MacBook Pro Early 2008 - screen will not turn on

I put my MBP to sleep last night as usual (via Finder). This morning when I opened the lid, I heard the familiar sound of the superdrive being accessed but then nothing. The screen would not turn on. I have tried several hard restarts using the power button but always the same result (no screen). I tried resetting the SMC but no luck. Reseated the RAM, nope. The battery is fully charged (battery test shows all lights on). Not sure what else to try short of taking it in to the local Apple retailer. I don't have AppleCare for it.
I'm aware of the possibly of the NVIDIA no video issue (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377) and something I will mention if I have to take it in for the tech to look at. However, I was not having any video issues before this happened.

If you qualify, you will not need AppleCare! Just take your MBP in for repairs.

Similar Messages

HT201257 Fan on my MacBook Pro came on and will not turn off, what could be wrong or how do I fix?

The fan on my MacBook Pro came on out of no where and will not turn off. The computer is not heated nor are any applications running in the background. The seems to be going on full blast. Before now it worked fine. Would turn on or off when need. Please advice what could be wrong or if ther is anything I can do to fix or troubleshoot. Computer is not even a year old.

LexSchellings: Now I know why you wished me luck and hoped everything would clear up asap hehe. I've been doing some reading and it is quite possible that my MBP late 2011 is sadly part of the probably million of MBP's out there with logic board issues. I am glad I am under warranty (still have to wait and see what apple techs decide on my comp) and sad that my comp will probably be done with in a few years. Not even 4 as it turns out. I can honestly say my old iBook G4 was amazing gave me 8 great years. Never had an issue with it.
Something funny is that about 10 to 15 mins ago the fan on my comp (the only indicator I got of any issue going on) quite down and the comp was working perfect. It has been running really slow since I noticed the fan being over worked even if nothing is running. Then it started up again and once again quite down, functioned well for like 10 seconds and started being noisy and slow again.
However there is an issue that bugs me, if according to my AHT results it is a faulty logic board how come my comp is still functioning? Of course being slow and noisy. I've read on some sad stories on here
Wish me more luck and send me lots of good vives. Going to need them. Especially if I end up not being able to fix the comp.
Apple is letting me down and to think I just purchased an iPad mini for xmas :/

MacBook Pro is charging but will not turn on

Hi!
So my laptop has been dead for about a day. I recently plugged in the charger for it to charge. There is an orange light that is on when I plug it in, and there are the green dots on the left side to show that it is indeed charging. Although when I press the start button down, it will not turn on. I do not hear the hard drive running when I press the button. The white light on the bottom right side of the keyboard is not lighting up either.
Any suggestions?
Thank You!

Please make a Genius Appointment and take it in for service.

Macbook Pro 10.6.8 will not turn off, restart, or even sleep after upgrading to OS X Mavericks

It was working fine for the first 4 days until now, the computer won't turn off, won't restart, and won't sleep. When click on those button, the computer has no response. Also the iMessage App appears to not working as well. I tried forced turn off by holding the power button, but then it takes about 1 to turn back on. And now after it is on ago, it won't turn off again. And the Imssage is not working again. Other apps seems works just fine. Any suggestion?

