macbook pro wont boot

jolter

my daughter just switched off her macbook pro as normal now it wont boot up
its a 2011 model with a non removeable battery.i have pressed the battery test button on the side and its showing as full
any help would be much appreciated

OcocO

jolter wrote: »

my daughter just switched off her macbook pro as normal now it wont boot up
its a 2011 model with a non removeable battery.i have pressed the battery test button on the side and its showing as full
any help would be much appreciated

When you say it won't boot up, do you mean that absolutely nothing happens when the power button is pressed, or that the screen alights but not much else happens?

jolter

i mean nothing happens when the power button is pressed

OcocO

jolter wrote: »

i mean nothing happens when the power button is pressed

And, just to exclude the possibility, have you tried holding the power button down for a count of 10, then waiting a couple of seconds and pressing it again (normally this time) as it suggests to do in the troubleshooting section of the booklet that came with my MBP?.

jolter

hi, yes i have tried holding down the power button on a count of ten with no joy,its a strange one really as it was really treated with kid gloves and was never dropped. i hope i'm wrong but were beginning to suspect the motherboard
is goosed

OcocO

You might be right. Unless she has the 3 year Applecare then unfortunately she's out of warranty (you could see if you can extend your original one year to 2014 - I did that but it was still within the original year). There possibly is some good news in that that generation of MBP is not so recent that it can't be DIY'd (my 2013 rMBP can't - things glued rather than screwed in place). There are a few video / pictorial tutorials that I can refer you to if you're game. Apple used to be gentlemanly enough to service their computers, even out of warranty if it was clearly an un-abused hardware issue, but I wouldn't want to bet that that's the case these days.

jolter

yes its deffo out of warranty and were gutted really as my daughter has just started college and she really is lost without it, i did unscrew and remove the backplate to take a peep inside and i dident see anything physically wrong with any of the components.

OcocO

jolter wrote: »

yes its deffo out of warranty and were gutted really as my daughter has just started college and she really is lost without it, i did unscrew and remove the backplate to take a peep inside and i dident see anything physically wrong with any of the components.

if you have a multimeter, you should be able to rule out any power related problems and diagnose precisely which component is at fault. if you're up to the challenge there are forums with tech specialists who might be kind enough to guide you through diagnostic procedures. When a hard drive is mine recently stop working, Someone in the States gave many hours of their time helping me to isolate the fault to a replaceable 8-pin chip.

The safest thing to do would be to bring it to an Apple Genius Bar where they might be able to do a simple hardware diagnosis while you wait. They would then quote you the cost of fixing it which may not necessarily be all that much.

The following link starts with a few simple suggestions that you may not yet have tried and goes on to suggest more involved solutions that could be an alternative to going to the Genius Bar.

http://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/129120/MacBook+Pro+is+just+dead

Also, Google "MacBook Pro dead" and "MacBook Pro site:ifixit.com" for good starting points.

OcocO

The following is excerpted from the thread in the link I sent you - it seems that the circuitry inside the battery can be faulty and reset by using a multimeter in one of it's resistance measuring modes.

"Problem solved !!! After reading both references you gave I decided to test the battery by connecting a 10kOhm resistor between the centre pin (system sense) and ground of the battery. No result (still just a few 100 mV between the outer pins). Next I measued the current through the 10k resistor: just over 0.1mA. Thus I decided to take a 1k resistor. Still no change and slight rise of the current. So what about a 100 Ohm resistor? And bingo, now I had 12.5V between the outer pins, the battery seemed not not discharged. After replacing the 100 Ohm by the recommended 10k I still had the 12.5V. Not sure what happened but I gues connecting a 100 Ohm resistor somehow did a "reset" of the electronics that are inside the battery. After putting the battery back in I could start the macbook and even better: after connecting the magsafe charger the battery seems to be charging (orange led). Everythings looks normal so far, let's hope it stays that way (fingers crossed). Thank you very much for your help."

jolter

i have a buddy that is welling to loan me his multimeter so i will try and see if i can find any faults myself and i will try those links you have given me before i go down the apple repair route, really appreciate your links , thanks for your help and i will keep you posted on the outcome...cheers

OcocO

jolter wrote: »

i have a buddy that is welling to loan me his multimeter so i will try and see if i can find any faults myself and i will try those links you have given me before i go down the apple repair route, really appreciate your links , thanks for your help and i will keep you posted on the outcome...cheers

How did you get on?