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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

#111

Post by nobleach »

caycep wrote: post #95

This is due to failure of the ball grid array solder, I'm assuming? Most of what I've seen has been due to failure of the video card - I think the nvidia ones were notorious on certain models, but I've had it happen on my 2009 iMac with a radeon card. Sort of what sold me on integrated GPU's as being the ideal in these form factors - less parts to blow up in your face....

I can confirm that my 2008 iMac had this same problem with the nVidia card. And yes, cooking it in the oven did bring it back long enough to grab the few items that I wanted. At the time, I read that it had to do with Apple switching to lead free solder. Sad to know I may face this with the 2011 MBP that I am typing this on (and I love so dearly)

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

#112

Post by atrilumen »

mikeash wrote: post #104
rizalp wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, but why? Why it is bad to do this with Microwave Oven rather than conventional oven?

Microwaves interact with metal in interesting ways. It will likely induce high voltages in the computer's wiring, causing the chips to release all of their magic smoke.

( And it's the magic smoke that makes them work. )

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

#114

Post by kcbanner »

rizalp wrote: post #97
Pitarou wrote: post #7

Do NOT try this with a microwave oven. If you do, there will be a bad smell, and lots of sounds and lights, and you will not read Hacker News today.

Sorry, but why? Why it is bad to do this with Microwave Oven rather than conventional oven?

Because a microwave does not produce heat from a heating element. It uses microwaves.

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

#115

Post by cones688 »

School-Cotton wrote: post #80
mgkimsal wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The benefit of Macs is that they're high-end unix workstations optimized for usability. As far as I know Apple is the only company still making anything by that description.

Thinkpads?

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

#117

Post by unicornporn »

danmatan wrote: post #100
unicornporn wrote: post #99

Remember that there might be a law in your country that regulates complaints. In Sweden we have "reklamationstid"[1] which gives you sort of a legislated warranty (applies to almost all goods) for three years. All goods that I have complained about using "reklamationstiden" have been replaced. [1] http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&h...

Is it common to have your replacement/repair refused unless you bring up the "reklamationstiden" argument?

Yes, many people don't know about this law. The shops know this and takes advantage of it. Of course there is also the manufacturer's warranty, which lasts for as long as the manufacturer decides.

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

#118

Post by D9u »

I had a somewhat similar issue with an Acer Aspire Aspire One ZG5 netbook, except my problem was that the device would power off after about 1.5 minutes from powering on.

Apparently a thermal cutoff switch needed some recalibration/replacement, so my fix was 2 hours in the freezer followed by a few more hours waiting for condensation to evaporate before attempting to power the netbook on again...

I used the above method for nearly a year before acquiring my present laptop, relegating the netbook to my growing pile of disfunctional hardware.

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

#119

Post by kevinchen »

slantyyz wrote: post #106
johnchristopher wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Source: apple forums and http://mbp2011.com Wow: “The problem might be on the GPU” Said the “Genius”. That’s exactly what I was hoping to hear (he didn’t mentioned this until I pushed them this far.) So I replied, “You all knew exactly what’s going on here and you intentionally kept this from the customers, right?” Right this moment, the “Genius” has left. That's insane.

There's a lot of variability these stories in terms of how you're treated by a Genius when you take your computer in. When I took my problematic 2011 MBP in, they pretty quickly determined that it was a motherboard issue and replaced it. Two months after my motherboard was replaced the video glitches started appearing again. Coincidentally (or not?) it happens that I use Coda every day, and Coda forced Macs (inadvert…

Graphics switching on dual-GPU Macs used to require you to log out when you changed the GPU. They never quite got the automatic switching right but it's much better on the current generation. I very rarely see random red-and-white checkerboard patterns flash on the screen.

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

#120

Post by kevinchen »

fnordfnordfnord wrote: post #56
ics wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on the alloy, tin/bismuth will melt around 140C. I would've expected over 180C to be necessary as well though. Sn63Pb37 is very common and melts at 180C, but since it has lead I don't think it's used much in large scale electronics manufacture.

If your electronics are RoHS compliant (they are), there is no lead.

Apple's laptops are RoHS, so the melting point of that lead-free solder should be even higher than 183 C.
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