MacBook Pro 2006

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Contents 1 Manufacturer Information 1.1 Address 1.2 Telephone 1.3 Email 1.4 Support 2 Purchase History 2.1 Purchased From 2.2 Purchase Date 3 Technical Details 3.1 Display Size 3.2 Processor 3.3 Memory 3.4 OS Version 3.5 Hard Drive 4 Warranty 4.1 Original 4.2 AppleCare 4.3 Issues 4.3.1 Keyboard 4.3.2 No Low Battery Warning 4.3.3 Smudges on the LCD Screen 4.3.4 Distorted Horizontal Video Lines 5 Notes 5.1 Sudden Freezing 5.2 Progress Bar on Gray Screen during Start-Up

Manufacturer Information

Apple, Inc.

Address

Telephone

Email

Support

• Apple Support Page
• Apple Discussions Page

Purchase History

Purchased From

Apple Store-Washington Square in Tigard, Oregon

Purchase Date

October 9, 2006

Technical Details

Display Size

• 17" Screen

Processor

• 2.16 GHz Intel Core Duo

Memory

• 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM

OS Version

• 10.6.1.

Hard Drive

• Original: 120 GB 5400 RPM Seagate
• Upgrade: 320 GB 7200 RPM Hitachi Travelstar
• Replacement: 320 GB 7200 RPM Western Digital Scorpio Black

Warranty

Original

• 1 year

AppleCare

• 3 year extended warranty

Issues

Keyboard

I noticed that the number 9 key randomly stopped working, which is really annoying when the number 9 is part of some of my passwords. Rebooting the computer and resetting the PRAM would usually fix the problem. Then it went beyond that, and nothing I did fixed the problem.

The result: New Keyboard

No Low Battery Warning

I recently updated my MacBook Pro with Security Update 2008-002 when I noticed that when I was using my laptop on battery power, it would suddenly power off without any warning and well before reaching the usual low battery level of less than 10%.

After Googling macbook battery power warning, I stumbled upon an Apple Support Discussion.

1. Go to /Macintosh HD/System/Library/SystemConfiguration/BatteryUpdater.bundle and check its file version.
   • If the file version is 1.3, then move it to the trash and download Battery Update 1.2.
   • You will need to restart the laptop in order empty the trash
2. Run Battery Update 1.2
3. Reset the SMC (System Management Controller)

This didn't resolve my issue, so I scheduled an appointment at the Genius Bar at the Apple Store in Washington Square.

The result: New Battery.

Smudges on the LCD Screen

I noticed some gray smudges appearing on my screen that could not be cleaned away. After Googling mackbook pro black spots on screen, I stumbled upon an Apple Support Discussion. Since I was at the Genius Bar at the Apple Store for my battery issue, I pointed out my screen.

The result: New Screen

Distorted Horizontal Video Lines

For awhile, I have been noticing small horizontal lines of video distortion within some of my windows. This has been occurred when the machine is experiencing a CPU load.

As my AppleCare protection is set to expired in October, 2009, I decided to have the issue addressed at the Apple Genius Bar on September 27, 2009. After sitting at the Genius Bar for about twenty minutes, I was able to reproduce the issue, and the Mac Genius was able to do a screen capture of the distortion. I also more recently began to experience system freezes, requiring hard reboots. He said he was ordering a new logic board and would call me when it came it within the next few days.

The replacement logic board came in on September 30, 2009, and I dropped off my laptop back off at the Apple Store.

The next day, the Mac Genius called me and explained that he was unable to reproduce the issue. I told him that he had to put a CPU demand on the machine in order to produce the issue. An idle machine wouldn't reproduce the distortion. He also stated that I had a lot of third party software running on my laptop, which could be the cause of the system freezes. If he couldn't reproduce the issue, he was going to recommend a clean install of the OS.

That night, after doing some Googling, I came across the following site, which explained the issue as a damaged ATI X1600 GPU, and the following discussion on the Apple Support Discussions Board.

The result: New Logic Board

Notes

• ASLManager and Console.app

Sudden Freezing

Since installing Snow Leopard, I have noticed an increase of a sudden freezing of my laptop, required a hard reboot. Looking through the Console logs, I noticed an entry: npvhash=4096. Further research lead me to remove all problem fonts.

1. Open Fontbook.app
2. Select all the fonts
3. Select Validate Fonts… under the File menu
4. Remove all problem fonts
5. Select all the fonts again
6. Select Validate Fonts… again and make sure that there are no problem fonts.

Progress Bar on Gray Screen during Start-Up

After a kernel panic attack when I removed my Fitbit base station during shutdown, I noticed a progress bar below the Apple logo. According to this Apple support document, this progress bar probably indicates Mac OS X v10.6 is attempting to diagnose and resolve an issue with your hard disk or the data on it.