MacBook Pro Logic Board Failure

Hi tnstone,

Is this the article you mentioned that you took to the apple store?

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

As far as I can see in that link, apple dont actually admit that the failiure of the GPU causes the logic board to malfunction. Is there another article (other than the comments of those on these forums) which connect the two issues. I'm certain this is what's happened to my Mac but I'm pretty sure Apple Denmark (where I live) will demand payment for this repair.

Thanks for your help.

Hi All,

This is a good luck story. Please read. Please don't give up!

My MBP (2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo) began behaving erratically about 1 year ago.

It started with phantom keys remaining held, the trackpad freezing, cursor jumping to random places when typing emails etc.

At the time I thought not much of it. Only the trackpad freezing was of any frustration.

A restart would clear it. Then 2 restarts per day. Then 5. Then 10...

This was when I started looking around these parts for anyone with similar issues.

A few did help.

I even took to placing some tape over a ribbon cable beneath the battery... which actually seemed to help for a time.

Then I had a complete meltdown.

This is when I first became aware of "the NVIDIA issue".
Armed with the information gleaned from these pages<>

I made my 1st call to customer service.

<

http://www.mobilemag.com/2011/04/12/confirmed-apple-policy-fails-to-determine-el igibility-of-macbook-pro-nvidia-gpu-problems/

http://www.seattlerex.com/seattle-rex-vs-apple-the-verdict-is-in/

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2675881?start=270&tstart=0

>

I was initially told that my warranty had expired & that I would need to purchase the honour.
When I mentioned the NVIDIA issue - this got me through the gates.
I was aware of the extended 4 year warranty.

Then I was told my machine was 4 years 2 months old.
"I'm sorry we can't help you" was my first reply.
I asked to speak with a senior tech.

He was slightly more genial, however, he said this was policy, 4 years had expired, I would have to pay for the repair myself.
I found this unacceptable as my machine had clearly been failing within the 4 years.

And... in actual fact, if you want to get pedantic about the wording of the Apple press release (which I did) :-

"If the NVIDIA graphics processor in your MacBook Pro has failed, or fails within four years of the original date of purchase, a repair will be done free of charge, even if your MacBook Pro is out of warranty."

Quite clearly my NVIDIA graphics processor did fail within four years. The wording of the above covers me legally.

So... I was being brushed aside.
I asked to be transferred to CR.

I went through the whole sorry story again.

Did I mention I am in Japan?
"Well, Mr X... we might be able to make an exception if you were in the states"

This blew my mind.
What!? I asked for her personal email, the emails of her boss.

This was the door opening needed & from this moment on I refused to take no for an answer.

First, I had to establish if, in actual fact, my machine was suffering from the NVIDIA issue, because at this stage nothing was confirmed!

With no Apple Store within 400k I sent it to a AASP.
2 days later they confirmed that it failed the GPT Test & I would require a new logic board.

I called back my senior tech in the US... leaving message after message - no reply.
I went back to the start.

I dealt again with a tech, senior tech then CR again.

"We cannot help you... try calling CR in Japan"

At this point I nearly gave up.

I don't speak Japanese.

My wife called for me. I found that they have a English tech dept.

I spoke with a tech. Getting the same party line.

This time it wasn't possible to speak with CR because no-one in this department speak English.

They did however, say they would refer me to an English speaking CR in Singapore.

Here came the breakthrough.

She said right from the start "If this is a NVIDIA issue I can help you. Anything more than this I cannot."

She asked to be sent all my information.

I sent her a detailed report (much like this one) with links to threads on this very page & my diagnosis report from the AASP.

She asked for 2 days to look into my case.

She then emailed me asking for a time to call.

During this very short phone call she told me that she had obtained a repair code & that my machine would be repaired free of charge.

I received my machine back today.

This is the first email I've written.

If anyone reading this is having the same trouble.
Stick to your guns.

You have done nothing wrong.

This is Apple's problem.
They MUST fix it.

Good luck

<Edited by Host>

Thank you so much for taking the time to write down your problem and solution! I just posted yesterday that our daughter's MBP has this issue and we are over 4 years from purchase. I came to the support community to see if anyone else had this issue over four years from purchase--wondering if it was worth pursuing. The discussion got sidetracked by what I thought was an incredibly rude poster (totally misreading me and telling me how I was going to respond)--I am thrilled to read your post today and will indeed pursue this issue. I may not get the same result you did but I will indeed pursue it.

Thanks again for taking the time to post about your experience! Glad you got your computer fixed!

Hi Kroguisan,
If you have read through this thead (which isn't easy!) you'll find some successes & many failures in getting this issue resolved.
( see my earlier post on this thread )

I dont think being in Mexico alters your abilty to be treated as an honoured customer (I am in Japan).

I suggest you send your machine to an AASP - you can locate the nearest one from here > http://www.apple.com/buy/locator/service/
To have your machine diagnosed.

Tell them you're in dicussion with Applecare about the NVIDIA issue... if you're not, call them.

Expect to be told "there's nothing we can do" - don't accept this, but stay calm.
Make sure they create a case number & ask to speak with CR.

If the AASP confirm that you are indeed a victim to the "NVIDIA issue" they will, eventually, repair your machine.

Best of luck

Update:

I found how to get the error do go away for a bit, thanks to thread https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1697470 ,

but not permamnent yet.

The issue is overheating.

