Rossmann Repair

Training Guide

Created by Louis Rossmann - Open-sourced to the internet

https://www.youtube.com/user/rossmanngroup/

You can read more about our company here & inquire about service. https://www.rossmanngroup.com

We have a paid forum to provide support to component level technicians https://www.rossmanngroup.com/boards

We offer training at our store, one on one, https://www.rossmanngroup.com/logic-board-repair-training-class/

 Electricity works the same way.

● Stealing an electron from an atom gives it a positive charge.

● Giving an atom an extra electron gives it a negative charge.
● The more electrons you steal, the higher the charge.
● The higher the charge, the higher the voltage.
 The biggest problem in this business.

● Engineers know how to repair logic boards.

● Engineers do not want to fix logic boards.
● Regular people want to fix logic boards.
● Regular people are not engineers.
 You do NOT need to be an engineer!
● You need not know how a resistor resists.
● You need not know how an inductor creates inductance.
● You need not know how to create a circuit to repair common
faults.
● We are not going to spend four years turning you into an expert
on physics, chemistry, and electricity.
● We will be skipping over a lot to get to the point.
Electricity is based on theft and burden.

● You’re lazy, you don’t want to get up.

● Imagine if I stole your wallet.
● You’d probably chase me around the room.
● To get you to get up off your ass, I motivate you by
causing a pain point.
 To get electricity to do anything, we manipulate
it.
● What will you do to get your phone back
● What will the atoms do to get their electrons back?
● What will Jessa do to not fix 100 iPad minis with BGA problems
within a no-fix-no-pay business model?
● What will atoms do to toss out unwelcome, uninvited electrons?
 This is what we are doing to electricity.

We show it a path to what it wants, and tell it if you walk through this path,
you'll get what you want.
We rarely give it what it wants(if we DID, our STUFF would turn off!
 Just as the elephant walks to get the peanut.
Electricity goes through anything to get to ground.
ggroundground

● The 120 volts wants to go back to being 0 volts - it doesn’t like being 120 volts.
● The electrons wish to flow back to the 120 volts, but in order to do so, they must go through the light bulb!
● The lightbulb turns on as electrons flow through it.

QUICK QUESTION? HOW MANY VOLTS ARE AT EACH POINT IN THIS CIRCUIT? Answered at next page.
If 120v is applied to the lightbulb but there is
no “path to ground”, it won’t light.

Just as the elephant has no motivation to get up off his ass without the peanut being dangled, a p won’t cause electrons to
flow without a complete circuit. Just because we apply 120v to the light bulb does not mean it will turn on if we do not
complete the circuit by adding a ground on the other end.
 How do we measure this?
● Voltage – think of this like a person's strength.
● Current- think of this like stuff actually moved using one's
strength.
● Resistance – think of this like the weight of what we are moving.
A one thousand pound bag is more difficult to move than a ten
pound bag..
 Ohm's law helps you figure this out.
● Use an ohm's law calculator online.
● Or an app on your phone.
th
● Your 4 grade teacher told you “you won't be carrying around a
calculator everywhere for the rest of your life”
● They LIED!!!
 How does this work?
● POWER is equal to voltage times current. 2 volts at 10 amps =
20 watts.
● Current sent through a circuit is equal to voltage divided by
resistance.
● Resistance in a circuit is equal to voltage divided by amperage.
● This is called OHM'S LAW.
I know what you're thinking. Math at 10 AM.
To just not remember it like a sheep, try to understand! If you
understand you do not need to remember.
Just learn that in a Fraction:

. TO KEEP IT SIMPLE: A/B

Lower is the denominator than the numerator, higher will be the
result of the fraction, and vice versa.
Example : A=50 B=10 -> A/B= 5
A=50 B=70 -> A/B=~077
5>0.7

● More resistance = less power. (DUH!) Remember the formula in the

previous slide:
P=V^2/R
● Less resistance = more power. (DUH!)
● Higher voltage = more power. (DUH!) Remember the formula in the
previous slide:

● Lower voltage = less power. (DUH!) V=R x I

This is simple... higher are the
terms in the product higher will
be the result
Example from a speaker amplifier, the Rotel RB-1090.

Lower resistance = more power! The same amplifier

can put out almost twice as much power when a lower
impedance speaker is attached.
 You do not SET current!

● You can increase voltage to increase current.

● You can decrease voltage to decrease current.
● You can increase resistance to decrease current.
● You can decrease resistance to increase current.
Let’s check out a real world example.

● Voltage is 120v. Resistance is 2000 ohms.

● 120v / 2000 ohms = 0.06 amps.
● 120v * 0.06 amps = 7.2 watts
● 7.2 watts = dim light bulb.
Now you do it!
● How many amps is this bulb using?
● How many watts is this light bulb?
● Why is it brighter than the previous light bulb?
Answers!
● The bulb is using 0.83333 amps, using the equation of 120 volts divided by 144 ohms of resistance. 120/144 = 0.83333
● The bulb is a 100 watt bulb using 120 volts multiplied by 0.83333 amps of current. 120 * 0.83333 = 100.
● This bulb is brighter because less resistance allows more current to flow.
● More current flow = more electrons = more power = more light!
 AC is alternating current.

It alternates between positive and negative. So, it's called alternating..

get it? Up down up down.
 DC is direct current

● DC doesn't move back and forth, it is a straight line. Direct –

straight – get it?
 This is also DC but a crappy one

● The more straight the line the better

*(We use capacitors to make it as straight as possible)

 Laptops use DC.
● Computer processors are based on transistors and binary code –
1s and 0s. On and off.
● In order for you to have a 0 or a 1, you need a valid reference.
So, we do not want alternating current for our power source.

Getting a computer processor to work using AC would be like trying to

play Jenga on a roller coaster. We do not use AC for powering most
parts of laptop and cellphone circuits. We want flat, steady voltage.
 Think of ground as a black hole.
● Whether a voltage is 1000v or -1000v, when it gets to ground it
becomes nothing.
● Ground is a reference by which we measure other voltages.
● For our purposes troubleshooting laptop & cellphone circuits,
ground is always 0v.
● For our purposes troubleshooting laptop & cellphone circuits,
ground is the absence of voltage.
● Electricity does not enjoy existing – it wants to return to 0v, so it
will always seek ground.
This is the symbol for ground.
 Resistors resist the flow of current.
● You will have the same amount of current on each side of an
individual resistor.
● You will have less voltage on the other side of a resistor.
● Resistance is measured in ohms.
● Higher resistance = less current on the other side.
● Higher resistance = less power. Lower resistance = more power.
DUH!!
This is the symbol for a resistor.
How resistors often fail
Capacitors consist of two charged plates with an
insulator sitting between them.

