Macbook Pro A2338 Unstoppable bootloop fault. Logic board failure of common part has new symptom

[@mime4331]

4:50 "Small touch of flux" Smears the chip with a chunk of lard

[@MrPnew1]

Paul has Amtech shares 🤣

[@pldaniels]

pfft... more like penny shares.

[@aonemob]

Hey Paul, Sorry to see you having one of those days, we all get them but you did well to stand up and still record your repair. Hoping the weeks gets better Mate :)

[@pldaniels]

We'll see how today goes. Important package was on scheduled to be delivered, truck arrived... "Oh, I've made a mistake" and truck drives off. Check tracking and shows it had been signed for 30 minutes prior *sigh*

[@aonemob]

@pldaniels ow no that's not a good start.

[@als1035]

I've see a couple of these lately where the speaker amp is the problem. Makes sense now after your diagnosis and explanation.

[@pldaniels]

Did see it a fair bit on A1706/7/8 machines with the amps but haven't (yet) seen it too often on the newer Pro/ProMax units but it seems that's changing

[@hervesartori6663]

Hi from France, you're always very precise and efficient. perfect job. It's impressive...

[@pldaniels]

Thank you kindly.

[@TradieTrev]

1 of April? You have really good attention to detail Paul! I like these types of format videos, Id love to have a crack at doing BGA work but know I'd screw a heap up before perfection of the skill.

[@pldaniels]

Of course, the reality is, we've all done that first ;) My first hot-air rework was back in the... ermm... iPhone 4 era, replacing a small crystal that was known to fail in them, no microscope either :| You should give it a go.

[@tim0steele]

Great job. The speaker amp chips seems to be a common failure item on these laptops.

[@pldaniels]

They're showing up a lot, I'm thankful though that the same amp chip is used across a lot of machines.

[@Timpano_Francesco_Repairs]

Hi Paul, good Job...i Learn One more because of i have less expencive with Mac...thank for sharing

[@KrissBartlett]

Nice one Paul well done

[@mm0077]

Appreciate it and thank you you.

[@margingalaxy9826]

Hats off to Paul 🫡 We are Learning ❤

[@MrPnew1]

3:15 short killer 🤣 6:18 the money shot

[@Qweggle]

Any chance you could do a video where you go through your IR set up and processes a bit more. the software you developed looks really interesting!

[@pldaniels]

I suppose it's getting a bit "end of life" as it were, I would like to move to a new camera system, something I conjure myself or something where I can get better access to the data directly. My software is orginally based off the work done by others ( I just refined the software to better suit this sort of application ).

[@Qweggle]

@pldaniels amazing, any chance you've got got updates on the cards soon? It always seems like such a powerful tool and as a complete novice it's always my blowing how quickly you can analyse from what you seen. Any pointers as to where to look to the origins of the software?

[@jameshunt1071]

Can you solder the bad amp chip to the donor board and measure resistance there to know for future reference?

[@pldaniels]

I'm thinking it was more the matter on the board that was truly at fault than the chip itself. I can probably infer the resistance of the rail by looking at my recording and seeing what the current drain was and comparing it to what it should be for a *normal* A2338 ( or this one after the repair ) and from that take the difference in current and derive the resistance from that.

[@carlosinka1888]

Hey paul, whats that USB thingy for power rail check? It signalize VBUS rail with led? Or any other rails? Thank you

[@pldaniels]

It's a USB-C Chipmunk. Very simple/easy device and shows you if there's voltage, if it's 5V, and if there's CPU/data activity. Handy to have around, I use it multiple times a day. www.cmizapper.com/products/usb-tester.html

[@macwake]

Another audio amp -.- Wouldn't have thought of that, lucky find!

[@pldaniels]

Agreed, hopefully my facial expressions conveyed a similar level of disbelief

[@bblod4896]

A short can become an open with enough current 😂 I know a tech that would build coax jumpers with PL259 on each end. Sometimes one stray wire from the shield would touch the center conductor. His fix was to apply enough power between the shield and center conductor to flash the short into history. It works. 😂 Hope you and the family are okay.