Adding the fac controller app and setting that to max rpm + adding an external laptop fan, the machine stays up and no errors show.

Talked to Apple Tech support and issues seems to be with the video card, more info to follow once available :-)

(At least I can CC the drive now, as the machgine has been runnign for a couple of hours without a glitch ;-))

Hi everyone,

As many of you, I am affected by the logic board issue (diagnosed by a genius and with the symptoms detailed here: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377?viewlocale=en_US).

I live in France and what Apple has been doing is absolutely illegal since the 4-year limit doesn't apply here (it's 20 years in France and one has 2 years after the discovery of the latent defect to ask for a compensation or be paid back).

I have read other's people posts here and it seems to be illegal at least in the UK as well.

I have sent a registered letter to Apple a few days ago explaining the case, citing the "Code Civil" (French common law).

The answer I was given had no relation with the context and the issue (it was signed by Guy H.). I was shocked to receive an automated to answer to a very precise, concrete and well-known issue.

I was really disappointed. I am a loyal customer and they could see with my Apple ID that I had bought: 3 MBP 15", 1 MBP 13", 1 iPad, 7 iPhones, 2 iPods (about €14,000, not to mention the apps and OS). But still, nothing.

I was given a file number and decided to call Apple Executive Customer Relations in Ireland.

I spent about 20 minutes on the phone with a guy named Patrick from Apple.

If you guys have another solution, let me know.

<Edited By Host>

There is another thread about this that says 'It seems as though the fans don't kick on until the machine is 15 degrees warmer than it used to be when the fans kicked on':

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4161908

Another thread mentions a KB article that explains how to reset the System Management Controller (SMC) and solved the issue for some users of overheating and the fans not running when they should:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4136604?start=0&tstart=0

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

The SMC is responsible for Thermal management. I tired this, but it was too late as my board was already damaged.

I suggest everyone monitor their temperatures. One option is: http://www.bresink.de/osx/TemperatureMonitor.html

If it's running too hot and you want to increase the minimum speed of the fan, try smcFanControl. This won't ensure that your fans are running properly when your computer is under load, but it will allow you to change how fast they run when the computer thinks they should be running at the slowest speed. If you find that your computer runs hot even when idle, try this:

http://www.eidac.de/

Alex

Lenn5 (and anyone else whose MBP won't boot), the Apple Store will run a diagnostic on the machine to reveal the problem.

However, you can do the same thing before taking it in, and it's a good idea to do so since almost certainly this will reveal the nvidia-related error code.

In brief, restart the computer and immediately press and hold the D key. This starts the Apple Hardware Test.

Wait until you see a 1980s-style graphic appear then let go. Follow the menu prompts. You'll be rewarded with an error code. (See further back in this thread for the specific code.)

More on the test:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509

On another note, these two threads together (the other being https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1995151?answerId=20653153022#20653153022 have now exceeded the quarter of a million views - surely someone at Apple cant have failed to take notice of this and be coming down on whoever set up this 'diagnose everyone with dead logic boards at ridiculous prices to save Nvidia the price of repairs yet stuff our own customers malarky) 😠 Let's make it half a million!

Contact Apple using www.apple.com/support/contact if you are in a country that supports it or call the appropriate phone number on this page. Alternatively carry the MacBook Pro in to an Apple retail store or service provider to ask for an estimate.

It never hurts to ask.

I guess I'm confused how some people are getting this issue taken care of by Apple & others are not. It makes no sense. I've been reading through all these posts & I can't believe it. It's like a Lottery. I wrote a letter to the top person at Apple, knowing he'd never read it, but his office would have to deal with it.They called me back the next day, but the reason for them not fixing mine was because I bought it in 2007. It's beyond 4 the year limit & considered "Vintage". No where in the documentation on Apple's website does it say your Mac has to be bought in 2008 or newer. It mentions my exact model & year as the 1st Mac covered in the list. It still makes no sense to me & leaves me disappointed with a very bad feeling. Go here to see the Link.

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

vince1008 wrote:

OK. Assume it was nVidia's cost. But Apple obviously made that arrangement with nVidia. I bought the computer from Apple, If I bought a Honda and the tires fell apart after 6 months I would go to my Honda dealer and have them fix the issue. I feel Apple has accountability if nVidia has decided to only offer 4 years.

Then tell Apple

www.apple.com/feedback

Read my posts! I did the same as you. Email to Tim Cook. They basically told me my Macbook Pro warranty of any kind expired after the 4 year mark. I bought mine in 2007. So the ER Person at Apple told me, because it's older than 4 years, there was nothing they could do. Basically she told me go buy a new Mac, but offered me No Discount or Voucher. No where in the following document does it say my Macbook needed to be under 4 years in age. In fact the document lists my exact 17" MBP. You need to read this & go back to some posts & read. It's like the Lottery. Some People Won, but most Lost. Here is the Official Document from Apple: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

I have same problem after updating SMC 1.6 https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4784588?answerId=21308846022#21308846022

I think Apple maybe will make new update which fix this problem.

If you'll install 10.6.4 you can apply in future some updates. I could help you. But only then Apple make new update.

If you want no restrictions you may have to start your own site, this is a user tech support site, a site who's terms you have agreed to. Did you not mean to agree?, if you didn't, and don't intend to abide by the terms then posting here should stop, complaining helps no one.

You can let Apple know of your feelings here