● Capacitors can be used as a “battery”, retaining electrical

charge.
● Capacitors are used to smooth out a signal.
● Capacitors pass AC, and block DC.
● When capacitors “short” and begin passing DC as well as AC,
you get a short to ground – which is how many logic boards fail.
You typically have the same or near identical voltage on
both sides of a resistor, but less current flows.

near 0V drop
 Cool things we can do with a capacitor.
● Knowing ground is where electricity will always go given a path.
● Knowing capacitors can only pass AC(waving), not DC(flat).
● We can take a waving current and make it flat by putting a
capacitor to ground on a power line.
● We MANIPULATE the electricity by only sending the part we
don't want away. This is all about manipulation.
How capacitors often fail
 What is a short circuit?
● A short circuit is when a signal or voltage is stopped before it
makes it to its final destination, short referring to its trip being
“Shorter” than it should have been.
● A short can be caused by poor soldering that bridges two points
together, or a failed component that is tying two signals/power
lines together that should not be tied together.
● A “short to ground” is when a pathway to ground exists that
should not.
 Example of a working circuit.
● Red line signifies path of electricity, going to system, happy :)
 Example of a short to ground.
● Red line signifies path of electricity.
● C7045 went bad and is acting as a wire.

● Circuit ends

There is a “short” - before power can flow “TO SYSTEM”

KNOWING THAT WE LOVE USING
CAPACITORS TO SMOOTH OUT SIGNALS!
● Capacitors to ground on a line help smooth out that line.
● Capacitors can fail in a manner in which they turn into a wire.
● This can produce a.... short to ground.
 What is an inductor?
● An inductor resists quick changes in current.
● Alternating current has changes as it waves back and forth.
● An inductor is handy in helping turn AC into DC.
● An inductor is useful in keeping high frequency noise out of a
line.
● An inductor cannot send current out quickly if a sudden demand
for current comes up. So, what will it send if quickly shorted to
ground but....VOLTAGE! More on this later.
This is the symbol for an inductor.
Finding a short.
We have five happy caps on this line. The line works great!

Until one day, water is spilled, and a cap explodes. C7544 is now sending all the voltage to ground!
Measure each cap, right?
● Many will turn their multimeter to capacitance or resistance mode and “measuC7544 is the bad capacitor. Let’s assume
C7543, C7542, C7541, and C7570 are working and in perfect condition.
● We take the multimeter and place black probe on pin 1 of C7543 and red prore” each cap.
● This WILL NOT WORK!!! Can you guess why?
● be on pin 2 of C7543.
● The meter says 0 ohms of resistance. Why? C7544 is the culprit, not C7543. What is going on here?

● The meter measures resistance by sending out a voltage and measuring what comes back on the other end.
● Since all of these capacitors are on the same line, you will get the “same” measurement reading any cap.
● C7544 is providing the line a path to ground.
● Since C7543, C7542, C7541, C7570 all share a line with the bad C7544, they will all measure the same if they are
still soldered onto the board.
● WHAT NOW???
Go back to the light bulb example: do
brighter bulbs make more heat?
● The lower the resistance in a circuit, the more power it will use.
● More power usage = more heat.
● More heat = hotter.
● If the capacitor passing lots of energy is hotter, we might now have a method to figure out WHICH is the bad one!

We can use heat for short detection.

● Whichever component is warmer is likely the component that is short circuited.
● We can use freeze spray to help us detect the shorted component - wherever it evaporates first is warmest.
● We can also put alcohol on the board which is cheaper, and evaporates quickly.
● Note a perfect short circuit will pass a lot of current but will cause no voltage drop across the short and will not get hot
● An open circuit component will pass no current but will have a voltage drop across it but will not get hot
● A partial short as a result of for example a capacitor failing and passing some dc current will get hotter than normal because it
will have a current flowing and a voltage drop across it resulting in a power loss in the component and the component will get
hotter than normal.
 What is a transistor?
● TO KEEP IT SIMPLE:
● A transistor is a transforming resistor.
● A transistor is a resistor whose value can change. If you're an electronics engineering
major, yes, they are not linear devices, kindly STFU. We know.

● MOSFETs have three tabs – source, drain, and gate. Power flows
from source to drain dependent on the voltage at the gate.
● 99.9% of the time, we are looking at MOSFETs, not other type of
transistors in laptop & cellphone circuitry.
 Types of transistors we care about
● P channel MOSFET lets power through when voltage on gate is
LOWER than source.
● N channel MOSFET lets power through when voltage on gate is
HIGHER or equal to source.
What voltage is present on the drain when 12v is on the source and the gate
of this MOSFET?
0 volts! A P type mosfet opens when voltage on the gate is lower than what is
present on the source. Schematic claims 4.5v, but there is always 5v there in
the real world(SCHEMATIC IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT)
HINT!!!! Ground = zero volts!!
HINT!!!! Ground = zero volts!!
It lets power through! N channel MOSFETs let power through when the gate
voltage is higher than the source. Ground is 0 volts. If there is 3 volts on the
gate then it will open. This will then send whatever is on the drain to ground,
which will cause 0v to be on the drain.
Reminder; what is a voltage divider?
What if we used a transistor to control the
voltage divider's path to ground?

● We could then control whether the voltage divider works.

● By being able to control that voltage divider, we can then control
backlight being on or off based on signals from other parts of the
machine.
 What is a diode?
● A diode only allows current to pass in one direction.
● Often used in boost circuits, where voltage at the end is higher
than voltage at the beginning.
This is the symbol for a diode.
 What is a voltage divider?
● A voltage divider steps down a higher voltage to a lower voltage.
● A voltage divider is a series of resistors between a higher voltage and
ground.
● A voltage divider is inefficient, but cheap – used for things that do not have
high current requirements.
 Here we have a resistor between a high voltage source and the
intended destination, then another resistor between the intended
destination and ground. It is turning 12v into 3v.

● Resistance of resistors will set the voltage.

● Allows the enable pin of this backlight IC to get 3v whenever PPBUS_SW_LCDBKLT_PWR is on.
● If you sent 12v to the enable pin of backlight IC, it would die. Good thing we have a voltage
divider. :)
 NOW ONTO THE FUN!!!!
● Now that have basic knowledge of what electricity is, we can go
on to basic circuits.
● Get food first.
 What is a data line?

