2012 MacBook Pro Dead, won't charge, replaced logic still nothing...
So i’ve been working on my 2012 Macbook pro for a couple weeks now, about a month ago it had stopped taking a charge, died, and only booted up a time or two when plugged before it died, died. Charging light dim green, no battery indicator lights, nada, it was burnt toast. Here’s the journey thus far.
- Tried a new battery (well used, but known working battery) Nothing.
- Tried the SMC reset, and every version of press the power button, let go, press again trick… took out the battery, power button 10 seconds, plug in charger, press again, all the fun stuff from every forum on these issues. Wo'n’t turn on with or without battery. Nothing.
- Tried 3 different chargers (All the correct type)… all the same. One charger actually started orange but after a few seconds faded into dim green abyss.
- Replaced the DC-Input Board, repeated steps 1-3… nothing
- Took it to the Apple store, gave it to them and just said it won’t turn on. After 15 minutes the tech came back, confirmed my tests and suggested replacing the DC-in board. When I told him I had already he confirmed it must be the logic board and I cut him off before he could finish the five-hundred and… estimate, said I’d like to do it myself and he was super cool about it.
- Ordered a refurbished logic board installed it, but still nothing, won’t boot even with the battery taken out. There are some new signs of life in that now the battery indicator lights actually do something, but still won’t turn on or charge and the charger light is still dim green. Tried steps 1-3 and still nothing.
The new intriguing info though is this… there was no light on the battery indicator with the old logic board, but this one does show life.
When plugged in with battery installed, the first battery indicator light will blink rapidly what i’ve counted to be 20 times.
When plugged in with the battery not installed, all the indicator lights blink together 5 times.
I’m thinking it must be…
- a. Another component causing the issue?
- b. Maybe both batteries I have are completely drained and need to sit to charge overnight? I haven’t been able to test them on another computer for a few weeks.
- c. The new logic board has its own issues and I should just send it back.
I’ve looked high and low for the light codes to see if they mean something but can’t find anything. Before I send this logic board back as faulty does anyone have ideas? Thanks!
Update (10/25/2018)
Good call I forgot to mention that with the new board. No it's still dead as can be. It won't even boot with the battery taken out using the power button for 10 seconds, plug in charger, release the button then press it again method so I think I'm leaning away from the central issue being the battery.
Update (10/27/2018)
After a few days of troubleshooting and a conversation with an apple technician who claimed that the battery indicator lights don’t have any meaning behind them (couldn’t tell if it was ignorance or BS) i’m just going to send the logic board back and try another one.
The fascinating thing is that the battery Indicator light was blinking 20 times rapidly when pressing the button and I couldn’t find a single report in hours of searching of anyone else experiencing that, strange, but according to Apple it’s meaningless :-D