Hi All! Sorry I've been away for a while. I've got a weird one: I have a couple 8-core 2008 2.8GHZ Mac Pros. I started with s...

Hi! I've got an A1211 that works fine after it's been sitting for about 30 minutes without AC or battery, and with the PRAM b...

Hi All! Another wacky 15" PowerBook question: I've got a machine that works 100%, except when you move a window or an applica...

Hi! I've got an odd 15" aluminum that will not show video on its own screen unless it is connected to external video, in whic...

Hi! My car's clutch makes a high-pitched squeaking noise when depressed. I don't know if it's a coincidence or not that it st...

Hi! I've got a 15" aluminum Pro that is not behaving. Typically when powered on, the optical makes its startup noise, the scr...

Hi Everyone! I don't get many A1342s, but I have one now that gets a green light but won't power on, so I'd like to try jumpi...

Hi! So I've never worked on Airs much, and then I came across a few of them. One powered on (model A1304) but was missing the...

Hello! Goofy question of the day: I've got a very nice 17" PowerBook, but the screen backlight without fail shuts off after a...

Hi All! I came across this beautiful machine, but it has the quirk of shutting down periodically. First, I thought it was a b...

Does flexing the screen back and forth have any effect? I would guess the video cable is somewhat loose, either on the back of the screen, or on the logic board (the fact that it happens when you type may indicate it's the logic board end). First I would connect to an external display and confirm that the problem is NOT evident externally...confirmation of that tells you the problem has to do with your internal video display hardware (screen, cabling, etc.) If the problem is mirrored on the external display, that means it's the board or the video chip, but I suspect that is unlikely in this case. Assuming the external display looks fine, I'd take off the topcase and re-seat the video connector. If that doesn't help, I'd take out the screen and re-seat the video connector on that end. I wouldn't really suspect the OS, but to rule that out you could always boot from an external drive. If it has the same problem, you know it's not the OS, and if it doesn't have the same problem, you know it is the OS, and you ca...

Pull your battery, and if the AC light stays orange with no battery attached, you've got a bad DC-in (the socket inside the computer). Sometimes a DC-in will discharge and reset itself if you let the computer sit without AC or battery power overnight. So if the light is still amber with no battery attached, disconnect AC and battery, let it sit overnight, and then plug in the AC tomorrow and see if anything is different. But if not, you either have a bad DC-in or a bad board. Obviously, swapping the DC-in is the first step when trying to determine which of the two it is. There is also a slight chance your AC adapter is bad, but 98% of the situations like I described it's going to be the DC-in.

What a weird situation. I've never had that happen. If the inverter cable truly is too short, I'd take that as a hint and return the screen. I'd probably buy the replacement from another vendor too, again, taking this kind of weirdness as a bad sign. There's no way the extension is going to fit, and the vendor should know that if they have even the slightest clue about the machines they are selling screens for. A1181 iSights have two sets of screw holes so that they are adaptable to various screens with holes in different places, but if the inverter cable isn't even long enough, I guess it wouldn't surprise me if the screw hole locations were also non-standard.

Hi! What is the history of this machine, and have you seen it working correctly in the past, or did it come to you in this condition? If you've seen it working, what happened between the time it was working and when it started behaving as it is now? Along the same lines, is this known-good RAM, i.e. have you witnessed it working in this computer or another? When you state that there is no video, have you used a flashlight to look through the Apple symbol from behind, i.e. is there possibly a faint image? If there is, that could indicate a bad screen, or a crimped inverter cable. I would also try connecting to an external display. If you get an external picture, that means some part of your computer's onboard display hardware (screen, cabling, etc.) is at fault. In general I would start troubleshooting by removing or disconnecting everything that is not relevant -- optical, hard drive, one of the RAM modules, and the battery. At this point they are all a distraction from the real issue, which is that you've go...

If your AC adapter has no light, the most likely problem is that the DC-in/sound/IO module on the left side is not properly connected to the logic board. This is the cable that connects to the underside of the left side of the logic board...it's very tricky to get the connector securely seated in the socket. I have no idea what the clicking sound was. But really you shouldn't be connecting the battery at all until you have a computer that is powering on and functioning fine -- a battery at this point is just complicating the issue. Also, don't put the computer back together until it's powering on, and also verify that the topcase is securely connected. There's no point screwing a machine back together until you know it's working.

Yes, they use the same drives, so physically it is possible, although you'll need to swap the mounting screws, because the screws in those machines are different. And as far as the software on the drives, it's generally possible to boot up into another Intel Mac's hard drive, as long as the memory and other hardware elements are roughly equivalent. Due to Apple controlling both the hardware and software that goes into its machines, Macs are far better about this type of thing than PCs. If it kernel panics the first time, power off, and power on again. A PRAM reset and a PMU/SMC reset might also help, especially if the computer takes a long time to find the boot device after the swap (blinking folder or a blank screen for a minute before the Apple icon appears, etc.) Another option is to put a fresh install of Lion on the A1278, and use the Migration Assistant in the setup wizard to point to your A1181 (without swapping drives) and seamlessly copy all your data over. I don't know what variation of the Lion ins...

Did the optical drive you originally had, and that you are replacing, ever make noise and show signs of life? Are you using the same optical drive cable with all these drives? If your original drive showed signs of life, have you tried putting it back in with the cable you are now using in order to verify that cable is capable of powering a drive? A drive that has no power and that is not taking in media is not going to show anything in system profiler (to answer Dan's comment). If two drives in a row fail to get power, the common element is probably the hard drive cable, so I'd try another, or try the one that you used with your initial drive, assume that one had power. It's also conceivable that both drives are bad (I've seen far stranger things), however that would be unlikely because the vast majority of bad drives tend to power on yet fail to read discs.

"Topcase" usually refers to the surface of the computer which includes the keyboard, but from your description it sounds as if you are referring to the back of the screen casing. If so, unfortunately, no, that is not an easy piece to replace...it's actually one of the more difficult repairs you can do on this machine. The back of the screen casing does not simply "pop" off as it would seem to, but rather it acts as sort of a tray that the screen, screen frame, and hinges are all screwed into. So it's necessary to take the screen assembly off the computer entirely, and then remove all the screen components from the back of the screen casing. Here's a hinge-removal guide that will get you most of the way there: Installing MacBook Core 2 Duo Left Clutch Hinge If you're not feeling up to the repair (it's certainly one I am never too excited about doing), you might consider buying a cheap plastic cover for the back of the screen that would mask the damage. That is, if the damaged area does not prevent a cover from...

iBooks will not boot from an external drive via USB, only FireWire. You would need to put the drive in an external FireWire enclosure, and connect that to your computer via a FireWire cable for it to show up as a bootable device in option mode. Also, if your machine is defaulting to network boot, you should be able to resolve that by resetting the PRAM.

Have you ever witnessed this machine powering on? The problem is often that the cable that connects the power button to the board is disconnected, or needs to be re-seated, or that the entire power button/cable mechanism is defective and need to be replaced. I'd take the topcase off (see the guides for instructions) and see if the power cable is plugged in. If it is, disconnect it, and try powering on (with the topcase loose -- there's no need to put it all the way back together for testing). If it powers on, you're all set. If not, disconnect the cable again, and use a pair of metal tweezers or a screwdriver to bridge the two pins in the socket that the power cable plugs into. This is effectively the same as pressing the power button. If it powers on, you need to replace the power button/sound electronics and cables in the topcase. It's all connected to the underside of the topcase by about 5 screws. You can also get a replacement topcase with the parts included, but make sure you get the specific one for th...