm -0700

⟐ Edited May 23, 2013 at 5:08 pm -0700

I would like the faster CPU, Sata 3 and thunderbolt.

⟐ Edited May 23, 2013 at 5:08 pm -0700

So I opened my MBP, and took out the logicboard, when I removed heatsink (I believe ), I saw the NVIDIA and Intel chips covered with white chalky paste, what is that stuff, Is it normal ?

Now I washed the board with 91% alcohol and soft brush, I plan to let it dry it out for 2 days and then re-assemble everything, what are my chances ?

Please help, I am not in a situation to buy a new MBP

Thanks a lot

⟐ Edited May 23, 2013 at 5:08 pm -0700

Is this video showing the correct pads ? Thanks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otlj_ZGym...

Update

I tried to short these pads but it didnt power up i did remove keyboard and trackpad flex cables, does the battery need to be plugged in for it to work ?

⟐ Edited May 23, 2013 at 5:08 pm -0700

Is there anyone who got this experience as well?

Thank you...

Update

Thank you,

I did take a torch (flashlight) and trying to find if there's any bent, but I couldn't see anything. By the way, when put alcohol, must I use a cotton bud? One more question. I just remember that I had disabling the auto download feature on the iPhoto, as I put the SD card in the slot, the system will automatically downloading pictures to iPhoto. Then I didn't remember how, but I ticked any option to disable it. Could this be also the reason why my SD card slot won't work?

thank you ;)

⟐ Edited May 23, 2013 at 5:08 pm -0700

⟐ Answer accepted May 21, 2013 at 7:40 pm -0700

However, the socket/plug for what I believe is the isight cable looked different to the one on the video, and I couldn't work out whether to lift up or pull horizontally. Actually I didn't get much chance to find out, as I gently pried it loose with my spudger the wire came off, but leaving the plug in the socket.

Help! What do I do now? I can't get the plug out of the socket, and I've a cable that ends...

⟐ Commented May 18, 2013 at 2:33 am -0700

Thanks

Lorenzo

⟐ Answered May 17, 2013 at 12:42 pm -0700

The battery is charging, green lights light up when power cord removed.

Followed instructions here to try booting from OSX DVD. No dice. Tried booting from back-up hard drive. No dice.

Question is: Seems like much of the logic board is working. What else should I do? What individual components could I try replacing to make it work? I'm not averse to soldering nor replacing small parts.

⟐ Commented May 10, 2013 at 10:38 am -0700

I just purchased a new DC-in board for my MacBook Pro because the old one was intermitantly charging.

I've installed and repaired a lot of parts on MacBooks in the past and have not had any issues.

This time i installed the new DC-in board and now it won't boot up at all. The hard drive makes noise as if its going to start up. But the backlight never lights up, then a few seconds later, it sounds like it shuts down and trys again, then the status light just says solid.

I've tried to reset PRAM, and everything possible. Tried hooking it up to an external monitor, it didn't work. Tried to tether the hard drive (I have another macbook pro 13"), it didn't work.

Everything i've read leads toward a bad logic board, but I'm stumped as to how it happened?

Thanks very much for any input! - Dan

⟐ Answered May 10, 2013 at 7:45 am -0700

I have logic board from "Macbook Pro 13 Mid 2009 - 2.26GHz - A1278" and there are two missing parts near right speaker socket.

It is shown in the photo: http://oi40.tinypic.com/351gu8y.jpg

What parts should be there, please?

Thanks.

EDIT:

⟐ Commented May 7, 2013 at 9:07 am -0700

This is my problem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZjWohV51...

Many thanks.

⟐ Answered May 6, 2013 at 10:01 am -0700

So i was using my Macbook pro, mid 2009 13in model and all of a sudden the screen died on me. No real warning, no colored lines to prepare me, just shut off.

Now the computer runs fine, and will connect and show via external display, BUT the computer will not recognize its own display, it just shows the external. Also the apple logo doesnt light up on the computer either

I bought a new LCD screen thinking the LCD just died, but it wasnt it and still doesnt work Now I am at a bit of a loss as to what it should be. Maybe the connectors? Did a fuse blow? The connectors themselves look fine physically, but I dont know if they could be it

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Update

ok new updates! it wasnt the LVDS cable...I installed the new one and that didn't fix the backlight issue. so a new LCD and LVDS cable are out! Got a multimeter and checked the fuse mentioned by OT and it gave me a reading of 30.1 on the 2000k ohms dial. Im not a big electrical guy but from my understanding that means that the fuse is functioning. if I am right, does that mean it is the wled driver then?

i did a long google search for a wled driver repair and found this video...do I follow this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVdQ-2nj...

