Mac Book Pro 2019 - Wont Boot- No Chime- Logic Board ?

Hey Folks.

MBP 2019, stopped booting up with no chime. Nothing on display

Tried PRAM, SMC and different charger to no avail.

Brought it to an authorised service provider who diagnosed a bad logic board.

How likely is this ? The only thing that made me suspicious was that they diagnosed this within about 3 mins of taking it out back.


I thought the symptoms of a bad logic board were distorted graphics mainly.


I asked for their diagnostic report which points to the logic board but he said he cant , company policy which is fair enough.

Also he said my data cannot be recovered?


Is this information correct ?

i dont suppose there are any repair extension programs for this model ?


Thanks

MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Posted on Jan 16, 2023 7:22 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 16, 2023 6:41 PM

The symptoms you described was telling me a bad Logic Board was likely. There won't be any diagnostics test results since the laptop won't power on. All there would be to report are just several steps they performed to attempt to power on the laptop including SMC Reset, trying each USB-C port to power the laptop, attempting a firmware "Restore" of the laptop. Possibly disconnecting the battery. I know I would disconnect the I/O Boards and test with a known good I/O Board since many of the laptops I support have liquid damaged USB-C ports. This is usually enough to confirm a bad Logic Board, but I personally also try disconnecting the built-in display, keyboard & trackpad just on the off chance one of these items is a problem just to see if a "ding" occurs when connecting the charger or if the heatsink gets warm since I've seen so many odd quirky things with these laptops, but these Macs also don't like to have these components disconnected.


Graphical glitches are just one sign of a bad Logic Board when there is a GPU failure or possibly a memory failure since some memory failures can result in graphical glitches as well.


The only way an AASP could possibly attempt data recovery is if the laptop can be put into DFU Mode, but even if successful, the data transfer requires a service provider only utility and the transfer only occurs over a USB 2 cable which has a max transfer rate of about 50MB/s, so it could take days to transfer the data. However, not all AASPs will provide this service and it will cost extra. Besides, if the tech attempted a "Restore" of the system firmware (one of the troubleshooting steps for these symptoms), then the data on the internal SSD may already been destroyed. Keep in mind Apple puts the responsibility of user data on the user and assumes the user is taking advantage of the built-in Time Machine software to backup the computer. Apple does not do data recovery and does not require AASPs to do so either.


You can try having Drive Savers to attempt data recovery, but there are no guarantees since the data on the internal SSD is hardware encrypted with the T2 security enclave holding the encryption keys. Drive Savers does provide a free estimate and are recommended by Apple. However, if you are going to have Apple or the AASP repair the laptop, then you will need to talk with the AASP about how to go about with Drive Savers attempting data recovery before the repair is performed. Years ago, the AASP would send the drive to Drive Savers on your behalf during the repair since the AASP needs to return the bad part to Apple after the data recovery attempt & repair. I don't know how they do this now when the whole Logic Board is involved, but you should make sure to co-ordinate with the AASP to make sure how this process is supposed to work.


People should always have frequent and regular backups of their computer and all external media (including the cloud) which contains important & unique data. There are a lot more ways to lose data with these newer computers since it is nearly impossible to recover data from these newer Macs and even hardware encrypted SSDs. Many times there will be no warning signs when a failure occurs....failures can be sudden.

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 16, 2023 6:41 PM in response to Cav9mm

The symptoms you described was telling me a bad Logic Board was likely. There won't be any diagnostics test results since the laptop won't power on. All there would be to report are just several steps they performed to attempt to power on the laptop including SMC Reset, trying each USB-C port to power the laptop, attempting a firmware "Restore" of the laptop. Possibly disconnecting the battery. I know I would disconnect the I/O Boards and test with a known good I/O Board since many of the laptops I support have liquid damaged USB-C ports. This is usually enough to confirm a bad Logic Board, but I personally also try disconnecting the built-in display, keyboard & trackpad just on the off chance one of these items is a problem just to see if a "ding" occurs when connecting the charger or if the heatsink gets warm since I've seen so many odd quirky things with these laptops, but these Macs also don't like to have these components disconnected.


Graphical glitches are just one sign of a bad Logic Board when there is a GPU failure or possibly a memory failure since some memory failures can result in graphical glitches as well.


The only way an AASP could possibly attempt data recovery is if the laptop can be put into DFU Mode, but even if successful, the data transfer requires a service provider only utility and the transfer only occurs over a USB 2 cable which has a max transfer rate of about 50MB/s, so it could take days to transfer the data. However, not all AASPs will provide this service and it will cost extra. Besides, if the tech attempted a "Restore" of the system firmware (one of the troubleshooting steps for these symptoms), then the data on the internal SSD may already been destroyed. Keep in mind Apple puts the responsibility of user data on the user and assumes the user is taking advantage of the built-in Time Machine software to backup the computer. Apple does not do data recovery and does not require AASPs to do so either.


You can try having Drive Savers to attempt data recovery, but there are no guarantees since the data on the internal SSD is hardware encrypted with the T2 security enclave holding the encryption keys. Drive Savers does provide a free estimate and are recommended by Apple. However, if you are going to have Apple or the AASP repair the laptop, then you will need to talk with the AASP about how to go about with Drive Savers attempting data recovery before the repair is performed. Years ago, the AASP would send the drive to Drive Savers on your behalf during the repair since the AASP needs to return the bad part to Apple after the data recovery attempt & repair. I don't know how they do this now when the whole Logic Board is involved, but you should make sure to co-ordinate with the AASP to make sure how this process is supposed to work.


People should always have frequent and regular backups of their computer and all external media (including the cloud) which contains important & unique data. There are a lot more ways to lose data with these newer computers since it is nearly impossible to recover data from these newer Macs and even hardware encrypted SSDs. Many times there will be no warning signs when a failure occurs....failures can be sudden.

Jan 16, 2023 9:56 AM in response to Cav9mm

Cav9mm wrote:

Hey Folks.
MBP 2019, stopped booting up with no chime. Nothing on display
Tried PRAM, SMC and different charger to no avail.

Brought it to an authorised service provider who diagnosed a bad logic board.

How likely is this ? The only thing that made me suspicious was that they diagnosed this within about 3 mins of taking it out back.

I thought the symptoms of a bad logic board were distorted graphics mainly.

I asked for their diagnostic report which points to the logic board but he said he cant , company policy which is fair enough.
Also he said my data cannot be recovered?

Is this information correct ?
i dont suppose there are any repair extension programs for this model ?

Thanks


If that was the diagnostic it is hard to dispute...


Make an appointment for a "hardware issue"

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple


Outside the USA

Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support



Check your coverage

My Support - Official Apple Support



Learn how to get your Mac fixed and how much it will cost. Mac Repair Service Mac Repair & Service - Apple Support


Get your Mac ready for service - Apple Support Get your Mac ready for service - Apple Support




Waiting for a catastrophic failure is not the time contemplate backups—Talk to your authorised service provider when you take it in for service and ask them if it possible to retrieve your data...


If you value your user data

3-2-1 Backup Strategy: three copies of your data, two different methods, and one offsite.

More than one device, more than one backup methodology.







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Mac Book Pro 2019 - Wont Boot- No Chime- Logic Board ?

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