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Startup issue - fan OK, HD OK, no chime, no screen, dim led, dvd reads

MacBook Pro 15 A1226 year 2007

Hello,

I just want to please you for help... with strange starup issue.

I didnt find answer so new question... sorry if I just missed it elsewhere.

My MBP 2007 (A1226) was running fine - one day I turned it of and after weekend I was unable to start it - I know.. old machine.. but...

When I plug magsafe . it works - green turns to orange and battery is charging. Wen i press power button - it start up - fan goes on, I can hear HD spin, but no sound (chime) no video (screen remains off), and dvd is trying to read (can hear the laser up and down). Sleep led is dim and stays on.

I tried:

take RAM out - the sleep led started to blink - put RAM back - still the same.

take superdrive out - the sleep led was stil solidly shining but brighter - returned the optical back - again solid led but dim.

Any advise..? I tried to start up with 10sec powerbutton trick - I get full fan speed but no led, no display...

Please - is there any kind of bad thiing I shoul take away and use my mac again?

please let me know, U may send me an email - pavel.doschko@gmail.com

Thank you

Pavel

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

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just one thing - may be the problem in backup battery...? (PRAM battery) It may be K.O. ???

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With that led changing brightness I would say there is some kind of power distribution problem, could be the battery, could be the power brick, could be a logic board problem like a short in the power IC or CPU so there is not enough power for the entire system at once... that all I can think of

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Wel... This could be possible... I dont really have parts to try... Just think it is strange... When i reset smc, the led blinks, stay on and when start continue, just tge problem with boot.., :/ when there is power, would the smc reset work?

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2 Answers

Chosen Solution

Hook it up to an external monitor to help isolate the problem.

Shine a flashlight on the display at an angle and tell us if you can see the desktop.

Do a SMC reset. Here's how:

Connect the power adapter to the Mac. On the MacBook / Pro's keyboard, hold down the Shift+Control+Option keys and the Power button at the same time. Release all keys and the power button at the same time – the little light on the MagSafe adapter may change colors briefly to indicate the SMC has reset.

I don't care if @ethreal1 thinks a ten year machine is not worth your effort. I still have 1984 original Macs that run just fine and will do what they were built for. I too, am old, but I don't think my usefulness is done yet. Admittedly I had to have my pump rebuilt and some circuitry redone, but some people think it was worth it.

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@mayer , Well put, I agree lets keep'm running, especially if feasible.

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Thank you for keeping me optimistic. Flashlight: internal monitor nothing, external also (no signal). Smc reset: when i hold those buttons, only sleep led ud fastly blinking. Magsafe orange, and when shut down and start (still holding buttons) magsefe change. Green and fast to orange. Sorry for ny stupid question: can i di smc reset by takinv main battery out, hold power button 30 sec and after it return battery?

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Repair: magsafe is green after every shutdown and change to orange. Only for charging. It is charged and now it is only green.

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Don't worry about the magsafe light. It's operating normally. Yes. that is another way to do an SMC reset.

The major known issue on this machine was the GPU. It's an nVidia GeForce 8600M GT. There was a class action law suit on this and a repair program for a while, which has long since expired. This GPU can be reflowed using a hot air rework station. several repair services are offered for this on eBay. They can do a reflow or replacement. The better choice is the replacement. The problem now is correctly diagnosing the machine. Did you have any video issues prior to it going out? Any screen artifacts?

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Well, if i remember, nothing special, just gray screen (like missing a pic when changing small youtube to full screen) only 3times or so but only a sec or so... So gpu is bad? Unpleasant

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(Not really fixing the problem but...) The thing I would do would be get a new computer (that one is from 2007 almost 10 years) and take the hard drive out of the old one to get the stuff off of it with an external enclosure the one thing to note is that only macs can easily read other macs drives without some 3rd party application so if you want what's on it you should probably get a new Mac (or make a "hackintosh" vm with something like vm ware

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I love my old mac... And yes, there is not much other solutions. New mac and old hd with photos and music... Repair wold be for price of a new one.

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Pavel will be eternally grateful.
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