MacBook Pro 2010 15in 820-2850 A Unresponsive

[poisonite]

Hi, i've already put this post in a few other forums but haven't gotten anything super constructive back from it. I've been trouble shooting the board mentioned above and so far for over 3 weeks so any help or even similar experiences would be greatly appreciated.

I recently purchased a For Parts/Repair Macbook Pro 15" mid 2010 (820-2850) which was missing a drive, ram, and a few other misc parts. I planned on repairing this device and i'm not apposed to throwing some money at it since i got it for less than half of what working ones sell for. I realize this device is rather old but I'm in it for the the sake of learning more about these devices (as well as soldering and logic board repair as a whole among other things).

Anyways, the main problem that I've run across now is that the device won't boot on properly. I have another MacBook pro of the exact same year size and board reference number which is a known working good device. I mention this because I've used this device to check and confirm that the LCD display is functional on my model (and it is). So what I've done so far is examine both motherboards under a microscope to spot differences in conjunction with using a multi-meter to test voltages (All of the "always-present" power lines are giving readings within acceptable margins which i can share if it would help) and the schematic PDF and board-view (I believe i got that from this site, Thanks again!!) for this model to confirm that there isn't any visible board damage or missing parts. So far i haven't found anything out of the ordinary. So i then tried to boot the computer with the keyboard unplugged using the power-on pads located near the connector for the keyboard. This yielded no results.

This next step is the crucial issue that i can't seem to get my head around. when i plug in the internal keyboard and power it on, no activity, however when i leave power connected to the device and flip up the keyboard connector latch on the board the system fans begin to spin. from what I've seen the physical action of flipping that latch to the unlocked position is kicking on some power channel. the display doesn't turn on and there are no other life signs when i do this, only the fan spin. If i push the keyboard connector back in then the fans stop spinning.

After countless articles and Louis Rossmann videos (among others) I'm getting desperate. I know this was a lot to read but i truly thank you for considering to provide any input. Should anyone need any other readings or info please don't hesitate to ask, i'm happy to add pictures as well if it would be of any benefit.

[dellxps15]

Re: MacBook Pro 2010 15in 820-2850 A Unresponsive

what happen if u do a smc bypass ? short the 2 pins and see if macbook start spinning. connect also speaker to ear if it makes any noise. try without ram and then with ram to see if there is some difference.

[poisonite]

Re: MacBook Pro 2010 15in 820-2850 A Unresponsive

what happen if u do a smc bypass ? short the 2 pins and see if macbook start spinning. connect also speaker to ear if it makes any noise. try without ram and then with ram to see if there is some difference.

Hi, thanks for the reply! I have tried with and without RAM (although for sanity sake i'll try again lol)
Can you clarify what you mean by SMC bypss? Is that the pads right above the U5701 chip next to the keyboard connector (I believe the board view calls it R5016)? If this is the SMC Bypss button i've tried it several times (although i had only heard it mentioned as the "power on pads") with no results, but i'll try it again when i retest the RAM.

Finally, do you mean connect the speakers to see if i can hear any popping? if so i've had one of the speakers (the one near the IO on the CPU side of the board) connected this whole time but i'll try with both connected.

[poisonite]

Re: MacBook Pro 2010 15in 820-2850 A Unresponsive

I just tired powering it with and without RAM again running off of the charger and using the SMC Pads to power it on (assuming that i'm doing it right) with no results. Would you be able to tell me if i'm bypassing the SMC correctly?

From what i know i should just be able to short the pins and it'll turn on but so far that hasn't worked. I also tried both sets of pads (R5015 and R5016, the first of which is located on the CPU side of the board and the other is the one i previously mentioned next to the keyboard connector.

Also, i don't know if it matters but during the tests i just did i had the charger connected to the board and almost nothing else connected, no drives, LCD, battery, airport card, and one of the speakers. All thats connected is the speaker by the I/O the 2 system fans and 1 stick of ram which i pulled from another 2010 Macbook Pro

Thanks again for all your help!!

[piernov]

Re: MacBook Pro 2010 15in 820-2850 A Unresponsive

Green light on Magsafe? History? Liquid damage?…

Take out the board and plug in only good DC-in board and good fan, nothing else (don't even need RAM). Plug 85W Magsafe in. Board should turn on by itself and fan should spin.

[dellxps15]

Re: MacBook Pro 2010 15in 820-2850 A Unresponsive

This next step is the crucial issue that i can't seem to get my head around. when i plug in the internal keyboard and power it on, no activity, however when i leave power connected to the device and flip up the keyboard connector latch on the board the system fans begin to spin

i suppose that notebook is starting when u say fan is spinning.


yes: smb bypass is power on pads and pc should start when u short those 2 pins.

now:
1) pc start as soon as u plug in power supply ?
2) fan spin normal speed or max speed? touchpad is attached?
3) computer makes no beep
4) green light on power supply magsafe?
5) 12.5, 3.42 volt 3.3 volt present ?
6) when fan spin voltage on all coils ? ram , cpu ecc ecc ?

