SMC Issue on MBP 13 - Hardware Troubleshooting Guide

[ZZZAC]

I think they are the page ref numbers of other places that net appears.


Please can someone help me....Should PM_RSMRST_L be low (0v) when it is active? My board still won't power on. All of the standby voltages seem correct, but PM_RSMRST_L is high (3.42V) as soon as the charger is plugged in, and does not drop to 0v, as I understand it should go low when the SMC receives the RSMRST_PWRGD signal from U7940.

Please can someone give me some help with this?

Thanks

Have you a working macbook board to test it by?

this is really beyond me
if the voltage drops like it 'should' on a working macbook board then it suggests your pp3v3 sus pwrctl isnt putting out a decent sense signal or something.

I dont really use my brain when it comes to this level of diagnosis, in my experiences, its usually the SMC or Chipset.


please let me know if you get anywhere or learn anything. im assuming your fan doesn't spin up atall?

i need another board like this so i can spend a week driving myself mad trying to figure out the problem. If not to fix it to improve my knowledge of there design and how there signals work together.


Just recalled this was one i was helping with previously. PM SLP S4_L problems are usualy 99% related to a duff mcp. I also recall you stating there was nothing obvious that failed, the entire system slowly died. also suggesting a bga component

Good luck with replacing that chip lol
----------

Dear Friends,

I have the this problem with Macbook Air 13" mid 2011. MBA turn on in the same moment I plug in the magsafe. It is 100% a Hardware issues.
How can I isolate the problem? May be a short on G3Hot Rail?
Any Help?
Many Thanks in advance!!!

does the battery work? if its newer than 2010 if you plug it in when flat it instantly turns on.

----------

Hi!

I currently have a Macbook Pro mid 2009 15" a1286 that has been working fine on the battery, but the power supply has gone dim. The battery has died and now I can't boot.

I've done the SMC reset, which gave me an orange charging light for a couple of seconds and then faded. If I plug in the magsafe after quite a while it is brighter green, then quickly fades to a dim green and stays there.

It boots perfectly from battery.

My question is, I will check the fuse near the magsafe board (I've just changed the magsafe board, but no change), but is there anything else I can try? Any other fuses on the board?

The macbook pro runs perfectly on battery, but doesn't charge.

thanks!!

Jimmy

probably a complex problem
First try remove the battery indicator light. Also unplug the battery, connect the charger and check the voltage on the white fuse near the battery. should be 12v

 

[ZZZAC]

as i said.. its not related to LCD... LCD cable... etc.
There is a spot underneath the board that if a press ( usually when the board is hot) it will make happen and as soon as a release it, it will come back to normal...
this ispot is near the GPU.... but i reball the GPU and if i press the GPU core or move the heatshing it dos not affect so i dont really believe its the GPU...

Searching on google for macbook pro pink lines shows a lot of the exacly same problem....

ZZACK have you seen this one ?

i havent, sounds like it could be a physical problem, only way your ever going to know is via process of elimination by replacing the lcd, cable and lvds, when that doesnt work buy a brand new GPU and replace that properly with a new chip. the internal sub strait of the chip could be damaged by all this flexing i suppose.

 

[cpufixer]

hi guys.. i was fixing this 15 inches macbook i7 today,.. it have this pink / purple to the white color... but it happens sometimes and always related to a physical bend of the macbook... so i thought i was definitely a bad GPU solder, since i touched and moved/bent the LCD , the LCD flex and the LVDS connector and i did not influenced...
So.. i did reball ( not rework) the GPU.. and to my surprise it still happens and still related to bend the body... i pushed all across the board and could not really find a clear spot where ir would do..
Any of you guys had seen this before ? i have not replaced the GPU...
I read it is a very common problem... but did not find anyone that really found out what it is.... I believe its a cold joint solder somewhere... because its very clear that I bend and it shows... when i release, it goes backs to normal colors..

Here is a picture of the problem
Its not the usual lines of bad GPU or bad LCD... its seam like the pink suddenly comes on few pixels mainly on the white color..

check if it is also with external display..

 

[macelek01]

circle with a through line

Dear Friends,

I would like to ask some help connecting with an a1278 board (k6). It turns on, but shows a circle with a through line. I tried to start without hdd, hdd cabel, odd, odd cable, only from usb osx install drive. In this case the install menu is loaded, but it was very slow. It was take a half an hour or more.
I replaced memory, and EFI chip too, but there was’t any changing.

Does anybody meet this fault? What can be the problem?

