Been using my MacBook Pro regularly for the past several months I even accidentally dropped it when my bag was not close properly and it slid out to floor 4-5 months ago once but still it runs perfectly well. Today after using it the battery got drained. I hooked up the charger and behold, it won’t boot. Just a black screen with the sleep mode indicator in the led blinking softly. After a quick Google search it appears this is common on MBP. There are several steps to try and troubleshoot.
Holding the power button for 10 seconds, I hear the disc churn and spin and I can hear the fan spinning, but the screen remains black.
And I have already tried the PRAM reset too- remove charger, remove power, then press power button for 5 seconds,then put battery back.
So far no luck.
I fear for the worst. The most last solution I read is to bring it to an apple support and I would likely get the response that the logic board is damaged. I don’t have the warranty or the receipt. I feel a flaw on Apple policy regarding these problem. If they know that this is common on MBP then under warranty or not, they should replace it.
In the meantime I’ll keep troubleshooting and update.
February 16th, 2009 at 11:46 pm
For those who experienced similar problems. I just got the MBP checked up in an Apple Center, it does not necessarily mean that the logic board is broken. I had it checked up and I think they tried a different battery and it booted, they concluded the battery was broken.
I told them I also tried initially booting it with the power plugged in and it didn’t boot. Weird.
I got the MBP back without buying a new battery yet which cost about 7,000 pesos. I booted it up plugged in and amazingly it worked. And the battery started charging again. So try swapping the batteries first with one that is working.
April 13th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Funny enough, this one just started doing that, haven’t tried booting without the battery though, let me try that now
May 10th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
I dropped my MBP a few weeks ago. It worked fine for a few days then did the same thing: powers up, disk spins up, cd/dvd drive spins up, fans spin up, ‘sleep’ light is on, but no indications of it trying to boot. Black screen, no chime, nothing. An experienced repair expert disassembled it, unplugged all the different cables and reseated them, started reassembling and attempting restart along the way, all the while it looked like it was not going to work. Then out of the blue, it booted up as if nothing had ever happened, and worked perfectly for weeks. This evening it refuses to boot, back to the same all-powered and spinning but no attempt to boot and black screen.
I am at a loss. The only reasonable option I see is to replace it and sell it for parts. (The battery is fine, btw, and recharges fine. I’ve tried booting with and without the battery, with all variations of keys held down at start-up, tried booting from a CD …)
Any other suggestions?
May 12th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
This solution maybe far out but it worked, that is what the Apple techs did. Borrow a fully charged battery from another MBP and try to boot your MBP with it. If successful, turn off and swap back your old battery then plugged in the power and after a few mins try to boot. Hope it helps. If that doesnt work I fear the logic board is broken.
May 14th, 2009 at 3:39 am
Logic board is dead. But I found one cheap so out comes the tool kit!
May 24th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
New logic board installed, all is well
May 31st, 2009 at 11:52 am
Same problem as you have with my MacBook Pro, it will just not boot, power light is on CD/DVD making starting noise but the screen is black, I tried to do the usual stuff, memory swap, hard drive swap, reset most of the connectors (cables inside) and all the power reset tricks but no go. Today I decided to visit Apple store in NY. They checked the video card with some external tool that was connected to the USB connector and told me it’s not the NVidia controller (those are know to be falling on MacBook Pro) they will probably replace the Logic Board for a flat fee $310 plus tax. I’m not happy as this is a new MAC I have it for 18 months, those machines should definitely last longer…. I say Apple has problems with quality control… my G5 was replaced few months ago… coolant leak… what’s next Apple?
July 15th, 2009 at 8:03 am
@Cobra: What’s the latest on your mac? Did you get it fixed. Why do I have a feeling it was in fact the nvidia that killed your laptop…?
Aftab
July 26th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Ahaan… I will follow.
July 30th, 2009 at 10:14 am
Cobra: Does the machine warm up? If it does, sit it on a flat surface, let it get really hot and then try hitting the power button. If it’s the nvidia chip, the heat should get the fractured bumps to reflow and connect with the logicboard. And please let me/us know if it works for you (tip from Clinton Hardwick). If it does, it’s the nvidia for sure.
Although I wonder how the store tested your nvidia without it booting?