macbook pro screen wont turn on.

Question

Level 1

4 points

macbook pro screen wont turn on.

hi,

yesterday, i was using my macbook pro and i noticed it was getting kinda sluggish, from having all sorts of apps and things running all at once, so i figured i would quit all the apps and restart my mbp to free up all the ram, well when i restarted my mbp the screen was black, and nothing was happening, but i noticed the white light on the latch was a soldid white, so i restarted the mac again and this time i pressed the option key and it brought me to a screen where i can choose what i want to do, so i clicked on my macintosh HD icon, and it booted my mac and i was able to use it.

so i was using it and i had to shut it down and pack it up to go home (from work)
and when i got home, and went to boot up my mac, it did the same thing, but this time i cannot get to the screen that i mentioned.

i dunno what to do now. i'm worried that it is damaged and will need repairs, but i cannot afford to pay for the repairs, and i need all my data that is on the hard drive, it has all my itunes, and iphoto libraries

please help! thanks

Mac Book Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.1)

Posted on Oct 2, 2009 5:55 AM

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Answer 1

A Yilmaz

Level 1

120 points

Oct 2, 2009 5:36 PM in response to irishking

Your hard drive isn't damaged. Post up your Mac's specs so I can fully identify the issue but the solid sleep light leads me to believe that you have the NVIDIA issue. The specs that you have however depend on the repair cost. If your machine is covered, it is a free repair.

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Answer 2

Oct 2, 2009 6:12 PM in response to irishking

Try to reset your SMC controller and PRAM. The SMC handles power, so a reset might fix the sleep issue. Also run HD tests and repair your permissions.

My screen went dark today but was the result of a bug in handbrake with Leopard 10.6.1 so I wonder what apps you were running? If you open the 'console' app you can check your log messages for system problems or diagnostic messages. If the above doesn't fix your issues, maybe post error messages here and we might be able to help?

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Answer 3

hugh222

Level 1

0 points

Oct 4, 2009 8:41 AM in response to irishking

Hi there, I've been experiencing similar problems with my Macbook Pro (this is my first ever Mac).

Here are my specs:

Macbook Pro (purchased Feb 09) 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Running Mac OS X Version 10.5.8

I've been having a problem where the macbook won't turn on. I push the power button and I hear it whir - the DVD-ROM drive makes its usual noises and the HDD sounds like it's spinning - and the little white light at the front lights up. But the screen remains blank.

The first time this happened I took it into the Genius Bar here in London and the 'genius' managed to get it going having used a couple of tricks with keys on the keyboard (I forget what they were now unfortunately). He simply told me that if this happens in future to make sure my software updates are up to date and to "fiddle with my power settings". Very vague advice!

Anyway, my macbook has been behaving fine since then - I have kept all my software updates up to date. I had a 'fiddle' with my power settings but to use the vernacular, I'm buggered if I know exactly what I'm supposed to 'fiddle' with!

Anyway, I digress. This morning the same problem reared its ugly head once more. I found the troubleshooting guide on here which explains how to reset the PRAM (that didn't work) and how to reset the SMC.

The latter worked in the end, so I am now looking at my fully-functioning macbook once again, hooray. However, to bring this lengthy essay to its point, I am concerned that I have merely solved the problem in the short term. Is there a bigger underlying problem? I have noted that there might be an issue with the graphics, which might be causing problems. Would this apply to me perhaps?

Oh and just out of interest, which is the 'option button'? I can see a Fn button, a cmd button, a ctrl button, etc, but no 'option' button.

Thanks in advance for your help everyone and many apologies for my lengthy post!

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Answer 4

irishking Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 4, 2009 11:44 AM in response to Peter Knapp

i was running itunes, and i restarted my mbp, and that's when the screen wouldnt turn on.

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Answer 5

irishking Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 5, 2009 5:29 AM in response to Peter Knapp

see the problem with me is that i dont see any error messages on the screen, because when i press the power button the screen stays black, it doesnt show antthing. all i hear is the dvd drive revving up and the harddrive starting up also, and the white light on the front stays on, then nothing else happens. i have tried resetting the SMC controller and the PRAM and nothing happens.

if i have to take it to get the videocard or the logic board card replaced, how long will it take? thanks

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Answer 6

irishking Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 5, 2009 5:32 AM in response to A Yilmaz

i still have a 2 year warranty on my mbp.
so it should be free to replace the parts in question.

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