 

[grize]

Dear Friends,

I would like to ask some help connecting with an a1278 board (k6). It turns on, but shows a circle with a through line. I tried to start without hdd, hdd cabel, odd, odd cable, only from usb osx install drive. In this case the install menu is loaded, but it was very slow. It was take a half an hour or more.
I replaced memory, and EFI chip too, but there was’t any changing.

Does anybody meet this fault? What can be the problem?

Has this suffered liquid damage, and if so have you cleaned it properly?

As you have a (semi) working system, have you tried running the ASD tests? You will need to download the correct version for your board but it might help pin point the problem.

 

[tiagobaracho]

back to the 17 inches macbook i7 board 820-2914-a, it was completely dead... just 16.5 across the board... no 3.425..
So i replaced the IC U6990 that was not oscilating to the inductor to create 3.42v ... Now i have 3.478v coming out of the inductor and on the power pads i also have 3.478 v... When i power on, the EFI gets the 3.3v while i am pressing the power button but it does not power up or spin the fan..
Any Idea where should be my next step ?
add: the magsafe light stay dim green... altought is being activated...
What could cause this?

 

[grize]

Have you a working macbook board to test it by?

this is really beyond me
if the voltage drops like it 'should' on a working macbook board then it suggests your pp3v3 sus pwrctl isnt putting out a decent sense signal or something.

I dont really use my brain when it comes to this level of diagnosis, in my experiences, its usually the SMC or Chipset.


please let me know if you get anywhere or learn anything. im assuming your fan doesn't spin up atall?

i need another board like this so i can spend a week driving myself mad trying to figure out the problem. If not to fix it to improve my knowledge of there design and how there signals work together.


Just recalled this was one i was helping with previously. PM SLP S4_L problems are usualy 99% related to a duff mcp. I also recall you stating there was nothing obvious that failed, the entire system slowly died. also suggesting a bga component

Good luck with replacing that chip lol
----------

Thanks for the reply. No, the fan doesn't spin up.

I think the PM_SLP_S4_L may be a red herring, as the MCP will not issue this signal if the smc has not pulled the PM_RSMRST_L net low. I'm not sure on this though. I've got a newer 15" board that is working so I'll try and compare how it works with this faulty one.

What is the " pp3v3 sus pwrctl " that you mentioned? I couldn't find any nets with a similar name.

I'll let you know if I make any progress. Cheers for the help so far.

 

[greekhero]

hi guys.. i was fixing this 15 inches macbook i7 today,.. it have this pink / purple to the white color... but it happens sometimes and always related to a physical bend of the macbook... so i thought i was definitely a bad GPU solder, since i touched and moved/bent the LCD , the LCD flex and the LVDS connector and i did not influenced...
So.. i did reball ( not rework) the GPU.. and to my surprise it still happens and still related to bend the body... i pushed all across the board and could not really find a clear spot where ir would do..
Any of you guys had seen this before ? i have not replaced the GPU...
I read it is a very common problem... but did not find anyone that really found out what it is.... I believe its a cold joint solder somewhere... because its very clear that I bend and it shows... when i release, it goes backs to normal colors..

Here is a picture of the problem
Its not the usual lines of bad GPU or bad LCD... its seam like the pink suddenly comes on few pixels mainly on the white color..

If betting was kosher in my belief system, I would bet that it is the LVDS connector on the board; no the cable itself. If you change it and it works, please don't forget to donate $10 to the Doctors Without Border

Cheers!

 

[cpufixer]

If betting was kosher in my belief system, I would bet that it is the LVDS connector on the board; no the cable itself. If you change it and it works, please don't forget to donate $10 to the Doctors Without Border

Cheers!

you took the words out of my mouth, I would clean the connector frist and see
if that makes a diff.

 

[tiagobaracho]

If betting was kosher in my belief system, I would bet that it is the LVDS connector on the board; no the cable itself. If you change it and it works, please don't forget to donate $10 to the Doctors Without Border

Cheers!

. Its not the connector... I move it a lot and does not change anything... But if press lightly on a spot close to the GPU it goes pink.....I already reballed the gpu... And I will test today if the hdmi output also have the pink colors... But I read many people with the same problems having good hdmi output... And they fix changing color temperature using app.....

 

[rufunky]

Mid 2010 Macbook pro

I am trying to repair the traces on this mid 2010 Macbook pro.

I was wondering if someone could help me with the path of the trace connections for the 4 traces that I starred so I may bridge them correctly. (This is where the LCD connector is located, which obviously has already been removed. The damaged traces are the solder traces for the pins on the LCD connector).

This was due to a liquid spill and other than the LCD no longer working the Macbook worked great.