● A data line is a line that carries data

● Data lines are used to transmit information between sensors and
the SMC, between the SMC & the battery, between SMC and the
battery charger chip, between the charger and the SMC.
● Chips “create” data by shorting an existing voltage to ground.
Think of it like “drawing.”
Here is the battery, battery controller IC, and
SMC speaking to one another.
 Creating a data line.
● The chip is creating data by shorting a voltage to ground to make
a waveform that represents data.
● Without voltage present, it will always be 0v, which will be no
data.
● We need voltage to be present so the chip has something to
create a waveform from!
● What will happen when we short a main power rail to ground?
A resistor is placed between a DC voltage line and the
data line to create the data line.
Here is the 3.42v side of the pullup resistor. Look, plain flat 3.42v of DC.
This is the DATA side of the data line. Note how the chip is creating data by
making voids in the 3.42v of different width and height. This means
something.
 DON'T ASK ME!!!!
● What the pulses mean.
● What the width of the pulses mean.
● What the height of the pulses mean.
● Because FUCK IF I KNOW!!!
● Ask an APPLE ENGINEER!!!!
● And good luck with that....
What are we interested in when checking data lines?
● Is there pulsing?
● Does it look similar to what you see on a working board?
**MOST IMPORTANT**
● Does the TOP voltage on the data side equal the voltage present
on the data line?
 When troubleshooting a data line running on a
3.42v power line...
● If it is stuck at the top voltage of the power rail all the time – say
3.42v, something is not speaking.
● If it is stuck too low – it tops out at 2.6v, or 2v, instead of 3.42v,
then some component on the line is pulling it down. Maybe crap
in a connector or a bad chip.
 What is a pullup resistor?
● A pullup resistor keeps a signal high. When it is not being
shorted to ground, it will be 3.42v.
● A pullup resistor “isolates” the data line from the main power
supply.
● You can have as many data lines as the power line is capable of
providing amperage for on a given data line.
What happens when creating a data line without
a resistor to limit current. Remember, the chips
are shorting the signal to GROUND down to
ZERO VOLTS to make this work.
THAT IS WHY WE USE
PULLUP RESISTORS!!!
 What is a power rail?
● A power rail is just a power line upon which you can attach
components.
● PP5V is a 5V power line, with five volts on it.
● PP3V3 is a 3.3v power line, with 3.3 volts on it.
Here a resistor, capacitor, and inductor are
attached to a 5 volt power rail.
 If a power rail is **MISSING**
● Is it not being created?
● Is it being shorted to ground?
● Is an enable pin on the integrated circuit responsible for it not
receiving power?
● Is it present on OTHER parts of the board but not on one part
because of a corroded trace or via?
● WHO KNOWS!?! It could be any of the above, and your job is to
figure it out.
 How circuits fail.
● A circuit can fail if it is not being told to turn on.
● A circuit can fail if there is a short circuit to ground – something is
pulling all the power to ground when it should not.
● A circuit can fail when a line goes “open” and does not conduct
power – power simply stops at a point and does not make its
way through the circuit.
● Many people go nuts checking for shorts and opens before
seeing if the circuit is even being told to turn on. Do not be one of
those people.
 Checking for shorts to ground.
● Diode mode on multimeter is VERY HANDY for this.
● Diode mode is much faster than resistance mode.
● Put red probe on ground, black probe on power rail you believe
is not working how it should.
● See number. Low number = low voltage drop to ground.
 Finding a short to ground on the line.
● Ground is a black hole for electricity – electricity will try to give all
of itself to ground given a low resistance path to it.
● More energy = more heat.
● A component shorted to ground will try to pass infinite energy,
making it very hot.
● On a 5 volt power line,if you inject 5v from an external source,
and attach the ground of the external source to the ground of the
board, the component shorting to ground will get very hot.
● This will allow you to find the component that is shorted.
● Do NOT use your genitalia to find the hot spot on the board,
regardless of what the internet tells you.
 Other benefits of diode mode troubleshooting.
● All circuits attach to ground in some way or another.
● By comparing the way a malfunctioning circuit attaches to
ground to how a working circuit attaches to ground, we can
narrow down the point of failure.
● Before you repair a circuit, measure diode mode to ground on it
and compare to a working board.
● Write down the numbers in a spreadsheet, along with the issue.
● Make a database of numbers and attach them to issue types.
 For example, on backlight circuit output on
LP8550 based boards....
● 0.565-0.595 = bad switch via from inductor to LED driver.
● 0.465-0.511 = bad feedback via from backlight output to LED

driver
● 0.200-0.300 = bad LED driver

● 0.000-0.070 = bad LCD connector, or totally destroyed LED

driver.
● so what is the good reading on a working board?
 These numbers do not come from thin air!
● I measured the circuit each time I had a problem.
● When I figured out the problem, I put the number next to the
issue in my brain.
● The next time I had a problem, I would make a diode mode
measurement. Without wasting brainpower
troubleshooting/diagnosing/chasing problems, I just checked
what was wrong the last time I had that number.
 You can use this to make your own “ANSWER
KEY” when you are lost!
● If you have a known working board and your dead board, this is
an amazing way to compare and contrast back and forth.
● You can check every pin of an IC for power management.
● You can check sensor data lines for SMC communication.
● You can check PCI express data lines for CPU/GPU
communication.
● The possibilities are endless – build your own answer key using
diode mode measurements so you do not have to reinvent the
wheel every time a board has a problem.
 What are power STATES?
● Computer is off – S5
● Computer is hibernating – S4
● Computer is sleeping – S3.
● Computer is on and working, S0.
● Different power will be present during different states. You need
CPU vcore during S0 while it is on, but you do not want it when it
is off – S5.
● PP5V_S3 and PP5V_S0 are created by the exact same circuit,
but PP5V_S0 is only meant to be present when the laptop is on,
opened up, and being used.
When troubleshooting power rails, is the rail
ABOVE the rail you are troubleshooting
working?
● Let's say PP5V_S5 is missing – a 5 volt power line.
● Many people would start troubleshooting PP5V_S5.
● Schematic shows that the chip that CREATES 5 volts is powered
by a 12 volt power line called PPBUS_G3H.
● If 12v is not present on the board, would we get PP5V_S5? NO!!!
● Would you rather start replacing things on PP5V_S5 circuit, or
check if it is getting 12v to turn into 5v first? CHECK 12V FIRST!!
When troubleshooting power rails, is it even
being told to turn on?
● Most power ICs and circuits have enable or entrip pins.
● Without voltage at these pins, it will not turn on.
● What is easier to do – check ONE enable signal, or measure 50
resistors/capacitors?
● Check if it is being told to turn on BEFORE YOU DRIVE
YOURSELF NUTS!
How many people get sick looking at this?
Let's make this simple. First; is it being told to
turn on?
See how we ignore all the shit on that page that
is boring to get to what is relevant?

P5VS3_EN_L tells Q7221 to short the ENTRIP

pin to ground. According to the datasheet for
TPS51125, the chip will NOT create a 5 volt
power rail while its entrip pin is shorted to
ground! We need to get rid of this terrible
P5VS3_EN_L signal.

Let's follow further down.

