Trying to power on old white MacBook (2007-2009)

Question

Level 1

4 points

Trying to power on old white MacBook (2007-2009)

Hey,

So I was going through some old boxes and happened upon my older MacBook. The white case one, it was bought between 2007-2009.

The last time I turned it on was a couple years ago with no issue. I just tried turning it on to get some old pictures off of it but it will not turn on.

The light on the front comes on and stays on, I can hear the components inside start to whirl up and the screen flicks for a split second. I’ve attached a video link to show my issue, it’s brief, but you can see the screen flick when I hit the power button.

Then I hear it turn off, yet I can still hear a slight fan and can feel heat coming from the MacBook. Power supply is fine, and I’ve tried turning on it with and without the battery in with no luck.

Any ideas on what I could do to fix this, if any?

Thanks!

[Edited by Moderator]

Posted on Aug 8, 2023 3:26 PM

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Answer 1

Lemmi1963

Level 2

460 points

Aug 8, 2023 7:57 PM in response to leoto20

maybe it’s the screen, which does not work, plug in an external screen

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Answer 2

Johnb-one

Level 6

9,210 points

Aug 9, 2023 9:05 AM in response to leoto20

Yess....leoto20, that's an OLD MacBook....

it could be that the PRAM/CMOS battery inside it has gone bad (they only last for about 5 years.... unfortunately, officially, that battery isn't user-replaceable, as it involves case dissa***ly, taking out a few P*****s screws, locating the b*****y and changing it for a fresh one...apart from doing a reset smc/PMU AND 3-4 pram zaps on startup, I don't know what else to suggest, apart from seeing if you can get Apple Diagnostics working by rebooting and holding down the "D" key on your keyboard on Startup....Safe Mode might work, but it only applies with Mac OS 10.13 or later... and I don't know if you have that... otherwise you'd have to start up from a Lion/Snow Leopard DVD or the original system DVD's, which I'm assuming you kept and have on hand somewhere....

that's all I have, I'll probably get a strike-out on this one

John b

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Answer 3

leoto20 Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 8, 2023 8:38 PM in response to Lemmi1963

That’s what I was thinking maybe as well, but if I click the CapsLock button, the green light doesn’t even turn on. So I’m not entirely sure if it’s the screen.

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Trying to power on old white MacBook (2007-2009)

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