 

[tiagobaracho]

I am trying to repair the traces on this mid 2010 Macbook pro.

I was wondering if someone could help me with the path of the trace connections for the 4 traces that I starred so I may bridge them correctly. (This is where the LCD connector is located, which obviously has already been removed. The damaged traces are the solder traces for the pins on the LCD connector).

This was due to a liquid spill and other than the LCD no longer working the Macbook worked great.

Image

whats the board number ? if i have one i can take a picture..

 

[rufunky]

whats the board number ? if i have one i can take a picture..

Hi tiagobaracho, it is an 820-2879-B. Here is a diagram but I'm not sure how to read it.

 

[ZZZAC]

This consumes way to much of my time......

Thanks for the reply. No, the fan doesn't spin up.

I think the PM_SLP_S4_L may be a red herring, as the MCP will not issue this signal if the smc has not pulled the PM_RSMRST_L net low. I'm not sure on this though. I've got a newer 15" board that is working so I'll try and compare how it works with this faulty one.

What is the " pp3v3 sus pwrctl " that you mentioned? I couldn't find any nets with a similar name.

I'll let you know if I make any progress. Cheers for the help so far.

What we have here is a logic operator. Do you get PM_SLP_SUS_L? it comes from the chipset and your entire circuit is reliant on this signal.
Before you decide this is irrelevant to you it’s worth reading because you’ll learn from it.
Its going to be hard to explain how this works but it’s a simple enough concept. U7940 has an AND operator and an OR operator. Google these.
Using your high capacity noggin you should be able to figure out exactly how this works.
So these are steps from start to finish using a simple logic operator program

Hit button one (smc batlow L). Its not going to turn on any output because it’s feeding an AND operator that requires two signals to open.

Similar occurs when there is an input of (pm slp sus L). The OR operator becomes active then feeds the AND operator. The AND operator won’t open because its only got one input

If both signals are present we get an output.

Now…. Here’s where it becomes more complex, a standard AND operator would do this as well…
Why is the second operator here? Well, if you then turn of the PM SLP SUS L signal the output will remain active. This is because the AND gate is feeding the OR operator which is then feeding the AND operator.

This is relevant to your problem despite you may think im looking in the wrong direction
However what’s the point of having a sensor for (pp3v3_sus) when there isn’t an output of (pm_sus_en)? And if we are missing that signal then we have no SUS voltages atall



See u7930 also has a PGOOD, a sense pin for pp3v3_sus, if any of this is missing itll cause PM RSMRST L to react differently, and I think here is where your problem maybe, the entire circuit relies on the chipset.
I will film myself eating a hat if it’s not a fault with the chipset!
Take it or leave it but ive just gone out of my way for about 30 minutes to figure out exactly where you’re at so I really do hope this helps. And not only the OP but other posters learn from it.

 

[tiagobaracho]

[url=http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/280x200q90/540/TrcH4k.jpg]Image[/URL]

See u7930 also has a PGOOD, a sense pin for pp3v3_sus, if any of this is missing itll cause PM RSMRST L to react differently, and I think here is where your problem maybe, the entire circuit relies on the chipset.
I will film myself eating a hat if it’s not a fault with the chipset!
Take it or leave it but ive just gone out of my way for about 30 minutes to figure out exactly where you’re at so I really do hope this helps. And not only the OP but other posters learn from it.

ZZZAC.. always great to read your posts....

That macbook with purple on the white areas is fixed.. it was really the GPU... i replaced for a new one and its perfect...

My other 17 inches i7 that is taking really my time now..

It has 3.47 v( i had to change the IC to make it happen) .... it has all good fuses... i can see 3.3 v on the EFI when i press the power on... but it dos not start up.. no fun.. nothing..
Battery level metter dos not work..
CHGR_UGATE on osciloscope shows it been driven
Magsafe light is very dim green......... not showing solid green or orange...

What main points would you suggest to check ?
THanks

 

[smithtony22]

Hi tiagobaracho, it is an 820-2879-B. Here is a diagram but I'm not sure how to read it.

Image

Hi mate

You need to join A to B (see image) then short pins 21 and 22 into an exposed area of copper at point A. Little bit fiddly can be done. 20 and 23 are not connected to anything so forget about them.

Should be able to see what I mean from just looking at the pic I have uploaded.

 

[rufunky]

Hi mate

You need to join A to B (see image) then short pins 21 and 22 into an exposed area of copper at point A. Little bit fiddly can be done. 20 and 23 are not connected to anything so forget about them.

Should be able to see what I mean from just looking at the pic I have uploaded.

