Late 2008 MacBook Screen switching off, but only in ML (10.8.3 currently installed)

The problem only seems to be with Mountain Lion (10.8.3 installed). Lion is installed on an external drive and it works without problems. The power saving settings are all off, so i dont know why it continues to switch the screen off. any help would be appreciated. Oh and I do intend on reinstalling, but the computer belongs to my wife, and she may not be able to be with out it for that time (for work and such). So anything that might help in the meantime would be appreciated.

Try a PRAM reset:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379
Shut down your Mac.
Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command (⌘), Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
Turn on the computer.
Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys before the gray screen appears.
Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
Release the keys.

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Late 2008 MacBook Pro won't boot; only gray screen with Apple, spinning gear, and then the mouse pointer.

Thanks to all in advance! Okay, last night I was trying to encrypt a Time Machine BackUp disk (Seagate 500GB Back Up Plus) and a dialog box popped up and said "POSIX could not..." And then whatever was next. So I unplugged the drive, plugged it back in, and the files still showed up, so I was like "oh okay so it's not screwed up." The next I try and boot my MacBook Pro, and of course it doesn't. The gray screen comes up, the logo shows up, the gear is spinnin, the it goes away and the mouse shows up. But that's where it stops. And sits. And sits. And sits. So I force it to shut down. I run through this many more times, as well as attempting the Recovery Mode, Safe Boot, and to no surprise, it doesn't work. So I go grab my trusty Snow Leopard disc, pop it in, ctrl-C on start up and it loads. So I select the option of restoring from a Time Machine backup and plug in the external drive only to not see it in the list. So I go to Disk Utility, and find out that the entire external drive has been erased and renamed disk8s2. So I go to my internal drive, but it shows how much has been used and it matches to how much as of last night. So I tried repairing the disk and restarting and of course it doesn't work. So now I don't know what to do. Really I'll take any suggestions besides buying anything (I'm only a 16 year old guy haha). So yeah. Thanks!

The encryption never actually followed through.
You started it, though. That makes the volume inaccessible to any OS X version before 10.7.

Late 2008 MacBook screen not working

Hello, I have a MacBook from around November 2008 running 10.5.8. About a week ago I was watching a YouTube video when the display suddenly shut off and the screen went blank. The video had sound to it which I could still hear. I assumed it was just a random reboot as 3 year old computers do not always perform flawlessly. I held down the power button to turn off the computer and waited 5 minutes before turning it back on. After turning it back on everything was working fine and I thought nothng of it. However today I was again watching a YouTube video and the screen randomly shut off again. I did the same thing as last time but this time when I turned it back on the screen never returned to is normal state. I have tried multiple times to no avail. Everything else seems fine I still get the startup chime and sound of the fan. While using it sometimes the light will flicker for a second in the corner of the screen and then return back to black. I tried when it is on but the screen is black to shine a flashlight through the apple logo on the back and I can vaguely see in the area of where the flashlight is. As my laptop is 3 years old I am no longer under warranty. I have a lot of important files on my laptop for college and really do not want to have to shell out for a new laptop. I have an Ipad and 2 itouch's as well and have never had an issue with an apple product. Thank you very much.

Hi, and welcome to Apple Support Communities.
Have you tried resetting the SMC? If not, this may correct the problem.

Upgrading my Late 2008 MacBook Pro running 10.5.8 to Yosemite

I just received a Late 2008 Macbook from a friend that he factory reset. I'm currently running 10.5.8 (very sluggishly) and would like to upgrade to Yosemite. I know I need to buy 10.6.8 before I can make the upgrade, but will my current hardware even be able to support the new software? I don't want to buy anything if I'm going to be running software too powerful for my mac.
Product name: Late 2008 Macbook
Processor Speed: 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory: 2 GB 1067 MHz DDR3