[poisonite]

Re: MacBook Pro 2010 15in 820-2850 A Unresponsive

Green light on Magsafe? History? Liquid damage?…

Take out the board and plug in only good DC-in board and good fan, nothing else (don't even need RAM). Plug 85W Magsafe in. Board should turn on by itself and fan should spin.

Thanks! I was getting green light on charger (however I don't know the condition of the DC-IN board as I bought this non functional.
I haven't seen any signs of obvious liquid damage although I don't know the history of the device as the seller wasn't very descriptive in their listing (I mainly wanted something cheep).

I brought the device into work with me so I could look at it better under my microscope there, I'll try the DC-in board on my good MacBook and post back after I've retested

[poisonite]

Re: MacBook Pro 2010 15in 820-2850 A Unresponsive

i suppose that notebook is starting when u say fan is spinning.

now:
1) pc start as soon as u plug in power supply ?
2) fan spin normal speed or max speed? touchpad is attached?
3) computer makes no beep
4) green light on power supply magsafe?
5) 12.5, 3.42 volt 3.3 volt present ?
6) when fan spin voltage on all coils ? ram , cpu ecc ecc ?

1. It doesn't start until I unplug keyboard, but never unprompted (I.e power connect only)
2. I don't totally know The difference between full speed and partial, but it does seem to be running fast (although I don't know how slow they'll go) and I've done it with and without the trackpad being connected and I don't know if my trackpad is good as I haven't tested it in a working machine.
3. No beeps from machine ever
4. Yes green light on MagSafe (at first I wasn't but I realized this was because I had the dc-in board out of the case and so it wasn't lined up quite right with the connector).
5. I believe that's what the readings came back with when I tested previously. I'll post the exact numbers for each rail when I get into work on Tuesday (I'm using most of my personal equipment for work right now)
6. I haven't tested voltages when the fans are spinning. Do you have any recommended test points or just anything that runs on the power rail I want to test?

Thanks for your reply, I'll have a post with everyone's requested information sometime on Tuesday!

[poisonite]

Re: MacBook Pro 2010 15in 820-2850 A Unresponsive

Sorry Dell, I didn’t see the first part of your message.

I thought it was fully powering on when the fans spin as well but when I connect a tested good display I don’t get any image just the spinning fans.
Is there a reason you can think of why the SMC bypass wouldn’t work?

[dellxps15]

Re: MacBook Pro 2010 15in 820-2850 A Unresponsive

ok ive seen better the board code. it should have 8.4 volt instead of 12.5

keep in mind that on some 15 inch i have tested, they would boot only if both battery and psu were connected. without battery and magsafe only they wont power on.
if u have a good battery try with battery and psu. check if magsafe get orange. check also the voltage on 2 fuse if they are 8.4 volt.

[piernov]

Re: MacBook Pro 2010 15in 820-2850 A Unresponsive

Only MBA have 8.xV on PPBUS_G3H. MBP have 12.6V.

Core 2 and earlier machines needed the power button to be pressed to turn on.
1st gen Core i (which this one is) and later turn on automatically when Magsafe is plugged in and battery has been disconnected.
Only the 2015 15" DG (820-00163 and 820-00426) require the battery to boot (but it'll still start to turn on without it). The others don't need a battery.
But you need to use the correct Magsafe. Magsafe1 on machines that require Magsafe1, Magsafe2 on machines that require Magsafe2 (no 1→2 adapter).
MBP 15"/17" need 85W, MBP 13" need 60W or higher, MBA need 45W or higher. 2015 at least needs a genuine Apple Magsafe2, knockoff will cause issues.

In this case, I said it already but no battery, plugging in Magsafe1 85W the machine will turn on automatically.

[poisonite]

Re: MacBook Pro 2010 15in 820-2850 A Unresponsive

My charger is a genuine MagSafe 1 and I believe it's 80W (will confirm on Tuesday). I'll try with and without battery just for argument sake. I believe I was reading 12.4 or 12.5 on PPBUS_G3H but I'll confirm again when I grab all the other info on Tuesday.

Thanks!!

[poisonite]

Re: MacBook Pro 2010 15in 820-2850 A Unresponsive

Only MBA have 8.xV on PPBUS_G3H. MBP have 12.6V.

