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13" aluminum unibody, 2.0 or 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo processor.

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Fan is always running but MacBook doesn`t react at all

Dear ifixit-experts!

My MacBook unibody suddendly doesn't react anymore to any kind of shortcuts, restart attempts, whatsoever.

Furthermore:

- If the battery is out and the power line puggled in, then there is no reaction whatsoever and the little green light is out as well.

- If the battery is in, then the fan is always running but the MacBook itself doesn't do anything else. Also the green light is normally out as well. Once it was green but still no change to the problem.

- I also already opened and disassembled it part for part. But putting of the speakers, CD-drive, screen, camera, touchpad, RAM or harddrive didn't solve it either.

It would be awesome if one of you could help me with a smart solution/idea.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your time and help!

Cheers Mathias

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Many of the newer units will not boot without a battery/and or a battery that has about a 15% charge on it.

Help us help you. The more complete the description/history of your problem is (what MBA you're using - there are 12 versions of the A1278, what OS you're using -there's a lot of those too, ) the more assistance we can provide, and, the sooner we can provide it..

That you've opened it and disassembled it may be your problem. Why did you feel the need for this drastic procedure as a first step? (liquid spill).

Trite as it sounds, go over all your connections again. You'd be surprised by how many problems were solved by finding a loose or forgotten connector, or a ribbon cable that was not fully inserted, inserted wrong way up, or had the lock cam left open (or never unlocked in the first place). Especially look at the DC-in and battery circuitry which relates to your absent green light.

If this answer is acceptable please remember to return and mark it.

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Hi machead3!

thanks for your answer.

The battery most certainly was charged more than 15%, when the problem occurred the first time.

My MacBook unibody 2008 (it is not the PRO version) has the following characteristics:

- 2.0 GHz

- 2 GB DDR3 SDRAM with 1066 MHz

- 160 GB harddrive

- 13,3'' display

- NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics card with 256MB DDR3 SDRAM

- Unfortunately I am not sure which OS I was using. I guess it was "Snow Leopard"

I disassembled is as the mechanics from genius bar said that it is possible that this simple procedure might solve the issue. Also I have already replaced the LCD screen, which worked out perfectly well.

I checked all connections several times and found nothing there.

So did I understand it right, that my problem is not a common one which is caused by a "well known problem"?

Thank you very much for your help!

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Disassembly as a cure is a strange suggestion. Usually you work from most simple/easy to more complicated/expensive steps. When the machine is running have you connected to an external monitor to ensure you not having an internal display chain issue?

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yes I did but since the macbook only activates its fan and doesn't boot there was obviously nothing dispayed on the screen.

The diagnostics of the guys at two different genius bars said that the logic board might be damaged. is there anything else I can do to find out whether the problem is something else. what would be your guess why the macbook only activates its fan if you put in the battery but doesn't boot at all?

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You could try a net boot (share a boot disk from another mac on a network) Changing the DC-in board (that's probably why the light is not green on the charger). Still no history as to how the board may have been damaged (spill or power surge). Change the cable to the HD, try a different HD, different boot disk (USB or Optical Drive). OR, just bite the bullet and put in a different board.

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