Possible Solutions for a Macbook that Fails to Boot

Do not do anything to your A1181 MacBook until you have read all of the following post and have further explored the issues at other websites.     

All things must pass. Even Macbooks die.  Before selling yours as spare parts, make sure you have tried everything.  Exhaust as many resources on the net that your patience allows in  your search for a solution.   Sure as eggs I don’t know everything.  

One thing is for sure though. If your A1181 Macbook is under any form of warranty, including PayPal buyer protection, do not attempt any disassembly of the unit that requires the removal of screws. Even if you are tempted to just reseat the ram. Contact the seller and discuss the matter first.

There is a specific hazard with the A1181 Macbook: It is possible to foul the keyboard cable with a ram slot when inserting ram sticks. If this happens it is possible to jam the keyboard cable into a ram slot as you insert the ram stick. When current flows through the fouled ram slot, the ram slot is killed. Do not use any more than slight force when inserting ram into the ram slots. Hold the keyboard cable clear of the ram slot with an antistatic stick (called a splunger.)

Caution: one of the steps below requires the removal of Ram. Place removed Ram on anti static film. Do not touch the metal connectors on the Ram.

You press the power button and nothing happens:

Does your battery have power? Does your magsafe power adaptor light up when connected to the Macbook? If yes continue with the resets below (when rebooting, wait for the magsafe connector to light up before pressing the power button).

Try resetting the nvram

See http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379 

Try resetting the SMU

See http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

Is a faulty ram stick or ram slot preventing boot up?

Try booting with only one ram stick inserted, swapping the ram stick from each ram slot. Then try it with the other ram stick.  Be careful to avoid fouling the keyboard cable with the ram slot.

If  the machine still refuses to boot, remove both ram sticks and reboot.

The machine should detect the total absence of ram and you should hear strident alert beeps. The sleep light should flash on and off insistently. 

It you do not hear the alert beeps, I believe this points to three options:

Your logic board is dead.  Your internal speaker does not work.  Your top case is faulty and the power button is, as a result, not working. Place the ram back into the Mac.

Before considering removing the top case, there is one thing left to try.

If a hard drive is faulty, it may stop the mac from booting at all. Try removing the hard drive. Reboot with no hard drive present in the machine.  If the machine boots to a white screen or the flashing folder icon screen, at least you know another hard drive is needed.

If during the process of attempting to boot your machine you see the light flashing, you know at least that there is some hope.

If you have a problem in the graphics system, the built in monitor may remain dark. In this case, the machine might have actually booted and you may not know. Try using an external video adapter and an external monitor.

If your built in display does not work but an external monitor does, and if the macbook does boot up, the unit has some use. Changing the display invertor is about the only economic step to be taken in the case of a dead screen. Doing this will not solve all possible screen failure issues.

If you are at the point where you have tried every suggestion here and the machine still will not boot,  take the battery out, remove the power adapter and put the Macbook aside for a couple of days. Try again to boot the Mac. If it still fails to boot, think about trying another top case.

The A1181 Macbook top case contains the power button, the keyboard and trackpad. It contains a chip that is connected to the logic board via the top case cable.  If a fault in the top case or cable exists, it may prevent the power button from working.

Removing the top case is not very difficult, but it is important to know where all the screws are and which screw goes where. The removal procedure is described at IFixit and PowerBook Medic. It is critical that the screws go back into their correct positions.

Obtaining a guaranteed used or new top case is not expensive or difficult for the A1181 MacBook. The trouble is, there is no guarantee that the top case is the cause of the failure to boot. There is a way of attempting to boot from the logic board.  If you are unfamiliar with this, perhaps leave it alone. If you touch the wrong things on the logic board, the chance of making the situation worse than it already is. If the machine boots from the power pads on the logic board but not from the power button on the top case,  then a replacement top case or cable is required. I would just get a used top case with cable fitted.

Attempting to boot an A1181 Macbook with the top case removed is covered here:  http://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/75620/MacBook+won't+boot+at+all

Do not give up too easily. There are many forums and sites available which offer suggestions.

I think that often a MacBook fails to boot because of an inbuilt protection against a faulty component. It seems to me that old and faulty hard drives which draw too much current at boot up are sensed and the boot sequence is prevented. I believe this protection against faulty components is one of the functions of the SMU unit.

A faulty top case/ keyboard cable is a common cause of failure to boot. But try the simple things before swapping top cases.

Another possibility is a faulty DC in board. If your magsafe power connector does not light up at all when connected to the Macbook, a faulty DC in board is a possibility.  Swapping this board is a complex job.

If you are not familiar with top case removal, think carefully about whether you really want to it. Look for a very cheap known dead A1181 Macbook to practice take apart procedures on. When you are confident, work on the machine you are attempting to revive.  Watching the following video several times helps:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZQ96V3nOiE

Do not loose any screws. Don’t start work until you have the right tools and containers to hold each type of screw. The screws removed from the front edge of the inside of the battery include a mixture of slightly different sizes.  As you remove them, keep them in order. Put each one back in the right sequence on re assembly. If they get muddled up, it greatly slows down re assembly. Due to the MacBook's magnetic latch,  and due to the angle you have work the screwdriver at, it pays to have a magnetic screwdriver.  Keep it well clear of the hard drive.

Best of luck.  Only do it once you have a viable plan in case you stuff it up. Like buying another laptop. Which would likely be the outcome if you didn’t attempt it anyway.  

At the end of all this, if nothing so far has worked, we are still at the diagnosis stage.  Nothing is certain. The average life of a laptop is about 5 years. The average laptop has a hard life. Most do not last a very long time.   Hopefully one of the steps above has solved your problem.  In some cases though, the fact is the MacBook may be dead. 

Do not proceed with any disassembly until you have spent time researching the issues at several forum and technical sites. Do not just take my word for it. Confirm the information from at least two other sources. 

The biggest killers of laptops are heat and physical shock.

Next: Heat. CPUs sometimes hot enough to boil water bolted to a plastic case and reliant on aging thermal grease, heat sinks that come loose and standard fan speed settings.