Mac Broke...Any Suggestions?

[Freediver]

Hey folks. So I woke up this morning and went to strap my dive watch on and the plastic strap broke on my Suunto D4. I walked over to my computer to see if I could find a replacement strap and opened it up only to find it frozen at a screen with a green/black box. My computer also decided to break on me for no reason at all. Here's the kicker: I'm in Saipan til May so I have no real way of fixing it, unless I fix it myself. Anyone good with Macs? I'll attatch an image. I'm guessing the video card broke or something...

[Freediver]

Hmmm... hope I'm onto something.

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377

[Gollum]

Got AppleCare?
It depends how old your computer is. If it's less than a year old, it sounds like it would be worth buying it.
I never own a Apple laptop without buying AppleCare by the end of the 1st year.

[crm7290]

Depending on the model (if it has an integrated GPU or if it is seperate) it is most likely that. But it could also be the cable that runs between the two has come slightly loose.

You are sol at the moment. Do you have apple care? Try to get as much info as possible, if that is a known issue with that model there is a chance to get it fixed. Other wise a logic board is about as much as the computer is worth....

[ChrisR]

Laptops of all kinds are notoriously tricky/expensive to repair. I had a very similar thing happen to a Dell laptop last year and it turned out to be a cooling problem that allowed the GPU to fry itself over time. Mine had lasted 3 years but other people had killed theirs in a matter of months and Dell refused to recall it. The big problem is that everything is often integrated onto one motherboard, which means replacing something that is worth more than the secondhand value of the whole laptop AND they are a really fiddly thing to get out and put back again.

Sorry to give you bad news, and you might be OK because I am not sure about Apple Macs, but when mine went pop it worked out cheaper to buy a £250 netbook as a stop-gap ... and I just took out the old laptop HDD and mounted it in a USB surround so that I could get the data off. I am still using the netbook actually because it turned out to be all I needed anyway

[crm7290]

Chris-one reason dell would not recall it is that they often arent the ones who make the GPU they just solder them onto their board. It would be up to the chipset maker (Nvidia etc) to recall that part and fix the issue. But they never would do that.

Contact apple and see what they say and get back to us!

My dad had a similar issue and they replaced everything for free.
Then after that the battery blew up and they gave him a new 2010 model of it for free as compensation!

[marcdurant]

With a MacBook Pro I believe you should have a port for an external monitor. You may need an adapter for this, but maybe not (depends on what generation you've got). Plug the external monitor in, then boot your machine and cross your fingers. If you're lucky, the graphics system will be fully functional to the external monitor port.

I feel like there's a way to force mirroring (which is when both monitors display the same thing), but I can't remember off the top of my head. If you're lucky, that's the default mode. If you're unlucky, then the external monitor will work but the menus and such will still be on your broken laptop screen. At which point... I'll have to think about it some more.

[marcdurant]

Here's something that may help you narrow down the exact failure. Reboot your machine and hold down command-option-O-F (as in "Open Firmware"). In theory this will bring up your machine in a very basic firmware prompt. You won't really be able to do anything here - but the goal is to try to force the graphics adapter into using a different display mode.

[Freediver]

Thanks for the help guys. Unfortunately I do not have Applecare, and the computer is about 3.5 years old. I have been trying to call Apple but always miss their hours of operation due to the time difference. I am going to call them at 11pm tonight Saipan time to catch them. I'm crossing my fingers that it is the graphics processor so they will replace it for free. It just complicates things that I'm out of the country.

[manixSA]

It's a good thing you didn't call your wife next
Laptops are a bitch to repair as the parts are not ofter availiable after to model run is over. Don't be afraid to look around in Saipan if nothing else works. Here in Ecuador I found a guy who fixed my video card (on a Dell PC) that had overheated for only $20. The guy had a business because here people don't have as much money to just buy another one. It's woth the chance (even wih a Mac which is not as popular outside the US). Good luck.