It should.
Check that your computer is compatible with Mountain Lion/Mavericks/Yosemite.
To check the model number hold down the option/alt key, go to the Apple menu and select System Information.
iMac (Mid 2007 or newer) model number 7,1 or higher
Your Mac needs:
OS X v10.6.8 or OS X Lion already installed
2 GB or more of memory (More is better - 4 GB minimum seems to be the consensus)
8 GB or more of available space
Check to make sure your applications are compatible. PowerPC applications are no longer supported after 10.6.
Application Compatibility
Applications Compatibility (2)
Do a backup before installing.
The 2 places I’ve seen recommended most to buy reliable RAM are below. I have purchased RAM several times from Other World Computing and have always been very satisfied with the product and service. They have on-line instructions on how to replace the RAM. OWC has also tested RAM above what Apple states is the maximum. I now have 6GB installed on a machine supposedly limited to 4 GB and noticed an improvement (2008 iMac).
Crucial
Other World Computing
One option is to create a new partition (~30- 50 GB), install the new OS, and ‘test drive’ it. If you like/don’t like it it, you can then remove the partition. Do a backup before you do anything. By doing this, if you don’t like it you won’t have to go though the revert process.

Are there genuine replacements available for battery in late 2008 macbook pro?

are there genuine replacement batteries available for a late 2008 macbook pro?

Probably your only hope, based on your description, is a SMC reset:
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295
Note that you can contact Apple and ship your MBP to them for evaluation and possible repair. That may be easier than a trip to the Apple store.
Ciao.

I did a factory reset on my late 2008 MacBook from a Snow Leopard disc. It installed fine, but as soon as I began to use the computer (safari) it froze. Couldn't even force quit. So I held down the power button to turn it off, and now it won't start up.

I did a factory reset on my late 2008 MacBook from a Snow Leopard disc. It installed fine, but as soon as I began to use the computer (safari) it froze. Couldn't even force quit. So I held down the power button to turn it off, and now it won't start up. It goes to the grey Apple screen and just sits there loud as can be. Help! Please keep in mind I've not done anything like this before and am going to need a little hand-holding. Thanks in advance.

Hi. Don't worry it's nothing serious. Insert the Instal Disc (Snow Leopard) and press the C button while turning on the computer. Once you see the desktop, go to Utility and choose Disk Utility. Select the Macintosh Partition on the left window pane and then click on Repair Disk and Repair Disk Permissions on the bottom right corner. Wait for both processes to finish. Click on the Apple icon (top left corner) and choose quit. Your computer should restart. See if it reboots normally. If not you can always reinstall the OS following the same steps. Good luck!

Crack in screen (late 2008 MacBook Pro)

Hello everyone,
I have searched the 'net and this forum about cracked screens, and have found a lot of useful information, but wanted to post this and ask a few questions anyway, as I haven't found exactly what I am looking for.
My late 2008 MacBook Pro screen cracked just tonight. The crack begins near the bottom left, in the black border along the bottom, horizontal edge of the screen. From there, it goes up a few cm above the black border, curves to almost horizontal, and then curves and goes back down to the horizontal edge, about 2 inches from where it began. So, it is a very small crack that goes up from the bottom edge, over just a little, and then right back down to the edge. It is barely noticable doing normal work. The crack can not get longer since it goes up and back down to the edge. I suppose the only way it could get worse is to deepen (you can barely feel it) and cause other problems. I tried to take a picture for this thread, but the crack doesn't even show in a picture. My questions:
(1) If I don't get this fixed, what are the chances it will damage the display over time? Will it create lines and/or green/blue/etc. spots or anything else? Could it cause other problems to the computer?
(2) What do you reccommend as the best way to go about fixing this if I decide to do so? I know my local Apple Store will fix it, but I also know they'll charge more than I probably want to spend. Other solutions? Positive experiences?
It kind of saddens me to see it; crazy as that may sound! This has been (still is) a great notebook (I even purchased AppleCare, which I never needed) that went with me through making my first full length film.
Thank you in advance for help concerning this issue.