I have a friend that is skilled at this type of soldering, I just dont know where to find the part. ebay was no luck.

thank you all again so much!!

⟐ Comment deleted May 3, 2013 at 11:47 pm -0700

After putting it back together, system did not want to charge the battery. I have reseated the battery several time and same issue. Also, The Battery Indicator Light is stuck on three or six when any type of power is present.

Reset PRAM/NVRAM - Same Issue

Reset SMC - Same Issue (but system turned on with out AC Adapter)

Ran AHT Experienced - 4sns/1/40000000: TB3T-128.000

- System Reports 0 Volts and 0% Charge in AHT

The system still runs fine but Battery charging/using functionality is lost

Any Suggestions/Soultions?

⟐ Answered May 1, 2013 at 10:25 am -0700

So I bought an original Apple battery and replaced it. It seemed to work fine for some weeks but has now started saying "Not charging" sometimes. Coconut Battery if left open changes from charging to not charging. I checked for bad connections to the battery but that seems to be OK.

Is this a firmware issue caused by the Mountain Lion installation I did earlier on the original hard disk? Is there a solution?

Colin P

⟐ Edited April 23, 2013 at 2:16 pm -0700

MacBook Pro Unibody A1278 13"

The last digits of the serial number of my macbook pro is B66D I think it is a 2010 or 11 model unibody 1278. I changed the battery OK thanks to the ifixit site. The power connector is slightly melted, (been like it for a while), though it still works so I thought I might fix that as well as I have already replaced the HDD with a new 7200rpm model due to original failing slowly. Again thanks to the ifixit site.

⟐ Answered April 20, 2013 at 9:08 am -0700

⟐ Answer accepted April 18, 2013 at 11:50 am -0700

Day 1. I spill a full glass of water on top of my **closed**, powered-down, but plugged-in macbook. I have a case on it, but I'm sure it trickled down into the DC-in board and it pooled around the bottom of the macbook.

I quickly unplugged and dried the thing. I put it on rice, and set up a small space-heater about 4 feet away to blow warm air on it.

Day 2. I try to turn it on (24 hours after spill). No luck. Continue to dry it by opening the bottom up, and setting it up like an air tunnel, blowing continuous warm air on it.

Day 3. 48 hours - the must be dry as a bone. Still will not turn on. I plug in the charger to see what happens - and I see a breif flashing amber, then nothing.

Day 4. I take it to Apple. They hear me say 'water damage' and they say '450 bucks'... but we'll look at it for a second. The girl does a quick SMC reset, plugs it in, light goes green, and it turns on!

Day 5. I notice that my charger cable has actually been dim green all along - never bright green. (hence, trickle charge).

I order a DC-in from ifixit, I install it (I feel good about that process). But still, we're at a trickle charge.

I also soaked and dried the previous DC-in with alcohol, and tested that. And I soaked and cleaned my logic board some. There seems to be some black 'charring' on the teeth of a connector just above the DC-in board.

Is there any solution besides a new logic board? Should I clean it more thoroughly?

[OH, also. I've troubleshooted the charger... it works on other computers fine.. and working adapters show the same dim green light on my computer. ]

Thanks for your help!

Keith

⟐ Commented April 17, 2013 at 7:14 pm -0700

When i bend the right side of the screen back and left to the front the lines all disappear. At first they would go away by just tapping the screen but now it doesnt work. Pressure has to be applied to keep the lines out of the screen. Its really annoying. Sometimes those lines just become a black or white stripe. As in ONE WHOLE solid stripe. Apple said it needs to be replaced for $800. and i have no warranty. What do u think the problem is? Would it be just the cable or the LCD screen itself. I tried an external display aswell there r no lines. Screen shots show no lines either. It has to be something with the screen. But idk what to do. I want to open it up and take a look. Please tell me what to do? Also where do i find a guide from to open it up since its the UNIBODY macbookpro. got it in jan 2010.

http://tinypic.com/r/ip1kxj/7

⟐ Commented April 16, 2013 at 6:06 pm -0700

Everything went fine until one day (having lost the guarantee), the screen suddenly froze (showing a "snowy" grey band crossing it). I shut it off using the power button.

When rebooted, it froze with a black screen (showing nothing), and started beeping (1 beep per 5seconds with light flash. The first beep sounds at start, then the DVD starts runnig and the beeping continues) but nothing showed in the screen nor the keyboard ilumination nor the apple behind.

I left it run off battery, and again it booted. Started a clean recovery of the system, and again, it froze with that gray band). Now, I can't boot the laptop, the CD is stuck inside and can't get it back and it keeps making that beep.

Nothing works: restoring CMS, clearing RAM modules, changing RAM modules, using one module (in every combination possible).