P5VS3_EN_L is shorted to ground if
PM_SLP_S4_L is high.
PM_SLP_S4_L is where this ends.
● If PM_SLP_S4_L exists, check upstream. Is the chip bad? Is the
enable signal getting fucked up somewhere else in the line?
● If PM_SLP_S4_L does not exist; STOP TROUBLESHOOTING
TPS51125 CIRCUIT! You cannot blame a chip for not creating
voltage when it is not being told to.
● Make sure you are troubleshooting the correct problem.
● We talk of chasing a rabbit down a hole all the way to hell. The
problem is often that we running down the wrong hole; one within
which a rabbit does not even reside.
 What is an integrated circuit?
● Integrated circuits are combinations of the above components
inside of a single package.
● This single package has a specific function. Make my backlight.
Make my CPU power. Whatever it is meant to do.
● Integrated circuits allow us to have smaller devices with less
visible components.
Here is an integrated circuit.
WTF is this?
 A few basic things to take note of.
● Integrated circuits need power to run. This pin is called VCC,
VDD, VEE, VSS, or VIN.
● If it says “PP5V” on a VCC, VDD, VEE, VSS, or VIN pad, YOU
WANT 5 VOLTS TO BE THERE!!!
● EN is usually for “ENABLE”
● If you do not have voltage at an “ENABLE” pin, DO NOT
REPLACE THE IC. It's not being told to turn on. On rare
occasion enable pin is shorted to ground inside of a messed up
chip, but as a general rule, make sure it is being told to turn on.
 What is a logic gate?
● A logic gate has a set output for a set input.
● A logic gate is often used to only let power through if specific
input signals are present.
● For example, if circuit A and B tell me they are ok, then tell circuit
C to turn on.
● If circuit A is ok but circuit B is fucked, do not turn circuit C on.
● Different logic gates work in different ways. Look at datasheet for
a specific logic gate to see how it works. OR compare with
working system.
 What is a buck converter?
● A buck converter takes a higher voltage and turns it into a lower
voltage.
● Voltage dividers do the same thing, but are VERY inefficient
since it is “always on”
● A buck converter is a SWITCHING power supply.
We start with a high voltage, like 8 volts.
Buck converter “switches” it on and off. 8 volts, 0 volts. 8 volts, 0
volts. This sucks. Would you want to drive in this car???
Output is “averaged” to 0.8 volts by an inductor
and a capacitor into a nice flat line. Ahh, much
nicer ride, says the CPU.
 What is a DC to DC boost circuit?
A laptop LCD backlight runs off of about 39 volts in an A1286 Macbook Pro. Its BATTERY
is a 12.6 volt battery. Does this mean we carry around flashlights? NO!!! We boost it.

● A DC to DC boost circuit boosts a lower DC voltage into a higher

DC voltage.
● Think of it like stopping short in a car.
● For that split second when the brakes are slammed, you are
moving forward faster than the speed of the car. Good thing we
have seatbelts!
● Same concept is applied in electronics.
 DC to DC boost circuit contains four main
elements.
● Inductor – this is what we are shorting to ground to create the higher voltage.
● Diode – this keeps the boosted voltage from flowing back through the circuit.
● Capacitor – this stores the boosted voltage, and also smoothes it into a straight
line.
● LED driver – this is what does the switching to switch the inductor's output to
ground.
Unboosted 8 volts. BEFORE INDUCTOR!!!
Voltage after inductor when switching to ground.
Voltage after diode & smoothing capacitors.
 What is current sensing?
● Current sensing is to senses how much amperage a circuit is
using.
● Knowing how much power a circuit is using is important for
safety concerns – turn it off if it is using too much!
● Also useful for data. Laptops tell you how much time is remaining
on battery, and this changes based on what you are doing. How
does it KNOW?
 If a circuit is using too much current, current
sensing turns it off.
● To tell current being used, you must be “in” the circuit.
● Outside the circuit, U7000 can't measure current – only voltage.
● We solve this problem by putting a shunt resistor in the circuit.
● The resistor will have a very tiny voltage drop across it – barely
noticeable.
● This voltage drop is DEPENDENT on the power the circuit is
drawing.
● U7000 measures the difference in voltage before and after the
resistor. This allows the buck regulator controller chip to know
the amperage of the circuit – without being inside the circuit!
 Common faults
● Resistor between shunt resistor and buck controller IC die.
● Traces between shunt resistor and resistor, and resistor and
buck controller IC die.
● This can cause not charging the battery, not turning on, no green
light, quarter fan spin.
● Can also keep battery from charging. If it thinks charger is
drawing too much it will turn off charging, if it thinks battery is
exploding it will turn off charging.
 What is the onewire circuit?
● Allows communication between the magsafe charger and the
SMC.
● Only allows communication if certain conditions are met.
● Constantly dies for silly reasons.
QUICK REFRESHER: remember what a logic gate is?
The 3.42v that comes out of the LAST chip
powers this chip that sends charger data to the
SMC.
SMC_BC_ACOK can be brought low by the U7000 – which controls
creating the main 12.6v rail of the machine from the charger power. This
can stop the onewire circuit from allowing the charger voltage through to
the machine.
 So the way this works...
● If PP3V42_G3H voltage rail is present
● And SMC_BC_ACOK is present from the charging IC that
creates PPBUS_G3H
● The onewire circuit allows the adapter to communicate with the
SMC.
● If the PP3V42_G3H voltage rail is NOT present, or the circuitry
for PPBUS_G3H is fucked in any way, charger will NOT be able
to communicate with the machine.
● PP3V42_G3H must come on before every other voltage so that
onewire can work so that PPBUS_G3H can come on.
U6901 is a logic gate that will let PP3V42_G3H(3.42v) through to U6900
ONLY if SMC_BC_ACOK is present. U6900 allows communication between
the charger's adapter sense line and SYS_ONEWIRE which goes to the SMC.
This is how the SMC talks to the charger. The SMC tells the charger things
like “TURN ON!”, “TURN ON BUT LIMIT POWER!”, or “DON'T TURN ON!”
Without this data line being present, the charger will NOT TURN ON!!
 PP3V42_G3H needs to turn on first.
● You need PP3V42_G3H to work for the onewire circuit to work.
● You need the onewire circuit for your charger to turn on.
● You need the charger to turn on to get PPBUS_G3H voltage.
● You need PPBUS_G3H to get every other rail in the system;
every other power rail is created from PPBUS_G3H's 12.6v
● Therefore; YOU NEED PP3V42_G3H TO WORK
**BEFORE**ANYTHING**ELSE** !!!!!!!!
● Do not troubleshoot anything before checking that PP3V42_G3H
works.
● If you have a green or orange light on your charger;
PP3V42_G3H works.
 Is the SMC on? How do we tell?
● The SMC turning on is required for the onewire circuit to work.
● The SMC communicates with the ISL6259/ISL6258 to set the
final PPBUS_G3H voltages on 2008-2015 Macbooks.
● On Macbook Airs and old Macbook Pro 17” PPBUS_G3H is 8.5v
when the SMC is able to communicate with the ISL, 8.16v when
the SMC cannot.
● On Macbook Pros PPBUS_G3H is 12.56v when the SMC is able
to communicate with the ISL, 12.23v when the SMC cannot.
How SMC communicates with ISL6259
 What turns the SMC off?
● SMC_RESET_L being low – will keep SMC in reset mode.
● SMC being bad.
● SMC having corrosion on it.
 Let's move onto PPBUS_G3H.
● The onewire circuit allows the charger to talk to the SMC. The
first thing that will occur after this is creation of PPBUS_G3H.
● PPBUS_G3H is a 12.6 volt power rail that all other lines in the
system are created from.
●
After this, the rest is dependent on your specific
system.
● After PPBUS_G3H and PP3V42_G3H are created, other power
rails should start coming on.
● The MCP or PCH on the motherboard will create the enable
signals for other chips to turn on their power lines, such as CPU
power, PP5V_S3, and so on and so forth.
● Schematics usually come with a block diagram showing you
what signals are responsible for creating what power lines.
 These signals differ from platform to platform.
● I am not going to go over exact order and exact signals.
● It changes from model to model, but the same general idea
applies.
● Check the power diagram page on the schematic to get an idea
of what is going on.
● If Apple decided to be pricks and not include it in a specific
diagram, check last year's and try to figure out what changed.
 The BEST way to figure this out if you are
unsure...
● CHECK KNOWN WORKING BOARDS!
● Compare & contrast. Analyze, and use your brain.
● A working board is an ANSWER KEY!
● Adults are allowed to CHEAT and CHECK THE ANSWER KEY!!
● What is different on the working board from your dead board?
● Never stop analyzing.
● Known working boards of the same type are the ultimate learning
tool.
 What is FEEDBACK and why does it matter?
● These chips are cheap crap connected to other cheap crap.
● They are not to be trusted.
● Most power control chips in buck converters, DC to DC boost
circuits, and power supplies in general like to know what they are
doing.
● For this, feedback is used.
● Chip will change how it controls circuit based on feedback.
 Standard backlight circuit faults!
● Blown fuse.
● Short to ground on output through LCD, LCD connector, LCD
cable, or internal board issue.
● Not being told to turn on.
● Open circuit – somewhere, the line has been burned away so
power is not passing.
● Being told to turn on, but LED driver is unable to tell it to turn on.
● No feedback – LED driver cannot see what it is doing so it does
not boost.
 Hey, I have no backlight... right?
● People say they have no backlight when they have no image.
● If you do not have an image, you could have a bad screen, bad
LCD cable, or DDC circuit is not recognizing screen.
● The PCH, GPU, GPU MUX, or MCP will never issue power to
Q9707 to allow power through to the backlight circuit if it does
not see a proper screen!
●
 WTF is a DDC circuit?
● The DDC circuit is the introduction between the monitor and the
graphics processing of the computer.
● Hi computer, I'm a monitor. Hi monitor, I'm a computer.

