SMC Issue on MBP 13 - Hardware Troubleshooting Guide

[texynz]

A1278 no ethernet or wireless detected

Originally had a blown backlight fuse. Replaced and working fine for over 12 months. Now has a developed a fault in which no ethernet or wirless card is detected. Since the wireless is via a removalble module it has been confirmed that it is not a card issue.

I suspect it is more to do with that they might be both powered/controlled by a single/shared control line and something has faulted there. The bluetooth still remains connected. No wireless or ethernet nic appear in the detected devices. Cannot reinstall since cannot access the internet.

Can someone suggest where to look next. Thanks

TEX

 

[Dadioh]

Originally had a blown backlight fuse. Replaced and working fine for over 12 months. Now has a developed a fault in which no ethernet or wirless card is detected. Since the wireless is via a removalble module it has been confirmed that it is not a card issue.

I suspect it is more to do with that they might be both powered/controlled by a single/shared control line and something has faulted there. The bluetooth still remains connected. No wireless or ethernet nic appear in the detected devices. Cannot reinstall since cannot access the internet.

Can someone suggest where to look next. Thanks

TEX

Which year of a1278? So I can look at the correct schematic. Ideally the 820-xxxx number that is printed on the logic board.

 

[kevingill]

Macbook Pro 13.3" i5 Sandy Bridge A1278 fan starts, stops

I have an A1278 board that partly powers up, the fan starts then a second later stops. The board suffered water damage and has been cleaned with IPA.

Any ideas what to look for? I suspect a high current has been detected somewhere and it has shutdown, but that's a bit of a guess.

 

[texynz]

Which year of a1278? So I can look at the correct schematic. Ideally the 820-xxxx number that is printed on the logic board.

Mid 2010 version. Serial W8044TWMATM.

Thanks
TEX

 

[kevingill]

TEX,
Does the Macbook take a long time to boot?
I had a similar problem and found an inductor on the bottom of the board (L3401) under the WIFI/Camera connector had blown causing the Wifi to fail.

 

[daude]

A1278 Mid 2012

Hi, I have a faulty A1278 mid2012 (820-3115) mother board. The laptop is dead. It doesn't power on. There is no fan and no green light.

I have changed some resistors and capacitors near the ISL6259 IC (U7000) and I think I need to change it, too.

I have a doubt about the d6990. It has 16.5v in pins 2 and 3, but only 0.8 in pin 1. I don't know if this is normal or the d6990 is bad. There isn't voltage in u7400 (CPU Vcore) or u7600 (ISL95870). I don't know if this problem comes from d6990 or from the ISL6259.

Thanks!!

The Schematic
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/58357470/a1278%20%20J30%20820-3115-B%20051-9058.pdf


Board view

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/58357470/J30%20820-3115-B.brd

pd The board suffered water damage

 

[texynz]

TEX,
Does the Macbook take a long time to boot?
I had a similar problem and found an inductor on the bottom of the board (L3401) under the WIFI/Camera connector had blown causing the Wifi to fail.

Kevin. I wouldnt consider it slow. Although I would not really know how how it compared. Will check for the inductor, but it is odd that both the wifi and ethernet have gone.

 

[Dadioh]

Mid 2010 version. Serial W8044TWMATM.

Thanks
TEX

The only common point for those is they are both PCIe from the Nvidia MCP. The other big IC on there beside the CPU. FireWire is also PCIe. Does that port work?

----------

Hi, I have a faulty A1278 mid2012 (820-3115) mother board. The laptop is dead. It doesn't power on. There is no fan and no green light.

I have changed some resistors and capacitors near the ISL6259 IC (U7000) and I think I need to change it, too.

I have a doubt about the d6990. It has 16.5v in pins 2 and 3, but only 0.8 in pin 1. I don't know if this is normal or the d6990 is bad. There isn't voltage in u7400 (CPU Vcore) or u7600 (ISL95870). I don't know if this problem comes from d6990 or from the ISL6259.

Thanks!!


pd The board suffered water damage

D6990 should have 16V out if it has 16.5V coming in on pin 2 or 3. Check to make sure pin 1 is not shorted to ground. If not then replace D6990. If pin 1 is shorted then replace U6990. That is the G3Hot supply. When it is dead the whole board is dead.

 

[funtotos]

Hey !
I have macbook pro 13.3 mid 2011 820 2936b, won't start up
resetting the SMC and the PVRAM but with no luck, battery ok, dc in board ok and magsafe ok. LED is always green.

Tkanks !!

 

[kevingill]

Have you tried the SMC bypass procedure on page 1 of this post?
Are you attempting power on of the macbook with the power button or via the pads on the board?

