Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Completely dead macbook pro.

whosdnc

whosdnc

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 14, 2023
23
4
Hi everyone, my macbook just stopped working. Laptop is a Macbook Pro Mid 2009, with the intel 2.56ghz processor. The battery went to 0% while it was charging, i closed the lid, and someone unplugged it. Since then, it did not turn on even when I unplugged the battery. I removed the RAM, HDD, and battery and still no success, tried to smc reset it but to no avail. I may suspect that the motherboard died, but its unlikely.
 
Same model I have, almost. I wouldn't throw any money at it unless you absolutely must, in which case I'd probably change the DC-in board and fit a new battery (a half decent one will be tough to find).

Perhaps it's time to let it go peacefully?
 
just bought it from someone 3 or 4 days ago, so thats not possible

The MagSafe light is green, so I don't think its the dc-in board
 
  • Like
Reactions: AEntropy
whosdnc said:
The MagSafe light is green, so I don't think its the dc-in board
Click to expand...
I've had everything repaired/ replaced, on occasion multiple times.

I did once have a faulty DC-in board, caused by an internal short of the original T-pieced MagSafe cord. The symptom was a constant green light (no switching to orange) when the battery was obviously not fully charged. That's the reason I mention it.

iFixit has a guide on changing it here. It's for the 15", they've one for the 13" also. Not sure what you have.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AEntropy
Thank you, I have the 13". The battery light indicator flashes multiple times. I also forgot to mention that the battery charged from 10%-35% very slowly, like extremely slow.
It also showed this every time it was plugged in:

1673736697546.jpeg


Is the battery the culprit of this, or the dc-in board, as you mentioned in your reply?
 
  • Like
Reactions: AEntropy
whosdnc said:
Thank you, I have the 13". The battery light indicator flashes multiple times. I also forgot to mention that the battery charged from 10%-35% very slowly, like extremely slow.
It also showed this every time it was plugged in:

View attachment 2142227

Is the battery the culprit of this, or the dc-in board, as you mentioned in your reply?
Click to expand...
Plugged the laptop at 1AM, when it was at 10%, and unplugged it at 10AM, it had 35% of battery.
 
whosdnc said:
Thank you, I have the 13". The battery light indicator flashes multiple times. I also forgot to mention that the battery charged from 10%-35% very slowly, like extremely slow.
It also showed this every time it was plugged in:

View attachment 2142227

Is the battery the culprit of this, or the dc-in board, as you mentioned in your reply?
Click to expand...
Hard to say, especially since you cannot look into SystemPrefs to ascertain the battery condition. Does the previous owner say anything when it was last replaced?

Discounting the charger itself, also having reset the NVRAM, try an new battery as a starting point. In my case, green light on MagSafe prevented charge dropping below 25% but wouldn't turn orange to charge above that either. "Battery is not charging" was also my alert but I did have an obvious short and had a replacement charging brick and DC-In board.
 
Alpha Centauri said:
Hard to say, especially since you cannot look into SystemPrefs to ascertain the battery condition. Does the previous owner say anything when it was last replaced?
Click to expand...

"Service Recommended" in his screenshot is a bit of a giveaway about the battery health, but if it will charge up to 35% I wouldn't expect that to stop it booting at all, especially if plugged in.

OP...Bit of a long shot, but do you have the AHT (Apple Hardware Test) disc for it? I managed to download and make one on a USB stick a while back.

Did you try Safe Boot...another long shot.

My experience of Macs of this vintage dying is that it can be frustrating experience, with inconsistent behaviour. I scrapped an old Mac which wouldn't boot, tried it a month later and it booted. But only for a while, then it wouldn't.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Alpha Centauri
what were the terms of this exchange?
can you return or have the buyer fix this MacBook?

just the slow battery charing is an indication there is something wrong with the MacBook
my 2010 MacBook Air has a bad battery (service recommended) for years
but never too that long to charge.

your headline stated: "Completely dead MacBook pro"
is this MacBook working now?
how did you get the 35% photo?
 
OP: to clarify. It went to 0% as in post #1, slowly charging to 35% but not booting any longer?

OR

the MBP only charged to 35% (post#5) initially, it dropped to 0% when it was unplugged and then won't power on any longer?

It's probably obvious and maybe I'm misunderstanding but I've been looking at it from a purely battery/ charging POV.
 
Alpha Centauri said:
OP: to clarify. It went to 0% as in post #1, slowly charging to 35% but not booting any longer?

OR

the MBP only charged to 35% (post#5) initially, it dropped to 0% when it was unplugged and then won't power on any longer?

It's probably obvious and maybe I'm misunderstanding but I've been looking at it from a purely battery/ charging POV.
Click to expand...
the MBP charged to 35% initially, it dropped to 0% when it was unplugged and then won't power on any longer, thats the exact issue that I've had.
 
