1) MacBook Pro 17-inch A1151 2.16 GHz
2) Leopard (10.5.4) (but this is probably irrelevant)
3) 2 GB RAM (2 x 1 GB DDR2 SODIMMs)
4) No 3rd party Peripherals
5) No 3rd party internal components installed lately
6) 50 GB free space on the Boot Drive
7) Image of the problem is attached
8) What I tried already: See long explanation below
9) Instance leading to the event -- not sure, but I think the bottom of the screen started to go bad and then moved progressively higher over a few weeks (someone else was using it at the time, not me)
As you can see from the attached image the problem is that the top 1/4 of the LCD displays the image fine but the bottom 3/4 is just grey with various lines through it. A monitor connected to the DVI out looks perfect, however.
I thought it was probably the LCD panel itself so bought one off eBay and installed it. The image now appeared to be fine but the backlight did not light (I had to shine a bright light on the screen but could see that the image was not distorted at all). Thinking it might be a bad replacement part I returned the eBay one and bought one from powerbookmedic.com and installed it. That display shows exactly the same symptoms: perfect image but no backlight.
I thought the backlight not working might be caused by a faulty inverter, so I bought a replacement inverter from eBay (different vendor from the first LCD) and installed it. It did not fix the problem. I put the original, non-functional LCD back in while leaving the new inverter in and the symptoms returned to the original problem with the backlight working but only the top 1/4 of the screen visible.
Now I'm at a loss as to the possible cause. If it was the LCD panel, why did two new replacement LCDs not work? If it's the inverter then why does the backlight work on the original LCD? If it's the motherboard then why does the external video work and why does one LCD backlight work and another not work?
Obviously, the only part I haven't replaced is the motherboard but it's just too expensive to make sense. Is there any other cause I haven't thought of or has anyone seen this strange collection of symptoms?
Did you always use the same LVDS (video) cable or you tried different ones ?
Yes, I only have the original LVDS cable (I'm guessing this is the flat, orange cable that runs at an angle from the bottom of the bezel and then straight up to connect to the back of the LCD)
Would a problem with that cable explain the symptoms I'm seeing? The one part I can't figure out is the backlight working with the original LCD and not with the two replacements. That just doesn't make any sense to me.
I suppose I can try replacing the LVDS cable for about $20-30 but I'd love to know if that has a good chance of being the cause of the problem as I'm not up to about $500 in replacement parts.
When you installed the 2 LCD panels with the non working backlight you say that the image was perfect but the backlights not working. Are you sure the image was OK ? If so the LVDS cable should be OK. If not I would try another known working one. The LVDS cable carry the video signal, the inverter cable carry the power to the inverter board and to the backlight.
I have exactly the same problem. have you found a way to repair your mac ? When i press slightly on the sides of the screen the "grey area" moves up or down and even disapears for a second or two...
Last edited by reirracon; Oct 16th, 2010 at 02:27 PM.
I sent the panel with the bad backlight back and got yet another one, which worked perfectly. Troubleshooting is a hell of a lot easier when the parts suppliers don't send you stuff that is already broken before you install it...
Obviously, the only part I haven't replaced is the motherboard..........
Not clear if this is entirely true. What about the various cables and connectors?
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When this exact problem (based on the image in the OP) happened (twice) on my wife's PB17 1.67 G4 it was repaired under Applecare by replacing the whole screen assembly (twice).
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HOWEVER: occassionally I have in the past provided links to instructions or illustrations. I will not do so in future, in fact I will not be offering helpful advice for free just to have my words pirated until the sleazy ad linking desists. I will, however, answer PMs.
you need to get the part you got from ebay installed on another of same model of computer to prove it works. until you can do that you are just throwing sh1t at the fridge to see what sticks..troubleshooting only works when you are 100% sure that the parts you are putting in the system are 100% functional
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