Macbook 2009 screen going black randomly

My macbook 5,2 circa about autumn 2009 (white plastic) keeps randomly going to black screen whether or not the power cable is plugged in. I've reset the SMC but no improvement. It sounds like the fan is running all the time too - and when the screen goes black, it sounds like the whole thing has shut down. After a short while it appears to wake up again.

This could be a sign of a failing drive. Considering the age of the machine, it's not unexpected. I recommend that you backup your data as a clone to an external drive in case of failure.
Both of these applications can be used to create a clone.
SuperDuper! http://www.shirt-pocket.com/
CCC http://www.bombich.com/download.html
Apple just introduced the new MacBook Airs with a reduced price. Best Buy has been having sales with an additional discount.

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Screen goes black randomly

Hi everyone.
I have a very strange issue on 2 different PCs.
From time to time the screen goes completly black, and I have to wait about 2-3 seconds for it to restore the picture.
Both have NVIDIA video card, one PC has GF8900GT the second GF7200.
Both PCs running GNOME
In both PCs the screen is connected via DVI port.
One PC has Arch installed for about 4 months the second has a 3 days old installation.
I also have a laptop with Arch (about 4 months) but I didn't expirience any issues there.
I'm not sure what the problem is, but it really annoys me.
I'll be very gratefull if someone points me in the right direction.
Thanks in advance.

Hello dhruid,
Thanks for the question. After reviewing your post, it sounds like the screen goes black randomly. I would recommend that you read these articles, they may be helpful in troubleshooting your issue.
Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) - Apple Support
OS X: What is Safe Boot, Safe Mode? - Apple Support
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Have a nice day,
Mario

New (3mo) macbook air screen goes black and sometimes won't come back on after I unplug it from the power cord. Any ideas why it is doing this? Sometimes I have to hold power button for 10 seconds for it to shut off then back on.

New (3mo) macbook air screen goes black and sometimes won't come back on after I unplug it from the power cord. Any ideas why it is doing this? Sometimes I have to hold power button for 10 seconds for it to shut off then back on. Sometimes holding the power button for a second is enough for it to come back on.

I took it to the Genius Bar, and they identified it as a hardware issue. Just got it back today. Parts replaced were:
620-5629 Display Module — Symptom: Distored/blurred/focus video issue
605-3284 Top Case with Keyboard — Symptom: specific key(s) do not work
So far so good. I'd suggest taking it in and not trying to work around it — it's a rare hardware issue (given the number of threads about it) and should be replaced.

My MacBook White Screen Goes Black

I bought the computer two years ago. It worked perfectly well until three weeks ago. First, the trackpad doesn't work properly. Fine, I use a mouse instead. But I can't stand the screen's problem. It doesn't wake up from sleeping. Fine, I don't let it sleep. However, if I shut it down, and turn it on, the screen goes black too! I keep opening and closing the screen to wake it up for at least 10 mins. That's ridiculous. What can I do? I saw someone write that the apple store will fix it for this problem even though the computer's warranty is expired. Is that true?

Try Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)

MacBook Pro screen goes black when video is blown up on the second screen

I'm not sure if this is a problem but when I open up a video in fullscreen mode on my second display, the screen on my MacBook goes completely black and I cannot access anything on the my MacBook until I restore the video to windowed mode. Is there any way I can fix this?
Just to add, I can still see my cursor on the MacBook's screen, but there are no menus or docks on there, and I can see my notifications, but other than that, if I attempt to switch tasks and say open up Safari, the safari window on my MacBook will be black, while the video on the secondary monitor is in fullscreen mode.

Obviously there's a bad connection in there. Best bet is to take it back to the GB and show them how it happens.

Power Mac G5 Dual Core Screen Goes Black Randomly But Seems To Still Be Running. I have to Force Quit

I totally just typed way to much info in the title.
In any event, my G5 Dual Core's(late 2005) screen will randomly go black with out notice. Its happend while designing in illistrator and also while browsing google(primarly the use of my comp is graphic design). The fans stay on and it sounds to still be fully running however the screen will not wake up and if i tap the power button it doesnt wake up either. I reset the "PRAM" while booting up, i toggled my screen saver/power saver also so its "never".
I thought the HD was faulty cause it sounds like a light saber at times... I figured the OS was crashing(im ingorant) so I bought a new one and more ram as well. I've installed the HD and am waiting for 10.3 OS to get here in hopes that the new HD and OS will not crash(again that was my educated guess as to what the issue was).
Is it a video card issue? faulty cable you think(VGA to DVI 17" Samsung)?
Thanks so much in advance for any and all feed back along with the patience of a newbie to the forum/community world.
-KRAWSH

Hello,
Have you blown the dust out of it lately, especially the Video card, Power Supply, & RAM areas?
Get Temperature Monitor to see if it's heat related...
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/12381/temperature-monitor
iStat Menus...
http://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/
And/or iStat Pro...
http://www.islayer.com/apps/istatpro/
If you have any temps in the 70°C/160°F range, that's likely it.