 

[tiagobaracho]

Hey !
I have macbook pro 13.3 mid 2011 820 2936b, won't start up
resetting the SMC and the PVRAM but with no luck, battery ok, dc in board ok and magsafe ok. LED is always green.

Tkanks !!

3,42v?
Power pads with 3.42?
Check fuses
Water damage ?

 

[Leodev]

Thanks for your advise.
The strange affect is that with only the battery there is no SMC_PM_G2_EN, but with the external power supply (battery is loading and led turns to orange) I have SMC_PM_G2_EN and it seems there are all the S5 voltages but still no power up. PM_SLP_S4_L is not active.
I tried SMC reset with no luck. I checked the SMC_RESET_L on the SMC and that did go low to 0 volt, but no effect.
Should I try to monitor the signal PM_PWRBTN_L or do you have other suggestions.

Hope you can give me some hints.

Edit#1:
I managed to measure PM_PWRBTN_L and there is a reaction on pressing the power button: the signal goes from high (3.42 volt) to zero and than high again. PM_SLP_S$_L is not reacting and still low ( 0 volt).
Battery is loading and magsafe turns to orange.
Is the conclusion correct that the SMC seems ok?
Then the problem sould be on the U1400 (MISC)!
What are the powers that should be available on this part of the IC U1400 (K19)?
All S5 voltages seems te be available!

Do you have some hints how to proceed?
Thanks,

Leo

 

[texynz]

The only common point for those is they are both PCIe from the Nvidia MCP. The other big IC on there beside the CPU. FireWire is also PCIe. Does that port work?

Interestingly Dadioh, I have just checked the firewire port and it is not shown in the system info either as a device. I dont have a firewire device to try, but I suspect if it is like the other two devices it is also "offline"

 

[funtotos]

3,42v?
Power pads with 3.42?
Check fuses
Water damage ?

Have 3.50 power pads
Fuse ok
No water damage .

Thks

 

[Yako76]

Smc chip

Dear Friends,

I have a problem with my Macbook Air 13 mid 2011.
I replaced the SMC Chip F2117LP 20H RVP.
Now the MBA work only with Mac OS X Snow Leopard.
Boot Rom is MBA41.0077.B0F, SMC 170F3
No possibility to update the Firmware/SMC, WiFI without funktion

Does anybody know how to program this chip with the last Boot/SMC Version?

Many Thanks for every Help.

 

[tiagobaracho]

Dear Friends,

I have a problem with my Macbook Air 13 mid 2011.
I replaced the SMC Chip F2117LP 20H RVP.
Now the MBA work only with Mac OS X Snow Leopard.
Boot Rom is MBA41.0077.B0F, SMC 170F3
No possibility to update the Firmware/SMC, WiFI without funktion

Does anybody know how to program this chip with the last Boot/SMC Version?

Many Thanks for every Help.

did you change it from the same board model ?
1.73f66 (SMC 1.8) should be the right one.... you have to force update it and see if all backs to normal..

 

[Yako76]

did you change it from the same board model ?
1.73f66 (SMC 1.8) should be the right one.... you have to force update it and see if all backs to normal..

Hi my friend,
Thanks a lot for your answer.
I changed if with a new one from Electronic Parts supplyer.
If I try to update the software it comes the message like this "This version is not supported on this machine".
Do you know if it possible and how to force a firmware update?

 

[daude]

A1278 Mid 2012

The only common point for those is they are both PCIe from the Nvidia MCP. The other big IC on there beside the CPU. FireWire is also PCIe. Does that port work?

----------



D6990 should have 16V out if it has 16.5V coming in on pin 2 or 3. Check to make sure pin 1 is not shorted to ground. If not then replace D6990. If pin 1 is shorted then replace U6990. That is the G3Hot supply. When it is dead the whole board is dead.

Hi, I have a faulty A1278 mid2012 (820-3115) mother board. The laptop is dead. It doesn't power on. There is no fan and no green light.

I have changed some resistors and capacitors near the ISL6259 IC (U7000) and I think I need to change it, too.

I have a doubt about the d6990. It has 16.5v in pins 2 and 3, but only 0.8 in pin 1. I don't know if this is normal or the d6990 is bad. There isn't voltage in u7400 (CPU Vcore) or u7600 (ISL95870). I don't know if this problem comes from d6990 or from the ISL6259.

I have replaced the ISL6259 and now I have green light, but it does not power on. I have only 0.9 volts in pin 23 and 24 I don't know what else I can do.

Thanks.

 

[Dadioh]

I have replaced the ISL6259 and now I have green light, but it does not power on. I have only 0.9 volts in pin 23 and 24 I don't know what else I can do.