● Computer, I have 1280x800 resolution. Please don't fuck with me

and try to output more.

● LCD, my integrated graphics can do 4K like it aint nothin' but a

thang, I'll give you 1280x800. And I see you're not shorted to
ground, so even better.
● Picture comes on.

● DDC is the means to get the EDID block from the LCD.
● DDC also controls Brightness. This is all done on the i2c bus.
 Make sure you check that you have an image.
● Use light from microscope ring around LCD. Do you see ink-like
substance move around? That is LCD being “activated”
● On newer Retina LCDs it is almost impossible to see this, just
shine bright light on back of LCD and wait for Apple logo or
questionmark folder to appear.
● Sometimes LCD is detected but not powered on. Then you have
an issue with LCD power circuitry.
 Is the computer's “brain” even turning on?
● People often say “no image” when the proper issue is no brain.
● If the laptop turns on and there is no chime noise.
● If there is no chime noise and you do not measure CPU vcore, or
MCP vcore, or power going to RAM, then the issue is not “no
image” - it is “NO BRAIN!!!”
● Troubleshoot no brain accordingly.
 If all voltage rails are present and it doesn't do
anything...
● Bad SPI ROM chip.
● Corrupt SPI ROM.
● Corroded vias/traces to SPI ROM chip.
● SPI ROM chip talks to MCP or PCH to get everything working.
● Bad CPU, or bad GPU, or bad PCH – this will not be fun.
 If CPU or MCP voltage rails are missing...
● FIX THEM!!!!!
● Common issue as always is voltage controller IC is NOT BEING
TOLD WHAT TO DO!!
● Check around CPU vcore area.
 I fixed it and they say it runs slow.
● Running slow is often due to a sensor issue.
● Not slow as in slow hard drive, I mean slow as in the mouse
stutters as it moves across the screen with no activity.
● The SMC likes to sense voltage levels, current usage, and
temperatures from various different parts of the machine.
● If it receives information that is out of whack, it will turn the
machine off, or make it run very slow as a means to protect itself
from damage.
 Run ASD to tell you what sensor is failing.
● You will have to venture forth onto the internet to find ASD.
● There are different ASD for every model machine from every
year.
● ASD will tell you what sensor is failing, and then it is your job to
check the schematic and see what's going on.
 PBUS voltage sense, VP0R example.
● This is a common sensor to fail. We look at various modes of
failure.
● Reading above or below high point can be caused by voltage
divider failure.
● Not reading anything can be caused by fucked SMC, fucked
trace/via to the SMC, or sensor not being told to turn on.
 Types of sensor failures.
● Sometimes the sensor is not turning on.
● Sometimes the sensor is outputting improper data to the SMC
because resistors in the line have gone bad.
● Sometimes the SMC itself is fucked.
● Sometimes the data line on which the sensor is communicating
is being brought down by something – dirt in a webcam
connector, a bad webcam, a bad chip. Check if the line is
topping out at the max spec'd voltage of that data line.
 i2c
i2c is one of the primary interchip communication busses

Shown as SDA and SCL on schematics and datasheets.

SDA - Data Line : SCL - Clock Line

Both lines will have a pullup resistor to a power rail - If the pullup is open, short, or out of spec i2c
will not work properly

It’s purpose is to provide communication/instruction to an IC. That is to say, even with power,
 How Apple plays dirty with LCDs

Unlike any other manufacturer, Apple includes a special validation/genuine string in the LCD
EDID Block.

Before any power or data is sent to the LCD this must be validated via the DDC handshake.

In the event of liquid damage where your EDID data may get corrupted, an otherwise functional
LCD will not turn on when this validation fails.

EDID data can be read, verified, and reprogrammed with inexpensive tools (Bus Pirate, or literally
any other i2c programmer). It is a simple 2 wire i2c EEPROM
It lets power through! N channel MOSFETs let power through when the gate
voltage is higher than the source. Ground is 0 volts. If there is 3 volts on the
gate then it will open. This will then send whatever is on the drain to ground,
which will cause 0v to be on the drain.
Reminder; what is a voltage divider?
What if we used a transistor to control the
voltage divider's path to ground?

● We could then control whether the voltage divider works.

● By being able to control that voltage divider, we can then control
backlight being on or off based on signals from other parts of the
machine.
 What is a diode?
● A diode only allows power to pass in one direction.
● Often used in boost circuits, where voltage at the end is higher
than voltage at the beginning.
This is the symbol for a diode.
 What is a voltage divider?
● A voltage divider steps down a higher voltage to a lower voltage.
● A voltage divider is a series of resistors between a higher voltage and
ground.
● A voltage divider is inefficient, but cheap – used for things that do not have
high current requirements.
 Here we have a resistor between a high voltage source and the
intended destination, then another resistor between the intended
destination and ground. It is turning 12v into 3v.

● Resistance of resistors will set the voltage.

● Allows the enable pin of this backlight IC to get 3v whenever PPBUS_SW_LCDBKLT_PWR is on.
● If you sent 12v to the enable pin of backlight IC, it would die. Good thing we have a voltage
divider. :)
 NOW ONTO THE FUN!!!!
● Now that you have basic knowledge of what electricity is, we can
go on to basic circuits.
● Get food first.
 What is a data line?

