MacBook – Late 2006 MacBook doesn’t turn on (fan spinning but no chime)

bootmacbook pro

My Late 2006 MacBook (MACBOOK2,1) doesn't boot anymore after I turned it off in ElementaryOS.

Symptoms :

  • Fan spinning
  • Sleep LED is on
  • Screen not turning on
  • No chime

And here are the specs :

  • CPU : Intel CORE 2 Duo 2.0GHz
  • GPU : Intel GMA950 (No GPU acceleration at all in my patched El Capitan install)
  • Model Identifier : MacBook2,1 (the Late 2006 one, not Mid 2007)
  • OSes : Patched OS X El Capitan and ElementaryOS

I only have my main Linux Desktop and a Snow Leopard USB Installer.

I've tried Resetting the PRAM/NVRAM and SMC without success. I've also tried inserting the ORIGINAL RAM that came with this Mac, still, without success. I've removed the HDD and plugged it into my main Linux Desktop and, everything was fine (the linux partition and OS X partition were mounted successfully).

I really think this is a hardware issue, but don't know how to fix it.

PS: This issue happened after another issue I had, the computer would turn on, with the chime, but the screen stays grey. I got this fixed by resetting the NVRAM/PRAM and booted into ElementaryOS. I turned it off and got this problem.

Best Answer

Hi, v64isgood_vitali64 (or just Vitali64) here

I've found an answer !

I taked apart my Mac and disconnected the NV/PRAM battery, waited a few minutes, reconnected it back and reassembled my macbook.

Conclusion : IT WORKS !

So I booted into the MacOSX Install USB and setted the date by using the terminal bc it was set to 31 December 2000 which prevented El Capitan to work.

For those who want to know how to do that, HERE is an article from iFixIt that will explain how to achieve that on the particular model that I have.

I think that the Firmware had tried to apply the settings I had in OS X, into Linux, which corrupted the PRAM/NVRAM, and then just stayed in the black screen when turning on since...

I hope you're doing well and that this may fix your issue.

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