Korean Job Discussion Forums

[moosehead]

turned on my Mac this morning and nothing happened with the screen!!!!

I heard the tone ok, power light, etc. but the screen is black -

I've tried all the various options, putting in the boot-up disk and holding down the D button w/the power, etc. - thinking it wasn't booting properly - but now I think it's just the screen -

it's less than 2 years old - do they go out this fast? it's a notebook, btw. I do watch films on it but is that any different than just using it?

anyway I will take it to an Apple service center - any recommendations on which one is better - I have a service warranty but does that cover screen issues?

[bassexpander]

This happened on a MAC?

I just don't believe that's possible. Nothing bad ever happens to a MAC.

EVER.

Don't even suggest such a thing. You must be a liar and a PC/Bill Gates toady.




Sounds like a connection went out. They'll probably fix it under warranty. If this were a PC (like my HP) I'd say make sure you didn't switch it into external monitor mode by punching the wrong keys.

[moosehead]

ahh yes, the repressed feelings of inadequacy by windows users always burst forth when faced with the power of a mac


back to my problem - some quick googling and it could be the backlight/inverter that's out - the backlight on the keyboard had been losing light lately - didn't pay much attention to it

anyone ever replaced one of these? will it cost much here? am hoping can do it tomorrow -

[swigs]

check out this website, it has a bunch of useful info.

http://www.ifixit.com/
and
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Discuss/thread/1899

What is your make/model?

I don't think it would be the monitor that is out, but something else like the GPU or something, but I have not idea.

I've not had a problem with mine for the last three years with heavy graphic and movie use.

[moosehead]

hey swigs - that fixit site is great - thanks for posting!

it's a macbook pro - with firewire - lots of bells and whistles -

I can hear it booting up so I don't think it's the hard drive

I'm on the phone now w/ apple - will post an update in a bit.

thanks

[oskinny1]

Try reinserting the ram. That's the first thing they will do if you take it to a shop. Need to take out the battery to get at it.

[moosehead]

yeah we did that over the phone - I tried to update here but typically, this site was too slow -

basically he said it wasn't the hard drive - duh - which I said already since I could hear it booting up and all

I tried the flashlight behind the screen attempt - nothing - just the light shining thru's

are there any apple genius bars in seoul? anyone know? I went to one in Fukuoka a few months ago and asked some qs - I've heard in the states they are really helpful (the one in Jpn was good)

they could at least test it on another monitor

the apple tech on the phone implied it might have to be sent away to be fixed and then they'd wipe the hard drive out - !!! no way - !!

it seems to be either the backlight, inverter, or (worst case) logic board.

anyone ever replace one of these here in K? or have it done?

[ppcg4]

Check this out:

http://www.macrumors.com/2008/10/10/some-macbook-pros-affected-by-nvidia-gpu-failures/

http://www.macrumors.com/2009/06/01/apple-extends-nvidia-macbook-pro-warranty-to-3-years/

There were a batch of MacBook Pros that had trouble with the graphics cards failing. Sounds like this is the case for you. I'd bring a Korean friend, explain the situation, and head over to a service center. You can find a listing here:

http://www.apple.com/kr/support/center/seoul_p.html

[bassexpander]

Does it have a Geforce card inside from the 8000 series? If so, then it probably has the same problems that all of the PC brands are having.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_8_Series

[moosehead]

[swigs]

If you did have to send in your laptop somewhere for repair you could always back up your hard drive on an external. I've yet to try time machine, but it supposedly works quite well. Or I believe disk utility allows you to make a back up hard disk if you don't have 10.5.

[moosehead]

well we'll see what happens tomorrow - the service centers aren't open on Sats turns out - will go first thing Monday

most of my stuff is backed up or already on an external - but I have recent stuff on the desktop that I don't want to lose - will bring an external along - I don't plan on leaving my nb anyway - they'll have to do the best they can while I'm there standing over their shoulder peering down

we'll see what transpires; if it's terribly serious and can't be resolved I'll just wait until I get back stateside in July -

oh well - I've been trying to rationalize all this - this is truely the first real disaster I've had w/a computer (and I still don't know how bad it is - maybe it won't be a disaster?? hopefully!!) - after nearly 2 decades and numerous desektops and now nbs - it's probably my turn for a major problem. I know so many other people who have had much worse - viruses, etc., stolen equipment, you name it.

so in the scheme of things, I suppose I can't be terribly upset. also the timing is ok - if it had happened just 6 weeks ago, it would have been catastrophic for the deadlines I was working under.

one must look on the brighter side, right?

[moosehead]

well I did leave my precious with the kindest looking fellow I've seen in a long time and today he called and told me it IS the Nvidia graphics processor which failed - they are fixing it and I should have it back soon.

thanks again for the info - but even then when I was talking to the fellow and asked about that being possible, he said yeah he thought that was it - so he was already on top of it -

I'll update again when it's back.

[swigs]

glad to hear.

[moosehead]

I picked up my precious today - didn't pay a single won - was the nvidia failure, they replaced it for free - !!!

everything's rosy

btw, I went to the Ubase across from Coex Mall - Tae Hee was the service tech, he's very sweet, and speaks enough E to help one out. I totally recommend him.

also thanks ppcg4 to you for your info - really great help there!