Thanks you all for the help provided

⟐ Answer unaccepted April 13, 2013 at 5:43 am -0700

BTW, you guys are good, how can i donate or support you?

greetings from mexico.

bye

⟐ Answered April 13, 2013 at 12:06 am -0700

After upgrading, my Macbook will not boot anymore. When I start the Macbook, it appears the Apple-Sign. But after about 25 seconds, it turns suddenly off. Everytime i start, it is he same problem.

I rebuilt the original state but the problem still exists.

Do you have any idea, what the problem could be?

Do you think it is an problem in the Logicboard or the Hard Drive cable?

Thank You!

⟐ Commented April 2, 2013 at 10:28 pm -0700

So, my brother gave me this MacBook Pro that his girlfriend had spilled wine on and ruined the keyboard and trackpad. It worked fine with an external keyboard & mouse, however I'm not about that life so I decided to purchase a new upper case. I followed the installation instructions, and everything went well except for these two things:

1) I broke off the subwoofer connector with the spudger. I thought I was moving the wire but I actually ripped off the entire housing that it slides into. Oops!

2) I CANNOT, repeat, CANNOT get that keyboard ribbon cable to slide in all the way. There's still some silver sticking out that I can see. I've tried pulling it in with scotch tape, pushing it in with my fingers, pushing it in with an eraser, leveraging it up with a spudger and pushing it in...NOTHING WORKS!

So, the problem is the computer doesn't even power on now. The battery indicator tells me that the battery is at full charge and when I plug in the power cord, it lights up green. Any ideas on what I can do? I'd really like this thing to work--my old DJ computer broke and I'm out of work until I fix this, so time is of the essence. Thanks!

⟐ Commented April 2, 2013 at 10:50 am -0700

When I turn it on you can hear it come on and see the white light on the front come on and the keyboard light up.but the video screen doesn't come on at all or the apple logo on the backside.

I connected it to an external monitor and it happens to work perfectly. I opened it the other day and no wires were torn either. My question is what can i do to get it fixed and where and a estimate would be nice because if it cost too much I'm just gonna get rid of it.

I will upload pictures later if needed. Thanks in advance.

BTW I Just turned it on now and I noticed is said airport is not installed. when in fact i use to always use it wireless.

Update 2 - I uploaded the pictures so u can see the damage.i took the lcd off the computer so now i have two halves. as u can see there wwere no broken wires to the mother board and i cant tell internally if anything is broken behind the screen because i dont own the suction cups or the heat gun to remove it and see. but im open to any suggestions

Update

Thanks to everybody that contributed. i finally took the glass bezel off,the lcd itself and one ribbon cable was disconected and the ribbon cable on the right side was broken completely. can anybody point me in the right direction of buying a whole lcd with the bezel and aluminum part with hinges and cable. thanks

Update

I fixed it finally today . i just bought a whole lcd assembly from ebay for 385 . followed the tutorial from here to the t . now its working perfectly

⟐ Answer deleted March 25, 2013 at 8:39 am -0700

My coworker accidentally spilled about a bottle capful of water on to my Macbook keyboard. He immediately wiped it up and told me about it. About 5 minutes later, I realized my keys "a through l" and keys "z through ," weren't working. I shut down my computer, took out the battery, and let it sit open and upside down (like a tent) for the remainder of the day.

The next day I put everything back together and tried the keys again and they still didn't work. Everything else on the computer works fine except those 2 rows of keys.

I've been around a lot of forums trying to read up and find out what my next step should be but am not sure. I took the back piece off to reveal the logic board and dusted everything off - I didn't see any water or visible damage. A lot of people recommend completely taking apart the Macbook (eek!) and blow drying everything. I just need to know:

1. If the keys aren't working now, would they even work if I tried that?

2. If it doesn't work, what needs to be replaced? I hear some people replacing logic boards and others replacing keyboards. Are they connected to each other or separate pieces of the laptop?

Sorry if this sounds confusing, but I need to figure out what to do next because I'm really dreading going to Apple with this issue and paying a ridiculous amount for repair (especially if I might be able to handle this myself).

Thanks for any help!

⟐ Answered March 15, 2013 at 7:28 am -0700

Currently the green LED turns orange but the energy indicator shows a plug icon and flickers between the battery icon. As unit gets older more and more fiddling to get a solid connection is needed to show the lightning bolt (charging) icon. Once charge gets up to 100% LED turns green but I can only sure of charging while laptop is open

How to tell if I need to replace DC in board or go for yet another charger?

