820-3115-B boots about 1/3 into progress bar then hangs

Newbie, my first post, please cut me some slack, do not have all the lingo down yet:
This machine has green light on mag and will boot with chime as soon as I plug in mag charger. The screen stays black, but when I put in external monitor it will show logo and load about 1/3 and hang. So far I disconnected the internal HDD and tried to boot of external HDD, same result, boot and hang. I disconnected keyboard and booted with external keyboard, same. Did the SMC reset with no response, PRAM reset same, no change. Battery I disconnected and reconnected, still same.Disconnected machine's display, to eliminate possible short in there. Now I suppose I must go in, my hunch is SMC. Any more things to try before I take out the board, and if not, where do I look first, once the board is out, please? I felt heat over the GPU just using my finger. Could it be a similar cap issue supplying the GPU as in the 2010 15" machines?
 

2informaticos

Administrator
Staff member
Try new BIOS, with clean ME.
Run EFI ASD, maybe reports some error.

BTW, does it run Linux Live, or Windows Live?
 

JohnB8812

New member
Did you try another SATA Cable? Bad cable can cause hang on boot. Also could be the PCH getting hot which would be bad
 
Did you try another SATA Cable? Bad cable can cause hang on boot. Also could be the PCH getting hot which would be bad

Thanks , JohnB. I thought that I covered that possibility by disconnecting the internal Sata cable and booted off an external drive...with the same result of only partial boot up.
 
Try new BIOS, with clean ME.
Run EFI ASD, maybe reports some error.

BTW, does it run Linux Live, or Windows Live?

OK 2informaticos, thank you for the pointers again: I have been trying to inform myself on these processes you suggested, but I am running into walls.
As for the clean ME , I looked, amongst others, at this link: https://www.laboneinside.com/how-to-...egion-problem/
At the end of the article it says: "That’s it, your problem has been resolved. Now, just reprogram your clean ME Bios Bin." Sounds scary, since I do not know how to reprogram my clean ME Bios ...yet. So I cannot pursue this...unless I have more info.
Regarding the EFI ASD, I found out that I need ASD3S150, but so far cannot find a reliable link, nor any link really, for this utility,
Could you please clue me know how to get into this aspect of fixing the board?
Finally, Regarding Linux Live versus Windows Live, I assume that it is Linux, and not Windows. It is a friends machine, who is allowing me to try and fix it, to learn about board repair, and it had MAC OSX running on it, which is more like Linux, right?
I am a junior member, heavy on the junior part, I suppose..
 

2informaticos

Administrator
Staff member
Machine should run Linux Live.
You can also install Windows on it.
Disconnect internal disk when do such test...

If you don't have Medusa 2, then need to pull out SPI chip and reprogram it with external programmer; like CH341, TL866, nano BIOS programmer, many out there.
Remember to save the backup!!!

First of all, run ASD.
If your machine is Early-2011, needs 3S144.
For Late-2012, needs 3S150.
 
It would appear that the [h=2]820-3115-B [/h] is a 2012 model, but of course I cannot be sure. I found some ASD links and instructions for the older models up to 2010, and I am downloading as I write. The ASD 3S150 is still elusive, but I will hunt it down, maybe with some help?
 
It is a 2012, that much is confirmed. Looks like I need to learn more about torrents and join the 'advanced reworks' forum to lay hands on ASD 3S150 for this rig...Tenacity its where its at, to get a problem solved, as usual. However in the meantime I scored the ASD disc images for my favorite years, 2009 and 2010. Thanks again, 2informicos
 
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Run ASD EFI version; don't get bother with OS version...

Roger that Houston, I will be onto it later today, and post results.
Regarding your earlier pointer "If you don't have Medusa 2, then need to pull out SPI chip and reprogram it with external programmer; like CH341, TL866, nano BIOS programmer, many out there," that sounds way over my head ...for now....but I will figure it out as I go along.... thanks to your kind assistance.
 

2informaticos

Administrator
Staff member
You must get a BIOS programmer, if you think to stay in business with laptop/PC repair.
If you plan to repair more Apple stuff than regular laptops, get Medusa 2 ASAP.

Please, don't quote an entire post from few cm above...
 
Hmmm interesting. Thank you for the pointers, and I definitely follow them up.
I am going with a focus largely on Macs right now, and shall read up on Medusa 2 then. I am not concerned with staying in business, but I just like to be able to maintain machinery of all sorts. I like up-cycling, And no more quotes, as you wish.
 

2informaticos

Administrator
Staff member
I didn't tell you don't use quotes; just don't quote entirely a prevous post, which is already visible few cm above.
Use quotes for a part of a post which you want to reffer a reply.
I do this myself too, not only once...
 
Thanks for getting me up to speed on proper board etiquette. Point taken.
Wow, reading up still on Mini Pro TL866 and this whole aspect of Bio chip reprogramming. CH341 as well. Cant hurt to buy one of those units and give them a whirl. Could not get much of a handle on the 'Medusa 2' reference though, other than some thing related to a hacking tool... [h=1][/h]
 
I managed to get the ASD3S150 installed on USB,and am currently running the EFI test. Took a bit of doing, such as SMC reset,as well as 1)disconnect existing on-board screen, 2) HDD and 3) battery, to convince the machine to display on an external monitor. So I selected "All Tests" and to "Continue on Error".
While it works I am puzzled over the other three .dmg images I received from my ASD3S150 download, I followed the instruction regarding the first one, namely partition for EFI and OS, and copy on those two onto my appropriate USB partition . I am confused what to do with the other three .dmgs....I am missing something here..
OK, machine passed the EFI test, all 46 tests are green. Where to go from here?
 
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Ok, I downloaded the firmware and the Intel easy Clean ME, but forgive my current lack of knowledge: How to deploy these windows programs on a Mac computer which does not boot is an enigma to me? I have been searching here and googled there, but any clues and /or discussion assume that the reader is already in the know. I am at the beginning here. OK, I finally found some info on Medusa 2. Looks very easy and useful...expensive though. Or should I just replace the chip, if this is the likely culprit?www.ebay.com/itm/PROGRAMMED-EFI-CHI...m=301463507370&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851
 
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