Q: MacBook Pro Blank Screen (Built - in & External) - continued

I stopped by Genius bar, and they offered to replace the logic board with a rev 2. Not sure what's so different about the rev 2 since when I googled it, nothing came up, I guess only time will tell.

The new logic board they're offering to replace is "PCBA MLB 2.4 rev 2" with a model/type number of 661-4956 (I think, I can't quite remember the exact #). Not sure if it'll be plagued with the same GPU problem, but I figure collectively we should find a solution.

I'm still in the apple retail shop at manchester.
The genius bar refuse to fix my machine in free of charge.
They charge me £6xx for the repairment.

I'm getting my Logic board replaced due to the same exact problem with the GPU going bad for the second time. My authorized service center also tells me the first time I got the Logic Board replaced this August it wasn't Rev 2. and as of yesterday at least the replacement Logic Board part has Rev 2 on it. He could not confirm or guarantee Apple officially and permanently fixed the problem though. So I'm hoping Apple will soon disclose what is actually fixed in Rev 2 of the MBP Logic Boards and if that is expected to address the GPU problems we all been facing.

all you need to do is refer this "genius" to the knowledge base article that clearly states that any MBP with this issue will have their warranty extended for one more year and all repairs relating to this issue will be free of charge!!!

am i the only one dealing with idiots (magnum mac / renaissance nz)?

computer died again 2 days after clemson solution. approx 2 weeks later after apple announced extended warranty i took it in to an authorised service provider. just got sent a customer report 5 days after taking it in:

On 14/10/2008 From 2:15:00 PM To 2:45:00 PM
unit has no visual display, have booted from a service drive, still not visual, the problem follows to the external display port, possible faulty logic board,

On 15/10/2008 From 10:45:00 AM To 11:15:00 AM
running new apple graphics test,

On 16/10/2008 From 4:00:00 PM To 4:30:00 PM
This unit is not covered under the program, have ran the test provided by apple but the unit passes all test’s indicating it has a faulty logic board.

they priced logic board replacement earlier in the week @ NZ$2500 - when i informed them of extended warranty. they now want $60 for work done because they think its not one of the faulty units

do i have to write a song in the theme of dry bones about which part the gpu is connected to?

sounds like you're dealing with an idiot.

is an aasp the closest thing to an apple store near you?

I visited a nearby Apple store yesterday and had my 15 inch MBP rejected from the free-of-charge fix program. A genius ran an 'internal test' for about 30 mins and made me to feel myself an idiot. My MBP is the exact same model described in http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377 .

So, if what the genius said was true, the Apple website was a scam or what?

What worsens my feelings is that yesterday they offered $350 flat-rate fix, but when I visited the store three months ago (when this problem happened), they required me to pay $1400.

This is a $2000 'Pro' crap with a different internal part (Intel GMA X3100) from what is advertised to have!

I had this exact problem with the display failing to work and I have a 15" MPB with an NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT. I bought this MPB in July of 2007. I have no Apple store within 100 miles of my house, but I have a AASP right down the block. I called Apple back in late September and they said that this AASP was fine. The AASP replaced the logic board (US$950+Installation and taxes comes to $1245). This happened two weeks before the article about the problem appeared on the support website. My MPB is (or was at the time of the failure) 14 months old. The article says to contact Apple about a refund for my repairs, but the very unhelpful person I talked to said that I have to negotiate my refund with the AASP. In my view, Apple should refund the money and then negotiating with the AASP is Apple's problem. This is just shoddy customer service. I have always liked my MPB, but it's not worth the now $4,000 I have invested in it (purchase price, plus repair). If I wanted a cheap piece of crap I can't rely on, I'll just buy a Dell. Sorry to vent here, but I've been a loyal Apple customer for year, but I'm tired of getting run around on this.

sfarley,

who did you talk to when you asked about getting the money back for the repair?

i would call apple customer relations, rather than someone at applecare. state your case, provide any information regarding the repair (invoice/case numbers, contact info for the aasp, etc...) and hopefully they'll get the ball rolling on getting your refund!

the support article clearly states that "Apple is issuing refunds to customers who may have paid for repairs related to this issue. Please contact Apple for details on the refund process."