Core 2 and earlier machines needed the power button to be pressed to turn on.
1st gen Core i (which this one is) and later turn on automatically when Magsafe is plugged in and battery has been disconnected.
Only the 2015 15" DG (820-00163 and 820-00426) require the battery to boot (but it'll still start to turn on without it). The others don't need a battery.
But you need to use the correct Magsafe. Magsafe1 on machines that require Magsafe1, Magsafe2 on machines that require Magsafe2 (no 1→2 adapter).
MBP 15"/17" need 85W, MBP 13" need 60W or higher, MBA need 45W or higher. 2015 at least needs a genuine Apple Magsafe2, knockoff will cause issues.

In this case, I said it already but no battery, plugging in Magsafe1 85W the machine will turn on automatically.

So my charger is actually only a 60W but it is an OEM charger. Could this be the reason it doesn't fire on as soon as power is connected?
P.S. I'm retesting voltages now, i'm going to probe PPBUS_G3H, PPBUS_CPU_IMVP_ISNS, PPDCIN_G3H,and PP3V42_G3H with nothing connected except for the fans, 1 speaker, and the DC-IN board on the charger. Is there anything else i should test for?

[poisonite]

Re: MacBook Pro 2010 15in 820-2850 A Unresponsive

Ok the results are in everyone. It should be noted, i tested with a single fan connected and no speaker at the advice of Piernov instead of 2 fans and the speaker. I'm also posting what the schematic i have says each value should be in ().

PPBUS_G3H = 12.79 (Sch: 12.8)
PPBUS_CPU_IMVP_ISNS = 12.79 (Sch: 12.8)
PPDCIN_G3H = 17.19 (Sch: 18.5)
PP3V42_G3H = 3.47 (Sch: 3.42)

I ordered an 85W OEM magsafe 1 as i don't currently have any (only the 60W), however, it won't arrive for a few more days.

Does it matter what component i probe to get each voltage as long as the correct power rail is going to that location?

[piernov]

Re: MacBook Pro 2010 15in 820-2850 A Unresponsive

Again, you need an 85W Magsafe1. Board will not turn on with 60W (or only if a good charged battery is plugged in, which is not the correct way of troubleshooting since the power sequence is different).
Also, your multimeter batteries are low or the multimeter itself it quite inaccurate.

[poisonite]

Re: MacBook Pro 2010 15in 820-2850 A Unresponsive

Again, you need an 85W Magsafe1. Board will not turn on with 60W (or only if a good charged battery is plugged in, which is not the correct way of troubleshooting since the power sequence is different).
Also, your multimeter batteries are low or the multimeter itself it quite inaccurate.

Update: The proper charger should arrive monday or tuesday.

P.S. should i replace the C9560 cap with one that's not prone to failure since kernel panic was common on this year of mac book pro due to the poor cap used here. (with something like this: https://store.rossmanngroup.com/inde...0-1-piece.html)

[poisonite]

Re: MacBook Pro 2010 15in 820-2850 A Unresponsive

Again, you need an 85W Magsafe1. Board will not turn on with 60W (or only if a good charged battery is plugged in, which is not the correct way of troubleshooting since the power sequence is different).
Also, your multimeter batteries are low or the multimeter itself it quite inaccurate.

When I measure pin 1 on R7080 (PPCDCIN_G3H_OR_PBUS) I get 16.88v (black probe on a ground point and the red probe on pin 1). This is with a new DC-IN board and a new 85W MagSafe 1 charger.
When i connect the board to power (single fan connected only, no RAM) it still doesn't power on by itself even with these new components.

The batteries in my Multimeter should be fine (they were replaced fairly recently but i'll replace again after i get a 9V battery.

Is it possible that there's a bad component on the PPDCIN_G3H line? If so any ideas what i should test?

thx again for all your help!

[poisonite]

Re: MacBook Pro 2010 15in 820-2850 A Unresponsive

Also, I've been testing with the multimeter set to Volts DC (20) should I set it to a different mode

[piernov]

Re: MacBook Pro 2010 15in 820-2850 A Unresponsive

PPBUS_G3H and PP3V42_G3H were measuring a bit high but I'm pretty sure they are fine, most likely just the multimeter that's a bit off.

C9560 should indeed be replaced but your issue is probably unrelated.

Check voltage on PP3V3_S5 and PM_BATLOW_L.

[poisonite]

Re: MacBook Pro 2010 15in 820-2850 A Unresponsive

PPBUS_G3H and PP3V42_G3H were measuring a bit high but I'm pretty sure they are fine, most likely just the multimeter that's a bit off.

C9560 should indeed be replaced but your issue is probably unrelated.

Check voltage on PP3V3_S5 and PM_BATLOW_L.

Hi, I just tested PP3V3_S5 and PM_BatLow_L from R1931 with the same testing methodology as before.

PP3V3_S5 @ R1931 = 3.39v

PM_BATLOW_L @ R1931 = 3.38v