Fubared my mac.. not sure what to do

[freaksavior]

My macbook pro would get super hot, so I opened her up, and removed the stock thermal compound, put the new TIM on it and then closed it back up, being careful taking it apart, and putting it back together.

Once i put it back together, I started it up and it just blank screened on me, no chime or anything.

All of my music is on my mac, and most of everything I do is on my mac, now Im not opposed to getting a pc since mac's are quite pricey but im not sure if I should try to get it fixed by going to the apple store, or say screw it and try and get something newer.

It's a late 2008 macbook pro NON unibody.

4gb ddr2 533
2.4.ghz core 2 duo penry
8600gt

I do play some games, nothing super hard core and I do web design with dreamweaver and on occasion dabble in ps. I torrent a lot of things, but I have the main desktop and my server. I have about 50gb of music that is stored locally as well.

So any suggestion on what to do?

I was seriously thinking the i7 256gm zenbook ultra portable. but its almost $1500 (

[Solaris17]

in all honesty if youve taken the trouble to void the warentee once and your sure you didnt break anything its probably just a ribbon cable, rebuild it until it works.

[kciaccio]

Originally Posted by freaksavior

I was seriously thinking the i7 256gm zenbook ultra portable. but its almost $1500 (

No offense, but I laugh when someone who owns mac freaks out on spending $1500 on a PC laptop when the exact apple version is $2400.

[freaksavior]

Originally Posted by kciaccio

No offense, but I laugh when someone who owns mac freaks out on spending $1500 on a PC laptop when the exact apple version is $2400.

Yeah and guess what, I spent more than that on my htpc and my server cost me about the same as my Mac.

And if you compare what I was talking about, the Mac book air is only about $100 more. try researching before you open your mouth

So before we get a flame war going on let's try to stay on topic.

[Widjaja]

Get MacDrive application, plug in your HDD to one of your Windows machines and get the data off it, then possibly pay for a diag on what it will cost to repair the Macbook.

[qubit]

I don't like Macs either, but the fact this problem occurred on a Mac is irrelevant, as the same principle would apply to a PC, so there should be no Mac-PC flamewar here.

Your real mistake, was to only have one copy of your data. Regardless of what system you have, you must have a minimum of two copies of your data at all times to avoid a pickle like this. Buy an external drive and back up to it regularly, perhaps every night, depending on how you use your computer.

You should disconnect your laptop's HD and put it to one side, safely. Then mess around with connectors inside the laptop, as Solaris said. If it starts working again, then reconnect the HD. If you can't make the Mac work, then do as Widjaja said and get the MacDrive application to pull your data off that hard drive. Good luck.

[Frick]

Originally Posted by Solaris17

in all honesty if youve taken the trouble to void the warentee once and your sure you didnt break anything its probably just a ribbon cable, rebuild it until it works.

This. If it seems to be working like normal but with no image it's probably a loose cable or something.

[freaksavior]

I'm not worried about the data, it's all on my server. I just store the music locally because iTunes sucks for streaming music.

I opened it up, carefully checked all cables, reseated every thing and it still does it.

I might take it to apple and see what they say before spending any money I don't really have.

[digibucc]

and you mean blank as in no backlight or blank as in backlight on but nothing on screen?

[phanbuey]

are you sure you dont just need to reset the PRAM or something... i know they can act weird if you unplug the battery.

Also, is it a grey screen or a black screen?

[DanishDevil]

Take it to a local computer shop. They can probably pinpoint the problem and fix it for you for a lot less.

[Cja123]

Originally Posted by freaksavior

I'm not worried about the data, it's all on my server. I just store the music locally because iTunes sucks for streaming music.

I opened it up, carefully checked all cables, reseated every thing and it still does it.

I might take it to apple and see what they say before spending any money I don't really have.

Do you have another mac?

If you can get your hands on another mac, you can take the drive out of your current macbook pro and tether it to the secondary mac. It should function as an external drive, go into disk utility and verify/repair disk. If it comes up okay, it is probably not your hard drive causing the problem. You can also use disk warrior to verify and repair the disk.

Before doing this, you should clear your PRAM by holding command+option+P+R immediately after you hear the chime.

It sounds like the RAM to me but I can't be sure until you run disk utility on that disk.

Good luck!

[DanishDevil]

Also, take a really close look at the screen to verify that it is indeed blank. The screen inverters for the backlights often go on Macbooks. If you can barely see your desktop, then you've got a busted inverter.

[freaksavior]

Originally Posted by digibucc

and you mean blank as in no backlight or blank as in backlight on but nothing on screen?

Yes, the fans will spin but that is all. The LED in the lcd release will blink a few times but the machine never fully powers on.

Originally Posted by phanbuey

are you sure you dont just need to reset the PRAM or something... i know they can act weird if you unplug the battery.

