Has my non-Apple HDMI cable fried my motherboard?

[davejonesbkk]

So I have a 14 month old MacBook air that recently stopped working for no reason that I posted about here

 

Ive just been called by iCare who have it and they say the mainboard is dead and will cost 19k baht to replace

 

Ive been thinking what could have caused this and my only conclusion is that I was using a non official HMDI cable to hook the Mac to the TV. I had the mac plugged into the mains at the same time (with the official charger btw) and it worked fine right until I finished watching the movie and I unplugged everything after (I always do this with the Mac and never leave it plugged in overnight) so my guess is that maybe I unplugged the mains cable from the Mac first and for a few seconds while the TV was still plugged in connected to the mac via the HDMI cable a surge went through and killed it...

 

If anyone has any knowledge in this area and has a different idea then please do chime in.

 

Also does anyone know if shops will buy broken macbooks like this for the parts?

[Guest]

You can try "Phuket my Mac" shop. They do motherboard repairs. I found it at the same time I found out that my MBA did not like coffee. 

 

 

https://www.google.ca/search?q=phuket+mac+repair&gws_rd=cr,ssl&ei=eQ36V56uBKvGjwSupb_QDw#q=phuket mac repair&tbs=lf:1,lf_ui:2,lf_pqs:EAE&rflfq=1&rlha=0&rllag=7934678,98346751,7512&tbm=lcl&rldimm=14474516791241172833&gws_rd=cr,ssl

[sotsira]

When you refer to non Apple HDMI cable are you referring to the mini display port to HDMI adapter?

I've been using various HDMI cables with my MacBook for the last 3 yrs without any 

problems, although the mini display port HDMI adapter that i use is an Apple approved 

made by Tech Link.

 

[davejonesbkk]

6 hours ago, sotsira said:

When you refer to non Apple HDMI cable are you referring to the mini display port to HDMI adapter?

I've been using various HDMI cables with my MacBook for the last 3 yrs without any 

problems, although the mini display port HDMI adapter that i use is an Apple approved 

made by Tech Link.

 

 

yes, its this one actually

 

 

I bought it in Thailand though.

 

I just remembered that Ive used it lots of times before and even when the mac was plugged in and being charged too and like I said above it was working fine right until I stopped watching the movie and unplugged everything and closed the lid so Im really confused now on whats caused this...

[davejonesbkk]

so my mrs has just called a repair shop that Ive used for my Windows PC before but they do Apple products too and they say it will cost only 5k baht, this seems way too cheap to me and Im pretty confused now. They did say to my wife that iCare are known for charging very high prices for these things and he even asked her if they had quoted around 20k baht before she told him the quote...

[Guest]

iCare shops don't do repairs. They replace the whole motherboard, which costs about 20k.

My MBA repair was 6.000 baht. 

[davejonesbkk]

6 minutes ago, oilinki said:

iCare shops don't do repairs. They replace the whole motherboard, which costs about 20k.

My MBA repair was 6.000 baht. 

 

Ok I see, iCare told me that the entire motherboard needed replacing, I assumed they meant the whole thing was fried. So when you had yours fixed what exactly did they fix? How has its performance been since then?

[Guest]

I don't remember what was the part which was broken. 

 

The laptop has been working perfectly ever since (one year). I'm using the same laptop writing this.

 

[coaster]

My MBA is of similar age and my Apple bought mini HDMI cable (which has been used 4 times) has been tested and works but will not now connect the computer to the TV. Looks as if I have the same problem, which I put down as a fault of the mini HDMI on the board

 

[recom273]

Are you, as your name suggests in BKK?

 

if so, I would suggest going to mac@home you will find the number here after a Google search.

 

He's not shy to give you a ball park figure and a breakdown of costs over the phone, obviously it's not guaranteed but it will give you an idea.

 

Hes not far from Soi Sitthisan, if you know that area.

 

I have issues with iCare, I had a MBP and the keyboard that was unexplainably falling apart within 6 months of purchase, I left it with iCare to arrange warantee work and on iCares suggestion and photos that were sent to Apple, Apple refused to do it under warranty. The price of from iCare was silly and i took it to mac@home and  they did it in a little over 24 hours. 

iCare tecs aren't apple tec's they are just the same as an exhaust fitter, just trained monkeys who know how to follow the instruction book .. The guy at mac@home is a real veteran expect. We talked about the possibility of repairing my old 199x PowerBook. Give them a call.

[dotpoom]

Don't know a lot about these things.....but I run a HDM1 cable from my Lenovo laptop (plugged in or with battery) direct to the TV, never had a problem (same with my PC's).

