bikernantz

Thank you, ehMac, for being a resource!

I have a 15.4" Macbook Pro purchased refurbished from the Mac store online in mid-2007. About a year ago, the display started malfunctioning. Random horizontal white lines would appear periodically. This condition worsened to flickering, horizontal bars of black and other colors, and general fuzziness. For a while, it could be alleviated by manipulating the display case (usually near the right hinge worked best) but has worsened further. I took the Book to the Apple store last spring and they couldn't figure it out, recommended sending it in with a minimum $300(US) charge. I can't afford that, so I brought it home. Last week, I did more research and decided to take it apart to see if I could locate any obvious source for the issue. That was my first mistake.

I found what looked like fraying/damage to the data video cable so I ordered a replacement off eBay and reassembled the computer. In my excitement, I installed three long screws where three short screws should be and damaged the keyboard. Back to eBay to purchase another keyboard. When all the parts came, I disassembled the Book again and installed the keyboard. It seemed to work fine, although the keys are not all the same (i.e. I have 'command' keys now instead of the Apple logo and the function keys are different) so I installed the cable. This did not fix the display problem so I poked further, uncovering the logic board on the display and poking around some more. During this poking, I think I somehow damaged or disabled the backlight for the display. I think the computer at some point ran out of battery, as well, as I could not get it to respond at all. I plugged it in to charge and left it for a while and it responded again but still no backlight.

I reassembled the Book again and am considering taking it to a local repair shop and pleading my stupidity and just paying for a dang fix. Before I do that, is there anyone out there that can help me figure out what I broke and how to fix it?