I uswed to have that problem in my Macbook OPro early 2008, and I ordered an LCD panel, it's a Samsung 15.4 inches LED panel, then I disassembled MBP, involved more than 40 screws and very delicate parts removal and reassemble. It cost me US$ 120 and 2.5 ghours to do.
But if you take it to Mac Service Center, they will change the whole lid and thjat will copst you more than US$ 600

Just updated from a late 2008 Macbook Pro and I am getting a blink on my external screen

I just upgraded from a late 2008 Macbook Pro with a AMD Radeon HD 6770M 1024 MB graphics card and I am now getting a blink (black screen) every few seconds.
Anyone know a fix.
Thanks

You could always give it a shot - the only problem that you might run into is that the the early 2011 might not boot when the hard drive is swapped from the 2008 hard drive. Some versions of OS X are simply not compatible between different models.
But it's worth a try...
Clinton

I have a late 2008 Macbook Pro last updated to Mavericks OS. The screen died and it's not worth replacing. How do I remove the hard drive and use a drive sled to access info I need?

I have a late 2008 Macbook Pro last updated to the Mavericks OS. The screen died and I took it into an Apple store and was told replacing the screen and the hardware to repair everything would cost almost as much as buying a new laptop or a cheaper model. I was told that I can use a drive sled to access data I need on my hard drive. How do I remove my hard drive and use a drive sled to get to the information I need? What makes matters more complicated is I need to update my iPhone and my iTunes/App store purchases. How can I accomplish this?
My wife has a late 2008 Macbook Pro as well, which I am assuming I need to run my hard drive. Is there a way to just access just my hard drive without interfering with hers?
I know this is lengthy. Thanks to whoever looks at this and offers advice/instruction.

the device you need is an External enclosure for a 2.5" (laptop form factor) SATA drive.
A USB-interface enclosure will be slow, but is adequate for this task and for re-purposing as a backup drive later. A firewire-interface drive would be faster, but is harder to find, more expensive, and faster than needed for this purpose.
The drive will mount as an "extra" drive on your wife's Macbook, and you can drag and drop whatever you wish. You could create a separate Account for yourself on her computer, and use Migration Assistant or just copy your stuff over to the new account. Then it would not interfere with her files.

Macbook Pro loses Airport Extreme after the Screen switches off.

I am experiencing problems where my MBP is losing the network connection with my Airport Extreme after the screen switches off (the MBP is not does not sleep).
I could be watching a video streaming from my MBP to my ATV, and all of a sudden it stops, and the ATV loses its connection with my MBP. On looking at the MBP it is still connected to the internet, but it can't physically see my Airport Extreme. I've opened the Airport Utilities program and it cannot find the Airport Extreme, even though I am still connected to it.
The only way I can fix it is to turn off the Airport on my MBP and then turn it back on and everything comes right.
This has only just started happening in the last week or so, and I have never had a problem before.
I've had a look through the forums, and on Google, but others seem to be losing their internet, etc. I am still able to access the internet, just not anything connected the Airport Extreme (e.g. USB harddrive).

What are you doing to change it to a static channel? I've been having this same problem and have tried going to Network Settings>>Advanced>>TCP/IP>>Configure IPv4, changed setting to "Using DCHP with manual address", and changed the IP address to an available ip. I've done this a lot of times before I had the monitor problem to solve the IP conflict problems I get sometimes on my network, but this didn't fix the external monitor issue. Is there something else I should be doing? Thanks

Late 2008 MacBook Pro "blackout" screen flickering - Revised

--NOTE: I have written this thread as a continuation of the following thread, as the solution in it is slightly different from my issue. I apologize to the community for the confusion. http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2230532&tstart=0 --
Many of us Late 2008 MacBook Pro owners have been experiencing a moderate to significant screen flicker when using our MacBook Pros in Better Battery life mode, which uses the 9400 M chip. While I had thought that 10.6.2 had resolved this issue, I have since discovered that it has not. In fact, some believe, myself included, that it has made it worse, as, for me, it has been happening far more frequently.
My screen flicker is like a black frame popping in randomly. This frame does not even last a second, but it does create a "flicker" effect.
These YouTube videos show it best and are virtually identical to mine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNQofnQKrDA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EATI_kh6GOw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qODFFWbiGUI
*Does anyone think that this is indicative of a logic board problem?*
*Has anyone resolved this by going back to 10.5.8?*
I had never experienced this in Leopard.
Thanks.