Hi, Kinshinhh.
Thank you for visiting Apple Support Communities.
I would recommend processing an SMC reset on your MacBook Pro.
Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
If experiencing issues with messages, try the steps in the article below.
Connection Doctor
In Messages, you can select Video > Connection Doctor to assist you with possible connection issues. Connection Doctor shows the following details:
Statistics–With the following details
Chat Duration–How long the chat has lasted.
Frame rate–The number of frames per second (fps) that video plays.
Bit rate–The average number of kilobits that one second of video data uses (kbits/s).
Frame size–The resolution, in pixels, of the video. The mew pixels, the more detailed the image.
Audio and video quality–100% means no loss of quality. Issues may occur if quality falls below 90%.
Capabilities–A pane that shows you what capabilities you have based on your computers hardware and Internet connection.
Network Statistics–Displays information about your bandwidth settings and network router type.
Bandwidth limitation–Indicates whether the bandwidth has been limited to a particular speed in Messages.
Tip: Click "Settings…" to open Messages preferences and adjust your "Bandwidth limit:" setting.
Router type–Identifies the kind of network address translation (NAT) router your computer is using to communicate with other devices. Router type are:
Tip: Consult with your network administrator, if you have a router type other than "Full Cone".
Full Cone–Anyone on the Internet can send replies to the computer.
Restricted–The router associates the translated address and port with a particular destination address. Replies from other addresses are filtered out.
Port Restricted–The router associates the translated address and port with a particular destination address and port. Replies from other addresses and ports are filtered out.
Symmetric–THe router associates the translated address and port with a particular destination address and port, but uses ad new translated port for each destination address and port.
Unknown–The type of router could not be determined.
Error Log–Inspect reported errors in the Messages error log. Note: This option is dimmed if there are no errors present.
Mac Basics: Messages
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5395
Cheers,
Jason H.

MacBook pro early 2008 screen starts flickering, then freezes. Force shutdown then freezes at grey screen start up. HELP!

My computer screen started to flicker. Then the mouse pointer will freeze while the screen continues to flicker, not allowing me to do anything except force shut down with power button. When starting up, the rotating circle freezes up on the gray screen. I try starting up from the Snow Leopard CD and either I get a error message about something wrong with the power supply and needing a force shut down or screen flickers and mouse pointer freezes again.

I ended up taking it to an Apple store for diagnostic tests. They tried what I did (safe boot, start from disk utility, hardware checks), and it didn’t work. They tried to start-up from an external hard drive and when that didn’t work the employee recommended I leave it for more testing. His initial guess was the hard drive was bad. I called a week later for a status update and they said the logic board was the problem and they were going to fix it free of charge. Given that my Apple Care expired two months prior and otherwise would’ve charged me over $500 to fix, I didn’t ask questions about the problem. So far my computer is working well, though when I try to load downloaded music from my iPhone to iTunes, it’s recognized as a new computer and I have to reauthorize it to my iTunes account.

Macbook Pro Early (2008) will not turn on!

I have same problem with my macbook pro early (2008)
I think is unfair to have this problems in the "perfect world notebook"
I hope you can help me on this
Regars,
Carlos.
---- MrAngel Discussion-----
Ok. It looks like does not matter what model is but anyway here is my specs:
Macbook Pro 15'
Model: A1260,
2.5 Ghz Core2Duo/2Gb/512 Mb Vram/250 GB 540RPM
I would like you review the following posts:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=10071744&#10071744
My macbook pro won't turn on. I press the power button and the little light on the bottom goes white only while I hold it down, the second i don't it goes off. When I do hold it down for a few seconds first it will be solid for like 3 seconds then start flickering
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=10115278&#10115278
When i tried to turn on my mbp today it only turned on for like a second and then shuts off. The light on the front turns on and the battery is fully charged, but it just turns off in a second
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=10285598&#10285598
Hi, I have an Early 2008 Macbook Pro and I used it this morning but two hours later, I found it off. When I push the power button, the white light briefly comes on but it doesn't sound like it's starting up. When I hold the power button down, the white light comes on solid for about 5 seconds, then flashes rapidly. During this time I can hear the DVD drive and other components kick on, but once the rapid flashing stops, all power is lost again
The problem: Mac will not turn on.
1. If I hit the power button it is trying to start working (white light is blinking, HDD rotating, CD noise and so on), but gets shutdown as soon as I release my finger from the power button.
2. The maximum "Working" time is about 5 secs. During this time fans are working, white light is lighting, HDD working, CD does its usual noise. At the last two seconds white light starts flickering.
3. If I remove all memory slots it is working as usual!!!, I mean working without pressing a powerbutton constantly... and asking for a memory of course.
How it happened: well, it is usual thing then you are in hurry. Accidentally I hit restart. I didnt want mac to load again, so I did a force shutdown (5 secs an a power button). Thats it.
What I tried to do: I did all those "shaman" hotkeys to restart SMC. I spent a day!!! by driving around my city and asking Apple providers to fix it with no luck.
What I am planing to do:
1. I have an Apple service center here in the Tallinn who are ready to do some diagnostics. The only thing is - I dont trust them my HDD. So I am gonna clone my hard drive data somethere before they get my mac in their hands.
2. As soon as diagnistics is done I will get a price offer to fix it. It definitely wont be a cheap, since my mac is year and two months old (funny, two months and you are screwed).
3. If it will be too expencive I gonna do DIY repair.
What I would like to say to the Apple: please investigate that problem. The motherboard is definitely working. I can not fix it myself with no necessary equipments here, so I have to do expensive motherboard logic purchase.
Aleks