Awsome! Much appreciated my friend. I'll give it a go once things slow down here at work. I will let you know how I make out..Fingers crossed

 

[rufunky]

Hi mate

You need to join A to B (see image) then short pins 21 and 22 into an exposed area of copper at point A. Little bit fiddly can be done. 20 and 23 are not connected to anything so forget about them.

Should be able to see what I mean from just looking at the pic I have uploaded.

I just re-read what you said, I think I may be a bit confused.

If I am connecting A to B and then pins 21 and 22 to A wouldnt making a bridge using pins 21 and 22 to connect A to B do the same thing?

 

[smithtony22]

I just re-read what you said, I think I may be a bit confused.

If I am connecting A to B and then pins 21 and 22 to A wouldnt making a bridge using pins 21 and 22 to connect A to B do the same thing?

yeah that's right. Basically pins 21 and 22 need to touch both of these two points A and B. If you have trouble doing this, let me know and I can suggest another solution.

 

[rufunky]

yeah that's right. Basically pins 21 and 22 need to touch both of these two points A and B. If you have trouble doing this, let me know and I can suggest another solution.

Ok, thanks again. I will post back once I've gave it a shot.

 

[decigram]

Hello everyone!

I have a Macbook Unibody 13” Late 2008 - A1278 M97
No liquid damage, just lots of dust inside, appears completely dead, battery indicator does not light up, does not power on from battery, nor from charger.

The fuse F6905 6AMP-24V on the schematic is blown, so my question is what coud have caused this? I measured the resistance between MCP VCORE and ground and it appears to be around 3.5 ohms, is this normal? could it be the gpu is shot?

Tested some caps and fets, no shorts found so far.

Also the charger that came with it is poor quality, it outputs 16.5v constantly, so will try to get my hands on original soon.
Could it have caused this? and if so, what components should I check before I replace the fuse and try to power it up?

 

[tiagobaracho]

Hello everyone!

I have a Macbook Unibody 13” Late 2008 - A1278 M97
No liquid damage, just lots of dust inside, appears completely dead, battery indicator does not light up, does not power on from battery, nor from charger.

The fuse F6905 6AMP-24V on the schematic is blown, so my question is what coud have caused this? I measured the resistance between MCP VCORE and ground and it appears to be around 3.5 ohms, is this normal? could it be the gpu is shot?

Tested some caps and fets, no shorts found so far.

Also the charger that came with it is poor quality, it outputs 16.5v constantly, so will try to get my hands on original soon.
Could it have caused this? and if so, what components should I check before I replace the fuse and try to power it up?

this fuse is the first fuse.. so after that anything can be in short.... even far away parts connected to g3 hot...
The best and the simplest( in my opinion) to find something like that is having a bench supply to output on that fuse and see how it reacts, if its a dead short or not( example, you are able to output 16.5 on that fuse and almost no current drawn).. if not, it might have been something else, like fuse failure or fisical stuff on that dust that made a short.... see whats getting hot ( that why i have a termal camera) .. probably what will get hot will be the short... because only supplying power to the G3 hot it would not make anything go hot before the power on on the board
( do this without the battery)..
in case of short, with the thermal cam i can see things like 1 degree temp difference, so i just have to adjust the power supply current...

 

[decigram]

Yeah, i would do that if i had a thermal camera and bench power supply...
By the way, tiagobaracho, what camera are you using? I'm thinking of getting one eventually, could be useful.

But I think I found something:
The fet Q7001 HAT1127H is bad.
Source and drain short both ways
But what happened? Does ISL6258A could gone bad?
Everything on the board looks very good, even that fet is visually indistinguishable from another on the other side of the board, their drains connected, other one appears to be ok. I tested Q7020 and Q7021, and I think they are fine, all caps going to ground are ok, fuse F7000 is ok.

Also can someone tell me what are those things on the schematic: XW7000 XW7020 XW7021, are they some kind of jumpers?

 

[tiagobaracho]

Update:
I fix 90% of the macbook pro 17 inches.. that was dead.
First i changed the 3.42v IC, Then the bat/charget IC...
Now it works, but its not detecting the battery.. i was able to install mavericks and it says no installed battery... The same battery is being detected on another macbook..
The computer is much slower than it should be... Does anyone knows why would a mainboard work slower ? apple hardware test shows no error.. although its clearly slow...
I am probing the SMBUS_SMC_BSA_SCL , SMBUS_SMC_BSA_SDA and YS_DETECT_L now to see if there is something wrong.... if not, i guess i can only change the SMC....

Any advices?

 

[tiagobaracho]

anyone have ASD ? I am download few versions.. but... Is there a way to get any version ?