Hi Luke,
Having the logic board replaced terrifies me, as that could lead to further issues.
I think you've rationalized out the whole situation perfectly, and I do think you're right about the logic board replacement. If the issue were a lot more frequent (or becomes more frequent) and/or is overly annoying then I would have it replaced. The chance that you'd get a bad replacement logic board would be sufficiently small in comparison to the overall pain and frustration that you'd be going through.
What I possibly can do is try to get the issue looked at by someone at Apple. If it is, indeed, a software issue, perhaps they can engineer a fix for you. At the very least we'll know that the issue was brought to someone's attention! They probably will never contact anyone with the outcome, but at least we can say we tried. You should continue to submit the Bug Reports and encourage others to.
--Travis

I have a late 2008 Macbook Pro, I am trying to run MW3 but it will not work without crashing a few minuets into the game. The general specs on my computer are a dual processor 2.53 ghz. 4 gb ram and a NVIDIA geforce 9400 (9600 is the alternate card)

I have a late 2008 Macbook Pro, I am trying to run MW3 but it will not work without crashing a few minuets into the game. The general specs on my computer are a dual processor 2.53 ghz. 4 gb ram and a NVIDIA geforce 9400 (9600 is the alternate card).
Things to note:
I have been unable to update firmware on this computer for about a year now. Im not sure why.
I am running a bootleg copy of Windows XP on this computer, I would not like to spend $149 to get Windows 7 if possible.
any thoughts on the matter would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

Why don't you take your 'old' MBP into your local Apple Store and have them check out everything that's wrong with it - and I mean everything? Then, when you get an estimate about how much it would cost to get the machine completely repaired, ask about the Apple flat-rate repair pricing?
It's worth a shot - and with what you may save, you can put in the bank for a new MBP.
Clinton

Can i connect thunderbolt duo hard drive to the mini display port of a late 2008 macbook pro which do not have thunderbolt port, but have mini display port.

hi, i have a late 2008 15 inch macbook pro, which have a mini display port.
I noticed that thunderbolt and mini display port looks a like. So, my question is :
can i connect thunderbolt duo hard drive to the mini display port of a late 2008 macbook pro which do not have thunderbolt port, but have mini display port.
thank you

ken94538,
no, you’d need a Thunderbolt-to-FireWire adapter or Thunderbolt-to-USB adapter to be able to access your Thunderbolt hard drive from your 2008 MacBook Pro.

HT4718 I had a copy of Mountain Lion on my late 2008 MacBook Pro, having replaced Lion which it came with. But the drive,crashed, so I replaced the drive and reinstalled Lion from the original disks I had. How do I get another copy of Mountain Lion?

I had a copy of Mountain Lion on my late 2008 MacBook Pro, having replaced Lion which it came with. But the drive crashed, so I replaced the drive and reinstalled Lion from the original disks I had. How do I get another copy of Mountain Lion?

A 2008 Mac won't have originally shipped with Lion. You need to install 10.6.8 on the computer, log into the Mac App Store with the Apple ID you used to purchase Mountain Lion, click on the Purchases tab, and download it.
(121465)

I have a late 2008 MacBook I would like to watch movies on my tv from. I bought the HDMI cables and the one to use for audio also but I still don't get any sound. What am I doing wrong?

I have a late 2008 MacBook I cant get to send sound to my TV when I try to watch movies. I have bought the HDMI cable and audio connectors but still no sound. What am I doing wrong?

Hi Maryan,
Open System Preferences > Displays > select the window for you external monitor > click on the Arrangement tab and check the box next to Mirror Displays. It may be slightly different in Lion, but the idea is the same.

Late 2008 MacBook Screen switching off, but only in ML (10.8.3 currently installed)

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