Q: MacBook Pro Late 2008 (Unibody) doesn't boot
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Jan 16, 2013 10:13 PMby sdpitbull,Not sure what you are asking here. Are you saying the machine does not power on at all any more? What happens when you press power? Nothing at all? Are you sure you are doing the SMC reset correctly? Here's the article on how to do it so you can check: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964 although if you can't turn on I guess you can't check. Does it do this whether on battery alone or when plugged in? Both?
You can look at the bottom of your MBPro and it will have a Model # in all that small print - if you find that post it here so we can translate into what kind of Mac you have. It may begin with the letter "A".
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Jan 17, 2013 9:57 AMby music_tracker,Oh thanks for the answer!
You're right, it doesn't turn on at all. Nothing happens if I press the power button. With or without battery, with or without power plug or both.
I did the SMC reset according to the link that you sent me, without success. I did that before, too, but the Apple Store guy also pressed ctrl+alt+shift+power button, and then he pressed the n-key. It looked like magic to me. And I don't think that he actually knew what he was doing, did he?
When I take out my battery, I find a serial no., EMC no. and Ethernet No. And this little code: 2.53/2x2G/320/SD/AP/BT - DEU. Is that what you were looking for? Oh actually I was doing a serial number search and the system gave me this information: http://support.apple.com/kb/SP499
I really don't know what the problem is with my Macbook Pro. I tried the hard disk with another Mac and I could boot from it without any problems. So I think it has to be a power supply problem. I tried another MagSafe Power Adapter but that did't change anything (Mine is european, I just changed the edge plug-in with a canadian power plug shape as I live in Canada now). The battery looks fine, and even if the battery wouldn't work, the Mac should start in either way if I plug it in, doesn't it?
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Jan 19, 2015 10:30 PMby Searchin99,I've got the same, or almost the same problem on a MBP 2008 (late).
MBP 15.4/2.53/2X2GB/320/SD/512VRAM upgraded to 8 GB 1067 DDR3 (OWC memory)
In my case the computer works fine when I'm able to get it on. If it is turned off and the MagSafe charger disconnected then left that way for a few hours, and the MagSafe is re-connected, let it charge for a bit, it can often be turned on via the power button. HOWEVER, .....
If it is left OFF overnight (Apple > Shut Down .... ), and the backlit keyboard goes dark, then a little pause before closing the lid, and left overnight, it will usually not be able to be turned on. The battery is in reasonably good condition (~+3500 mAh) and the newer battery (~ guess +5000 or more mAh) it doesn't do any better, and it won't turn on. Cycle count 183.
Take the battery out, (disconnect the MagSafe first! Never have the MagSafe charging without a batter in the computer) wait half a minute, reinstall battery (I like the 5,1 because the back section can be easily removed to access the battery and the hard drive), attach the MagSafe charger then wait a bit (few minutes), and the computer can often be turned on the first time. If not the first time then repeat the process. Tried hitting the Power button with the battery off but that doesn't seem to change anything.
Erased the HD (Hard Drive) and reinstalled Yosemite, have Fire Vault turned off, did a Utilities (Cmd + r ) check of the hardware (no problems), also did a few other tests - no problems. PRAM reset. Investigated BONJOUR - haven't gone into the Terminal yet. Would be nice to disable Bonjour without disabling DNS. https://www.apple.com/support/bonjour/ and http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/151485/how-do-i-disable-bonjour-visibil ity-after-yosemite-install and http://forums.obdev.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=6106
The Genius Bar tested it and couldn't find a problem. Suggested the Logic Board be replaced and that i$ expen$ive! I've investigated having the Logic Board repaired and that would cost around $150 + shipping. Won't do the oven trick. Other problem sources I've come across is the graphics chip (mainly on the 2008 (early) MBPs.
Since erasing and reinstalling OS X Yosemite the computer really screams but I've started to reinstall some of the applications (FCPX & Motion), Documents, and Movie files. Still screams though! Nothing like a real cleaning of the hard drive. Didn't do a Time Capsule-type backup because I wanted to minimize "junk". The CanoScan LiDE 90 scanner won't work because Canon won't come up with a driver to work with Yosemite. Won't buy a Canon scanner again and didn't want to buy it to begin with due to a previous Canon problem. Bought a new Canon camcorder, $1,600 + tax, back when they had mini-tapes, it at the Maxwell tape but just outside the warranty period and wanted something around $500 to fix it. Turned out that was a typical problem.
Really running out of options and ideas at this point. Hate to send it off to repair the Logic Board. Still looking for a software or setting fix.
