Q: Macbook Pro Mid-2010 Crashing Problem
I've got a Macbook Pro 2010 currently running OS X 10.10 (not sure which sub-version, but it doesn't matter as you'll see in a moment). All of a sudden a few months ago it started having some major problems.
It will start up, I'll log in and use it for a little while just fine, then the screen will suddenly glitch up a few times, turn to white, then in a little bit turn off completely. The computer itself isn't actually off, though. The indicator light flashes for maybe 1/2 second with ~2 seconds between flashes. In this state it does nothing.
If I press and hold the power button until it turns off completely, then try turning it back on, a blank white screen will appear but nothing happens.
If I force-shut it off again and wait a while (like, until the following day), and try turning it on, the white screen appears for a bit but then the Apple logo comes up and the computer starts up normally (only to have the same problem happen a little bit longer).
Also, today I turned it on (booted up as I explained just now), but didn't touch it for about an hour. When I came back it was still up and running. I logged on and used it for a minute, then the same thing happened again. So for some reason it only seems to have a problem when I'm actively using it.
I don't think it's related to the RAM or HDD. Shortly after this problem first happened, I switched the RAM and HDD from it to my older Mac (2008 Unibody Macbook) and vice versa, just so I could still do everything I needed. The laptop still had the problem after I switched it all around, but the old one didn't (and hasn't) had a problem.
Before it all started the Macbook Pro had 8 GB of RAM (3rd party, installed it a few weeks before then, it came with 4 GB originally), 2.4 GHz (dual core) processor, 250 GB HDD, and was running 10.11 (10.11.4 specifically, I think). Right when it happened I tried PRAM and SMC resets, but it didn't help anything.
I'd be so thankful if any of you could help. I'm thinking of selling it for parts, but if there's a relatively easy fix for this I'll be glad to do it.
MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10)
Posted on Apr 5, 2016 1:14 PM