Also, is it a grey screen or a black screen?

I've tried.

Originally Posted by DanishDevil

Take it to a local computer shop. They can probably pinpoint the problem and fix it for you for a lot less.

Possible, or rape me.

Originally Posted by Cja123

Do you have another mac?

If you can get your hands on another mac, you can take the drive out of your current macbook pro and tether it to the secondary mac. It should function as an external drive, go into disk utility and verify/repair disk. If it comes up okay, it is probably not your hard drive causing the problem. You can also use disk warrior to verify and repair the disk.

Before doing this, you should clear your PRAM by holding command+option+P+R immediately after you hear the chime.

It sounds like the RAM to me but I can't be sure until you run disk utility on that disk.

Good luck!

The hard drive partition is screwed up, I was going to format it after I did the thermal paste replacement but that clearly didn't go as planed.

Originally Posted by DanishDevil

Also, take a really close look at the screen to verify that it is indeed blank. The screen inverters for the backlights often go on Macbooks. If you can barely see your desktop, then you've got a busted inverter.

It's black. Usually when the back light is just off, it's pitch black and with it missing it's a dull black.

[qubit]

Originally Posted by freaksavior

Yes, the fans will spin but that is all. The LED in the lcd release will blink a few times but the machine never fully powers on.

It sounds like the motherboard is detecting hardware errors and it's possible that the machine's had it. Personally, I don't see a problem with taking it to a repair shop and getting a quote. Also, make sure they tell you which bit has failed, so you can make a judgement on whether you think you can do this yourself.

You may want to try reseating everything one more time, but be ready for it to still not work. If it helps any, I feel your pain, dude.

[javaking]

check to see if the processor pulled loose and maybe you bent one of the pins

[Solaris17]

It's an alu case right? Are you bolting it down right? Smells like ground issue. How are you so certain it's HDD related? I don't understand how you go from CPU over heating to boot block failure. Wat?

[Radical_Edward]

Grounding issue, I've had this happen with a few different laptops when I've taken them apart, try booting the mobo outside of the case on a cardboard box or something, if that works look for areas inside the case that may be grounding the mobo, etc. improperly.

[CrAsHnBuRnXp]

Originally Posted by qubit

I don't like Macs either, but the fact this problem occurred on a Mac is irrelevant, as the same principle would apply to a PC, so there should be no Mac-PC flamewar here.

Your real mistake, was to only have one copy of your data. Regardless of what system you have, you must have a minimum of two copies of your data at all times to avoid a pickle like this. Buy an external drive and back up to it regularly, perhaps every night, depending on how you use your computer.

You should disconnect your laptop's HD and put it to one side, safely. Then mess around with connectors inside the laptop, as Solaris said. If it starts working again, then reconnect the HD. If you can't make the Mac work, then do as Widjaja said and get the MacDrive application to pull your data off that hard drive. Good luck.

I have such a problem having backups stored on a hard drive as the larger drives are so prone to failure. I personally say get a blu-ray burner and blu-ray dvd's and backup onto that. That is what, 25GB per disc?

[DanishDevil]

Why just assume that a local shop will rape you? Tell them that the max you've got to spend is $100, and that if they can't at least pinpoint what's wrong at that point to call you and have you pick it up. Or you can go to Best Buy and certainly get raped.

[Jetster]

I think you just missed something

[freaksavior]

Originally Posted by Solaris17

It's an alu case right? Are you bolting it down right? Smells like ground issue. How are you so certain it's HDD related? I don't understand how you go from CPU over heating to boot block failure. Wat?

Originally Posted by Radical_Edward

Grounding issue, I've had this happen with a few different laptops when I've taken them apart, try booting the mobo outside of the case on a cardboard box or something, if that works look for areas inside the case that may be grounding the mobo, etc. improperly.

I'll check the ground again.

Originally Posted by DanishDevil

Why just assume that a local shop will rape you? Tell them that the max you've got to spend is $100, and that if they can't at least pinpoint what's wrong at that point to call you and have you pick it up. Or you can go to Best Buy and certainly get raped.

I just don't trust places like that when i've done computer repairs for about 7 years. Doing pc repairs hasn't change much.

Originally Posted by Jetster

I think you just missed something

Maybe I did. Im going to give it another shot.

I may take it to a shop, I might not. I haven't decided.


::edit::

So the hard drive is spinning but no bootup. Plugged in an external monitor and also nothing. about to go take it apart again.

[DanishDevil]

I would recommend turning things on as you go while it's still apart somewhat. First priority is to get the display to show up.

[JustaTinkerer]

Originally Posted by DanishDevil

I would recommend turning things on as you go while it's still apart somewhat. First priority is to get the display to show up.

This would be my advise as well.

[freaksavior]

It keeps locking up