SMC Issue on MBP 13 - Hardware Troubleshooting Guide

[U-234]

I will try that...thanks. Do you or anybody here have any suggestions for what is the BEST in-circuit capacitor tester? I have a high quality DMM but of course testing small 0402 caps in-circuit won't be accurate and removing the 0402 cap every time I want to measure would be just waste of time.

Any suggestions....

Congratulations on brute forcing this. I may have done the same thing 30 years ago but with the very fine geometry components nowadays I think I'm way too old!

BTW a long long time ago HP (nee Agilent) used to sell a hand held device, similar to a logic probe, that (somehow) claimed to detect current flow in PCBs, etc. Designed specifically to troubleshoot problems like yours.

http://www.home.agilent.com/en/pd-1000001462:epsg:pro-pn-547A/current-tracer?&cc=US&lc=eng

I never owned one, they were expensive. I don't know how they worked, or how well they worked. Perhaps there was a tiny hall effect device at the tip to detect current flow (a short will have high current).

Anyway, maybe there's a newer version of that device, by Agilent or someone else.

 

[rufunky]

Lots of copper showing?

I'm a total noob when it comes to component level repairs but I took a plunge and purchased a few MBP's.

Three MPP 13" mid 2010's and One early 2011 all liquid damaged. I have run them all through an ultrasonic cleaning machine before trying to diagnose any failed parts.

My first question is about the early 2011. I have attached a picture of the logic board because I noticed a bunch of areas where there seems to be lots of copper showing through the PCB. I noticed the G3Hot didn't seem to be tinned and one particular place where the black top layer actually peeled off the board next to the 22-1E13 chip!

Do all of these bare copper areas need to be re tinned. Is this common? Did the liquid damage cause this? Any information is appreciated.

Also, does anyone have the Macbook pro 13 early 2011 schematics??

 

[nemo.]

I'm a total noob when it comes to component level repairs but I took a plunge and purchased a few MBP's.

Three MPP 13" mid 2010's and One early 2011 all liquid damaged. I have run them all through an ultrasonic cleaning machine before trying to diagnose any failed parts.

My first question is about the early 2011. I have attached a picture of the logic board because I noticed a bunch of areas where there seems to be lots of copper showing through the PCB. I noticed the G3Hot didn't seem to be tinned and one particular place where the black top layer actually peeled off the board next to the 22-1E13 chip!

Do all of these bare copper areas need to be re tinned. Is this common? Did the liquid damage cause this? Any information is appreciated.

Also, does anyone have the Macbook pro 13 early 2011 schematics??

The copper areas don't seem to be normal. You probably destroyed the upper
layer of your board with the ultrasonic cleaning. As far as I can see this
affects only ground connections so that should probably be OK.

However, you've got lots of dirt remaining there and it looks like there's
some resistor missing just below U7000.

 

[rufunky]

The copper areas don't seem to be normal. You probably destroyed the upper
layer of your board with the ultrasonic cleaning. As far as I can see this
affects only ground connections so that should probably be OK.

However, you've got lots of dirt remaining there and it looks like there's
some resistor missing just below U7000.

Hi nemo, This was before I ran it through the ultrasonic cleaner (in sweep mode). By the looks of it, I would have guessed that they may have also tried to run it through a ultrasonic cleaner too but as you can see in the picture there are some water spots and corrosion still on the board. What does one do about the copper, Is it affecting anything?

Where is this U7000 chip? Do you know where I can get a schematic for this board? I've looked around on the forum and Google and have come up empty handed.

 

[nemo.]

Hi nemo, This was before I ran it through the ultrasonic cleaner (in sweep mode). By the looks of it, I would have guessed that they may have also tried to run it through a ultrasonic cleaner too but as you can see in the picture there are some water spots and corrosion still on the board.

Where is this U7000 chip? Do you know where I can get a schematic for this board? I've looked around on the forum and Google and have come up empty handed.

U7000 is the chip labeled i6259AHRTZ and is the charging/battery power routing chip. In the lower row of resistors / caps is a gap.

