MacBook Pro dim charger light headache

[MrBojangles]

Macbook pro 2011 or 2012 wont boot. Only has a dim green light when the charger is put on.

Okay, I try all the typical stuff like SMC and PRAM reset. I replace the ram, the charger, etc. I buy a new DC jack, same ****. Logic board's gotta be fried, right?

I buy a new logic board and install it. At first it's exactly the same as before. Imagine the frustration. I find out about something I wasn't aware of before, some kind of weird boot. It works like this, remove charger, hold power button 10 seconds. Put on charger, keep holding power for 10 seconds. Let go and press power. Boom, shapowa, it turns on and everything works fine. OH JOY.

Nah. I reboot and guess what, ONE of the USB ports (on this model, they are right next to eachother, so on the same chip) stops working, and the keyboard + trackpad stops working. I experiment alittle, putting the keyboard connector in again, refitting. After refitting it works for one reboot and stops working.

Hardware test shows nothing. It works to do an SMC reset with the built in keyboard, but NOT a PRAM reset. I had to do it with an external keyboard.

I have no clue where to go from here. Anyone that's good with Mac's that realizes the problem? Would appreciate it. Thanks.

 

[Ben Bessett]

That sounds like a pain! I would try removing all the peripherals on the board and just simply power the board... Make sure you get a properly working light on the magsafe (just power to the board). Confirm that isn't the problem and reconnect each peripheral to the board one by one... could be some liquid damage or some odd keyboard issue? I have been through similar frustrations but that sucks! Good luck.

 

[phaZed]

The first MOBO sounds like it has a bad "one-wire" circuit which is a common issue with Apple.

The second replacement MOBO sounds like it needs/or continues to need a reballing or replacement of the SMC.

 

[Krynn72]

Nah. I reboot and guess what, ONE of the USB ports (on this model, they are right next to eachother, so on the same chip) stops working, and the keyboard + trackpad stops working. I experiment alittle, putting the keyboard connector in again, refitting. After refitting it works for one reboot and stops working.

I had this issue once. It is definitely a logic board issue. I forget the exact setup, but on many models of the Macbook one of the USB ports is tied electrically to a controller IC also used for the touchpad. A fault in that IC causes the both the problems you're experiencing.

I'm guessing you bought the new board from ebay? Bad idea Send the broken one to Louis Rossmann or another quality component level repair tech. The ones on eBay are 9 times out of 10 reworked liquid damage boards that are only half-tested before being called "good enough to sell!".

 

[sapphirescales]

Sounds like your average Macbook repair. Almost every Mac I get in has some sort of weird freaking problem I've never seen before. Something that you'd NEVER see in any PC, even the cheapest piece of crap from Walmart. The fact of the matter is, Macbooks are made like crap. The older stuff was much better, but once they went with unibody designs the quality tanked about 70% or more.

Not saying that Mac repair isn't profitable. I trade in almost every Mac that comes through my door. They're nothing but a headache, but if you can sell them a refurbished one for 1/2 the cost of buying a new one, and take their old one in trade, most people jump at that. Then you can flip the bad one on eBay, or waste hours of your time trying to figure out what's actually wrong with it only to pull your hair out and curse Apple, praying that the horrible company dies a quick death.

I have 3 Macbook Pro's on my bench right now. One of them has a bad HDD cable (I think, we'll see when I get the replacement in), another one has an intermittent trackpad problem (I've ordered a new trackpad, but it wouldn't surprise me if it ended up being the logic board, or the webcam or some other off the wall thing that's actually causing the problem), and the third one has a bad SSD socket as a new SSD hasn't helped (it takes 45 minutes to boot). I mean, give me a freaking break!

My first Macbook I ever got in that had a totally weird problem was a non unibody white Macbook. The screen backlight wouldn't light up. I figured it was the inverter, so I bought a new inverter. NOPE! Then it must be the screen. Bought a new screen. NOPE! Then it must be either the inverter cable or the LVDS cable. NOPE! It ended up being the freaking logic board. So after a month of screwing with the thing, I gave up and threw it in the garbage.

My hatred for Apple and their shoddy products knows no bounds. They market themselves as having good quality stuff, but I have NEVER had as many problems with HP's or Dell's as I've had with Apple's. Almost every single Mac that I fix comes back less than a year later with some other new unrelated problem. And of course the client is ****** because they just put all that money into it. Like it's my fault that Apple parts are so freaking expensive. Either pay the Apple tax or get out. That Apple tax exists everywhere, regardless if you're buying a new Mac from the Apple store, getting your old Mac fixed at the Genius bar, buying a refurbished Mac from me, or having me (or anyone else) fix your old Mac, you're going to pay the Apple tax.

People that actually NEED a Mac for their work (music people mostly) are absolutely livid because they're having to replace their Mac every year or two. I've helped many an Apple person switch over to PC's, and 90% of them have been happy in the end. I sell and repair Mac's, but I'd never recommend them to anyone unless they need a program that only works on Mac OS. Hackintosh's are NOT a good idea.

 

[MrBojangles]

Update:

So next day I try booting the macbook up to make sure the fault is still there and guess what, it worked!

Wtf? Im kind of scared that it will stop working again after I give it to the client. Does anyone have an explanation? I swear macs are just like women, most of the time I have no understanding of whats going on with them but occasionally I press the right buttons. Haha

 

[cyabro]

Silly question but are you using a genuine Apple charger? And is it the correct wattage for the model MacBook you have?

Third party Apple chargers are crap, never seen a decent one.

We get a lot of MacBooks come in that won't turn on and turns out the customer has somehow got their charger mixed up with another one that doesn't have enough juice for their MacBook. They all look the same unless you have them side by side.
There are three different wattages, 45w, 60w, & 85w.
MacBook air's use the 45w, 13" MacBook pros the 60w and 15"-17" use the 85w.
The bigger wattage ones will work fine on the smaller devices but not the other way round.
Well they'll work but charging will take a lot longer and the charger may overheat.

 

[johnrobert]

Funny how people think they are superior in coffee shops seems like everybody has one

Part of the club

I have 2 Dell XPS Studio laptops both nearly 10 years still going strong never given a hiccup
even both batteries are still good after 10 years goes to show they can make batteries last if they want, laptops are used every day

Still fast without SSD

Replace H/D about 5 years ago nothing wrong with it just wanted a bigger H/D