● A data line is a line that carries data

● Data lines are used to transmit information between sensors and
the SMC, between the SMC & the battery, between SMC and the
battery charger chip, between the charger and the SMC.
● Chips “create” data by shorting an existing voltage to ground.
Think of it like “drawing.”
Here is the battery, battery controller IC, and
SMC speaking to one another.
 Creating a data line.
● The chip is creating data by shorting a voltage to ground to make
a waveform that represents data.
● Without voltage present, it will always be 0v, which will be no
data.
● We need voltage to be present so the chip has something to
create a waveform from!
● What will happen when we short a main power rail to ground?
A resistor is placed between a DC voltage line and the
data line to create the data line.
Here is the 3.42v side of the pullup resistor. Look, plain flat 3.42v of DC.
This is the DATA side of the data line. Note how the chip is creating data by
making voids in the 3.42v of different width and height. This means
something.
 DON'T ASK ME!!!!
● What the pulses mean.
● What the width of the pulses mean.
● What the height of the pulses mean.
● Because FUCK IF I KNOW!!!
● Ask an APPLE ENGINEER!!!!
● And good luck with that....
What are we interested in when checking data lines?
● Is there pulsing?
● Does it look similar to what you see on a working board?
**MOST IMPORTANT**
● Does the TOP voltage on the data side equal the voltage present
on the data line?
 When troubleshooting a data line running on a
3.42v power line...
● If it is stuck at the top voltage of the power rail all the time – say
3.42v, something is not speaking.
● If it is stuck too low – it tops out at 2.6v, or 2v, instead of 3.42v,
then some component on the line is pulling it down. Maybe crap
in a connector or a bad chip.
 What is a pullup resistor?
● A pullup resistor keeps a signal high. When it is not being
shorted to ground, it will be 3.42v.
● A pullup resistor “isolates” the data line from the main power
supply.
● You can have as many data lines as the power line is capable of
providing amperage for on a given data line.
What happens when creating a data line without
a resistor to limit current. Remember, the chips
are shorting the signal to GROUND down to
ZERO VOLTS to make this work.
THAT IS WHY WE USE
PULLUP RESISTORS!!!
 What is a power rail?
● A power rail is just a power line upon which you can attach
components.
● PP5V is a 5V power line, with five volts on it.
● PP3V3 is a 3.3v power line, with 3.3 volts on it.
Here a resistor, capacitor, and inductor are
attached to a 5 volt power rail.
 If a power rail is **MISSING**
● Is it not being created?
● Is it being shorted to ground?
● Is an enable pin on the integrated circuit responsible for it not
receiving power?
● Is it present on OTHER parts of the board but not on one part
because of a corroded trace or via?
● WHO KNOWS!?! It could be any of the above, and your job is to
figure it out.
 How circuits fail.
● A circuit can fail if it is not being told to turn on.
● A circuit can fail if there is a short circuit to ground – something is
pulling all the power to ground when it should not.
● A circuit can fail when a line goes “open” and does not conduct
power – power simply stops at a point and does not make its
way through the circuit.
● Many people go nuts checking for shorts and opens before
seeing if the circuit is even being told to turn on. Do not be one of
those people.
 Checking for shorts to ground.
● Diode mode on multimeter is VERY HANDY for this.
● Diode mode is much faster than resistance mode.
● Put red probe on ground, black probe on power rail you believe
is not working how it should.
● See number. Low number = low voltage drop to ground.
 Finding a short to ground on the line.
● Ground is a black hole for electricity – electricity will try to give all
of itself to ground given a low resistance path to it.
● More energy = more heat.
● A component shorted to ground will try to pass infinite energy,
making it very hot.
● On a 5 volt power line,if you inject 5v from an external source,
and attach the ground of the external source to the ground of the
board, the component shorting to ground will get very hot.
● This will allow you to find the component that is shorted.
● Do NOT use your genitalia to find the hot spot on the board,
regardless of what the internet tells you.
 Other benefits of diode mode troubleshooting.
● All circuits attach to ground in some way or another.
● By comparing the way a malfunctioning circuit attaches to
ground to how a working circuit attaches to ground, we can
narrow down the point of failure.
● Before you repair a circuit, measure diode mode to ground on it
and compare to a working board.
● Write down the numbers in a spreadsheet, along with the issue.
● Make a database of numbers and attach them to issue types.
 For example, on backlight circuit output on
LP8550 based boards....
● 0.565-0.595 = bad switch via from inductor to LED driver.
● 0.465-0.511 = bad feedback via from backlight output to LED
driver
● 0.200-0.300 = bad LED driver
● 0.000-0.070 = bad LCD connector, or totally destroyed LED
driver.
 These numbers do not come from thin air!
● I measured the circuit each time I had a problem.
● When I figured out the problem, I put the number next to the
issue in my brain.
● The next time I had a problem, I would make a diode mode
measurement. Without wasting brainpower
troubleshooting/diagnosing/chasing problems, I just checked
what was wrong the last time I had that number.
 You can use this to make your own “ANSWER
KEY” when you are lost!
● If you have a known working board and your dead board, this is
an amazing way to compare and contrast back and forth.
● You can check every pin of an IC for power management.
● You can check sensor data lines for SMC communication.
● You can check PCI express data lines for CPU/GPU
communication.
● The possibilities are endless – build your own answer key using
diode mode measurements so you do not have to reinvent the
wheel every time a board has a problem.
 What are power STATES?
● Computer is off – S5
● Computer is hibernating – S4
● Computer is sleeping – S3.
● Computer is on and working, S0.
● Different power will be present during different states. You need
CPU vcore during S0 while it is on, but you do not want it when it
is off – S5.
● PP5V_S3 and PP5V_S0 are created by the exact same circuit,
but PP5V_S0 is only meant to be present when the laptop is on,
opened up, and being used.
When troubleshooting power rails, is the rail
ABOVE the rail you are troubleshooting
working?
● Let's say PP5V_S5 is missing – a 5 volt power line.
● Many people would start troubleshooting PP5V_S5.
● Schematic shows that the chip that CREATES 5 volts is powered
by a 12 volt power line called PPBUS_G3H.
● If 12v is not present on the board, would we get PP5V_S5? NO!!!
● Would you rather start replacing things on PP5V_S5 circuit, or
check if it is getting 12v to turn into 5v first? CHECK 12V FIRST!!
When troubleshooting power rails, is it even
being told to turn on?
● Most power ICs and circuits have enable or entrip pins.
● Without voltage at these pins, it will not turn on.
● What is easier to do – check ONE enable signal, or measure 50
resistors/capacitors?
● Check if it is being told to turn on BEFORE YOU DRIVE
YOURSELF NUTS!
How many people get sick looking at this?
Let's make this simple. First; is it being told to
turn on?
See how we ignore all the shit on that page that
is boring to get to what is relevant?

P5VS3_EN_L tells Q7221 to short the ENTRIP

pin to ground. According to the datasheet for
TPS51125, the chip will NOT create a 5 volt
power rail while its entrip pin is shorted to
ground! We need to get rid of this terrible
P5VS3_EN_L signal.

Let's follow further down.