White macbook´s screen goes black

Hey all,
I hope this will helpme solve this problem. As suggested on ifixit i reinstalled lion then changed the inverter and cable and the problem persisted. A friend has an old macbook that is in bad condidtion but with a perfectly functioning screen, and he´s not using. Would it solve the problem replacing my screen with the old one (the one that still works)? would it make sense? how can i make sure that they are compatible?
Thanks
Gio.-

Try Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)

Macbook Pro late 2008 goes black randomly

I purchased a macbook pro late 2008 model on December 30, 2008. Since recently, its screen goes black randomly when the built-in 9400m graphics chip is switched on. During the black screen process, the keyboard still keeps shining. I might wake it up by pressing CtrlShiftEject, but quite often I have to shut it down by holding the power button and restart. I have never encountered the problem when it is working with the 9600M chip, or when it is running window xp.
The screen can go black at any time, when it is booting (the gray screen with the Apple logo), or in the Apple hardware test. I have run Apple Hardware Test for several times, and no errors were found.
Desperately, I brought my laptop to the local apple store, and there I was unable to reproduce the black of death, and I left my computer there for check, after 3 days, they just called me, saying there was nothing wrong with it. But when I take it home, turn it on, only to find that the problem still remains the same.
Could it be the problem with a defected graphic chip? Or is it a problem with the firmware or the OS?
I really appreciate your assistance.
PS I tried to reset the SMC as it is instructed in Apple Support, but I did not see the led blinking at all, so I did not know whether it worked or not.

i am having the same problem!!! My description is pretty much exactly the same as the orgional posters. now mine have been less frequent, but i recently just expierenced two in a row in about a 3 minute time span. now, mine have never done it at boot up. i dont believe i had this problem with 10.5, and i definitly dont have this problem in windows. now, i have in MOST cases, been able to recover from it by, simply closing the screen for a moment, then reopening it. but i really would like this issue to be resolved. Thanks!

Screen goes black constantly, okay with Windows

My mid-2010 21.5" iMac has been having issues for a while now. The screen goes black randomly. This happens anywhere from once a week to once every two seconds for days on end. I've done plenty of research and seen similar problems but no real solutions.
Symptoms:
Screen goes to sleep. Shine a flashlight on it, can still see stuff, so it's just the backlight out.
It'll either happen at startup, before the Apple logo, or after using for a while.
Using a hot corner or keyboard shortcut will temporarily wake it up.
If watching video, sound still plays even though screen is black.
Had it in a 60 degree room with A/C blasting on it, no change.
Tried resetting PRAM, SMU.
Hardware test was fine, but I can't do this when it's not actually working.
External monitor works fine.
Really weird- this does not happen with Windows XP. It runs fine. So maybe a software problem? BUT, the problem occurs when booting from Install DVD. So maybe not a software problem. I was going to wipe and re-install but can't even do that due to it blacking out.
I've had it in and they replaced the LCD, didn't help.
I wish it would just permanently stop working so it'd be easier to figure out, as it is, the intermittent nature is driving me nuts. Can anyone please help?

I meant SMC, not "SMU". Oops.
billkline, thanks for the input, the fact that Windows works has really got me scratching my head. That's when I went to reinstall OS X but couldn't when it blacked out on the Snow Leopard Install DVD. Thoroughly confused now.
Also, starting tonight it now hangs on the gray startup screen for thirty seconds before booting up. This usually is a one or two seconds before getting the Apple logo.

Ipod 4 screen goes black

Screen goes black randomly and then returns to the home screen on my iPod touch 4?

Try:
- Reset the iOS device. Nothing will be lost
Reset iOS device: Hold down the On/Off button and the Home button at the same time for at
least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears.
- Restore from backup. See:
iOS: How to back up
- Restore to factory settings/new iOS device.
If still problem, make an appointment at the Genius Bar of an Apple store since it appears you have a hardware problem.
Apple Retail Store - Genius Bar

Hi, my macbook screen goes black at random points when I am using it. I know it is still running as music continues to play and I can vaguely make out the content of what is on the screen. Sometimes the screen will flicker between black and normal. Can I

Hi,
my macbook screen goes black at random points when I am using it. I know it is still running as music continues to play and I can vaguely make out the content of what is on the screen. Sometimes the screen will flicker between black and normal. Can I fix this?

Emily..
Could be the graphics card, run the Apple Hardware Test
If the hardware test doesn't reveal any problems, use Lion Recovery.

