Dead MacBook after routine maintenance

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MacBook Core 2 Duo

Model A1181: 1.83, 2, 2.1, 2.13, 2.16, 2.2, or 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo processor

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chssvl @chssvl

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Posted: Jun 5, 2011

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Dead MacBook after routine maintenance

Hi guys. I'm about to have a heart attack here. I was doing some routine cleaning of the inside of my macbook, something I had done many times before. This meant removing the upper case by disconnecting the keyboard (silver connector).

I then proceded to put it back together, connected everyting and powered it back on. It booted up by neither the keyboard not the trackpart worked, so I thought that I had probably not connected the upper case correctly. I re-dissassembled and reconnected the upper case wire. Tried powering on again but once again no keyboard or trackpad. Tried again but now I don't even manage to get it to power. If I connect the power adapter, the light does go on the connector but nothing happens.

I'm really scared that I killed my laptop.

Any advice?

Thanks!

Update: Just tried powering it on by shorting the two soldering points next to the fan and it works. Phew!!! So that means that it's probably a problem with the keyboard, or maybe just the cable or the connector? Given that there were no spills or anything of the sort, is it likely that the keyboard got damaged or could it be just the cable from the keyboard to the logic board?

However, being the pessimist that I am, is it possible that the connector in the logic board got damaged?? :-/

I'd appreaciate your experience on this which will hopefully help me get a good nights sleep!

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

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4 Comments

Tell us your procedure for cleaning please.

Jun 5, 2011 by mayer

Hi Mayer.

Well no big deal really. Just followed the guide for removing the fan here in iFixit and cleaned all the dust that had settled in the fins of the heatsink. The just blew away some of the dust that had settledin the circuit boards and that was about it. Wasn't very thorough cleaning. Was mainly concerned with removing the dust from the heatsink as I had noticed an increase in the number of times that the fan went to full speed. It was indeed quite clogged. Then just put everything back (including the keyboard), and that was it.

Jun 6, 2011 by chssvl

Er, chssvl, which soldering points did you short to get it to boot? Can you post a link if there's a picture of it elsewhere?

Jun 8, 2011 by Bernie

Sure bernie. This is the picture that I found which I used as guide. http://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.p...

Jun 9, 2011 by chssvl

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mayer @mayer

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Posted: Jun 6, 2011

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The main suspect here is the the keyboard to logic board cable. Try reseating it as sometimes it looks like it all the way in but is not.

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+ Nice question comment followed by a good logical answer after you have some knowledge from their reply.

Jun 6, 2011 by ABCellars

Glad you got your problem resolved on the first thing we tried. These parts can be delicate.

Jun 8, 2011 by mayer

Hi Mayer. Thanks for your reply. I tried this several times, pushed really hard to ensure that it was well connected but to no avail. Also tried turning it on while pushing down on it but no luck either. I even disconnected and reconnected the lead that goes to the keyboard but no luck there either.

Looking at the cable it doesn't seem to be in great shape in one of the places where it folds, but I could be imagining stuff.

I ordered a new cable (well, not new but working) which should be arriving in the next couple of days. I hope that this will do the trick and that I didn't end up busting the keyboards or, even worse, the logic board.

Jun 6, 2011 by chssvl

Hi. I thought I should probably post the conclusion to this story so that it might help others in the future. At the moment I'm typing this on my Macbook and its original keyboard. The new cable arrived today, plugged it and worked like new. Couldn't be happier or more relieved.

Still don't quite understand what happened. I didn't yank on it or anything. I guess it just wasn't a particularly good batch.

Thanks for the help!

Jun 8, 2011 by chssvl

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Hi Mayer.

Well no big deal really. Just followed the guide for removing the fan here in iFixit and cleaned all the dust that had settled in the fins of the heatsink. The just blew away some of the dust that had settledin the circuit boards and that was about it. Wasn't very thorough cleaning. Was mainly concerned with removing the dust from the heatsink as I had noticed an increase in the number of times that the fan went to full speed. It was indeed quite clogged. Then just put everything back (including the keyboard), and that was it. — chssvl
Er, chssvl, which soldering points did you short to get it to boot? Can you post a link if there's a picture of it elsewhere? — Bernie
Sure bernie. This is the picture that I found which I used as guide. http://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.p... — chssvl
+ Nice question comment followed by a good logical answer after you have some knowledge from their reply. — ABCellars
Glad you got your problem resolved on the first thing we tried. These parts can be delicate. — mayer
Hi Mayer. Thanks for your reply. I tried this several times, pushed really hard to ensure that it was well connected but to no avail. Also tried turning it on while pushing down on it but no luck either. I even disconnected and reconnected the lead that goes to the keyboard but no luck there either.

Looking at the cable it doesn't seem to be in great shape in one of the places where it folds, but I could be imagining stuff.

I ordered a new cable (well, not new but working) which should be arriving in the next couple of days. I hope that this will do the trick and that I didn't end up busting the keyboards or, even worse, the logic board. — chssvl
Hi. I thought I should probably post the conclusion to this story so that it might help others in the future. At the moment I'm typing this on my Macbook and its original keyboard. The new cable arrived today, plugged it and worked like new. Couldn't be happier or more relieved.

Still don't quite understand what happened. I didn't yank on it or anything. I guess it just wasn't a particularly good batch.

Thanks for the help! — chssvl