P5VS3_EN_L is shorted to ground if
PM_SLP_S4_L is high.
PM_SLP_S4_L is where this ends.
● If PM_SLP_S4_L exists, check upstream. Is the chip bad? Is the
enable signal getting fucked up somewhere else in the line?
● If PM_SLP_S4_L does not exist; STOP TROUBLESHOOTING
TPS51125 CIRCUIT! You cannot blame a chip for not creating
voltage when it is not being told to.
● Make sure you are troubleshooting the correct problem.
● We talk of chasing a rabbit down a hole all the way to hell. The
problem is often that we running down the wrong hole; one within
which a rabbit does not even reside.
 What is an integrated circuit?
● Integrated circuits are combinations of the above components
inside of a single package.
● This single package has a specific function. Make my backlight.
Make my CPU power. Whatever it is meant to do.
● Integrated circuits allow us to have smaller devices with less
visible components.
Here is an integrated circuit.
WTF is this?
 A few basic things to take note of.
● Integrated circuits need power to run. This pin is called VCC,
VDD, VEE, VSS, or VIN.
● If it says “PP5V” on a VCC, VDD, VEE, VSS, or VIN pad, YOU
WANT 5 VOLTS TO BE THERE!!!
● EN is usually for “ENABLE”
● If you do not have voltage at an “ENABLE” pin, DO NOT
REPLACE THE IC. It's not being told to turn on. On rare
occasion enable pin is shorted to ground inside of a messed up
chip, but as a general rule, make sure it is being told to turn on.
 What is a logic gate?
● A logic gate has a set output for a set input.
● A logic gate is often used to only let power through if specific
input signals are present.
● For example, if circuit A and B tell me they are ok, then tell circuit
C to turn on.
● If circuit A is ok but circuit B is fucked, do not turn circuit C on.
● Different logic gates work in different ways. Look at datasheet for
a specific logic gate to see how it works. OR compare with
working system.
 What is a buck converter?
● A buck converter takes a higher voltage and turns it into a lower
voltage.
● Voltage dividers do the same thing, but are VERY inefficient
since it is “always on”
● A buck converter is a SWITCHING power supply.
We start with a high voltage, like 8 volts.
Buck converter “switches” it on and off. 8 volts, 0 volts. 8 volts, 0
volts. This sucks. Would you want to drive in this car???
Output is “averaged” to 0.8 volts by an inductor
and a capacitor into a nice flat line. Ahh, much
nicer ride, says the CPU.
 What is a DC to DC boost circuit?
A laptop LCD backlight runs off of about 39 volts in an A1286 Macbook Pro. Its BATTERY
is a 12.6 volt battery. Does this mean we carry around flashlights? NO!!! We boost it.

● A DC to DC boost circuit boosts a lower DC voltage into a higher

DC voltage.
● Think of it like stopping short in a car.
● For that split second when the brakes are slammed, you are
moving forward faster than the speed of the car. Good thing we
have seatbelts!
● Same concept is applied in electronics.
 DC to DC boost circuit contains four main
elements.
● Inductor – this is what we are shorting to ground to create the higher voltage.
● Diode – this keeps the boosted voltage from flowing back through the circuit.
● Capacitor – this stores the boosted voltage, and also smoothes it into a straight
line.
● LED driver – this is what does the switching to switch the inductor's output to
ground.
Unboosted 8 volts. BEFORE INDUCTOR!!!
Voltage after inductor when switching to ground.
Voltage after diode & smoothing capacitors.
 What is current sensing?
● Current sensing is to senses how much amperage a circuit is
using.
● Knowing how much power a circuit is using is important for
safety concerns – turn it off if it is using too much!
● Also useful for data. Laptops tell you how much time is remaining
on battery, and this changes based on what you are doing. How
does it KNOW?
 If a circuit is using too much current, current
sensing turns it off.
● To tell current being used, you must be “in” the circuit.
● Outside the circuit, U7000 can't measure current – only voltage.
● We solve this problem by putting a shunt resistor in the circuit.
● The resistor will have a very tiny voltage drop across it – barely
noticeable.
● This voltage drop is DEPENDENT on the power the circuit is
drawing.
● U7000 measures the difference in voltage before and after the
resistor. This allows the buck regulator controller chip to know
the amperage of the circuit – without being inside the circuit!
 Common faults
● Resistor between shunt resistor and buck controller IC die.
● Traces between shunt resistor and resistor, and resistor and
buck controller IC die.
● This can cause not charging the battery, not turning on, no green
light, quarter fan spin.
● Can also keep battery from charging. If it thinks charger is
drawing too much it will turn off charging, if it thinks battery is
exploding it will turn off charging.
 What is the onewire circuit?
● Allows communication between the magsafe charger and the
SMC.
● Only allows communication if certain conditions are met.
● Constantly dies for silly reasons.
QUICK REFRESHER: remember what a logic gate is?
The 3.42v that comes out of the LAST chip
powers this chip that sends charger data to the
SMC.
SMC_BC_ACOK can be brought low by the U7000 – which controls
creating the main 12.6v rail of the machine from the charger power. This
can stop the onewire circuit from allowing the charger voltage through to
the machine.
 So the way this works...
● If PP3V42_G3H voltage rail is present
● And SMC_BC_ACOK is present from the charging IC that
creates PPBUS_G3H
● The onewire circuit allows the adapter to communicate with the
SMC.
● If the PP3V42_G3H voltage rail is NOT present, or the circuitry
for PPBUS_G3H is fucked in any way, charger will NOT be able
to communicate with the machine.
● PP3V42_G3H must come on before every other voltage so that
onewire can work so that PPBUS_G3H can come on.
U6901 is a logic gate that will let PP3V42_G3H(3.42v) through to U6900
ONLY if SMC_BC_ACOK is present. U6900 allows communication between
the charger's adapter sense line and SYS_ONEWIRE which goes to the SMC.
This is how the SMC talks to the charger. The SMC tells the charger things
like “TURN ON!”, “TURN ON BUT LIMIT POWER!”, or “DON'T TURN ON!”
Without this data line being present, the charger will NOT TURN ON!!
 PP3V42_G3H needs to turn on first.
● You need PP3V42_G3H to work for the onewire circuit to work.
● You need the onewire circuit for your charger to turn on.
● You need the charger to turn on to get PPBUS_G3H voltage.
● You need PPBUS_G3H to get every other rail in the system;
every other power rail is created from PPBUS_G3H's 12.6v
● Therefore; YOU NEED PP3V42_G3H TO WORK
**BEFORE**ANYTHING**ELSE** !!!!!!!!
● Do not troubleshoot anything before checking that PP3V42_G3H
works.
● If you have a green or orange light on your charger;
PP3V42_G3H works.
 Is the SMC on? How do we tell?
● The SMC turning on is required for the onewire circuit to work.
● The SMC communicates with the ISL6259/ISL6258 to set the
final PPBUS_G3H voltages on 2008-2015 Macbooks.
● On Macbook Airs and old Macbook Pro 17” PPBUS_G3H is 8.5v
when the SMC is able to communicate with the ISL, 8.16v when
the SMC cannot.
● On Macbook Pros PPBUS_G3H is 12.56v when the SMC is able
to communicate with the ISL, 12.23v when the SMC cannot.
How SMC communicates with ISL6259
 What turns the SMC off?
● SMC_RESET_L being low – will keep SMC in reset mode.
● SMC being bad.
● SMC having corrosion on it.
 Let's move onto PPBUS_G3H.
● The onewire circuit allows the charger to talk to the SMC. The
first thing that will occur after this is creation of PPBUS_G3H.
● PPBUS_G3H is a 12.6 volt power rail that all other lines in the
system are created from.
●
After this, the rest is dependent on your specific
system.
● After PPBUS_G3H and PP3V42_G3H are created, other power
rails should start coming on.
● The MCP or PCH on the motherboard will create the enable
signals for other chips to turn on their power lines, such as CPU
power, PP5V_S3, and so on and so forth.
● Schematics usually come with a block diagram showing you
what signals are responsible for creating what power lines.
 These signals differ from platform to platform.
● I am not going to go over exact order and exact signals.
● It changes from model to model, but the same general idea
applies.
● Check the power diagram page on the schematic to get an idea
of what is going on.
● If Apple decided to be pricks and not include it in a specific
diagram, check last year's and try to figure out what changed.
 The BEST way to figure this out if you are
unsure...
● CHECK KNOWN WORKING BOARDS!
● Compare & contrast. Analyze, and use your brain.
● A working board is an ANSWER KEY!
● Adults are allowed to CHEAT and CHECK THE ANSWER KEY!!
● What is different on the working board from your dead board?
● Never stop analyzing.
● Known working boards of the same type are the ultimate learning
tool.
 What is FEEDBACK and why does it matter?
● These chips are cheap crap connected to other cheap crap.
● They are not to be trusted.
● Most power control chips in buck converters, DC to DC boost
circuits, and power supplies in general like to know what they are
doing.
● For this, feedback is used.
● Chip will change how it controls circuit based on feedback.
 Standard backlight circuit faults!
● Blown fuse.
● Short to ground on output through LCD, LCD connector, LCD
cable, or internal board issue.
● Not being told to turn on.
● Open circuit – somewhere, the line has been burned away so
power is not passing.
● Being told to turn on, but LED driver is unable to tell it to turn on.
● No feedback – LED driver cannot see what it is doing so it does
not boost.
 Hey, I have no backlight... right?
● People say they have no backlight when they have no image.
● If you do not have an image, you could have a bad screen, bad
LCD cable, or DDC circuit is not recognizing screen.
● The PCH, GPU, GPU MUX, or MCP will never issue power to
Q9707 to allow power through to the backlight circuit if it does
not see a proper screen!
●
 WTF is a DDC circuit?
● The DDC circuit is the introduction between the monitor and the
graphics processing of the computer.
● Hi computer, I'm a monitor. Hi monitor, I'm a computer.

