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crush damaged Macbook doesn't boot


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I was given a Macbook that suffered crush damage. The screen was cracked and the keyboard was raised in the center. The machine power turns on and all the indicator lights function but it doesn't display anything on the damaged screen or on the minidvi port. I took it apart and have went over the motherboard with a magnifying glas and have been unable to find any defects. I have also tried out the accessories (hard drive, superdrive, wireless) in another machine and they are fine.

 

Other observations:

Video never seems to initialize.

Fan for processor heatsink never spins but can be spun freely by hand

Processor heatsink is heating up over processor

Battery and powersupply logic are working fine (charge when it needs to charge, etc)

Hard drive spins up at power on.

Cap Lock light comes on when pressed

 

I realize it is probably a lost cause, but I thought I would post to see if anyone has any other suggestions before I just part it out.

 

Thanks in advance for any and all help provided,

James

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If you did this literally, you have to remember, that it is a MULTI layered system board!

Although you my not see the damage any of the other six internal layers can have damage on them!

 

SticMAN

 

........... I took it apart and have went over the motherboard with a magnifying glass..........

James

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I realized the system board is multiple layers and this could be an issue with one of the those sandwiched layers. There are no marks or visible damage to the motherboard, but I can't come up with any reason why the machine is not bringing up video. I didn't have high hopes, but just wanted to see if anyone had any other suggestions/keystrokes/whatever that I might be missing. The system fan was located directly above the crush point, Does anyone know if the machine will not boot if that fan is damaged or inoperable?

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Most likely, it is a lost cause. The amount of visible damage to the case was actually pretty neglibible, though. No visible exterior cracks anywhere. Some internal cracks on the lcd with the requisite LCD bleeds, but the outer glass is not cracked or deformed. Deformation of the case bottom is less than .5 mm and is localized within a 1 cm diameter located around the center screw. Looking at it looks like a light dimple. The only other visible damage the keyboard being raised ever so slightly at the H key. Looking at the bottom of that panel reveals a dimple around the post that receives the center screw. Again, this is less than .5mm of deformation.

 

The screen being busted internally indicates that the pressure on that center screw got pretty high. I would have almost guessed it was impact damage rather than crush, though, due to the very specific areas that were effected. The odds of an impact being only at that center screw aren't too good. The case was not scuffed at all.

 

I'll probably go ahead and part it out. No one has suggested anything that hasn't already been tried, so I don't think there is anything else to do with it. It makes me glad I upgraded to a MacBook Pro personally. The plastic case of the MacBook is apparently pretty flimsy if it becomes inoperable with this amount of visible damage.

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  • 3 weeks later...

if you could get ahold of another fan to try somehow, it'd be worth it; most modern motherboards; Mac, PC, or other; will NOT boot if it isn't detecting proper RPMs from the CPU fan. Also, it MIGHT not hurt to remove and reseat the CPU and cooling module. I am willing to bet it has something to do with that fan not spinning, though. CPU fan RPM is the first thing that gets checked at power on.

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I dont think thats the case because my POS macbook boots and the fan sometimes dosent spin at all. "i need a new fan"

 

Try Opening it. Unpluging the keyboard, HDD every thing you can unplug. If im correct the Cable to the MOB from the keyboard is somehow broken. Unless you Press the power button and hear the Apple Chime in which case its not the keyboard.

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