John

Great! I'm glad you found Louis Rossman, because he is awesome and his videos are an incredible resource. I watch them all the time, but they are usually way over my head. :-) Good luck! John

in Keyboard & Trackpad not found on 13" A1278 2012 MacBook Pro Comment by John March 2015

Thanks for the post! The odd thing here is that BOTH the trackpad and the keyboard are not working. The trackpad has its own connection to the board, and the power button and keyboard share the ribbon cable connector, so if two components connecte…

in Keyboard & Trackpad not found on 13" A1278 2012 MacBook Pro Comment by John March 2015

I would try to find a whole screen assembly, or better yet a bad laptop with the GPU issue, on eBay, and then transplant the screen assembly. It's a slight risk, but it's probably going to be cheaper to buy a parts machine than to find a 100% certi…

in Mac Book Pro with GeForce 8600M GT and distorted display Comment by John February 2015

Thanks for the post! By verifying that the external display looks fine, you have proven that your GPU is good, and that your screen is bad. If your GPU was bad, it would be incapable of displaying a good image on either the screen or the external.…

in Mac Book Pro with GeForce 8600M GT and distorted display Comment by John February 2015

Thanks for the post! First off, what computer do you have? I'm assuming probably an iMac, since you mentioned being able to swap keyboards? My first thought is that maybe some kind of accessibility option is enabled. I'd go to System Preferences…

in Weird Right Shift Behavior Comment by John February 2015

Hi Again! If you're willing to spend as much as $700, I'd really recommend spending a hundreds or two more and buying a refurbished laptop from Apple. The reason is that they are in 99.99% new condition, and they come with a full one year Apple wa…

in Powerbook G4 Lower Memory Problem Comment by John January 2015

Hi! First off, sorry for the delay -- I didn't realize that you had posted until I got your reminder e-mail. Anyway, I am shooting from the hip here and could be completely wrong but I got a strong hunch reading your post: There are a lot of SSD/…

in Hardware or Software issue? Late-2012 iMac (2544) Comment by John January 2015

Hi! Thanks for the post! Sure, ask away, and I'll see what I can do. If I can't answer it, someone else might.

in Hardware or Software issue? Late-2012 iMac (2544) Comment by John December 2014

Sorry to hear! Sometimes it's just a bad board. There is a whole universe of board issues, and most of them aren't recoverable. At least you took the troubleshooting as far as it could reasonably go!

in Macbook Pro A1297 (2009) Powering OnTroubleshooting Comment by John December 2014

Thanks for the post! First off, it strikes me as odd that they would say the drive has failed but that data is recoverable. Did they mean the OS is corrupted, but the drive is physically intact? The drive will only appear on the desktop if it is …

in Using TDM to retrieve data from a failed hard drive Comment by John December 2014

Very strange that it is reliable after a 3rd attempt...have you tried disconnecting the ribbon cable and jumping it? If the problem persists with the cable disconnected, then that is proof the issue has nothing to do with the topcase/keyboard. Sin…

in Macbook Pro A1297 (2009) Powering OnTroubleshooting Comment by John December 2014

Another thought -- try disconnecting the keyboard/power ribbon cable before jumping the board. In the case that the power button is sticking, having the cable connected can keep the jump from taking.

in Macbook Pro A1297 (2009) Powering OnTroubleshooting Comment by John December 2014

Hi, and thanks for the post! Looks like you've done a pretty thorough job. My gut feeling is that most likely the board is bad -- often expansion and contraction of a board due to heat will cause it to power on when it's cool, but then shut off wh…

in Macbook Pro A1297 (2009) Powering OnTroubleshooting Comment by John December 2014

Hi! Thanks for the post! There's no software that I have ever seen, although it's possible it could exist. All the OS will tell you is "late 2010", etc., and you can take that info and determine what board was most likely used in that p…

in ID'ing logic board parts Comment by John December 2014

Hi Mark! You might be experiencing a failure of the other port. I would try different RAM just to rule it out...make sure it's PC133, because although PC100 will fit in the slot, it definitely won't work. I would also try the PRAM battery fix, …

in start discussion Comment by John November 2014

Hi Mark! Thanks for the post! First off, what PowerBook do you have? Is it a Titanium (black keys), or Aluminum (silver keys)? The last 3 of the serial number will let me look it up as well. Also, have you ever seen this laptop work before, and…

in start discussion Comment by John November 2014

Thanks for the post! When you hold the power button in and get the flashing light, you're doing a PMU (power management unit) reset, so that behavior is normal, although after it's done the screen should light up. What happens when you try to powe…

in Ti Book M8407 667 Mhz Comment by John November 2014

Hi! Thanks for the post! The first thing to be clear on is whether you're talking about a PRAM password, or an operating system password. I will assume it's a PRAM password, but many people get them confused, so it's worth making the distinction.…

in Removing Single User Mode password on late 2010 white macbook Comment by John November 2014

Hi! What laptop do you have, and what OS? If you wipe the drive, do you still get the error? More info would help. Thanks

in im get error message when turning on Comment by John October 2014

Wow, that's great news! Usually when a battery stops working after liquid damage happens it ends up being the board or the power module, but I guess this was an usual case. It's still good that you cleaned up the corrosion, even though it doesn't …

in MacBook Air, coffee+heat. Almost working. Comment by John October 2014

Sounds great, and good luck! It's easy to forget that there can be corrosion on top of the board -- I do it all the time. I wonder if all the problems might be resolved by replacing the DC-in board.... Thanks, and let me know how it goes! John

in MacBook Air, coffee+heat. Almost working. Comment by John October 2014

Thanks for the post! I've only worked on a few 13" Airs, so I don't have tips and tricks specific to that laptop, but generally it sounds like you're probably dealing with a logic board that has gotten fried to the extent that it can no longer…

in MacBook Air, coffee+heat. Almost working. Comment by John October 2014

Great news! Some people will say you should drain the battery now and then to prolong the battery life. As I mentioned above, I don't think it's technically necessary, and even if it did make it last a month longer, I've always felt that batteries…

in Powerbook G4 aluminum 15-inch/167MHz/2GB won't charge battery Comment by John October 2014

Hmmmm...there's often a small gap before charging kicks in (I wouldn't say 10MAH is unusual), and batteries are sort of "organic" devices that are never 100% accurate or repeatable in performance, especially with a battery that has already…