Okie Magic works again! I took it apart and checked the DC-in and logic boards for corrosion, burnt parts and such. Nothing. Cleaned VERY thoroughly around the MagSafe connector on the computer. Also scrubbed the pins on the charger side of the MagSafe and ran some alcohol through the spring-loaded pins. One of the pins seemed maybe slightly sticky? During reassembly I saw a slightly oily film near the AirPort card (separate from the logic board). Took off the AirPort card and there was some similar fluid under that on the non-absorbent foam pad on the underside of the card. Cleaned that all up. Got it all back together, fired it up and it worked just fine. I have NO idea what I might have fixed or not fixed. System profile software says battery isn't even to 1,000 cycles yet and is in good condition. Problem solved, no idea exactly why, but can't argue with success. Better to be lucky than good. Thanks all for your help and for being on this forum to help us less talented folks.
I had to deal with this for a friend. What I saw in many threads was that people had to ##&&% A LOT and LOUD and usually Apple would finally agree to fix it. But you have to keep at them. Those who kept complaining reported good success. Good Luck!
Dan, Why do you say it might need a logic board too? *How can one tell if it's just the display or logic board issues too?* Here's a picture of the display issue. https://www.dropbox.com/s/23e5y4ijz440cu...-12-26%20at%2012.41.40%20PM.jpg?dl=0 There are several small cracks in the lower left corner of the screen but the display issues are not right where those cracks are. GREAT help from you! Sorry your arthritis prevents you from fiddling. Thanks all around!
ALSO on reassembly, check between the board and metal post under the right-hand yellow dot in this picture. Be absolutely sure that the left speaker wire, the SD board cable or the right fan cable aren’t between the board and the post. I shorted out my left speaker by getting it caught in there. Easy fix, but if they’re bent just right they just seem to want to fall between the board and post. Make sure they’re outa’ there!
YES to Terry above. The optical drive cable actually pretty much floats loose when the connectors are pulled off. It needs to stay below the transverse wall which is right under the person’s right hand in the photo above.
Additionally, it would help to take a picture here to remember where the cables all go. You will have some open sockets at the end and it’s a little confusing. There is a good diagram of their locations here: Screenshot #1 at ++https://drive.google.com/drive/folders... Thanks to Timothy in comment for step 41 for this link. Basically don’t get sockets for SSD and HDD confused!
My replacement card had a clamping bracket with small bushings in the holes which required a smaller screw! Oh fun! I used a T6 screwdriver to carefully and gently push them up from underneath to get the bracket off. It’s lightly glued on, don’t worry about that; you won’t peel off any traces or board. But DO NOT let the card flex when you do this. Then I reused the old bracket and screws. I suppose you could also drill out the bushings. Curtis Gross talks about this in his nice YouTube video.
Amen. Having been jolted twice from 2 different spots on the power supply, I would recommend covering the power supply with a small microfiber cloth, handling it by the edges and keeping the cloth in place. Cheap insurance. It will also protect the power supply if it touches something conductive on the hard disc when you flip it over to remove the DC-out cable (next step).
Be sure to route the BT/camera multicolor cable (step 27) and the temperature sensor cable (step 28) into the gap next to the logic board. The correct location is seen well in step 32, just above the person’s index finger.
During reassembly remember that the screen goes AWAY from you (as in the picture during removal). My cable was taped to the front of the display and had to be untaped and draped backwards over the bottom edge to get into proper position for attachment. Also, just in case this happens to you, too, the longitudinal rod that carries the springs and hinges was about 0.5mm too long to fit into the recesses. I had to file the rod down very slightly to get it to fit.
YES, on reassembly it is possible to turn rotate the cover springs so that the ribbon is toward you. That’s wrong! It should lie down flat in the well of the laptop body. Be sure the ribbon is going DOWN and not draped up.
These are mirror images of each other! Beware! In the photo you’ll see that in reassembly the “extra” metal bit goes toward the front. If you look at the underside of them you’ll see two foam bits: one square one to go over the flat metal part, the rectangle over the cable. With the extra metal bit toward the front (away from you) be sure you have the correct cover on the correct side!
Same problem with the tape coming loose and the cable not coming out. Go further back along the cable and pull gently on the cable with your fingers and the connector will come out easily.
I agree with the last comment. But I would prefer loosening the center battery and lifting it up to guide the trackpad cable easily. This also makes it easier to reinsert it into the connector during reassembly.
ALSO on reassembly, check between the board and metal post under the right-hand yellow dot in this picture. Be absolutely sure that the left speaker wire, the SD board cable or the right fan cable aren’t between the board and the post. I shorted out my left speaker by getting it caught in there. Easy fix, but if they’re bent just right they just seem to want to fall between the board and post. Make sure they’re outa’ there!
YES to Terry above. The optical drive cable actually pretty much floats loose when the connectors are pulled off. It needs to stay below the transverse wall which is right under the person’s right hand in the photo above.
Additionally, it would help to take a picture here to remember where the cables all go. You will have some open sockets at the end and it’s a little confusing. There is a good diagram of their locations here: Screenshot #1 at ++https://drive.google.com/drive/folders... Thanks to Timothy in comment for step 41 for this link. Basically don’t get sockets for SSD and HDD confused!
My replacement card had a clamping bracket with small bushings in the holes which required a smaller screw! Oh fun! I used a T6 screwdriver to carefully and gently push them up from underneath to get the bracket off. It’s lightly glued on, don’t worry about that; you won’t peel off any traces or board. But DO NOT let the card flex when you do this. Then I reused the old bracket and screws. I suppose you could also drill out the bushings. Curtis Gross talks about this in his nice YouTube video.
Amen. Having been jolted twice from 2 different spots on the power supply, I would recommend covering the power supply with a small microfiber cloth, handling it by the edges and keeping the cloth in place. Cheap insurance. It will also protect the power supply if it touches something conductive on the hard disc when you flip it over to remove the DC-out cable (next step).
On reassembly:
Be sure to route the BT/camera multicolor cable (step 27) and the temperature sensor cable (step 28) into the gap next to the logic board. The correct location is seen well in step 32, just above the person’s index finger.
During reassembly remember that the screen goes AWAY from you (as in the picture during removal). My cable was taped to the front of the display and had to be untaped and draped backwards over the bottom edge to get into proper position for attachment. Also, just in case this happens to you, too, the longitudinal rod that carries the springs and hinges was about 0.5mm too long to fit into the recesses. I had to file the rod down very slightly to get it to fit.
YES, on reassembly it is possible to turn rotate the cover springs so that the ribbon is toward you. That’s wrong! It should lie down flat in the well of the laptop body. Be sure the ribbon is going DOWN and not draped up.
These are mirror images of each other! Beware! In the photo you’ll see that in reassembly the “extra” metal bit goes toward the front. If you look at the underside of them you’ll see two foam bits: one square one to go over the flat metal part, the rectangle over the cable. With the extra metal bit toward the front (away from you) be sure you have the correct cover on the correct side!
Same problem with the tape coming loose and the cable not coming out. Go further back along the cable and pull gently on the cable with your fingers and the connector will come out easily.
I agree with the last comment. But I would prefer loosening the center battery and lifting it up to guide the trackpad cable easily. This also makes it easier to reinsert it into the connector during reassembly.