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377

if you were told otherwise, you clearly spoke to someone who didn't know what they were talking about. talking to customer relations directly would probably lead you to a resolution.

good luck! you certainly are entitled to your refund.

I have had the same problem, for a few months I had an issue where to wake from sleep I had to push the button on the lid catch or do a full re-start, a couple of times I had weird or scrambled graphics, letters all over the screen and dialogue boxes with no content staying on a frozen desktop, that is why I was so keen to install the updates that appeared last week, I thought it was a OS problem... I installed the update and on sleep the computer went into it's never ending black screen.

The hard disk in my machine contained my work and was swapped back to the original smaller one with a generic older OS installed, the machine still had a black screen...
After all the target mode activity I switched the machine off and removed the battery, as Apple wouldn't see me for a few days I left the machine in my safe and got on with the joy of running Lightroom on a G4 1.33 not fun at all, I switched the MBP on on the day that I had an appointment with a Genius, it booted up with a screen and started asking if I wanted to update the softeware, like a fool I hit the update button and once the machine had rebooted from that it had.... a black screen.

I think that there was some sort of software fix for the (known) Nvidia problem in Mac OS X and when they were updated they started running the chip as it was intended to be run in the first place and that is why they have all cooked at the same time (or thereabouts), it doesn't make sense that mine which has been on and running tough on processor graphics for 18 months (off at night), goes at the same time as an occasional user that does the odd email on theirs, if it wasn't related to software in some way then it wouldn't all be happening at the same time... I was always dissapointed by the slow appearance of large images on the web when if you opened them in a tab they came 5 times as quickly, I always thought that was a graphics issue as in a tab the graphics chip is not having to render them. Maybe the chip was being run at less than it's capable speed in order to keep it alive and then recent updates didn't include that feature then Bam, everyones MBP dies in the same few weeks.

Well my MBP went in to the Genius and he said that my problem was a different one, he said that as my sleep light was staying illuminated brightly then it was something else wrong with my machine, the computer has shown every documented sign of the fault, start up, happy chime and no screen, scrambled graphics and will start up in target mode so you can firewire it up... I think that as the diagnostics go through the boot process they come across a problem in video and hang there which leaves the light on (this is just before in the process).

After some pains, the Genius said that the MBP would be fixed but more or less made it sound like he was doing me a favor.

Another point here is that the Genius said he'd only seen two MBP's with the same fault at their Regent St. store in London (Big store), seems a bit odd as it looks like a lot of people are having these issues.

Remember Apple saying you could make these machines the hub of your digital life? I am currently hubless and have no idea how long I will be editing 21 MP raw files on a Powerbook G4.
MG

I got the official word from Apple Customer Care today that I will get no refund. Apparently, the service order that was done on my MBP says that the capacitors blew out, which I don't understand happening at 14 months of service either, and there was nothing wrong with my graphics card, so they don't owe me squat. I guess I'll use this machine until it blows up again and then I'll go and get a Dell or an HP laptop. I know they're pieces of junk, but at least I know that before I buy, and I won't spend nearly $4000 to find it out.

Interesting thread. Just got my June 2007 MBP (SR) 2.4 C2D back from Apple after they replaced the logic board under Apple Care warranty. Took a fortnight but cost me nothing.

I had similar problems to all of you and didn't realise that it could have been the Nvidia defect that I've been reading about.

Forgive my ignorance but does a replacement logic board mean as automatic replacement of the graphics chip as well?

The graphics chip is apparently soldered onto the logic board. I can't imagine that it would be possible to replace one without the other. Apple has not yet consented to refund my repair costs because the Apple Store Genius wrote down that they needed to replace the logic board and the program only covers repairs due to graphics card failure. Semantics in this case, of course.

Thanks for the reply and good luck getting your repair paid for. Rather expensive, to say the least!

Well I just got some good news today on my dead nvidea chip on an out-of-warranty MBP. It passed the test by apple techs and the new PCBA has been shipped. What I am wondering now if the one being shipped [PCBA, MLB, 2.2GHZ, REV2 / part no. 661-4955] differs from the original one shipped and the replacement board put in a few months ago. Anybody know anything about that? thx.
coocoo