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Supesu

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 8, 2020
4
2
Hey all, so a while back I had a friend give me an A2159 (2019 MacBook Pro) chassis with everything in it except for the motherboard to toy around with. I decided a little while back that it was time to buy a board off of eBay to see if I can get it working. So, I buy an untested board for 200$ because despite not having the schematics, I have a donor board and all the soldering equipment needed to fix the thing. So I got it in and it has honestly the weirdest issue I’ve seen on a MacBook. So when it’s plugged in, the haptics on the trackpad instantly start working as soon as it has the power to do so, but the rest of the machine remains completely dead, or so I thought.

So, I decided to risk my fingers to see if I could feel any stupidly hot components anywhere on the board since the power button did nothing at all and the machine never did anything else other than activate the haptics in the touchpad. So the CPU and the small heatshielded area under the CPU gets hot, but the CPU itself gets really freaking hot. It actually feels like the machine is booting, but the wierd part is; not only does the keyboard backlight or touchbar not turn on, but the fan never spins nor does it chime. It’s by far the weirdest issue I’ve seen to date. Keep in mind that this motherboard has zero signs of water damage either, none of the water sensors are tripped and it’s in great shape. I’ve done the usual unplug everything on the board unless it’s the bare minimum trick and all, but I can’t for the life of me narrow this problem down.

Does anyone know anything about what’s wrong with this motherboard or have any suspicions about what might be the culprit? I’d rather not spend more on a new one if I can fix it, I also have a multimeter as well so I can also take measurements. Any help whatsoever will 100% be appreciated! Also yes, I know I won’t have Touchid because the sensor won’t be origina to the board.
 

t0pher

macrumors regular
Sep 6, 2008
134
228
UK
So, I buy an untested board for 200$ because despite not having the schematics, I have a donor board and all the soldering equipment needed to fix the thing
what was wrong with the donor board or the stuff on it, why didn't you just use that?

basically are you really sure the stuff from the donor board was ok.

are you sure the untested board from eBay was ok?

have you ever tried this before?
 

Supesu

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 8, 2020
4
2
what was wrong with the donor board or the stuff on it, why didn't you just use that?

basically are you really sure the stuff from the donor board was ok.

are you sure the untested board from eBay was ok?

have you ever tried this before?
The donor board I had was dead from liquid damag, and I wasn’t sure the board from ebay was ok, but I’ve done repair jobs like this one before so I figured this one would be no differen from the other repairs I’ve done, but I cant narrow this one down to anything in particular, so I’m turning to the internet for help.
 

t0pher

macrumors regular
Sep 6, 2008
134
228
UK
Good luck

if the board was liquid damaged, could the components you’ve moved across be damaged by said liquid?
 

Supesu

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 8, 2020
4
2
Good luck

if the board was liquid damaged, could the components you’ve moved across be damaged by said liquid?
Thanks, I haven't moved any components yet due to not knowing what the issue with the new board is. I'm trying to figure out what the issue is so I can fix it. Plus, I also have a multimeter so I'd be able to check for correct currents on whatever I'm removing.
 

OccounTTV

macrumors newbie
Mar 4, 2024
1
0
Hello, have you found a solution to your problem since I have the same problem since changing the screen, if you had the solution it would save me because Apple wants to charge me more than 700€ and I don't want to putting so much into a mac repair when there may be another way to repair it for much less. Thanks in advance
 
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