My MacBook 1G (Core Duo) randomly shut down, and now will not start, no matter what I try.?

Question

While fixing my mother's laptop (Windows machine), I was using my Mac to download boot disks and for reference purposes.

While working on my mother's computer, the Mac all of a sudden completely shut down, as if it had lost power, and the fans immediately stopped running. The power cable was connected, however, so I was confused.

I had been running a number of programs so this could have been an issue of the processor or other components overheating past their spec. My MacBook has shut down before because of heat and it's also 2 years old (and therefore probably filthy inside).

The problem is, I've let it cool down, removed the battery and power cable and held the power button for 10 seconds to reset power management, alongside everything else I could think of to get it started back up- removing the battery, replacing it, waiting for it to cool down, etc.

It will not turn back on, no lights are on, and is completely unresponsive, as if it has been bricked. I can press the power button, press and hold the power button, no response, no light, no sound from the case whatsoever.

Has anyone else experienced an issue like this one, where you can not get a response from the machine after it has randomly shut down? Do I need to send this laptop into Apple for repair?

What is the quickest, easiest way to back up the data on my hard drive before I send the laptop in for repair, if shipping for repair is necessary?

Any input will be very much appreciated... the Mac is my only machine at the moment.

Alex

Answer 1

Simple solution would be to take it to your nearest Apple store and check with a Mac Genius. Sounds like a power supply issue.

Answer 2

Whatever happened to "it just works"?

Answer 3

I'm afraid you said it - Its bricked. Its probably the power distribution on the motherboard. Every now and then a cap will blow on a motherboard and take everything out.

Your best bet is to remove the hard drive and place it in an external enclosure. I'm not sure where you live, but a Tigerdirect should have one

I'm guessing its SATA drive, which means you can actually plug it directly into your desktop mobo and back it up. If its IDE, try this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/...

(Sata connections on laptops are the same as desktops, but IDE use a different interface.)

Hope that helps!

Answer 4

Alex, you sound like you know about Macs, enough to try a few things. First off try it without the battery & just the power supply. Sometimes the battery shorts out and draws too much power and there's not enough left for the MacBook. If that doesn't work, try the opposite. Try just the battery and no power supply, see if anything happens. You could have a bad power supply. Also try removing the ram and reseating it, sometimes they get loose. While doing that, find the reset button on the mother board and click that down. If nothing works, try Apple.