Thanks.

Are you sure all pins on the ISL6259 are soldered properly? I initially attach with hot air tool but then go around with soldering iron to make sure they are all soldered. As a quick check if the ISL6259 is working correctly you should have the following voltages:

Pin 1 = 0V
Pin 2 ~ 17V
Pin 3 = 4V
Pin 19, 20 = 5V
Pin 23 = 12.5V

 

[GlassOgnion]

820-2330 and 820-2915

Hi guys, 820-2330 board, what should be the good voltage of U6990 pin 6 (boost) when magsafe connected, no battery connected. Should it be 3.42v ? I get a low value on that pin.

Also have a 820-2915 water damaged board, cleaned as it should. Everything works but the keyboard and the trackpad. Tried a new keyboard without success (power button works on old and new KB but no activity on any key, no green light on shift key). At boot up the OS displays a window telling that no keyboard is connected. Track pad and keyboard connectors seems to be in perfect shape. Is there a relation between these two USB components ? I don't have a known working track pad to troubleshoot. Someone had this problem and solved it ?

 

[tiagobaracho]

Hi my friend,
Thanks a lot for your answer.
I changed if with a new one from Electronic Parts supplyer.
If I try to update the software it comes the message like this "This version is not supported on this machine".
Do you know if it possible and how to force a firmware update?

yes it can be forced

 

[an2an]

Help to identify the element (IR 0772 1927 1045).
really hot when you connect the battery.
Model mb 820-2877b, not loaded

 

[Yako76]

yes it can be forced

Great!! Can you please explain me how?
Many thanks !!!

 

[Leodev]

Hey ZZZAC,

Thanks a lot for taking the time to give such a detailed reply.

Unfortunately, It seems that the circuit in your example operates quite differently to the board I am working on. For example the PM_RSMRST_L and PM_BATLOW_L signals are issued directly by the SMC on my board. Also, I don't have the PM_SLP_SUS_L anywhere on the schematic. There is no similar AND/OR device on this board.

Perhaps because the one i am working on is an older 2009 15" K19 model, it may explain why it functions a little differently?

I have looked over the board again and noticed something unusual when measuring the voltage at the RTC crystal with my multimeter. If I measure the input to the crystal (from the MCP to ground) it is around 1V. However if i put my finger on the metal positive probe of the multimeter it jumps up to 1.3V.

There is nothing on the output of the RTC crystal on either the multimeter or my oscilloscope. I checked on a spare board that has the same chipset and crystal and I get a DC voltage on the input of 1.5V and a nice sign wave on the output.

Im not sure where to go next. All of the standby S5 voltages are ok, so I guess the chipset could be the cause of the problem after all as it is not properly powering the RTC crystal? I may have a go at replacing the chipset unless anyone has any other suggestions?

Cheers

Hi,
It seems I have the same problem with a macbook pro 15 mid 2009 (logic board 820-2523-b):
I managed to measure PM_PWRBTN_L and there is a reaction on pressing the power button: the signal goes from high (3.42 volt) to zero and than high again. PM_SLP_S4_L is not reacting and still low ( 0 volt).
Battery is loading and magsafe turns to orange.
Is the conclusion correct that the SMC seems ok?
Then the problem sould be on the U1400 (MISC)!
What are the powers that should be available on this part of the IC U1400 (K19)?
All S5 voltages seems te be available!

If you make progress to solve the problem can you give me a hint how to proceed?

Thanks,

Leo

 

[dellxps15]

Are you sure all pins on the ISL6259 are soldered properly? I initially attach with hot air tool but then go around with soldering iron to make sure they are all soldered. As a quick check if the ISL6259 is working correctly you should have the following voltages:

Pin 1 = 0V
Pin 2 ~ 17V
Pin 3 = 4V
Pin 19, 20 = 5V
Pin 23 = 12.5V

hey dadioh, im working on the first macbook board 820-2879, and now i have green light.

after so many change of u7000, now i have:

pin1 0volt
pin 2 17 volt
pin 3 4volt
pin 12 3.38 volt
pin 23, fluctuate from 2volt to 4.5 volt.

q7030
pin5 is 16.5volt
pin 1-2-3-4 are 2, 4.5 volt (like u7000 pin 23)

if only charger i have no 3.3 volt s5.

if i put charger and batery i have 3.3 s5 volt
smc bypass doesnt work.

sys one ore is ok.

smc_bc_acpok is 2.3volt (instead of 3 ?)

what other thing can i test?



on the other 2327 with shorted pp3v42 im removing all caps and component one by one to see where the short is

be back with all results in next days