Mid 2010 MacBook Pro crash - screen goes black

There is a major problem with the mid 2010 Mac Book Pro's and Lion. I suspect that it is related to the drivers for the NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M 512MB video card and perhaps the i7 processor. The crashes are random and most often occur after a mouse click then the screen suddenly goes black and a restart is forced. There is a thread on MacRumors that describes many others with the same problem: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1182104
The crash occurs less frequently when the power and external monitors are connected. When the MBP is unteathered it crashes every 20 minutes. I am really surprised and disappointed that a bug this severe made it through final testing. Looking forward to 10.7.1.
Scott

im so glad im not the only one with this problem. at least i know its not because some careless things i unconciously did that makes my mac gone berzerg like this.
i also encounter the exact same problem with all of you. problems started a month ago. at first it was just once in a while then it became a frequent thing especially when my battery left with 20-30%. then after i plugged in the magsafe, its okay. lately, nothing safes the mac from crashing, particularly when im running adobe and/or autocad. i thought it was software problems so i backed up my files, performed erase and install snow leopard then made an even bigger mistake by upgrading to lion. after finish upgrading, the crashings got even more often. every starting up, after i got a glimpse of login in, pufffttt, screen goes black but keyboard still on. googled it up and say reseting smc will do the trick. eeekkkk nothing! then resetting the pram. worked okay for quite some times then puufffttt, crash! ask a question on yahoo answers and got a help from lovely person to install gfsxcard-something and told to opt for integrated only. worked fine for 2 days and still went back to crashing. opened up the mac, testing each rams, reshuffling em, still got nothing. the only thing that enables me to do my work with this Majestic mac is resetting pram everytime i turn it on.
since im living in singapore (bought this mac june'09 in melbourne,australia), there is no genius bar to be found, running a diagnostic only at any apple service cost me 120 bucks and if i have to change the logicboard, its gonna cost me ard 1000++ dollas since i dont have any applecare and my warranty expired 4mnths ago. so, i might be killing myself soon! yauuzaaaa

MacBook 13.3" (A1181), 2.16 GHz, screen goes black once OS is loaded.

I have a MacBook 13 (model A1181, 2.16 GHz) that I bought from a friend. Everything starts up fine, I get the chime, etc., until it loads the OS. I have a brand new Apple hard drive; brand new Mac OS X Leopard disk; and have tried everything I can think of. I have tried shining a light to see if the screen is just dim--no dice. I have tried completely wiping the drive clean on my iMac and then reinstalling. It gets all the way through the install, then the screen goes black when I'm trying to set my information up. The screen stays up if it's installing the OS, and also if I have the hard drive disconnected on the logic board. As soon as I load the OS, it goes black. The rest of the machine is still running. I have a spare logic board, so I put that in and I get the same problem. What am I missing? Any help would be appreciated. It may be useful to know that I am a computer repair technician (I do component repairs at a motherboard/logic board level). However, I believe all the hardware to be working. I think it may be a firmware issue, but I can't get it to keep a screen long enough to do any software updates. Anyone have any suggestions?

I actually considered that and replaced the inverter, as I couldn't find the cord to external display, but also to no avail. Same thing happened.

My screen on my MacBook Pro keeps going black

I got my MacBook in September of 2010. It's a 2.66 GHz Intel Core i7 with 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3. I have had great luck with it, until recently. This problem has been going on since like August now and it's time I should quit ignoring it. For some reason when I am just using my computer normally my screen goes black. Everything seems to be disabled but the keypad still lights up. The only way to get my macbook working again to to forcefully shut it off and turn it back on. Sometimes when i use the mouse a certain way (such as sliding 3 fingers to view other open windows) it shuts off. I have also updated my software from Snow Leopard to OS X Lion. I don't know what could be causing it. I have had some issues sending in laptops before to get fixed but I have a feeling it's going to come down to that. I'm a college student and use my computer daily and being a broadcasting major I need this computer for everything I do. Can somebody please help?

I had similar problem with my MacBook Pro. Login window goes black in 4 seconds, but it is not turned off. Push power and screen comes back but goes black again in 4 seconds. I can type in password, but before it logs me in, it goes black. If I connect to external monitor, the screen stays up, and I can use extermal mouse but keyboard input is ignored. This was obviously display problem of the Mac, at the least. (no clue why keyboard does not work when connected to external monitor.
I have solution: Reset PRAM
1. Power down Mac compeltely.
2. Hold down Option, Command, P and R keys (four keys total) while you press power button to boot up Mac
3. Mac will restart at least twice. Listen to noise. After 2nd power up, lift all keys.
I kept holding down the keys and Mac restarted like 5 times before I released keys, then rebooting stopped. Mac now works. The article I read said "wait for 2nd reboot". I though it would stop after twice.
In my case, I think use of extranal monitor confused Mac Book Pro eventually. I see no other side effects (such as loss of data on hard disk, resetting clock, resetting default settings etc) while I do reset, so I think this is relatively safe thing to try.

My screen goes black then macbook restarts...what's happening?

my screen goes black then macbook restarts...what's happening? This has been happening often (3-4 times per day). Not sure what kind of problem I am dealing with. ideas?

I have had Similar issues in my case it only seems to happen when the laptop is plugged into power. also if you shine a light through the apple logo on the front of the case you can see the LCD is actually running as is the OS it would appear the backlight is off. In my case I can resume operation by taping the F1 or F2 keys. All be it an annoying finx it is at least a simple one

Macbook 2009 screen going black randomly

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