[@pldaniels]

Oh I remember those PL259 connectors from my CB/HF days, and yes, that braided shield would often drive me insane :)

[@mirceaalicu]

That display will probably not last too long judging by the debris that can be seen between hinges

[@patrickreuvekamp]

It looks pretty scratched up as well.

[@pldaniels]

All that can be done is advise people to "avoid getting junk in the hinge area" but not much changes. I've had machines I've recovered for data multiple times and people still don't get backups done :sigh:

[@Bobur1777]

Can you elaborate more on why you dried the paste of flux? Is it to have more solder on the pads when you're using the stencil, because the flux was burned off? You also mentioned about storage. All I recall about solder paste storage is just to keep it cool. If you could point me to a video, that would be fine as well. Thanks, love the vids :)

[@pldaniels]

The drying of the paste is mainly to make it more viscous so that during the transition phase of the reballing the paste doesn't ooze/run out of the stencil gaps or spit out as the flux gets too hot ( that's remedied at least by sticking to lower temperatures ). As for storage, yes, ideally in a cool dry area, however that's primarily if you're using paste for the process of new device manufacturing and subsequent screen printing / application of fresh new paste on a board for parts to rest on; for this sort of work it's not such a critical thing.

[@Bobur1777]

Thank you for the explanation :)

[@S_RaccoonPotatoWizard]

Really? All the bc of speaker amp? Makes sense when you explain with board view, but dang. Thanks!

[@pldaniels]

It was a new set of symptoms for me. Normally when those speaker amps get taken out it's no power, spiking and no power, you know, stuff that you'd normally expect. This was definitely a first.

[@Foxx_69]

Interesting!

[@pedrobalbuena8549]

I never get this lucky unfortunately

[@pldaniels]

Not entirely the most common spot of luck even here, though I'm very thankful for it I must say. I've got some other nightmare rabbit holes here alas, including an A1707 that works on *one* port but none of the others, totally confusing.

[@1kreature]

This is where the T3S would shine as it has better rez and you can focus it sharply on the small area, and you get high fps. Just sayin... 📷

[@pldaniels]

Waiting for Santa to send one ;)

[@kiralol]

watching this on a a2338 is kinda scary..

[@pldaniels]

They're solid machines in general; there's only really one weak point so far as liquid splatter goes but I don't see too many getting struck down.

[@user-ty2uz4gb7v]

Needs more screen fingerprints 😅

[@rabrabbito3650]

This one will be coming back ...... with dustgate screen issues becasue of all the junk at the bezel 🤮

[@pldaniels]

Sadly not a lot to be done to save people from their behaviours. Usually I brush them out but it seems only to take a week or two and they're back to as they were before.

[@austin22re]

Happens when the WiFi chip dies too.

[@pldaniels]

Good to know

[@JimNichols]

Interesting how you have an utter disdain for flux and other repair channels use it with an apparent glee. I have had one of those 'just not into it days' for about a year now. lol... peace out Paul, drink a cup of coffee and watch the sun rise, just remember everyday is a gift as tomorrow is not arrived yet and yesterday is long gone.

[@pldaniels]

The main disdain comes from the pains of removing it post-proceedure, then there's the issue that at some point the board becomes so covered in flux that you start to lose track of where you've been and what you've done ( or someone else ). Here's hoping today goes better, though we've started out a bit troublesomely with an expected package delivery going to "someone else" in the town :(

[@JimNichols]

@pldaniels several techs channels I frequent slather the components in flux but they use a lighter liquid flux and they do clean it up with 90% alcohol... lol it was meant as humorous but text sometimes fails to deliver the humor the same as a vocal inflection does. To cheer you up about your package FedEx once called me when I lived in the US and told me they couldn't deliver my package because the city I lived in didn't exist. I ask the gentleman if he had FaceTime and proceeded to show him my home with the huge azzed water tower behind it with in 20 ft letters stated 'Eunice New Mexico' lol I gave him my address AGAIN and UPS delivered it the next day. Have a great one Paul!

[@tonyrgnash]

first.... hi Paul