Chosen Solution
My MacBook won’t charge a new battery, and won’t make it past the loading startup screen once I log on, without a battery. I recently needed to replace the battery and have tried 3. I started without a battery once, accidentally (didn’t connect it) and it worked. I’m guessing it’s the logic board. Could it be anything else? I replaced the MagSafe charger but not the internal connection to the logic board. Because it gives a green light and begins turning on, I figured that part was fine. My question is do you think it’s the logic board? The book has been running hot so the heat sink could have caused damage but I couldn’t tell. Update (10/06/2016) Ok, guys. I thought I’d follow up. I bought the product above and it arrived today. I bought the proper year. And it didn’t resolve anything. Same issues. I made a small video of what’s happening but not sure if I can post it somewhere here. Any other ideas on what this could be, or do you think the logic board is toast? Update (10/12/2016) Ok so I took it to a shop and they said it was hard drive failure.
It will be a logic board issue, hard drive has nothing to do with charging. Has the laptop got wet at any point. Find a shop that does board level repair and have them fix it. I see a couple a month and it’s not that big of deal when you know what to look for. It does require a multimeter, board schematic and rework station (hot air and fine tip iron). Also you want thermal paste not glue for the heating issue, clean the fans and heatsinks meticulously. They have both but glue is permanent. For the not booting start with the cable as others have said, also if possible test the hard from another computer to make sure that’s not the problem.
As Mayer pointed out above Apple has a repair program to replace under extended warranty the HD SATA cable as they have a high failure rate with them. I would visit either an Apple Store or Certified Apple service center to have them replace it. It will be a free repair. If you can’t get to either, you can replace it too. Here’s the IFIXIT guide: MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Early 2011 Hard Drive/IR Sensor Cable Replacement and here’s the part you’ll need: MacBook Pro 15" Unibody (Mid 2012) Hard Drive Cable - Apple P/N 923-0084 In addition, I would recommend getting this app: TG Pro for less than $20 US its well worth it! With the full version it should guide you on whats a miss on your overheating problem. Post a screenshot of the main screen so we can see it too. Then we can help guide you which way to go here. More often than not, the issue is the SATA cable if the system is clean and the fans are in good shape. Yep! What happens here is your system gets into a battle between the HD and the CPU as the data is being saved or read from the drive. Each block has a CRC checksum so when the CPU checks it it finds the data blocks CRC doesn’t match so it does the action again and again … Now think about 1000’s of data blocks failing before you know it you have an escalating battle between them which then heats up both the CPU & HD as each is firing off more and more blocks each failing needing a retransmission.
@danj That cable replacement is on the 13" 2012 model. The other ones they know about but may give you a hard time about. Personally I would have it tested for this issue and see if they will still honor it, especially if it stops at the mid way loading point right when the GPU drivers are loading: https://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro…
I’d checked for grounding / Faulty connection between the logic board and battery. Sounds like the Mac is defiantly having hardware issues. Also not sure if you need to for batteries but most hardware swap outs require a PRAM reset.
