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No boot-up
No chime
Dim sleep light
Harddrive and disk drive were alive and the power was going through fine.
All the tricks didnt work, and target disk mode didnt work.

Took it the apple store, genius thought it was the graphics card, but couldnt prove it, so they did a test behind closed doors. Turns out it was the nVidia problem, so they are replacing both graphics card and logic board for free.
But i would imagine everyone whos laptop displays the same symptoms should get a free repair, the genius said that in most cases the graphics card destroys the logic board and they cant really tell what happened, so if apple refuse to pay, get a second opinion

So here is the good news. I when to the local authorized dealer, I recommend not going to an apple store they are too cloak and dagger with service, and they ran the graphics test right in front of me. The test passed and they sent me Hm. That night the mbp simply died and I could not get passed the apple at bootup so I decided to go back for one more test. This time a more knowledgeable perso. Helped me and she recognized right away that the light strove on the front of the mbp was striving 2 steady and 4 quick. She immediatel said this normally means the graphics card has failed. She ran the test again and what do u know, I got a new logicboard. So be persistant and I recommend keeping your mbp hot and running all night then quickly take it to your local authorized dealer and have them run the test. Worked for me. Good luck.

I also have the “logic board” problem. Same symptoms as everyone. I went to the genius bar they told me it’s not the graphic card but after seeing this article and comments, I went again.

I think that the nVidia chip is causing the logic board fault due to overheating, then it’s a question of what thing dies first: either the graphic card and the genius can do the test, good for you, or it’s the logic board and you’re screwed.

They would not agree on this and they stick to the graphic test, if your macbook pro doesn’t boot it can not be performed so they say the logic board is faulty. Apple is clearly trying to avoid its responsabilities here, the problem is obviously linked.

Anyway after arguing quite some time with the Apple manager he offered me a rebate on the logic board change. I went to the Apple Store Opera, Paris, France. If you are obstinate enough I think you can sway a manager to offer something like this. Say that you wanted to sell the thing to buy a new Mac or something and now you’re stuck with a worthless brick. For 250€ (~330$) I will have a new logic board, I think it’s better than selling it for pieces.

If everyone having the “logic board issue” with the 8600M GT complain enough in the Apple Stores, Apple might change its mind and issue a full refund on this for every owner of 2007-2008 Macbook pro, as I think they should.

Now for the love of God, how is that our fault?!?! 1200$ for repairs?!?!

Could anyone confirm those logic boards on ebay do work? they sell for 350$ or something, are they real?? :(

I purchased my 15″ 2.2GHZ MacBook Pro in August of 2007.

In September of 2009 I began experiencing problems with my screen. It would scramble and shake. Because I was still under the Apple Care Protection Plan I made a service call in and they guessed that the issue was a lose wire in the screen. I never did make it in to fix this issue (fail) and of course the issue has only gotten worse over the last three months (AppleCare ended in 08/2010).

The screen would still shake, scramble, and cut out.

I recently purchase the new iPhone 4 only to find out that it could not sync with Tiger OS. Awesome, works with PCs but not Apples old OS? So…. I spend money to upgrade to Snow Leopard.

I was still having video issues with the screen when made the mistake of closing the lid. Ever since then the computer will boot to a black screen. I DO however get a chime, lighting keyboard and sound buttons work.

Now, as I said before Apple suggested that the issue could have been a lose wire in the screen. However if that was the case, only the internal monitor would be effected. I get a black screen when I boot to an external monitor as well.

I have tried all possible fixes in the forums (resets, battery die, target mode, etc) all with no luck.

I then stumbled upon the Apple article on the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics processor. I noticed that the time frame fit when I purchased my MacBook Pro and also I had experienced both the symptoms.

I was relieved to know the repair would still be fixed free of charge… or so I thought.

I took it to an Apple Authorized Retail Provider (AARP) where they said they would “run a test on it” and let me know. I didn’t get 5 minutes down the road before I got a voicemail claiming that “no eligible graphics processor was found” and therefore would not be covered under the extended repair plan. I was also told that I could pay a $75 diagnostics fee and then $300 to ship and being repairs, then pay parts and labor after that.

I refused to do that, and when I picked up the computer today I spoke with another Apple “genius type” there and he ran my Serial Number and told me I do indeed have that card in my computer.

Regardless of whether or not the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics processor is causing the issue, shouldn’t all of us with the card in our computer be subject to a replacement free of charge? Apple is essentially saying they have a recalled part, but if that doesn’t break in their time frame they won’t fix it? Ridiculous.

I called into Apple tonight in fury and told the person what I have attempted to this point. He confirmed that I have the graphics card in my computer and gave me a Case Number. I will be trying a different AARP tomorrow, hopefully with more success.