I need some old computer help oppo

Kinja'd!!! "PowderHound" (PowderHound)
12/20/2018 at 20:23 • Filed to: None

Kinja'd!!!0 Kinja'd!!! 17

I have two old, nearly broken Macs that are just sitting in my closet that I’m not entirely sure what to do with and don’t like bulky useless things sitting around. I also got a new MacBook Pro so these old ones aren’t necessarily needing to be revived. Here’s what I’m working with:

Mid 2010 15" MacBook Pro. Motherboard is mostly dead, I can turn it on and do super basic stuff but can’t do any design work or even go on the internet before it shuts down and restarts. I think this was a known (to people other than me until it was too late) issue that if it happened you could send it in for a free fix. That time has passed and they no longer honor it.   They no longer make the mother boards but there are a few hanging around on eBay and whatnot which seem like a toss up if it will fix it. I’m thinking of using Apples turn it in recycle program for this and get a bit of money for it before they stop accepting this model.

2008( ?) Mac Pro with a 30" Cinema Display. This was given to me and has 4 1tb Hard drives set up in a RAID configuration. It’s dead. I can use it in target disk mode but can’t get started in any sort of safe mode. It’s heavy , loud, and old. The Cinema Display would be somewhat nice to connect to my new MacBook but the damn thing has to be plugged in to VGA, USB, Firewire 400(?), and an outlet to work. I don’t want to use that many connectors to hook up a heavy monitor so it seems easier to buy a new external at a later date. I’m not sure to do with this guy, canni balize the hard drives and just get rid of the rest? Maybe, maybe get lucky and sell the monitor?

What would you all do with these silver monsters?


DISCUSSION (17)


Kinja'd!!! Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) > PowderHound
12/20/2018 at 20:48

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If it were me, remove HDDs to keep, sell Cinema Display for cheap, then recycle old MB and Mac.


Kinja'd!!! PowderHound > Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz)
12/20/2018 at 21:11

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Perfect. Anyone in Utah want a 30" Cinema Display?


Kinja'd!!! Maxima Speed > PowderHound
12/20/2018 at 21:13

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A re the 2010's the Motorola processors ones?


Kinja'd!!! Wacko > Maxima Speed
12/20/2018 at 21:21

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Apple went intel in 2006 


Kinja'd!!! PowderHound > Maxima Speed
12/20/2018 at 21:22

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It’s an Intel Core I5 on the MacBook 


Kinja'd!!! OmerCarrothers333 > PowderHound
12/20/2018 at 21:50

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Are you in SLC area? There’s a couple shops that buy old Macs around town. I got just under $200 when I sold  an iMac bought new in 2011 and an ancient G4 Powerbook.


Kinja'd!!! PowderHound > OmerCarrothers333
12/20/2018 at 22:03

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I am in that area! 


Kinja'd!!! GLiddy > PowderHound
12/20/2018 at 22:08

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You are likely suffering from the infamous mid-2010 MBP problem. Go to YouTube and look at Louis Rossman’s videos on the possible fix for these. He discovered that a single capacitor failure in the video circuit was causing the problem. By replacing this capacitor, you can often bring the computer back to life. BUT, you need a surface mount hot-air workstation to replace the cap.

Now, telling you this, I tried to do the repair on my mid-2010 MBP myself and it just made it worse. However, I didn’t have a proper rework station so I tried to do this with a pencil iron and regular solder. I emailed Louis Rossman about it and he said he could attempt the repair if I sent it to his New York shop, he couldn’t guarantee a computer that old wouldn’t just fail again.

Oh, and according to Rossman, even if you had Apple perform the motherboard swap, they never fixed the problem so it would likely have failed again.  Rossman isn’t a big fan of Apple engineering despite making what seems to be a decent living repairing them.


Kinja'd!!! Maxima Speed > Wacko
12/20/2018 at 22:23

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Okay. For some reason I was thinking the switch over was more recent. For some reason I have a probably irrational desire to own a pre In tel Mac 


Kinja'd!!! MiniGTI - now with XJ6 > PowderHound
12/20/2018 at 22:25

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All you need is the DUAL LINK DVI to DISPLAY PORT adapter to make that Cinema Display work with any modern  Mac. I run one with my 2012 mini. It’s glorious!  Probably not as bright as newer displays but it is massive. 


Kinja'd!!! OmerCarrothers333 > PowderHound
12/20/2018 at 22:25

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Try ExperiMac in Salt Lake City.

https://experimac.com/locations/slc-ut/


Kinja'd!!! syaieya > PowderHound
12/20/2018 at 22:47

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Hearing 2010 model macbook as old makes me wonder what to classify the two eMacs and iMac G4 that i have collecting dust.


Kinja'd!!! PowderHound > GLiddy
12/20/2018 at 23:08

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I have nothing to solder with. Probably won't be trying that


Kinja'd!!! PowderHound > MiniGTI - now with XJ6
12/20/2018 at 23:09

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Only usb-c ports on the new MacBook  but if it works with only one then maybe the DVI-D connector I was using was busted.


Kinja'd!!! PowderHound > syaieya
12/20/2018 at 23:18

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I classify it as old because it has been broken for ~5 years and been sitting around. I would love it if it still worked as intended


Kinja'd!!! MiniGTI - now with XJ6 > PowderHound
12/21/2018 at 00:27

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USB and FW plugs on the ACD are only to pass through the plugs on the back of the screen; USB plug on the MDP/DVI adapter is probably just for power. But you really need the specific Dual-link DVI to MDP/thunderbolt adapter to work correctly. This all seems very fussy but well worth it, I think.

https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwjy5ui2l7DfAhUECGkKHZmjCWcYABABGgJpcQ&sig=AOD64_3VDfc2tpxaT_VL1aNbxhp0vEczew&ctype=5&q=&ved=2ahUKEwix-uK2l7DfAhWIw4MKHcpoBfkQwg96BAgMEAc&adurl=


Kinja'd!!! PowderHound > MiniGTI - now with XJ6
12/21/2018 at 01:10

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Dang. Pricey for an adapter. I think I would rather spend twice the money on a HD external monitor that is smaller but easier to connect