⟐ Commented March 11, 2013 at 7:13 pm -0700

⟐ Commented March 10, 2013 at 3:44 pm -0700

I have a problem with an Macbook PRO Late-2008 2,4 Ghz Core 2 Duo, Geforce 9400m and with remobable battery

It stars with completly black screen and in any case it works, like it was dead. If I conect to an external monitor the laptop works great on it, no video iusses and nothing worng, perfect in external screen. Them, if I search in "about this MAC..." I can see in display configuration that is shown like if the internal "screen is not conected" and of course "not detected"

The external screen is detected propetly in this menu

I open the laptop and I see that all is very well conected, cable to logic board and to the screen and it seems to be good

Thanks for your time reading this and have a nice day

⟐ Commented March 8, 2013 at 4:11 am -0700

⟐ Answered March 5, 2013 at 12:08 am -0700

After attempting a repair to my macbook pro this weekend, I reassembled it. The power button does not work. I have read a bunch of topics on inserting the keyboard ribbon cable and how difficult it is, and that this cable routes the power button to the logic board. I have spent a lot of time fiddling with this cable. I've attached a photo of the cable in its current state. Is this in far enough or should it go in further? I just want to know if I should be looking into some other reason for why it isn't starting up. I get no signs of life when pushing the power button, but the LED on the charger does light up and the battery indicator lights up indicating a full battery. Thanks for any help!

⟐ Answer edited March 3, 2013 at 8:55 am -0700

If the logic board connector is in fact damaged, anyone know if it's possible to repair this?

⟐ Answer deleted March 2, 2013 at 3:23 pm -0700

What is the best method to take this out?

⟐ Commented March 2, 2013 at 12:46 am -0700

⟐ Answered March 1, 2013 at 12:03 pm -0700

When managed to eject CD windows started. I did not see mac partition, than I cleaned up the disc and installed Mountain Lion, but it was extremely slow.

I replaced RAM (4GB) to check if it's a problem, it did not help.

Cleaned the disc again and installed Lion from USB. It's running 3 times faster but still very very slow (like windows XP after 3 years of using)

I run disc utility, verified/repaired disc it was looking ok.

Battery seems to be untouched but it's not charging, iStatspro showing battery health nan% cycles 0, charge nan%, charge bar showing 80% charged.

What can be broken? if any..

How can I check what is the problem

Is there any diagnostic software I could install and run?

Any other steps I should undertake?

In Mac service, they are useless they said motherboard is broken. I do not believe that. (When I gave them my other old Mac with faulty/broken graphic card they said the screen - which works ok - should be replaced, so Mac service is not an option)

⟐ Answer edited February 28, 2013 at 12:14 pm -0700

My question is what I should do first to diagnose the issue? From searching a few forums, I found that it could be an issue with the trackpad, motherboard, or the battery pushing up on the trackpad if the battery is bad. A new unibody shell or motherboard are pricey, so I want to be sure before I buy one. Unfortunately I don't have other old macs available that I could salvage for parts. How do I go about diagnosing/ fixing this?

PS - at the moment my CD/DVD port is not accepting disks so I cannot boot from a disk

I appreciate any help!!

⟐ Commented February 25, 2013 at 7:43 am -0700

⟐ Answer edited February 24, 2013 at 6:35 pm -0700

I put it in using the repair manuals, and then I booted from my recovery disk, followed the directions but when I got to the step that ask where I want to install osx nothing appears as an option.

I went into disk recovery and the new hard drive is listed as a disk but I do not have the option to verify or repair disk.

⟐ Commented February 23, 2013 at 6:22 pm -0700

⟐ Commented February 23, 2013 at 12:25 pm -0700

I've done my homework so please don't tell me that I have to replace the entire upper unit--you don't. I'm aware that replacing the keyboard itself is extremely tedious but I am a well trained technician with years of tearing these devices apart.

Thanks!

⟐ Commented February 21, 2013 at 11:05 am -0700

My MBP Pro was dropped and now the LCD screen will not light. I can tell that there is an image there, when I shine a light on the screen. I've done all of the elementary trouble shooting. I really think that it is a fuse, or the GPU, but how do I go about troubleshooting and replacing? Do I replace the whole logic board?

How can I find a diagram of my MBP a1287, to locate the componets?

I can't find any forums on how to proceed. I don't think it's necessary to replace the cable and LCD screen, as I've found on some other threads.

⟐ Answered February 14, 2013 at 1:59 pm -0700

I have a problem with my Mac Book display. There's a vertical column to the far right of the display which is unusable. Sometimes the problem is fixed, and the strange colored pixels disappear (if I apply pressure to the display or open it at a given angle). The picture below illustrates the problem:

http://sb7.solveasp.net/broken_display.j...

I was wondering if I need to change the whole display or just a cable. If it's just the cable, is it an easy task to be accomplished by a non-technician ?

⟐ Commented February 11, 2013 at 7:24 am -0700