White screen. Won't boot from anywhere

[iRevival]

I recently bought a 15" mid 2009 MBP that was broken. It was literally missing the screen. But, the video out was working and the entire laptop functioned. So I ordered a used screen off of eBay that worked fine, great condition. Proceeded to repair the screen, which I feel went very smoothly, however now I just get either a white screen or a flashing folder with a question mark. Tried all of apples suggestions on their KB about both of those issues. Anybody have any other thoughts? It's driving me crazy. Tried booting from the installation disc without a hard drive in it and it won't work that way either.

[Scoops98]

A flashing folder with a question mark is typically a bad system of hardware issues. Could be the hard drive, but the fact that it won't start on a DVD, means it's not the hard drive. Could be the motherboard. Did you reassemble everything correctly?Go back in steps and see if you can find something out of place.

[iRevival]

That's my next step. The computer was working fine before I took apart so somethings got to be out of place. I just hope I didn't damage the board. I find that hard to believe but anything is possible. I'll update tonight.

[iRevival]

Ok, unfavorable update. I proceeded to take the macbook apart again to make sure I hadn't damaged anything or had poor connections. Everything went smoothly again (atleast I think it's going smoothly anyway) and the only thing that I noticed that was out of place was the hinge cover on the screen was installed backwards (whoops). Here's a more detailed description of what is happening:

01. Turning on the computer either gives me the bong sound a blank white (gray) screen or a flashing folder with a question mark in it. (I get the folder image quite a bit less than just the blank screen.)
02. Restarting the computer holding the "Option" key will give me the choice to boot from the Mac OS X DVD I have in the superdrive. Clicking on that seems to lock the computer up and it just stays frozen there and never does anything.
03. Restarting and holding down the "C" key to boot directly from the superdrive also ends in just a blank white screen.
04. I tried booting while holding down "Command+R". Nope.
05. I tried booting while holding "Shift". Nada.
06. I tried booting while holding "Shift+Command+V". No sir.
07. I have also reset the PRAM/NVRAM by hold "Option+Command+P+R" to no avail.
08. I also tried each stick of RAM that I have 1 by 1 to test for bad RAM. Each stick gives me the same white screen.
09. I removed the hard drive completely to try and force it to boot from the DVD. Nothing.
10. I have removed the battery and tried booting it with only the power cord attached. Nothing.
11. Tried booting it from just the battery. Nothing.
12. Tried booting with the battery and power cord attached. Nothing.
13. I have tried disconnecting the LCD and using the video out to connect to a different monitor (which is how it was working before I took it apart) but that now gives me the same white screen.
14. I have tried disconnecting the camera and trying to boot. Nothing.
15. Reset the SMC by removing the battery and holding the power button down for 15 seconds then reinstalling the battery. Nay.

I am at a loss of where to go from here. I feel that the issue lies with the RAM for some reason, and if not then it must be the logic board. The top stick of RAM was a bit picky when reinstalling but nothing that I haven't seen before. Any help would be appreciated.

[Scoops98]

Wow, you did an awesome list of troubleshooting! Can you try boot off an external hard drive? Not being able to start of the install DVD may not be a big issue. Are you able to get hold of TechTools Pro or the ASD for your Mac?

I assume you have 10.6 on your DVD?

Btw, Command-R is for booting to the Recovery Partition of Lion and higher.

[iRevival]

Haha thanks. I like to be thorough. The DVD is actually 10.5. It's a mid 2009 pro. The only that I don't know how to do is get that onto an external drive to try to boot from that. And the only other computer I have is a PC so I'm unsure of how to do it that way. I've never heard of TechTools Pro or ASD but I'll go ahead and Google those right now while I wait for your response lol.

[Scoops98]

I think on it. Bed time for me! Lol

[iRevival]

Sounds good. Thanks so much for the help so far. I've also made an appointment at the Genius Bar to see if they'll "help" me isolate the problem. As long as they don't tell me its the logic board I'll be happy. If it is I'll be parting this bad boy out. That appointment isn't until next week though.

edit: I was able to find the ASD for my model. It's downloading now and I'll go ahead and burn it tomorrow and see if I can get anywhere with that. TechTools Pro, while pretty cool in itself, isn't worth the $100 to me at this time. If I can't get this to work then I'll be back to having no Mac haha.

[Scoops98]

The ASD for your Mac has to be installed on a USB drive. I have a HHD with multiple partitions for different ones, just for this reason. Without having another Mac or a system on an external HHD, you're kinda stuck. Apple might be able to find the issue.

Have you tried removing the replacement LCD? It's strange that the issues started after the LCD was installed. Is it the correct part #?

[iRevival]

The only thing I haven't tried is disconnecting the LCD and the camera. Not sure why I haven't tried that. I'm not sure if the part number is correct to be honest. The guy said it came from the same model but to be honest I didn't actually check. Ill have to look at it tonight. Do you know where I would find that information?

[Scoops98]

Which mid-2009 15" MBP do you have? A 2.66, 2.8, or 3.06 GHz or 2.53 GHz Core 2 Duo.

[iRevival]

2.53 ghz

[Scoops98]

It might help to find a Apple Technician Guide for MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.53 GHz, Mid 2009). I don't know the recommended LCD part #, but there are two Mid 2009. Yours is the MacBookPro5,4 and there is also MacBookPro5,3.

[iRevival]

Good to know. I wonder if the LCD from the other model would cause this issue. I take it that's a possibility?

[Scoops98]

Maybe. Grasping at straws.

[iRevival]

Yeah I hear that lol. Ill take a
Look into it tonight

Looks like the screens have the same part #.

[iRevival]

Ok. Completely disconnected the screen and I'm still getting the same issue. I made an appointment at the Genius Bar for Tuesday to see if they can tell me where the problem lies. Hopefully they can so I can fix it lol.

[Scoops98]

Well, I think you've done an amazing job troubleshooting. Hopefully Apple will be able to diagnose the issue.

[iRevival]

Thanks. I'll update what I find out.

[iRevival]

Well I've narrowed it down to an optical drive issue with the help of a genius at the Genius Bar. He hooked up a network drive reinstall the operating system in less than five minutes. The only issue that I have now is that I have a 1 TB hard drive that I need to install in it with a malfunctioning optical drive. So I can't load the operating system unless I have it on a USB drive. Any tips on how to do that?