Mike Boreham said:
"Service Recommended" in his screenshot is a bit of a giveaway about the battery health, but if it will charge up to 35% I wouldn't expect that to stop it booting at all, especially if plugged in.

OP...Bit of a long shot, but do you have the AHT (Apple Hardware Test) disc for it? I managed to download and make one on a USB stick a while back.

Did you try Safe Boot...another long shot.

My experience of Macs of this vintage dying is that it can be frustrating experience, with inconsistent behaviour. I scrapped an old Mac which wouldn't boot, tried it a month later and it booted. But only for a while, then it wouldn't.
Click to expand...
that was a photo I've got off Google, just to give a hint to what was happening with my battery
 
MBAir2010 said:
what were the terms of this exchange?
can you return or have the buyer fix this MacBook?

just the slow battery charing is an indication there is something wrong with the MacBook
my 2010 MacBook Air has a bad battery (service recommended) for years
but never too that long to charge.

your headline stated: "Completely dead MacBook pro"
is this MacBook working now?
how did you get the 35% photo?
Click to expand...
bought it second hand, seller told in the post that it was "locked" (mbp tried to download el capitan from apple servers, and was requesting icloud account)
 
Mike Boreham said:
"Service Recommended" in his screenshot is a bit of a giveaway about the battery health, but if it will charge up to 35% I wouldn't expect that to stop it booting at all, especially if plugged in.

OP...Bit of a long shot, but do you have the AHT (Apple Hardware Test) disc for it? I managed to download and make one on a USB stick a while back.

Did you try Safe Boot...another long shot.

My experience of Macs of this vintage dying is that it can be frustrating experience, with inconsistent behaviour. I scrapped an old Mac which wouldn't boot, tried it a month later and it booted. But only for a while, then it wouldn't.
Click to expand...
shouldn't the mbp turn on when the battery is unplugged and the magsafe plugged in?
 
whosdnc said:
bought it second hand, seller told in the post that it was "locked" (mbp tried to download el capitan from apple servers, and was requesting icloud account)
Click to expand...
Ohoh...it's now really sounding like a bag of hurt. Urge you to try return it and get your money back!!!
 
It's probably the battery or the logic board. Try the machine with a brand new battery? You can get new batteries for that model pretty cheap online. The instructions for a SMC reset are also extremely specific for that model, so follow the instructions on Apple's website carefully.

I have bought computers online before that turned on a few times, before going belly up as a dead logic board. If it does turn out to be a dead logic board, and if you want to try and resurrect it, there are some last ditch things you can try before throwing it out.

1) Bathe the logic board in Isopropyl Alcohol - then see if it turns on after completely drying out.
2) Cook the logic board in the oven -->read about this online and proceed with extreme caution.

The last ditch things mentioned above sound totally nuts, and they are, but you can read stories and see Youtube videos about people doing crazy 1) and crazy 2) to bring a logic board back to life. I would research, watch videos, and read about this as much as possible before actually trying.

Hope it is just the battery!!!!

www.businessinsider.com

You Can Fix A MacBook By Baking It In An Oven Like A Pie

It's getting hot in here, so take out your logic board.
www.businessinsider.com www.businessinsider.com
 
Last edited:
TimmuJapan said:
It's probably the battery or the logic board. Try the machine with a brand new battery? You can get new batteries for that model pretty cheap online. The instructions for a SMC reset are also extremely specific for that model, so follow the instructions on Apple's website carefully.

I have bought computers online before that turned on a few times, before going belly up as a dead logic board. If it does turn out to be a dead logic board, and if you want to try and resurrect it, there are some last ditch things you can try before throwing it out.

1) Bathe the logic board in Isopropyl Alcohol - then see if it turns on after completely drying out.
2) Cook the logic board in the oven -->read about this online and proceed with extreme caution.

The last ditch things mentioned above sound totally nuts, and they are, but you can read stories and see Youtube videos about people doing crazy 1) and crazy 2) to bring a logic board back to life. I would research, watch videos, and read about this as much as possible before actually trying.

Hope it is just the battery!!!!

www.businessinsider.com

You Can Fix A MacBook By Baking It In An Oven Like A Pie

It's getting hot in here, so take out your logic board.
www.businessinsider.com www.businessinsider.com
Click to expand...
Thanks, I will try to buy another battery and see if its the culprit.
 
Is it possible that the problem is with the charger? It won't charge the battery and it won't run off the mains: could well be.
 
It is always amazing how illogical some people behave. Especially when you have no or little money, you should not buy anything used that you can throw away directly when it is broken. Since an installment payment is the lesser evil. So at least has warranty.
By the way, it sounds like your battery is broken. Get a cheap one from ebay to rule out this error.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back