MBP screen broken

[matt]

After a 10 hour drive, my 2.2Ghz MBP screen is not functioning. The Mac boots, and I can hear the volume up/down pips when I press those, but not a thing on the display.

What I've tried

_screen brightness up/down
_reboot
_remove battery and AC, reboot again

Anyone have any suggestions?

[mick e]

Not sure if this is of any pertinence at all, but mick e had a similar thing happen to his Pismo, and after unplugging it and letting it lay around for a few weeks, he plugged it back in, charged up the battery and started it up. The screen lit up and started working fine at that point.

That's just what happened to mick e - hopefully you will be as lucky.

[Otto Boners]

There's an internal ribbon cable that may have just come loose.

Plug in an external monitor and see if that works, if it does, almost 100% the ribbon.

[matt]

Fuckinggoddamnit this would have to happen while I'm not at home for days.

So I took off the 927 micron-scale screws to remove the keyboard and top of the portable, looking for ribbons with no home, everywhere. All looked fine. Ok, then the only other place is the screen shell. So let's just take that off ... Oh wait. To get that off you have to remove two nano screws that you simply can't get to. At All.

You see, those screws are closed flat against the Mac when the lid is closed, and are barely seen when it's open. The best you can do is get a screwdriver head on the screw at a 45 degree angle. Those micro-fuckers don't want to turn at a non-angle. How the he'll are they to come out at 45?

Tomorrow I'm going to scout around where I'm Staying for a DVI cable to test the video out. I just know I'll have to end up buying one for $34.95 at "Best" Buy.

This one I'm taking it in the shorts.

[Comandante Batuta]

I would try the ol' four finger command: Command - Option - P - R to reset the pram. It HAS been known to do wonders.

[RgrF]

I have a 3-year old Best Buy $25 gift card I'll never use, you could combine them and put a down payment on a Dell.

[bfd, pirate]

bfd had that happen (the dead screen on boot) several times with his previous MBP (sounds like the same one you have right now - well not the same machine, bfd handed that one on down the line - but it sounds like the same model) and this would usually occur after a hook-up to an external video source.

Some other random ideas are the video mirror key on the keyboard - press once and see if that does anything. But it could just be that you've got a dead video card, so it's not sending any signal at all. So, your idea to check video out from the DVI port is a good one, and it might actually cause a reset of whatever is creating the dead zone. Hopefully that'll happen, anyway … a dead video card might be a fsck board level repair.

[matt]

Thanks for the advice, guys.

Went in to "Best" Buy and a "Geek Squad" guy hooked up the DVI to a monitor, and I booted it. Nothing. (Bunch of clowns working there and consumers bumbling about sneezing on display electronics.)

Tried Command-Option-P-R, still nothing. Same with F7/mirror display key.

Also, there is no image when I hold a bright light up behind the screen panel's Apple symbol. Usually you can see LCD output even without a backlight. Turn your backlight all the way down and try it sometime.

But I'm not convinced yet. Not till I get home and use my own external display with my own cable, etc.

When I get home Sunday night I'll do more disassembly. The Mac could not have gotten this damaged simply by the minimal vibration of a day's drive. I think Otto's right, and there's a ribbon loose. I hope.

If a ribbon cable was loose, would it disrupt the DVI output? I don't think so but stranger things have happened.

[bfd, pirate]

Hope for a loose ribbon, but it sounds more and more like the graphics processor…

If so, you may still be OK in terms of repair options - though being without the 'puter for awhile is a pia

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377

[matt]

That's gold. Thanks Beef'd.

[matt]

I have an Apple Store "Genius" Bar appt. this evening.

Putting the original drive back in the MBP now. What a PIA.

Finally back home, on my old dual 2.0 G5. Which is faster than my laptop anyway. I'm going back to desktops.

[matt]

Sigh. So in my preparations to take it in and have it sent away -- install original hd and ram -- the SCREEN STARTED WORKING AGAIN.

Story:

I put in the original 120GB drive, then booted. (Broken screen still). Nothing. Old drive back in. Booted. (Broken screen still). Ok. A quick look at the 120GB contents revealed no OS. Oops.

So I installed OS X onto the 120GB, then put it back in the MBP to see if it would boot.

Not only did it boot, but the screen fired right up in its LED glory. WTF? Whatever, I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

It must have been me messing with the hd connection that did it. BTW, which is very far away from the video circuitry.

[cccc]

Curious here, I never got around to getting a bigger HD in my machine, cause I was told that a DYI would "void the AC warranty...?

I am assuming that you were "replacing" the old HD as to not have them tell ya' the warranty is voided..?
Which leads to my question, how do they know if you did it your self, as opposed to some "authorized" apple repair place?

[matt]

They keep track of authorized work by serial #. And they can see if screws' seals have been broken.

I've gotten mixed signals on voiding vs. non-voiding if you do your own hd. I wasn't going to pay ten thousand quatloos to get a bigger drive in my damn portable. Fuck Apple's pricing. I pays my money and I takes my chances.

[Sulu]

Were you somehow missing a driver? Sounds like software to me.

[matt]

No because I put back in the 500GB hd I've had in it for over a year, and it booted with that also.

[Marvin Zindler]

Sometimes it's best not to question why.

[Jimbo-C]

Bad ram will do weird things.

[Pops]

Bad sex will do weirder things.

[Otto Boners]

Something that was loose or shorted due to corrosion is now reseated because it got jiggled around when you opened it. It'll probably work forever now.