Dhaemon

This is my first post, so please bare with me
Spec's:
2010(Mid) 13" MBP 2.4Ghz, 4GB Ram, running Mountain Lion. No Apple care

I hope this story can help others, because I came close to parting out my MBP, but here I am today using it!


2 weeks ago my MBP had trouble closing out the Mozilla Aurora alpha browser. No option for force close.
I decide to power down my MBP and restart. Upon restart, it stayed on the the grey screen with the spinning wheel.
I attempted to safe mode it, but stops 1/4th into the loading bar and stays there.
I use the Mountain lion recovery tool and notice that it cannot repair anything...weird.
I got into unix mode and do a check of the disk. It finds the disk!

Figuring that the OSX has somehow took a $hit, I decide to reload Mountain lion using the recovery.
During the download and install, it stops and won't progress any further for the download.

I attempt to format the drive, but it is giving me errors, I am able to format it into some format, but I forget it's name, wasn't MS-Dos 32 bit...but similar.
Anyway I attempt to repartition...no go.

Now, before I go any further, I didn't time machine back-up....

I go online and I hear about drives sometimes going in these laptops. So I go to Futureshop and get a WD Scorpio 1TB. I get them to format it for OSX and I take it home.
I attempt the Lion recovery and a DVD of snow leopard...no go, won't install.


So...I am at my wits end. I'm a 35 Yr old student in a College and I need it for September. I begin to panic, so I bring it back to Futureshop and they said they will stress test it, but he also states, it's most likely the logic board and it's like a $900 fix.

My heart sinks, I do everything to hold back my tears. I manage to get into my truck and I just let it rip. $1400 Machine....2 years...using it for school....gone and now I'm trying to see how I can sell it for parts and for how much.

Me and my wife decide that I need something for school, so I buy a Ipad2 for $399. I get the Belkin case with keyboard. I purchase through Itunes Pages.
Its crap, no where near as good as the MBP.

I miss the MBP (Shocking I know but, damn was it just the best machine I ever bought...)

The IPAD2 is ok, but not great. Its just that's it's a bigger version of the Iphone.

I regret buying the IPAD....

I call Futureshop, who say it's having trouble with the Ram...but they are still testing it...looks to be the Logic board they say...

Well, being a PC guy, who's fixed dozens and dozens of computers, it had to be something else.
Online I go with the IPAD2 lol

I notice something about the SATA cable being a issue with the same symptoms.
SATA problems and Logic board issues cause he same symptoms!...Maybe I have a chance!

I call Futureshop(Oh and BTW, there is no Apple store in Newfoundland) and they are still testing it. I tell them about the SATA cable. But they have no cable to test it with, they also don't seem so intrigued with my idea it being the SATA cable.

4 Days into my IPAD2 Purchase...I know I have 14 days to return it!..I gotta get movin!

SATA cables online, but would take too much time to ship and receive...

My wife, who graduated from Memorial University(MUN) said there is Apple repair on campus. So I get the part number and call them...



THEY HAVE ONE LEFT IN STOCK. They want to test it and make sure and then install it.

5 Days into my IPAD2 purchase...

I go back to Futureshop to get my MBP, they give me my computer back but are strangely reluctant to give me my power cord. After a quick raise of my voice, they give me back my power cord and off I go.

I get there and the tech even says that it's known to go in MBP, that it get's "Pinched" somehow inside the chassis. He says "give me a couple days"...

2 Days later I call and he says it WAS THE SATA CABLE and that she is up and running on Snow Leopard!

I get there as quick as I can and I power her up to make sure....Ahhh there is the OSX I know and love! I shake his hand, almost getting emotional. The part cost me $30 dollars

$30 Dollars!!!! Instead of a $900 repair which I would have NEVER done lol


I have her back home now, I went back to Lion, but not Mountain Lion as I found it to be a bit laggy with 4GB of ram. Lion feels like that warm blanket you had as a kid lol
I have installed Time Machine and plug in the external drive from time to time to back it up.


I have my OSX back, all thanks to a $30 part...


So for any of you folks who are in the same boat...there is hope.



I just can't imagine that if I didn't do some investigating myself...She would probably be parted out now, being sold on Kajiji for parts, when all it was was a SATA cable...



In the end, get her fixed in the right place...

pm-r

Welcome to ehMac and I'm glad to hear you found and got a proper repair fix, and that you also found a proper Mac fixit source.

As you discovered, they're not always the same for proper Mac support and/or fixes.

G-Mo

Your first mistake was taking it to Future Shop. I don't know how they are for PC repairs (I hear stories), but at least once a week I see botched and misdiagnosed FS/Best Buy services. By the end of your third paragraph I could guess the issue was the hard drive cable... It's a known issue in the 2009/10 MBPs and is usually a same day service. Next time, take your Apple machine to an AASP or at least a third party Apple specialist, not a big box store. I'm glad you got your computer back.

__________________
Apple Certified Macintosh Technician (ACMT) / Support Professional (ACSP)
MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2012) 8GB RAM, 256GB Flash Storage
Mac mini (Late 2012) 16GB RAM, Fusion Drive (128GB SSD/750GB 7200RPM)
iPad mini 16GB, iPhone 4S 16GB

Dhaemon

Thanks!

Yeah IN Newfoundland we only have one group of Apple Specialist and they are part of Memorial University and only Mun Alumni can get repairs there (Thank God my wife graduated there).
Other than that there is NO third party Apple repair in Newfoundland. (I checked on apple.ca to find that out).

I feel bad for the people not connected to that University and have to resort to Futureshop.

I'll never go back there again! lol

broad

this ^

Scribbles

Hhmm... Regional Population of ~200,000 and Major University with Faculty & Staff of ~20,000. One Apple Specialist shop that's closed to the general public. Probably a population of ~10,000 Macs.

There's an opportunity waiting there for someone.

pm-r

It sure sounds like a great opportunity waiting there for someone or maybe the University could change their restrictions and maybe even generate some new revenue that most universities seem to need these days.

Or is that the way most eastern Canadian type places seem to think these days by restricting access to any paid service?

Or has Apple placed some repair restrictions on the University's Apple Specialist shop?

digitddog

Congrats! Glad to hear everything worked out. (What reason did they give you for not wanting to return your power cord? That's just weird.)

Dhaemon

Nothing, it was weird. I guess they wanted me to bring it back so they can install the SATA cable and charge me a fee lol