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MacBook Pro late 2013 won’t boot

iamdanwalls

iamdanwalls

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 1, 2018
10
0
I’ve seen a lot of posts about boot loops and blank screens, but I’ve yet to see any posts with the problem I seem to be having.



My MacBook Pro (late 2013, i5, 256GB) started acting weirdly about a week ago (since the Mojave update I think). It started with a flickering screen which would lead to the machine rebooting itself. As this only happened on battery power, I put that down to a faulty or failing battery as it worked perfectly with the MagSafe connected.



Then, a few days ago, after waking up from sleep, I saw that the Wi-fi was disconnected and the cursor was freezing. After 30 seconds or so, the cursor would then move across the screen to where I’d obviously moved it to when it froze. After a few minutes of this, I forced a shutdown with a long press of the power button. Then, when I attempted to start it back up again, I heard the chime and the backlight came on, but there was no Apple logo. I tried a NVRAM reset and an SMC reset, but nothing worked. I still got a chime, but nothing else.



I did notice that if I turned it off and connected the MagSafe with the lid closed, the Apple logo on the lid would flash on and then straight off again. On opening the lid, the screen is completely black (no backlight), but the MacBook appears to still be on as, after a while of being sat in that state, the bottom was warm and I could hear the fan going inside.



Then, last night, after trying countless reboots, resets of every type and several frustrating hours, I hit the power button and the Apple logo appeared and it booted as normal. I ran a diagnostic test which showed no problems, but did a full restore which went through without a hitch.



All was was good until this morning when, once again, the Wi-fi turned off after waking from sleep and it froze again. And now I’m back where I started. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I’m starting to lose my mind.
 
I just made a post of issues I am having with my late 2013 rMBP, not the same as yours but interestingly the issues also started happening around when I installed Mojave. I assume seeing how you stated you did a full restore that you have tried booting into recovery mode by holding Command+R when powering on?
 
jaseone said:
I just made a post of issues I am having with my late 2013 rMBP, not the same as yours but interestingly the issues also started happening around when I installed Mojave. I assume seeing how you stated you did a full restore that you have tried booting into recovery mode by holding Command+R when powering on?
Click to expand...
Yeah, but I only managed to do it after I got it to power back on. I can reset SMC and NVRAM, but nothing that requires information to be displayed on the screen will work. I’ve tried safe mode, single user mode, restore, internet restore and all I get is a blank screen with the backlight on.
 
I’ve just tried it, and it made no difference. I’m really at the end of my rope with it. I’ve tried emulating the exact conditions from when it did manage to boot, but all I get is a blank screen with the backlight on. Keyboard works for resetting SMC and NVRAM, but nothing else. No single user mode, no verbose mode, no safe mode. I’ve tried the caps lock key and the LED doesn’t light up.
 
I’m at a loss. How would I even diagnose what’s causing the problem?
 
Is it possible that the Macbook was dropped or exposed to liquid in the past? Possibly a loose LVDS cable?

You could it take to an Apple store for a free diagnosis.
 
My nearest Apple store is about 3 hours away. It was second hand from a friend, but I’m certain there’s been no drops or liquid damage. I’ll check the LVDS cable again. I’ve already looked at the logic board end and that seems fine. In fact everything on the logic board seems fine. When I tried an external monitor, it didn’t even recognise any input.
 
The fact that it doesn't recognise an external monitor is not good.

I have an early 2015 Air that had a tiny amount of water drop through to the motherboard and will not turn on. Examining the motherboard gave no indication that it has ever been exposed to liquid. The Magsafe LED lights up and turns green when the battery is fully charged too.
 
It powers on OK, I get the chime and the backlight comes on (more obvious in a darker room as you can see the screen lit up although dark grey/black). What’s puzzling me is that it came on after 2 days of nothing, then the next morning, dropped WiFi, froze and then back to chime and nothing else again. Not long after it froze again, I did manage to start in single user mode.
 
Sometimes, a unit that has been exposed to moisture will exhibit inconsistent behaviour in that it may work one day, partially the next day, and not at all a few days later.
 
Interestingly, when I power it on, if I close the lid the backlight stays on.
 
Yeah I think you’re right. I keep hitting the power button hoping that I get an Apple logo, but I think it’s dead.
 
Some good news! It’s been bugging me all day at work that just before it died, the WiFi was shown as being turned off. Not just disconnected, but off. Anyway, I got in from work, took the back off again, removed the WiFi chip, and it booted straight away. Ok, I’ve got no internet or Bluetooth at the moment, but I’m dancing around my kitchen!! Thanks for your advice. It’s always good to know that there are people out there willing to give a little bit of time to help. Much appreciated!!!
 
It seems to have fixed all the little anomalies. It would sometimes not shut down and restart itself which led to many a flat battery after leaving overnight. I’ll look for a replacement card tonight.
 
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