For the early 2011 look for the k90i.brd file in this thread or via your
favourite search engine. The viewer (Landrex TestLink) you need is either
in the archive or available in the intertubes.

 

[rufunky]

U7000 is the chip labeled i6259AHRTZ and is the charging/battery power routing chip. In the lower row of resistors / caps is a gap.

For the early 2011 look for the k90i.brd file in this thread or via your
favourite search engine. The viewer (Landrex TestLink) you need is either
in the archive or available in the intertubes.

Good eye! I compared it to a picture of a working board and you are correct, a resistor is missing.

I'm a little confused about the ".brd" file. All the schematics I have managed to find for other macs are .pdf.

 

[nemo.]

Good eye! I compared it to a picture of a working board and you are correct, a resistor is missing.

I'm a little confused about the ".brd" file. All the schematics I have managed to find for other macs are .pdf.

Oh, err, the .brd stuff is the board view, schematics are, of course, in pdf format. They're also in this thread. Your's should be a A1278, so try your
luck with A1278.pdf or 'k90i full.pdf' (~1.2MiB).

Note that there's also some goo between two resistors above the Cirrus
chip. This one needs some more cleanup I suppose

 

[rufunky]

Oh, err, the .brd stuff is the board view, schematics are, of course, in pdf format. They're also in this thread. Your's should be a A1278, so try your
luck with A1278.pdf or 'k90i full.pdf' (~1.2MiB).

Note that there's also some goo between two resistors above the Cirrus
chip. This one needs some more cleanup I suppose

Ok, that board viewer is awesome so thanks for that. How do I locate the k90i on the MacBook? Both my mid 2010 MBP and early 2011 MBP are model A1278 yet they have different board layouts.

 

[rufunky]

Come to think of it... maybe what I should do is a photo of each side of the board with critical components identified for the use of those willing to deep dive into board level diagnostics. I'll add it to my "to do" list

Hi Dadioh, did you ever get the chance to do this? I am still reading through this very long but VERY helpful thread but haven't come across any of these photos yet.

It would be great to have a real picture of the logic board showing both the battery and magsafe power path along with problem "check points" for correct voltage/continuity etc. They would indeed come in very handy!

 

[nemo.]

Hi Dadioh, did you ever get the chance to do this? I am still reading through this very long but VERY helpful thread but haven't come across any of these photos yet.

It would be great to have a real picture of the logic board showing both the battery and magsafe power path along with problem "check points" for correct voltage/continuity etc. They would indeed come in very handy!

A wiki would be really helpful, so that one can do this per model in a
sorted manner and to gather facts / quirks / solutions.

 

[rufunky]

A wiki would be really helpful, so that one can do this per model in a
sorted manner and to gather facts / quirks / solutions.

Yes, great idea! This way everyone could contribute. This thread is great but we need a way to organize this information.

I would be willing to set up and host a wiki site if we can get enough knowledgeable people interested. Let me know what you guys think.

 

[Dadioh]

Hi Dadioh, did you ever get the chance to do this? I am still reading through this very long but VERY helpful thread but haven't come across any of these photos yet.

It would be great to have a real picture of the logic board showing both the battery and magsafe power path along with problem "check points" for correct voltage/continuity etc. They would indeed come in very handy!

Sorry. Not yet. Very busy with other things at the moment. But still in my plans at some point.

 

[nemo.]

Yes, great idea! This way everyone could contribute. This thread is great but we need a way to organize this information.

I would be willing to set up and host a wiki site if we can get enough knowledgeable people interested. Let me know what you guys think.

I would certainly help carrying information from this thread to a wiki.
However, I don't think a privately hosted wiki is a good idea (costs, the
content may get lost if the owner is not interested anymore, software
gets outdated, maintenance, ...).

How about a hosted wiki from, say, wikia.com?

 

[rufunky]

I would certainly help carrying information from this thread to a wiki.
However, I don't think a privately hosted wiki is a good idea (costs, the
content may get lost if the owner is not interested anymore, software
gets outdated, maintenance, ...).

How about a hosted wiki from, say, wikia.com?

Either way would work, I was just going to look into adding a MediaWiki to my current website, set it up and host it on there. What ever I can do to help I'm in .