● Computer, I have 1280x800 resolution. Please don't fuck with me

and try to output more.

● LCD, my integrated graphics can do 4K like it aint nothin' but a

thang, I'll give you 1280x800. And I see you're not shorted to
ground, so even better.
● Picture comes on.

● DDC is the means to get the EDID block from the LCD.
● DDC also controls Brightness. This is all done on the i2c bus.
 Make sure you check that you have an image.
● Use light from microscope ring around LCD. Do you see ink-like
substance move around? That is LCD being “activated”
● On newer Retina LCDs it is almost impossible to see this, just
shine bright light on back of LCD and wait for Apple logo or
questionmark folder to appear.
● Sometimes LCD is detected but not powered on. Then you have
an issue with LCD power circuitry.
 Is the computer's “brain” even turning on?
● People often say “no image” when the proper issue is no brain.
● If the laptop turns on and there is no chime noise.
● If there is no chime noise and you do not measure CPU vcore, or
MCP vcore, or power going to RAM, then the issue is not “no
image” - it is “NO BRAIN!!!”
● Troubleshoot no brain accordingly.
 If all voltage rails are present and it doesn't do
anything...
● Bad SPI ROM chip.
● Corrupt SPI ROM.
● Corroded vias/traces to SPI ROM chip.
● SPI ROM chip talks to MCP or PCH to get everything working.
● Bad CPU, or bad GPU, or bad PCH – this will not be fun.
 If CPU or MCP voltage rails are missing...
● FIX THEM!!!!!
● Common issue as always is voltage controller IC is NOT BEING
TOLD WHAT TO DO!!
● Check around CPU vcore area.
 I fixed it and they say it runs slow.
● Running slow is often due to a sensor issue.
● Not slow as in slow hard drive, I mean slow as in the mouse
stutters as it moves across the screen with no activity.
● The SMC likes to sense voltage levels, current usage, and
temperatures from various different parts of the machine.
● If it receives information that is out of whack, it will turn the
machine off, or make it run very slow as a means to protect itself
from damage.
 Run ASD to tell you what sensor is failing.
● You will have to venture forth onto the internet to find ASD.
● There are different ASD for every model machine from every
year.
● ASD will tell you what sensor is failing, and then it is your job to
check the schematic and see what's going on.
 PBUS voltage sense, VP0R example.
● This is a common sensor to fail. We look at various modes of
failure.
● Reading above or below high point can be caused by voltage
divider failure.
● Not reading anything can be caused by fucked SMC, fucked
trace/via to the SMC, or sensor not being told to turn on.
 Types of sensor failures.
● Sometimes the sensor is not turning on.
● Sometimes the sensor is outputting improper data to the SMC
because resistors in the line have gone bad.
● Sometimes the SMC itself is fucked.
● Sometimes the data line on which the sensor is communicating
is being brought down by something – dirt in a webcam
connector, a bad webcam, a bad chip. Check if the line is
topping out at the max spec'd voltage of that data line.
 i2c
i2c is one of the primary interchip communication busses

Shown as SDA and SCL on schematics and datasheets.

SDA - Data Line : SCL - Clock Line

Both lines will have a pullup resistor to a power rail - If the pullup is open, short, or out of spec i2c will not work properly

It’s purpose is to provide communication/instruction to an IC. That is to say, even with power, ground, and enable, many ICs
need programming over i2c to function.

The entire i2c bus can monitored and communicated with via inexpensive external tools with a connection to SDA, SCL, and
GND

Basic functionality can be determined with DMM and Oscope. You won't know what the bits mean but you will know they are there.
 How Apple plays dirty with LCDs

Unlike any other manufacturer, Apple includes a special validation/genuine string in the LCD EDID
Block.

Before any power or data is sent to the LCD this must be validated via the DDC handshake.

In the event of liquid damage where your EDID data may get corrupted, an otherwise functional LCD
will not turn on when this validation fails.

EDID data can be read, verified, and reprogrammed with inexpensive tools (Bus Pirate, or literally any
other i2c programmer). It is a simple 2 wire i2c EEPROM

If backlight voltage gets sent to your EDID IC you can pretty much guarantee it will be corrupted.

Valid data can be pulled from the same model Macbook and programmed to the damaged lcd without
issue.