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How I resurrected my MacBook Pro by putting it in the oven

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Re: How I resurrected my MacBook Pro by putting it in the oven

#81

Post by mst »

iancarroll wrote: post #66
mgkimsal wrote: post #35

"with people having apparently similar but in reality completely unrelated problems" Not sure what he was reading - this is a known problem with at least many early 2011 MBP - I had one (still do - it's in the closet). Apple is refusing to acknowledge this as a problem, and will offer to replace the motherboard (or something like that) for ... $300 and approximately 5 business days. From what I've read, whatever they…

Can I ask why a store (sixrig) has ads on their site?

Well, you can, yes.

But given he's a happy customer of their hands on service and didn't even mention the site, I'm not sure the answer you'll get will be terribly relevant.

Re: How I resurrected my MacBook Pro by putting it in the oven

#82

Post by mst »

marincounty wrote: post #58

Did not read story, but if it it what I think; HP had the same problem with a bad nvidia chip, poorly designed cooling system, etc. They denied the problem, until sued. Meanwhile, desperate users where putting their motherboards in the oven, curling the hairs in the nvida chip, and sticking pennies on the hot chip. I will never buy another HP laptop! I'm surprised Apple won't admit to a problem. I think if Steve was…

> Did not read story

Then please don't comment. This is Hacker News, not slashdot.

Re: How I resurrected my MacBook Pro by putting it in the oven

#86

Post by DanBC »

fnordfnordfnord wrote: post #62
DanBC wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be careful not to use vigorous airspeed. It's possible to blow balls of solder away from the pads. These then cause shorts and are annoying to fault find and repair.

Huh? The solder balls are under the chip sandwiched between the IC and the PCB. There is no direct contact with the hot air.

Yes, on a BGA the pads are under the IC package. That BGA will be on a PCB close to other ICs which has other packages. Using a hot airgun risks distributing small balls of solder.

Re: How I resurrected my MacBook Pro by putting it in the oven

#87

Post by cloverich »

chiph wrote: post #68
mgkimsal wrote: post #35

"with people having apparently similar but in reality completely unrelated problems" Not sure what he was reading - this is a known problem with at least many early 2011 MBP - I had one (still do - it's in the closet). Apple is refusing to acknowledge this as a problem, and will offer to replace the motherboard (or something like that) for ... $300 and approximately 5 business days. From what I've read, whatever they…

I have a new board in mine as well. Without AppleCare, it would have been $550. Estimated value of the machine, from CL, eBay, etc: $575. The downside to Macs having become popular is the severe price drop in the used market.

Hmm. I sold my 2008 macbook pro on Ebay two months ago and got $500 (average was in $350 range). Just another data point for perspective.

Re: How I resurrected my MacBook Pro by putting it in the oven

#88

Post by tomwhipple »

See also http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4088?viewlocale=en_US&locale=e...

I printed the article, the GPU kernel panic log and took them to the Genius bar. Apple replaced the mainboard for free, more than 3 years after the purchase.

It took me more than a year of dealing with random crashes and several visits to the genius bar before I found this article.

Though the downside is that you'd miss the excitement described here...

Re: How I resurrected my MacBook Pro by putting it in the oven

#89

Post by TacticalCoder »

werid wrote: post #25
WildUtah wrote: post #22

I once had a Toshiba laptop that would work only after spending twenty minutes in the freezer, and then only until it warmed up. I don't think it had the same problem as this MacBook, though.

That sounds like the old harddrive trick where a harddrive refuses to start until it's cold enough.

I confirm here that one day, about ten years ago, I managed to save a harddisk on which I had important data for which I had no backup (well, I had backups but I had lost/forgot the gpg key to decrypt them which in a way is even more stupid than not having backup at all: false sense of security).

You could hear the HDD "wanting" to start but failing. I searched the net like crazy because I really needed the data kinda badly: I even considered trying to find an identical, used (but working), HDD and swapping the controller.

Eventually I found a message (somewhere on Usenet I think) saying that some failing drive may start when cold enough... So I did put the HDD in the fridge. After the 2nd try I managed to boot it and to copy all my data and it's the last time that that drive booted!

So, as crazy as it sounds, the fridge/refrigerator trick was working in some cases... And I take it that the grill/heat thinggy may work in some cases too :)

Re: How I resurrected my MacBook Pro by putting it in the oven

#90

Post by JohnBooty »

mgkimsal wrote: post #75
chiph wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a new board in mine as well. Without AppleCare, it would have been $550. Estimated value of the machine, from CL, eBay, etc: $575. The downside to Macs having become popular is the severe price drop in the used market.

I was always told the benefit of Macs is that they hold their value. I don't think it's terribly true - never felt like it when I've come to sell.

Non-Mac laptops drop off in value even more quickly.
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