Could this be the cause for not powering up at all?

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MacBook Air 13" Mid 2013

The larger of Apple's MacBook Air laptops featuring dual microphones and 802.11ac Wi-Fi connectivity.

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Marhowl @marhowl

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Postado: 10 de ago de 2014

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Could this be the cause for not powering up at all?

Here are pictures of the possible problem

I bought the whole computer from an auction as broken or for parts. Everything else works fine, except this

As you can see, someone did a poor solder job on the EFI chip (or is it?) and I wonder if it could be the cause for the computer not to power up at all. Even the fan doesn't go on. Nothing. It's dead as a door nail

So how would I proceed? I guess analysing the board with a multimeter could show what's wrong with it, but I don't have a clue how would I do that + I don't have much skill doing repairs at a component level.

Thanks for any help!

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Great that you added the pictures. What computer is it exactly and what are the last four digits of your computers serial number?

10 de ago de 2014 por oldturkey03

It's a 13" Mid 2013. The last 4 digits are F5V8

10 de ago de 2014 por Marhowl

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oldturkey03 @oldturkey03

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Postado: 10 de ago de 2014

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Marhowl , it is absolutely possible. Yes, it looks like a repair including some bridging of the traces, really not a bad solder job:-). Since you do not know anything about the history of this IC you would not know if it even has the firmware programed before it was installed.

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It was owned by a 55 year old lady who bought it 2nd hand from someone and she didn't even know that it has been tampered with.

But from what she told me, I know this =)

* When she bought it, it worked for a month

* Then it wouldn't boot and would stay at the gray screen with the spinning thing

* Then it wouldn't power up at all. And that's how I bought it.

From what I have discovered, there was a really cheap flux that had a consistency of some cheap glue and it was all around the EFI unit. Could that cause damage as well?

Edit: I'm sorry for the formatting. I tried making it neat but it doesn't seem to work

10 de ago de 2014 por Marhowl

Yup, formatting does not work on a comment:-) It is possible that the IC has either failed again or that there is a cold solder joint. You could try and resolder it and see if that will fix it.

10 de ago de 2014 por oldturkey03

So should I buy the programmed EFI chip and solder it there? Might be worth a try, right?

Only if I could solder or had the gear heheh. Got to find someone =)

10 de ago de 2014 por Marhowl

That is the way I would go about it. By doing this you will at least know what is working and what is not. You are right of course, soldering on a logic board is not for the faint of hard. There are plenty of good people out there that do board level repairs

10 de ago de 2014 por oldturkey03

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Great that you added the pictures. What computer is it exactly and what are the last four digits of your computers serial number? — oldturkey03
It was owned by a 55 year old lady who bought it 2nd hand from someone and she didn't even know that it has been tampered with.

But from what she told me, I know this =)

* When she bought it, it worked for a month

* Then it wouldn't boot and would stay at the gray screen with the spinning thing

* Then it wouldn't power up at all. And that's how I bought it.

From what I have discovered, there was a really cheap flux that had a consistency of some cheap glue and it was all around the EFI unit. Could that cause damage as well?

Edit: I'm sorry for the formatting. I tried making it neat but it doesn't seem to work — Marhowl
Yup, formatting does not work on a comment:-) It is possible that the IC has either failed again or that there is a cold solder joint. You could try and resolder it and see if that will fix it. — oldturkey03
So should I buy the programmed EFI chip and solder it there? Might be worth a try, right?

Only if I could solder or had the gear heheh. Got to find someone =) — Marhowl
That is the way I would go about it. By doing this you will at least know what is working and what is not. You are right of course, soldering on a logic board is not for the faint of hard. There are plenty of good people out there that do board level repairs — oldturkey03

MacBook Air 13" Mid 2013

Could this be the cause for not powering up at all?

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