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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > Big Problem With 2007 MBP

Big Problem With 2007 MBP
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Merkava_4
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Jan 19, 2011, 03:08 AM
 
The display is blurry with fine black lines going in a grid pattern and very fuzzy fonts. And sometimes when I do a restart, the desktop appears as a kaki color. Sometimes if I let it sit long enough, everything on the display starts jumping around. Is there anyway I can use my PowerBook as an external monitor? I don't have an external monitor and I need to determine whether the problem lies with the display or the logic board. Thank You.
( Last edited by Merkava_4; Jan 19, 2011 at 04:50 AM. )
     
Doc HM
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Jan 19, 2011, 05:20 AM
 
Your 2007 MBP uses a dvi out connector to power an external monitor. You may need an apple DVI to vga adapter is your monitor is an older vga one, you will need an apple dvi adapter if you have a dvi monitor as apple use a different dvi connection without the horizontal bar on it. ONce you connect up the external screen the Mac should just see it. If you select mirror displays in system preferences you will get the same image on both the monitor and the laptop screen. If both display the same artefacts then your graphics card is kaput, which will mean a new logic board. If the external display is good you'll need a new display.
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Waragainstsleep
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Jan 19, 2011, 06:05 AM
 
I'll answer your question.

Sadly you cannot use your old PowerBook as an external display. If you did have an external monitor, you shouldn't need any DVI-to DVI adaptors as Apple DVI complies with the standard. You can use an HDTV as a display though you might well need a DVI to HDMI adaptor depending on the TV.
Given its vintage and the symptoms you describe, I suspect it is the GPU and hence the logic board. The 8600M is notorious for failing but should be covered. This particular fault sounds more like an X1600 failing to me. Sadly those are not covered by any extra warranty.

Doc, there are actually a few variants on DVI, all common enough. DVI-D (D = Digital) lacks a the few pins used for an analogue signal but 2007 MBPs have all the full DVI-I (I = Integrated = Digital and Analogue) pin set or they wouldn't work with VGA/S-Video adaptors.
Its usually the DVI displays that lack the analogue pins since they don't require them.
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Merkava_4  (op)
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Jan 19, 2011, 07:15 AM
 
You guys are fantastic!! Thank you both very much indeed.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Jan 19, 2011, 07:52 AM
 
Originally Posted by Doc HM View Post
Your 2007 MBP uses a dvi out connector to power an external monitor. You may need an apple DVI to vga adapter is your monitor is an older vga one, you will need an apple dvi adapter if you have a dvi monitor as apple use a different dvi connection without the horizontal bar on it.
No, you can plug a bog-standard DVI(-D) cable into the socket.
     
Merkava_4  (op)
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Jan 20, 2011, 02:23 AM
 
After doing some research, I've learned that my MBP contains the ill-fated NVIDIA GeFORCE 8600M GT graphics chip. I've got an appointment tomorrow with the genius bar. I'll post the results. If anyone can tell me the original purchase date, I'd thoroughly appreciate it. The serial number is W87305HTX91. Thank you.
     
Waragainstsleep
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Jan 20, 2011, 06:29 AM
 
It was made in week 30 of 2007. It was probably sold in the following 2-3 months which puts it somewhere from August and October. It has been registered which means Apple will have a purchase date on file even if its only an estimate.
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
Merkava_4  (op)
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Jan 20, 2011, 08:50 AM
 
Waragainstsleep, thank you sir.
     
Merkava_4  (op)
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Jan 21, 2011, 12:28 AM
 
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( Last edited by Merkava_4; Jan 22, 2011 at 09:00 AM. )
     
   
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