since my mac is year and two months old (funny, two months and you are screwed).
Not if you had of purchased Apple Care. You would have been covered for 3 years.
What I would like to say to the Apple:
This is not the place as Apple does not come to these forums.
These are user-to-user forums where everyday folk post "technical" questions and offer answers to each other voluntarily. No one here works for Apple nor does Apple get involved in responding. Not even sure if they "lurk."
"Say" it here -
Product Feedback

My 15" MacBook Pro (early 2008) will not empty the trash can.The operation can't be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code -8003).

My 15" MacBook Pro (early 2008) will not empty the trash can.The operation can’t be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code -8003).

Just the Option key. Third from the left on the bottom row.
If that does not work, try the more elaborate steps described here:
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20020873-263.html

HT3235 Will generic DVI to VGA adapter work with Macbook Pro (Early 2008 Model)??

I have a 15" MacBook Pro (Early 2008 model). I lost the Apple DVI to VGA adapter for use with my projector, and it appears this older model is no longer available. Will a generic DVI/VGA adapter, from Best Buy for example, work? I wasn't sure if there was anything specific to the Apple adapter? I am supposed to give a lecture in 2 days and can't find my adapter! Any help is greatly appreciated.

Yes it will, assuming that you do not have a display like the 30" Apple Cinema Display that requires dual-link DVI.

Black Screen on MacBook Pro Early 2008

Hey guys,
i have a problem. My MacBook Pro Early 2008 doesnt boot anymore. If i press the power button the screen remains black and the hdd spins a few seconds and you can hear the superdrive make a short noise. But nothing more happens.
I know from the nVidia 8600m GT issue and i even have the modelnumber A1260 but the apple reseller told me that if there comes no start sound , it is not that problem. My question is: is it possible that the (probably) defect 8600m gt chip on my logicboard has caused a defect of the whole logicboard ? I heard from a guy whos board was repaired for free but its PowerManagment Unit on the logicboard was defect but the Technical guy told him , that it was caused by the nvdia chip and so it was repaired for free. How can i find out if my chip was the reason for the defect ?
Iam not a native speaker and i hope you can understand what iam trying to say iam happy for every correction and help.
greets
max

"How can i find out if my chip was the reason for the defect ?"
By having it examined by a certified Apple technician. If necessary, show the tech the KB Article: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377 MacBook Pro: Distorted video or no video issues
"apple reseller told me that if there comes *no start sound* , it is not that problem."
You do not have a start sound?
Have you tried starting up from your install DVD?
If you have AppleCare, strongly suggest that you contact them first.
!http://i45.tinypic.com/jl0z95.jpg!

External isight not working with Macbook Pro early 2008

My external isight is not working with my Macbook Pro early 2008 (2.4 GHz, Intel Core 2 Duo, 6 GB RAM, OSX Lion). It goes warm when plugged into the firewire port but is not recognized in system prefs (lists as "unknown device" and also does not turn on (green light. I tried resetting PRAM and all the other stuff as suggested here but no luck. It used to work fine on a 1st generation Macbook and I remember that one of the first times I tried it with this machine here it turned on for a few secs (green light) but then it just simply stopped.
Unfortunately, I have no other firewire device to check the port.
Any ideas, dear community?