Sorry. Not yet. Very busy with other things at the moment. But still in my plans at some point.

Sounds good, I and many others will be looking forward to it.


PS

I mentioned earlier that I had purchased 4 liquid damaged MacBook pros 3 mid 2010 and one early 2011. I managed to totally revive one of the mid 2010. The next mid 2010 I'll be bringing home tonight to trouble shoot. I'll have some questions rolling in this weekend after I get some information together of what is and what isn't currently working!


EDIT:
Macbook pro mid 2010 symptoms

-System turns on but ONLY gets power from battery (indicates not charging).

-Magsafe glows green when connected ( does not show orange with depleted battery )

-No battery indicator lights when button is pressed on side on fully charged battery ( Flex ribbon works ).

-SMC bypass not always required to start system

-Everything seems to be working properly with the exception of the Magsafe communicating with the system and battery.

SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOME!

 

[rufunky]

Update to above post.

Ok, so it appears that half of the time fans run at full RPM. Where is the ISL6258A located? I attached a picture of a chip that appears to need to be re- tinned on three of the four legs not sure if this is the ISL6258A.Could this be causing a problem?

 

[rufunky]

I was really hoping to get some help this weekend its not often I have enough free time to spend testing. Pretty please?

 

[nemo.]

Update to above post.

Ok, so it appears that half of the time fans run at full RPM. Where is the ISL6258A located? I attached a picture of a chip that appears to need to be re- tinned on three of the four legs not sure if this is the ISL6258A.Could this be causing a problem?

There's a newer revision of this chip on your board, which is the U7000 (remember the ISL 6259AHRTZ? That one.).

From the symptoms you're posting this IC may well be the cause of it.
Sadly, I don't have the schematics for said chip (it's unter a NDA)
and I'm in need of those myself. Without these, debugging is quite
hard.

You might check the SMC_ACOK value from U7000 (should be 3.3V).

 

[rufunky]

There's a newer revision of this chip on your board, which is the U7000 (remember the ISL 6259AHRTZ? That one.).

From the symptoms you're posting this IC may well be the cause of it.
Sadly, I don't have the schematics for said chip (it's unter a NDA)
and I'm in need of those myself. Without these, debugging is quite
hard.

You might check the SMC_ACOK value from U7000 (should be 3.3V).

Hi again, nemo, what schematics should I be looking for? I'm really confused about all these letter and number combinations like K24, k90i etc and not sure where they are pulling these model numbers from on the Macbooks.

 

[nemo.]

Hi again, nemo, what schematics should I be looking for? I'm really confused about all these letter and number combinations like K24, k90i etc and not sure where they are pulling these model numbers from on the Macbooks.

The k90i is from Apple's specs, it's - as far as I know - not printed
on the board itself. However, the board number is printed on it. Look
left of the RAM slots, there's a number printed on the PCB, for example
820-2936-a. This will lead you to the spec and the 'K90i', which is
Apple's internal name for the board.

As I said, look in the intertubes for 'k90i full.pdf', these are the specs
you are looking for.

 

[rufunky]

The k90i is from Apple's specs, it's - as far as I know - not printed
on the board itself. However, the board number is printed on it. Look
left of the RAM slots, there's a number printed on the PCB, for example
820-2936-a. This will lead you to the spec and the 'K90i', which is
Apple's internal name for the board.

As I said, look in the intertubes for 'k90i full.pdf', these are the specs
you are looking for.

Ok, thanks for the information. This makes sense that it is a internal "code name".

I think that I may have confused you though. My original post of the board with the copper showing was of a early 2011 which I believe is a K90i and has the ISL 6259AHRTZ. The post I made where I listed off the symptoms was for a mid 2010 and I believe is the K24 which does have the ISL 6258A. Does this make sense?

Also, I have the K90i schematics if these are the ones you need I would be more than happy to post them.

 

[nemo.]

Ok thanks, for that information. That makes sense that it is a internal "code name".

