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Set a strong magnet on MacBook A1181 - screen messed up.

My son in law set a magnetic auto emergency light, like a construction worker uses, on top of his Macbook A1181. Now it appears to boot up but only the top left 2 square inches of screen looks normal. The rest looks like colored horizontal and vertical colored lines that change with mouse movement. Looks almost like plaid fabric. In the top left I can see the Apple, Finer File Edit View and GO pull down menus. The rest of the screen is plaid.

Any ideas? Do I need to replace the screen? How can a magnet screw up the screen but not the harddrive. I have replaced a macbook 1181 in a different machine recently.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

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You got lucky, it seems like he only managed to damage the LCD panel. Try verifying this by connecting it to an external display. If it works on an external display, you will need to replace the LCD panel. Here is a replacement part, and here are installation guides:

Guide For Core Duo Model

Guide For Core 2 Duo Model

If the MacBook has a Core Duo processor, use the first guide, if it has a Core 2 Duo processor, use the second guide.

MacBook 13.3" LCD Panel Image

Product

MacBook 13.3" LCD Panel

$49.99

MacBook Core Duo LCD Panel Image

Guide

MacBook Core Duo LCD Panel Replacement

Difficulty:

Difficult

—

1 - 2 hours
MacBook Core 2 Duo LCD Panel Image

Guide

MacBook Core 2 Duo LCD Panel Replacement

Difficulty:

Difficult

—

1 - 4 hours

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Hooked up an external digital monitor with an apple mini dvi to dvi adapter. Was able to see the desktop on the external. Computer works fine. Time to order a screen.

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Sorry, Mayer, but degaussing works only on cathode ray tube displays, not on Liquid Crystal Displays. My guess is the weight of the emergency light unit, not the magnet, damaged the display.

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You're right, not enough coffee this morning. The magnet threw me off.

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I missed that also. +

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I'd try taking it to an old CRT TV repairman. All the screen may need is a de-gausing.

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kentschwarz will be eternally grateful.
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