Our (old) external Firewire iSights can be sensitive to dust, shock, vibration, humidity, and other environmental factors in storage. (I store my spare in its original plastic shipping case with a new desiccant pack on a solid shelf - never in a desk drawer or other container that moves.)
You have tried several good things and may be finding that your old iSight needs work.
Here are the alternatives I can offer. Consider any you have not tried in any order you like:
(1) You can try Apple's suggestions from http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2090
Test in more than one user account and with more than one Apple softwre application.
(2) My expanded suggestions here: http://www.ralphjohns.co.uk/EZJim/EZJimpage4.html
(3) Reset Firewire ports using the info from this old archived Apple article: http://web.archive.org/web/20090331211534/http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1317
(4) If you have no local Apple Authorized service Provider who can help you, other service options are here: http://www.apple.com/support/isight/service/
(5) Consider a new USB cam with current warranty such as one of these: http://www.mac-compatible-web-cam.com/
Message was edited by: EZ Jim

My Macbook pro Early 2008 is randomly slow at starting up and when I am backing up to my time capsule I am receiving the following message 'Time machine could not complete the backup. '' ''The backup disk image ''/Volumes/name time capsule/ my name MacBoo

My Macbook pro Early 2008 is randomly slow at starting up and when I am backing up to my time capsule I am receiving the following message 'Time machine could not complete the backup. '' ''The backup disk image ''/Volumes/name time capsule/ my name MacBook Pro (4).sparsebundle'' could not be accessed (error-1).
Problem started after deleting parrell desktop and window7 ?
Please help?

Look at the more like this column on the right.. this is the most frequently asked question in this discussion area.
Reboot the TC.. restart the whole network if the simple reboot did not work.. start in order. modem.. router/TC.. clients. 2min gap.
Read C12 here. http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

My Macbook Pro (early 2008) won't boot, then booted, now won't boot again.

Hey all,
Summary:
My GF's Macbook Pro (Early 2008, non-unibody I believe) "died" earlier this year without notice or a cause for why, then it worked months later, then it didn't again.
Symptoms:
It stopped booting, with the only signs of life are:
The annoying boot sound that you hear right-away, like a winding sound. "Weeeeah woooo"
A fan turns on immediately after the sound.
The front light (on the open button) is solid.
The battery will light up and show how much juice is left.
The only thing to do from here is to hold down the power for 10 seconds.
Don't worry, my story gets more interesting...
Now, I had another computer and my GF didn't need her macbook seriously for a while, so I didn't research the problem or how to fix it, until last week. Perusing the various help forums and communities, I came across the reset SMC suggestion, so I decided to try a few things on Apple's SMC reset page.
I tried a couple things, including taking the battery out, and LOW AND BEHOLD: IT CAME ON, like nothing happened! The screen was fine, the performance was fine, it updated (to the new Safari and iTunes, as an example) fine, and it restarted fine multiple times. One of the main reasons I wanted to get it working was to save some family pictures we had saved, so I started uploading the images to an image cloud site. I'm sending them at full-res so it takes a while and I go to sleep around 2 am so I'm not too late into the office in the morn. When I wake up, I go to check the image upload progress and the laptop is Off. I figure it just went into standby after finishing, so I hit the power button...
And it doesn't boot again. It's back to the same issue as before. I try doing what I did last time, then resetting the SMC, but nothing has worked this time.
Any ideas? It's out of warranty of course, which is why I'm here.
Thanks in advance!

Since no one else is answering, I’ll jump in.
Your story is interesting indeed. I’m not sure I can help you fix the Mac but it sounds like there is a reasonable chance of recovering the data.
I assume it came with installation disks. Will it boot from them? If so run Disk Utility from there and try to repair the system disk.
For the hardware problems on your Mac it is time to take it to Genius Bar at an Apple store for a free diagnosis and estimate of repairs.
Genius reservation http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/ .
It could be your disk failing but it sounds more like flakey electronics in the system. Let’s assume is is the system board until a Genius tells you otherwise. If so, you can simply put the working system disk in an external enclosure, mount that on your other Mac and copy the data. Here is a source for the inexpensive hardware you would need:
Toolkit: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TOOLKITMHD/
SATA enclosure: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/ES2.5BPU2W/
There are multiple directions to go from here. Let me know what happens when you try theses first options.