I think that I may have confused you though. My original post of the board with the copper showing was of a early 2011 which I believe is a K90i and has the ISL 6259AHRTZ. The post I made where I listed off the symptoms was for a mid 2010 and I believe is the K24 which does have the ISL 6258A. Does this make sense?

Also, I have the K90i schematics if these are the ones you need I would be more than happy to post them.

Alright, you confused me.

Your assumption k90i: ISL 6259AHRTZ and k24: ISL 6258A
seems about right.

I don't need the k90i schematics but the ISL 6259AHRTZ datasheet
as I'm trying to figure out what it does and how to debug it.

 

[vaprx]

Can anyone help me? I have a water damaged MBP 13" late 2011 and cleaned the logic board (820-2936-B) with 100% ethanol and a toothbrush.

When I put it back together and plugged in the magsafe charger, the light turned green! Great I thought, but instead of trying to turn it on I plugged the battery back in and to my horror two components (circled red in the photos) started smoking and glowing RED hot! Needless to say I immediately unplugged the battery. But now the magsafe light only glows a very dim green and the MBP won't turn on.

I've attached photos of the logic board with the burned components, can anyone identify them? I am unable to read the markings on them as the heat destroyed them. The top one I think is a capacitor and as you can see in the photo the surrounding PCB is glossy from the heat. The lower IC chip got so hot it bubbled up and bits flaked off.

Is it at all possible for me to purchase and replace these two components? As I think the logic board is in very good condition otherwise, the corrosion wasn't very serious, and prior to reconnecting the battery the magsafe light seemed to indicate a functional board (why did the battery cause a failure?)

Thank you very much in advance, any help would be much appreciated!

 

[cmdrdata]

Can anyone help me? I have a water damaged MBP 13" late 2011 and cleaned the logic board (820-2936-B) with 100% ethanol and a toothbrush.

When I put it back together and plugged in the magsafe charger, the light turned green! Great I thought, but instead of trying to turn it on I plugged the battery back in and to my horror two components (circled red in the photos) started smoking and glowing RED hot! Needless to say I immediately unplugged the battery. But now the magsafe light only glows a very dim green and the MBP won't turn on.

I've attached photos of the logic board with the burned components, can anyone identify them? I am unable to read the markings on them as the heat destroyed them. The top one I think is a capacitor and as you can see in the photo the surrounding PCB is glossy from the heat. The lower IC chip got so hot it bubbled up and bits flaked off.

Is it at all possible for me to purchase and replace these two components? As I think the logic board is in very good condition otherwise, the corrosion wasn't very serious, and prior to reconnecting the battery the magsafe light seemed to indicate a functional board (why did the battery cause a failure?)

Thank you very much in advance, any help would be much appreciated!

The photograph you shown maybe a reason why you have this damage. In previous post Dadioh mentioned about being careful when connecting battery or magsafe to the system on the workbench. Bare logicboard with the DCIN board connected could cause an un-intended short due to its short connecting cable. Your blown IC is indicative this type of accidental short of the power bus.

 

[rufunky]

Alright, you confused me.

Your assumption k90i: ISL 6259AHRTZ and k24: ISL 6258A
seems about right.

I don't need the k90i schematics but the ISL 6259AHRTZ datasheet
as I'm trying to figure out what it does and how to debug it.

I'll have a better idea of what chips are on what board when my stereo microscope comes in tomorrow. I guess I can't really do much until I have a good pair of eyes to work with!

I did locate the model of the board though 820-2879-b. I have the schematics for 820-2879 but not 820-2879-b are these the same boards?

I'll attempt to locate the ISL 6259AHRTZ datasheet for you is this the proper name?

 

[nemo.]

I'll have a better idea of what chips are on what board when my stereo microscope comes in tomorrow. I guess I can't really do much until I have a good pair of eyes to work with!

I did locate the model of the board though 820-2879-b. I have the schematics for 820-2879 but not 820-2879-b are these the same boards?

I'll attempt to locate the ISL 6259AHRTZ datasheet for you is this the proper name?

I assume they're not the same boards but the -b revision builds upon the first.

The 6259AHRTZ is based on the ISL 6258 for which I had
no luck retrieving the data sheet.