Grrr/Help!.... 2007 MBP won't boot (longish)

[rjmacs]

Hey gang,

I've enjoyed a relatively trouble-free ownership with my late 2007 2.6 C2D 15" MBP. Machine was running 10.6.6, has an upgraded 750GB drive, and 4MB RAM. Other than needing batteries replaced under warranty, this machine has been great. Until last night.

Last night I quit all applications and selected Restart from the Apple menu. The machine apparently went through the normal process of shutting down, system closing, screen darkening. Then, nothing. No reboot. After a few minutes I pressed the power button, thinking that maybe i accidentally Shut Down by mistake (but i didn't think so, because the latch LED was still glowing). Nothing. I pressed and held the power button to force shut down, and it did. Pressed the power button again to boot, and hear the normal buzz of the optical drive, but no chime, no hard drive spin up, no screen action.

I've heard that unplugging, removing battery, and letting a laptop sit overnight can sometimes help with boot issues, so i tried that. No dice. I thought it could be the battery, so i tried my new spare battery (which charges, incidentally, when plugged in). Nada. I thought it could be the OWC RAM upgrade, so i replaced with the factory original RAM. Nope.

A couple of extra pieces of information, which may or may not be relevant. First - all of the tests above were tried with and without external FW drives attached. Also, firewire devices do get bus power when attached and the MBP is "on" (but not booting). Second - i recently turned off FileVault on my boot drive, which was a pain because i had to clone to a larger, external drive, then re-clone back to the internal. I can't fathom how this could matter, since we're not apparently getting to the HD in the boot sequence, but it was a "major operation." Aside: what is a real PITA is that i was initially restarting the machine to go into Target Disk Mode, so i could backup the drive. So if i take this machine in to the Genius Bar, i'll have to take out and backup the drive before i do that. Ugh.

I'm not an expert at hardware tech support, but this feels like a mobo issue. Which kinda sucks, since my AppleCare expired in December, and my full-time grad student salary, well, sucks. Suggestions? Ideas? Condolences? Your input is appreciated.

Edit:

btfc wrote:
Have you tried booting from another startup disk?

An excellent question, and an oversight in my original post. The optical drive will take the Restore Disc, and spin up. But, no further activity from the screen, HD, etc. Also, can't eject the disk using trackpad button or USB mouse. As for booting from an external drive, there's no evidence that any hard drives are mounting or being recognized, internal or external.

[btfc]

Have you tried booting from another startup disk?

[Ken Sp.]

If it comes down to it---Make an appointment with the Apple Store Genius---you might be shocked with how helpful they are, and don't forget to politely mention that AppleCare only recently expired.

[Doc]

rjmacs wrote: what is a real PITA is that i was initially restarting the machine to go into Target Disk Mode...

Does it boot into Target Mode?

[rjmacs]

Doc wrote:
[quote=rjmacs]what is a real PITA is that i was initially restarting the machine to go into Target Disk Mode...

Does it boot into Target Mode?
No. Nothing i do results in any HD spinup or display activity.

[Doc]

You were gonna boot into Target Mode to back it up, which implies that you have another Mac...

Got an adapter or external enclosure? You could pop the hard drive, connect it to the other Mac and at least see if you can get your data off.

And 'might as well take the MBP to the Apple Store to see what they say. You might be pleasantly surprised.

[hal]

You don't seem to realize that there is a recall for that model to address the video card. These symptoms are pretty much in line with the recall, but you need to take it in. They will run a test that will determine if it is the video issue - if it is - you get it fixed for free - even with expired applecare

[rjmacs]

Doc wrote:
You were gonna boot into Target Mode to back it up, which implies that you have another Mac...

Got an adapter or external enclosure? You could pop the hard drive, connect it to the other Mac and at least see if you can get your data off.

And 'might as well take the MBP to the Apple Store to see what they say. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Thanks, Doc. I was able to remove the drive, replace it with the factory original, and rescue my data. The drive is fine, and will even boot my mini.

hal wrote:
You don't seem to realize that there is a recall for that model to address the video card. These symptoms are pretty much in line with the recall, but you need to take it in. They will run a test that will determine if it is the video issue - if it is - you get it fixed for free - even with expired applecare

Thanks, hal. I've got an appointment tomorrow morning at 10:15 - let's hope that's the issue! I'll mention it for sure.

[rjmacs]

Just got back from the Genius Bar. Sending out for repair, flat rate $310. Bleh. 47 days out of warranty is apparently too much for Apple. Interestingly, the Genius helping me said that he had the same model MPB, and had the same problem (failed logic board) 2 months out of warranty. Problem was not Invidia-related, but at least i'll know that the replacement board will have the corrected video card.

[rjmacs]

OK: it came back today with a new logic board and top case, and all is working well. I've reinstalled my OWC RAM and larger HD, and so far everything seems copacetic.

I'm impressed with their turnaround time - i left the laptop at the Apple Store on Wednesday around 10:30, and had it back by 1:00 this afternoon. It was returned from Houston, which is quite a ways from me on the east coast. My drive came back reformatted (expected), with OS 10.4.10 installed on their Apple service/diagnostic partition! Crazy - i'd never seen Tiger on my machine before - it kinda weirded me out....

All in all, i've got mixed feelings about the experience. I'm glad they have a flat-rate repair option, but having a machine go kaput so soon out of warranty is a bummer. If it had been $500 instead of $310, i probably would have been parting out the MBP and saving for a new machine... That said, it's still a quick little bugger with a few years left in it (i hope!).