HELP! Macbook will not wake! Please help!

Question

+2.0ghz 13.3 Macbook Aluminum from OCT 2008 (MB466LL)+
+OS: Leopard 10.5.8+
Issue: Computer will boot, but will immediately go into some type of soft sleep mode. If I press the power button to wake it from sleep, it will attempt to wake by flickering the screen once but then goes back to dark. For about 5-10 seconds I see the desktop and a few windows open but very dark almost like the screen was completed faded to black.. and then it goes back to sleep. I've tried hitting F2 during the 5-10 seconds but it does not help or work.
Sometimes I'll succeed with getting it 100% back from sleep for about 1-2 minutes which it looks and works normal, but it then goes back to soft sleep.
I'm traveling in Brazil for a whole month, and it started happening 2 days ago. It simply went to sleep by itself after I finished watching a movie on VLC.
*-Same thing happens when booting to safemode.*
*-Same thing happens when booting from CD.. It gets to first page where I choose my language and immediately goes to sleep.*
-only time it does NOT happen is if I boot to single-user mode.
*_+What I've done so far:+_*
= Reset the PRAM/NVRAM
= Reset the System Management Controller (SMC)
= Unplugged battery
= Tried re-seating the RAM
= Repaired permissions
= Used Disk Utility to scan/repair HD. - Found no issues
= Disabled safe sleep in terminal using: "sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 0" and also by by going to energy saver and setting it to NEVER SLEEP.
I see that a lot of people have had this problem with Macbooks going to sleep and not waking. But not a lot of solutions.. I'm going crazy. There's an apple store near where I am right now (Sao Paulo, Brazil) but even though I somewhat speak the language I'm hesitant to take it there still. Can someone PLEASSSSSSEEEEEEEE give me a hand?
Message was edited by: RogerBraziliano

Answer 1

Well to anyone else that comes across this issue. After 3 days of nonstop troubleshooting I've finally figured it out and got my baby working again.
Apparently, the problem is with the Hall sensor, that reports whether your "lid" is closed or not. Unfortunately, It is - seemingly - embedded into the Top case keyboard-touchpad assembly. In fact, the majority of the problems arise from the flex cable attached to the keyboard.
So you have 2 actions to choose from. 1) Replace the "Top Case Keyboard Assembly" which you can find for $50-$100 on ebay. Or 2) Open your bottom case, and reset the keyboard ribbon cable out of its socket (which goes into the Flat cable ZIF socket). This has worked for me almost instantly. Regardless if the cable was somewhat loose before or not, I unplugged it, and reset it and It's been working ever since. If for some reason the issue returns, well I just have to hop on ebay and buy a new Topcase/Keyboard.
Good luck.
Check out step 12 on this link which shows where the Keyboard ribbon cable connects to
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/Installing-MacBook-Pro-13-Inch-Unibody-Logic- Board-Replacement/1363/4