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

Well, add another one to the "kicked the bucket" list. I'm a former Apple tech just doing a favor for a good friend's son. Went round and round with this thing for a week trying to convince myself that it was some other issue. I have relented. It was easier to relent after reading the 80 some pages of this thread.

Presented with the prospect of sticking another faulty logic board in this thing and waiting for it to fail again, My friend told me to just pour a beer in the keyboard so that she could claim it on her homeowners insurance and buy him a new unibody.

Hi Seb,

No progress here, after the 10.5.8 update it briefly worked (3 restarts, 4 sleeps). Then it went back to "normal" (video card appearing as GMA X3100 and no video).

I'm hoping either 10.6 will fix it, but I'm not very confident on that, the problem is the SMC firmware, so as long as Apple doesn't issue a new one, no matter how many software updates I'll install. I just would like to understand why it (briefly) worked after installing 10.5.8.

The problem is that this is not a TS2377 issue. However, many people are getting their laptops fixed for free on the account of TS2377, as they happen to have one of the faulty video cards as well. I unfortunately seem to have a good working video card, and just the faulty SMC controller. (Which was working just fine before the 10.5.7 update).

Apple should acknowledge this SMC issue as a separate one, but so far they are just servicing the ones with the bad NVidia chips while the rest are given as only option the expensive repair.

Did you take it to an Apple Authorized Service Provider? And if yes, what did they say?

Hi there,

I had the logic board replaced by my apple reseller, all free of charge. All is working fine again. Only one thing intrigued me:
On the invoice, the item description reads that same: "SAV PCBA, MLB, 2.4 GHZ, REV2"
Now in the system profiler it displays among other specs: "GeForce 8600M GT, Revision ID: 0x00a1, ROM Revision: 3175"
How can I be sure that the reseller actually built in a Revision 2 model as stated on the invoice?

Best,

br

My MacBook Pro Santa Rosa 2.2Ghz display went dead today....I can see that the computer is running, but it doesn't show anything on the display and external display as well. Am I qualified for http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377 ?

There can't be any better timing to die on me, my snow leopard should be arriving tomorrow and now I'm stuck with an Acer laptop

SheeN86 wrote:
My MacBook Pro Santa Rosa 2.2Ghz display went dead today....I can see that the computer is running, but it doesn't show anything on the display and external display as well. Am I qualified for http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377 ?

There can't be any better timing to die on me, my snow leopard should be arriving tomorrow and now I'm stuck with an Acer laptop

That surely looks like graphic card problem. Contact your Apple authorized Service Provider. If he is convinced that it is due to Graphic card problem, it will be changed.

Even i had a demotion from APPLE to ACER...Best of Luck

My screen went dead and could not see the hard drive while booted in the target mode. Went thru all the normal procedures as applecare folks suggested with no change. Took it in for repair and the tech said new logic board needed. Known issue, he says. Works fine now, although time machine did not recognize the fact that my files were backed up. It only wanted to create a new backup file even though I can see that the past backups are still there on the backup drive.

Update. Into Apple Store for repair on 18th August. Call on 27th August. Computer ready. Snow Leopard on 28th, so wait to go in then. Machine looked fine. Screen as clean as new. Got SL. Home. Installed SL. Works like a treat and gained me 20 gigs. But, whatever Apple did to the logic board makes all my gear see the computer as being 'new', so all my syncs and backups no longer work. Not a big deal as the machine is ok, but a bit of a pain, especially as I have an ATV that likes to have one master. Machine does seem to be happier now and the fan is a lot less energetic. Thanks Apple Bristol UK

hey guys i got the same sad problem, mine die on 31-aug-09..

just a ?., the genius guy say that is the logic board,free of charge and 4-7 days but is been 7 days and i call and now they say, that they replace the logic board but the problem still there, and order a diferent part, to see if is that, it can be real? or they dont wanna fix it..

simptoms

when press on the computer turn on with no video at all, with sound, and the stanby light thats all.

what other part can be? any help please...

I've got the same problem of the blank screen on my MBP 15" with NVidia Geforce 8600M GT and support center asked to replace the logic board to fix it.
Too expensive, so I decided to use it only via remote connection.
Yesterday I upgraded to Snow Leopard and now the problem has gone
So I recommend to try as soon as possible with the upgrade

I got the same problem on my 17 inches Macbook Pro 2.33 with ATI x1600. I just bought it last year and it is 1 month out of warranty, Microwarehouse Philippines was asking for $700 to fix the logic board.....waaaahhh

Hey Apple, are you listening???

Sigh...well I've just gotten bit by this on my late 2007 MBP 2.4. Took to the local Apple reseller and they told me the logic board is backordered to 11/6/09. ***. That's my primary machine for photography and music production and now it's out for 2 months? *****.

Can I join the "dead display" club here?

After applying the 10.6.1 update this morning, my MacBook Pro's display no longer works (it had been flaky for a while, mostly when waking from sleep). The laptop display is black, the external 23" Cinema display is black, but the 17" LCD (attached via a Gefen USB->DVI adapter) works. So at least I'm able to still use the computer. Perhaps the Gefen adapter will be an option for some of you, but it needs a driver to be installed and I'm not sure how you'll be able to do that if you can't see the screen... Luckily I was already using it. More info here: http://www.gefen.com/kvm/dproduct.jsp?prod_id=4517

Anyway, I have an appointment tomorrow at noon with the Mac Genius at the local Apple store in Maine. We'll see what they say, but it's pretty apparent that it is the Nvidia issue since the computer is fully functionaly otherwise.

This problem has just surfaced for me - total failure of the screen, no reset of PRAM, PMU makes any difference.

I'm curious about the comment from one user that an upgrade to Snow Leopard fixes it - anybody else seen that?

Last night my MacBook Pro monitor died. SMC, PRAM, and Booting from Install CD all failed. I still get no video. The white light is always on.

I'm guessing its a Logic Board failure. The same problem happened earlier this summer with my iMac. AppleCare covers both computer.

Add me to the club as well. Neither my built in or external screens are working. And I just got a firmware update the night before it happened. Problem is I'm a student. Which means A: I'm poor. B: I rely heavily on my mac especially for video projects that I must do. So, I was wondering since the firmware update seems to have caused the problem, will Apple fix it for free? And if they don't cover it, would it be worth it to just get a new 13" MBP? I have all of my applications (Photoshop, Final Cut Studio) backed up on an external drive but can I move them on to a new computer?

Maybe I'll just email Steve Jobs and beg for mercy.