Today I walked over to my 15" Mid-2010 MacBook Pro (which I had been controlling via VNC not long before) and attempted to use it. I was greeted with a screen that would not wake up.
After much rebooting (by holding down the power button and over SSH), I plugged it into an external monitor, logged in, and opened up System Information (formerly System Profiler). To my shock and horror, only the external monitor was detected and the internal "Color LCD" wasn't listed.
Does anyone know anything about the pathology of a problem like this? Does fixing something like this (probably) entail a logic board replacement?
I'm inclined to believe that the problem lies somewhere in an LCD controller or power supply rather than the panel (because I'd assume that a broken panel would still show up).
Again, the general functions of the machine work just fine—just not the internal display.
Best Answer
I had similar symptoms on my MBP 13 (mid-2010). Internal display died suddenly and external display worked fine. None of the software or startup tricks did not bring the life back to in-built screen. Disconnecting and re-connecting the battery connector from the logic board fixed this problem.
Here is the instruction: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Mid+2010+Display+Replacement/4293#s7329