Won't power up -- 17" MacBook Pro Early 2008 2.5GHz MB166LL/A MacBookPro4,1 Apple Model #A1261

I have a 17" MacBook Pro Early 2008 2.5GHz MB166LL/A MacBookPro4,1 Apple Model #A1261. I bought this used last year, and installed one of OWC's 1TB 2.5" Hybrid HD/SSD drives in it last January. No problems whatsoever until the past 2 weeks, when I started having intermittent black screens (NOT display sleep) -- sometimes the black screen would disappear by itself, sometimes I had to (Power button) shut down, and when I restarted, everything was OK. Until yesterday.
First let me note that, because I usually use the MacBook Pro in the same area in my house, I usually leave it plugged into the MagSafe power cube, and often just close the lid and put it to sleep, instead of going through start-up every time I need to access it. BTW, battery (NuPower) shows 5 solid green dots and does not seem to be a problem
Night before last, I shut down the MB Pro, and closed the lid. Yesterday, I opened up the MB Pro, and hit the power button. All I got was a brief, non-pulsing white light on the display-locking/“sleep light” button, and a sort of graunchy whisper from what sounded to me like the optical drive, NO screen activity whatsoever, and the “sleep light” went out within 3 or 4 seconds. Could hear NO HD spin-up sounds.
Tried everything I knew (not much), including disconnecting the MagSafe charger and removing the battery completely, letting it sit a few minutes, replacing battery and charger, and powering up. Same nothing, just another very brief whisper of activity from the optical drive. Being something of an “I’ll try anything, no matter how dumb it seems” idiot, I put a known, working, burned data CD-R in the optical drive. Removed the charger and battery again, waited, put everything back in. Tried to power up. Still nothing, same brief whisper from the optical drive, but the MB Pro would STILL not start up, the CD-R wouldn’t spin up OR eject, and I heard nothing from the hard drive, even with my ear ON the metal right over the drive.
My next “don’t-really-want-to-do-it” step is to remove the 1TB drive, replace it with the original 250GB drive, see if that works, and, as I have a “Newer Technology” Voyager S3 bare drive (works with both 2.5” and 3.5”) USB dock connected to my main Mac (a mid-2011 iMac, 2.7GHz Core i5, OS X 10.9.3), I’ll try using that to check the hybrid drive.
I’ve been a Mac-only user since 1989, and somehow this doesn’t seem like a drive problem. I’ve tried every OS X keyboard shortcut on the “OS X keyboard shortcuts” page, and the “sleep light” always comes on for a couple seconds, then goes out, the screen never even shows a flicker of life, and the HD NEVER spins up.
Can the forum please clue me in with any tricks I haven’t tried yet?
Thanks
Bart Brown

Thanks for the quick response. However, none of the following have worked:
Have you tried SMC and PRAM resets?
As usual, "sleep" light briefly illuminated -- 2-4 seconds -- then went out. No startup, no chime(s), no screen, no keyboard illumination, no HD spin-up.
Also try an Apple Hardware Test.
Same as above. Nada. "Mac NoteBook and Desktop computers shipping with OS X 10.7 or later have a partition on the hard drive or flash storage that contains AHT" -- since I can't get the drive to spin up, I can't access that partition... or anything else.
You may need the #2 installation disk.
Well, there I have TWO problems:
One is that I bought this MBPro on eBay, and received no disks -- it came with OS X 10.9.x installed (and is now at OS X 10.9.3). Is there any way to get “retail” install disks that will work with this MacBook Pro?
Second is that there's a data CD in the optical drive. Because the MBPro won't boot, I can't get the data CD out even if I had the 2nd Install DVD. Any way I can get this data CD out -- hatpin, barbecue skewer, fencing foil, sledgehammer?
I talked with OWC, from whom I bought the hybrid Seagate HDD/SSD 1TB drive last November. We tried a few ideas he had — mostly the same as those suggested by “Oglethorpe” (no relation to “Ogie” Oglethorpe in “Slapshot,” I hope!) — none of which worked, as I’ve already indicated above.
My last-ditch effort-of-desperation is to remove the hybrid Seagate HDD/SSD 1TB drive, and put in the original 250GB drive (never throw away a good drive!), and see if the MBPro returns from the dead. I will also put the hybrid Seagate HDD/SSD 1TB bare drive into my Newer Technologies Voyager S3 bare-drive dock, which takes 2.5” and 3.5” drives, and see if there’s a problem with the hybrid Seagate HDD/SSD 1TB drive. While no longer under warranty with OWC/MacSales, it IS still under a 2-year warranty with Seagate.
Any other suggestions gladly entertained.
Thanks again.
Bart Brown