[DogNo1]

I think that the cause may not be linked to your mini display port to HDMI  cable.  More than likely something else coincidentally went wrong.  Motherboards do die and resistors do go bad after a certain amount of use. I recently had a Pegatron MB in a stock HP off-the-shelf computer go bad.  The chip that handled memory access always got very hot and finally quit working.  Why wasn't a heat sink installed on the chip?   Why, these machines are expected to become obsolescent in five years or so and that was about the chip's life without a heat sink.  I remember installing a small in-case fan above that chip for a customer.  That computer may still be working today.  For ultimate reliability, I go with the ASUS Sabretooth motherboards. Nearly bulletproof.

[hawker9000]

On ‎10‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 0:59 AM, davejonesbkk said:

 

Ok I see, iCare told me that the entire motherboard needed replacing, I assumed they meant the whole thing was fried. So when you had yours fixed what exactly did they fix? How has its performance been since then?

 

I think when they say the "whole thing is fried", that simply means it's easier, cheaper, and a much more reliable remedy (for all concerned) to just replace the motherboard without digging any deeper.  It could be one component on it or several components or a matter of one or a few components actually blown with others that were damaged but still testing out ok.  A whole new motherboard might seem expensive, but actually repairing the old one and taking responsibility for the repair would likely be labor intensive and less than 100% assured.  If you can find somebody who'll actually repair the motherboard, they're either a rare find in terms of expertise (& willingness), or just entirely blowing smoke.

 

('Having said all that, I've seen guys in the PI able to repair water-damaged iPhones cheaply & quickly, and the repairs seem to hold up.)

[lucifer666]

A HDMI cable is a HDMI cable, no such thing as an official one.

[davejonesbkk]

So I called a repair shop near me that does Macs and they knew what the problem was straight away and even knew what price iCare had quoted me without telling them. They said they iCare dont make any attempt to fix anything thats outside of the 12 month warranty and just do a full replace and hence the 19k quote.

 

This shop took a look and said that the VGA graphics card was 'broken' and would cost 9k to replace which they did and I have it back now and it works fine. The problem is I still have no idea how this has happened, the guy in the shop said it might have been due to a power surge but as I was using it right up until when I unplugged it then I dont see how that could have happened

[Anthony5]

13 minutes ago, davejonesbkk said:

So I called a repair shop near me that does Macs and they knew what the problem was straight away and even knew what price iCare had quoted me without telling them. They said they iCare dont make any attempt to fix anything thats outside of the 12 month warranty and just do a full replace and hence the 19k quote.

 

This shop took a look and said that the VGA graphics card was 'broken' and would cost 9k to replace which they did and I have it back now and it works fine. The problem is I still have no idea how this has happened, the guy in the shop said it might have been due to a power surge but as I was using it right up until when I unplugged it then I dont see how that could have happened

 

So you deprived yourself of 4000 Baht, since you posted higher up that another shop you've used before would fix it for 5000 Baht.

[kingalfred]

Are you, as your name suggests in BKK?
 
if so, I would suggest going to mac@home you will find the number here after a Google search.
 
He's not shy to give you a ball park figure and a breakdown of costs over the phone, obviously it's not guaranteed but it will give you an idea.
 
Hes not far from Soi Sitthisan, if you know that area.
 
I have issues with iCare, I had a MBP and the keyboard that was unexplainably falling apart within 6 months of purchase, I left it with iCare to arrange warantee work and on iCares suggestion and photos that were sent to Apple, Apple refused to do it under warranty. The price of from iCare was silly and i took it to mac@home and  they did it in a little over 24 hours. 
iCare tecs aren't apple tec's they are just the same as an exhaust fitter, just trained monkeys who know how to follow the instruction book .. The guy at mac@home is a real veteran expect. We talked about the possibility of repairing my old 199x PowerBook. Give them a call.

Address and phone number please


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[davejonesbkk]

4 minutes ago, Anthony5 said:

 

So you deprived yourself of 4000 Baht, since you posted higher up that another shop you've used before would fix it for 5000 Baht.

 

sorry I left out some info, I was talking about the same shop actually, they said on the phone it would be around 5k initially but might be as high as 10k and later they quoted me 9k after they had checked it

[davejonesbkk]

2 minutes ago, kingalfred said:

Address and phone number please


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

 

sure

 

http://www.smileitservice.com/

 

be aware that its just the owner who speaks english (but not too strong) and he isnt always there

[recom273]

On October 20, 2016 at 9:00 AM, kingalfred said:

Address and phone number please


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

http://www.machomeservice.com