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Released October 2008 / 2.4, 2.53, 2.66, 2.8 or 2.93 GHz Core 2 Duo Processor

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Boots to the proress bar then screen blanks, why?

This Mac was dropped, (not by me) and and now when trying to boot, it gets past the spinning wheel, and just as the Mac with the progress bar comes up in blanks.

I've removed the hard drive and checked that it's OK. It mounts an another Mac, and is readable. The same thing happens when trying to boot from the Mac DVD. So I don't think it's the hard drive.

Removed and reseated the RAM, no change.

No warning beeps at start up.

Could the logic board have been damaged?

How can I tell what part to replace?

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

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Hi, i believe i may have a solution for you.

I had the exact same issue with my 15" Unibody MBP (Late 2008). I tried EVERYTHING I found online, and I mean everything to no avail. Resetting pram, nvram, smu, deleting system files, re-installing snow leopard, safe boot, different hard drive, etc. Etc. Nothing worked.

I had given up, as I simply couldn't find anything else on the web that I hadn't tried already. Then it hit me, if the screen is fully lit up, everything is working perfect UNTIL it logs into and *immediately* goes to sleep, AND won't wake from sleep, then it's probably one isolated problem with sleep functionality alone. And it was. :)

1) open the mbp up and look at the logic board

2) look at the IR/Sleep ribbon cable. (Use iFixit reference guide, here's the image

3) Make sure it's plugged in ALL the way. (mine was very loose, nearly unplugged completely)

4) Once the cable is in place, simply reboot :)

This fixed it, so far, seems permanent!

Let me know if it works for you.

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7 Comments:

+ for a good suggestion. Being that he dropped his Mac he might have knocked a connector loose.

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I deleted your link because it was for an App and not for the ribbon cable u mention.

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? That's odd, I just put the link to the Large size image directly from the guide.

Anyhow, the image is easy to find in the Logic Board installation guide for Late 2008 unibody.

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It was actually for a Sampler App, which was pretty interesting byt he way being that I DJ as a hobby.

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Ahhh, that explains it. Lol, I must have not properly copied the link, and the iPad still had the apps link in the clipboard. My mistake, sorry

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Leave it boot

up to 10 minutes... This gray progress bar resembles a Safe Mode startup, or an EFI firmware installation or restoration; however this issue is not related to firmware. There' isn't supposed to be a progress bar, If this happens each time your Mac starts up, it probably indicates Mac OS X v10.6 is attempting to diagnose and resolve an issue with your hard disk or the data on it.

Let it boot, or try a safe (shift) boot and run Applications->Utilities->Disk Utility->Disk First Aid tab: repair disk, and repair permissions.

If this answer is acceptable please return and mark it.

Good Luck,

N.

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I'm trying the let it boot right now.

However this does not explain why it does the same thing when trying to boot from the DVD...

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It's been 25 minutes now, and still blank. Does not seem to be any hard disk activity. Will try safe boot next...

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The Mac doesn't boot in "safe" mode either. So basically it can't boot at all, not even to DVD or an external disk...

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I finally found something that works.

I reset the PMU, and that has made it boot correctly.

I used the remove the battery and hold down the power button for 30 seconds to reset the PMU.

So the above answer of just wait it will boot someday was not a good answer. But thanks for trying.

I have no idea why dropping it would create the need to reset the PMU...

I found this as an answer in another problem about restoring old firmware.

Thanks to Taylor Bridges for the steps to reset the PMU on this MacBook Pro...

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Ray - good work finding your own solution. Please copy your comment and paste it as an Answer so you can accept the solution. This will clear this question from the unanswered section.

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Ray Johnson will be eternally grateful.
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