MacBook Pro Early 2008 Severe Overheating

I have an early 2008 (non-unibody) 2.5 ghz 15" MacBook Pro with some severe overheating issues. I'm trying to eliminate what ISN'T the problem and at the point where I think it may be a malfunctioning heatsink. I'd like to get a more expert opinion though.
The first symptom was hotter than usual operating temp, which could be felt near the top of the keyboard. It became so hot that it was no longer comfortable to place the machine on your lap. The fans were operating way more often and harder than usual. Eventually, one of the fans got worn out and started making a heck of a racket. I've read a lot about this and I know it's not uncommon.
I thought it was some software that may be causing the problem, so I took a day and opened up the machine, blew out any dust, disassembled and lubricated the right (problematic fan), formatted the drive, and reinstalled OS X. I really thought this would help, but when reinstalling OS X, the machine kept overheating to the point where it would shut down. I felt relieved when I was able to get it completely installed.
Now with no other software installed and just Safari running, it sits at an operating temp of about 90C (according to SMCFan Control)! The right fan is screaming again. I can get it down to 75C by forcing the fan speed up to 6000, but that's with no program running. Heat is particularly severe at the bottom of the screen at the fan exhaust (slightly more on right).
Unfortunately, I can't run a hardware test because the SuperDrive is dead (3rd one on this machine).
Any help on diagnosis is very welcome.

From Apple support article TS1258:
MacBook Pro (Early 2008): Dark bands showing intermittently on built-in display.
If the issue persists when running Mac OS X v10.5.3 or later, a quick reset of the display panel will reset the LED backlights. The quickest way to reset the display is to use the following key combination:
Press Control - Shift - Eject.
After the display goes to sleep, wake it by pressing any key on the keyboard.
I get this all the time on my 2008 MBP and the above usually works.

Questions regarding hard disk replacement in MacBook Pro Early 2008 Edition

Hello -
You folks probably get this a lot but I have a MacBook Pro Early 2008 edition and would like to upgrade the base 200 GB 5400 RPM drive to a Seagate Momentus 7200.4 drive. I have a few questions regarding this, and would appreciate any feedback.
1) Does anybody know if installing a new hard drive in a MacBook Pro would cause the warranty to be invalidated? I don't believe a hard drive is considered a user replaceable part, at least from what I read, and I would like to know if replacing it myself would void AppleCare.
2) Does anybody have any experience with the Segate Montentus 7200.4? I'm interested in how reliable the drive is and how much heat it generates. I've quickly discovered that I can use my MacBook Pro as an oven in tight spots and would like to prevent it from cooking its own internals.
3 random) Does anybody know at what temperature the system actually overheats? I'm seeing 171 F and this is with smcFanControl turned up to the Higher RPM mode. I'm a little nervous when I'm running WoW and the system is averaging above 170 with smcFanControl totally cranked up to 6000 rpm.
Thanks everyone!

Thanks for that. I've had mixed results with both Seagate and WD, but less issues historically with WD. My experience with IBM/Hitachi makes is nearly impossible to recommend their products, so based on what I'm seeing the Western Digital Scorpio Black looks like the best bet. Do you happen to know if Apple will do hardware installations outside of warranty repair scenario's? Ripping open my only notebook to perform "involved" hardware maintenance is not something I'd prefer to do, even with my technical background.

MacBook Pro Early 2008 - screen will not turn on

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