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2.0GHz, 2.3GHz, or 2.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz) with 6MB shared L3 cache.

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Almost impossible to cold boot my MacBook Pro that I bought used.

Hey guys,

So I have this problem where it is almost impossible to cold boot my MacBook Pro.

Resetting the SMC does not work. So here is how I got it working. I unscrewed the bottom case, disconnected the battery, and then connected the AC adapter. Then I was able to do an SMC reset and power the system.

It works great without the battery! So I closed the lid and let it go to sleep. I waited a bit until the fans stopped. Then I plugged the internal battery back in and open the lid and it works fine.

Battery is listed as "normal" condition. Everything seems to work. When I do a restart, I tried holding down D to go into the diagnostics and it runs the diagnostic and finds no errors.

I can live with just not doing a full shutdown. But, eventually I might want to fix this issue, any ideas on how to fix this? I really hope it is not a logic board problem.

Answer this question I have this problem too

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2 Answers

We you told us the remedies you tried but not really where you are having the problem. "Impossible to cold boot" doesn't tell me anything. Please be more specific about your symptoms. What it will and won't do.

Right now it seems to be that your power on button is not working. Do you have any idea of the history of this machine?

UPDATE

Disconnecting the battery and mag-safe then plugging back in WILL cause a spontaneous boot.

This machine, has, my experienced opinion, most likely has received liquid damage to the keyboard and shorted it out. It is not getting a signal to start nor to shut down.

I would replace the keyboard. If that's more work than you want to attempt, then replace the upper case.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU48RuxR...

MacBook Pro 15" Retina Display Late 2013 Upper Case Assembly Replacement

UPDATE 11/19/17

Also have it checked for this issue:

https://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro...

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When it is fully shut down, you cannot start up the machine by pressing the power button on the keyboard even when the battery is fully charged and/or if the AC adapter is plugged in (also tried another known working adapter). There is just no response, no power up, no sound. Typically the most common solution would be to do an SMC reset, unfortunately it doesn't help. I don't think there is a keyboard issue because it responds fine without the battery plugged in. I can cold start the machine with just the AC adapter and no battery.

But to answer your question, no I do not know the history. There doesn't seem to be water damage from the LCI that I was able to see when I took the bottom cover off.

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Most Helpful Answer

We need to figure out what is going on here. You may have a battery issue, a board issue, or a keyboard/trackpad/flex cable issue.

I want you to unplug the keyboard and trackpad. Plug the charger in with the lid open. Do the fans spin? If yes, you have a keyboard or trackpad issue. The the fans do not spin, plug everything back in. Unplug the battery. Plug the charger in. Do the fans spin? If yes you have a bad battery or a board issue.

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Thanks for that detailed and logical steps. I will definitely try that when I get home from work and let you guys know what happened.

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The fans spin only when I do the second part where the battery is unplugged, then I plug in the charger, after a few seconds the fan spins and it boots up. Now one thing I noticed, and I don't know why I didn't do this before, is prior to doing your steps, I logged into my account after waking from sleep mode, then I held down the power button, and nothing happened. It should shut down after 10 seconds or so, I believe. So even if the fan did not go on in the "unplug the keyboard and trackpad" stage, could it be possible that the keyboard is bad and is not registering the power button?

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Bad keyboard, trackpad and or flex. Maybe might be best to replace the whole top cover with a battery too just in case.

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@tcrs_circuit I've seen this with a lot of young doctors. They prescribe treatments and medications (of course the newest meds on the market) that are correct or preventative. The sad part that they don't know about is that when the patient gets to the pharmacy they find the medications will run a months pay. An older doctor knows enough about his patient to know whether those fine scripts will ever get filled or if he needs to write the Rx for an older med that will do 90% as well as the new one but is affordable and will actually gets filled and taken. Just for fun, look up the costs for what you just prescribed, then we'll compare.

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@mayer You are absolutely correct and thank you for your guidance. I learn more every day on how to provide good answers and help the community.

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chorobe will be eternally grateful.
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