Fix Your Stuff Community Store

1.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 (Turbo Boost up to 2.8GHz) with 3MB shared L3 cache

371 Questions View all
Question Closed

Options

My MacBook Air won't power on after touching the SSD

Hello!

So the other day I bought a Macbook Air 2012 13inch. The macbook worked great and I decided to check everything over to make sure it was all good. Mostly I look for water damage. So I successfully took it apart and I took off the SSD to check the water damage indicators as well as a ribbon cable over the fan. It checked out clean and I put all the screws back and and plugged all the ribbon cables back in. I try turning on the computer and nothing works. Black screen, no charging indicator, no spinning fan, nothing....The battery was also fully charged before I took it apart. There is no Apple Care on it. I know now I shouldn't have touched it but at this point it's too late. And it really sucks for me since I just got it. I assume it has to do with taking out the ssd and plugging it back in. Can anyone help me? Thanks!

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

Is this a good question?

Yes No
Score 0
Add a comment

3 Answers

Filter by:
Most Helpful Newest Oldest
Chosen Solution

Options

Jeezzeee - Ok, get a OWC Envoy or Envoy Pro. I'm not sure right now ( and unwilling to look it up) you can look it up. Put the SSD in it, hook up to another Mac and see if you fried it or it is good, Sell the Envoy on eBay the next day for just little less than you paid for it..

Was this answer helpful?

Yes No
Score 4

3 Comments:

I feel that @dmarkeilov shorted something but for sure this is the place to start to rule out a bad SSD. Good luck. Even though it will be expensive, at least your problem will be solved. If you want to save, you can purchase the smallest capacity that your laptop will allow.

by

@rany You get just the enclosure, no card. They make I think, three, maybe just two. For the different years chips.

by

Ok thank you! I will try to buy the Envoy online and see how that works out

by

Add a comment
Most Helpful Answer

Options

First answer this: did you unplug the battery before touching anything else inside your computer? And was the charging cable disconnected?

Second, try this.. disconnect charger, disconnect battery, remove the SSD. Now press and hold power button for 20 seconds. After that reinsert SSD. Reconnect battery. Connect charger and try to power on your laptop. What happens?

Was this answer helpful?

Yes No
Score 4

4 Comments:

No I did not unplug the power supply first :/ I feel dumb.

And the second solution didn't work. I think the issue was caused then by me not unplugging the power supply first because that would make sense. Is there anything else I could do?

by

If you feel like trying to repair it, you will need a multimeter, the number of the board, and schematics. Then if you figure it out, you'll need the tools to repair it. Can help you try to figure it out.

Or you can send it/ take it for repair, just not Apple in this particular case since they will quote you a new logic board. Unless you have time to waste and feel like hearing what they have to say.

by

Ok if you could help that'd be awesome. What do I have to do?

by

@dmarkeilov - I agree with Rany, you'll need to get down into the circuitry to fix this. Frankly, this is not something I recommend a novice DIY person to work on. Its best to ship the system to someone who has the deep electrical skills and needed micro-soldering equipment to fix the logic board.

But before you go down that direction how about following Mayer's answer to see if the SSD only needs replacing first.

by

Add a comment

Options

Is the SSD a SATA or one of those Memory chip drives. You likely fried it with a static discharge since you probably did not use an anti-static mat and strap when you where checking it. If it was a SSD SATA I would try a Basic SATA Drive. If you system powers up then you probably fried the SSD and you have to get a new one. If it doesn't power up then you probably fried something else. Either way checking out a working system is really not recommended, unless you have the correct protection devices like an anti-static mat and wrist strap.

Was this answer helpful?

Yes No
Score 0

5 Comments:

Brian, this MacBook Air model features an SSD, similar to M-sata, but not quite. Not a SATA drive.

by

@ Brian - You got the right idea about ESD protection! This is more important in dry cold climates as the dry air builds up a static charge on most everything which is what ESD is all about.

But you also need to make sure the system is not on when you start pulling things off the logic board. In this case the Zap was the failure of the system to finish the operation so the memory block on the SSD is likely corrupted. Its also possible the driving logic to the SSD is damaged (logic board). All because he failed to shut down and properly power down the system (disconnect the battery).

by

@danj - you're dry and cold climate, I'm hot and dry with blowing dust. I had to remove all the carpet and lay tile. http://www.chassis-plans.com/mil-std-810...

by

I lived in NM for a while, that's dry and very dusty too ;-)

by

@danj You went from the Mountain God's country (The Land of Enchantment" to where "the people ride in a hole in the ground"?

by

Add a comment
View Statistics:

Past 24 Hours: 0

Past 7 Days: 0

Past 30 Days: 0

All Time: 1,281