Backlight works, but no display!

"ATT!

I tried all of the soft reboot solutions and nothing worked.

I dug a little deeper and found information about the display cable and that it can become loose.

I simply tapped on the bottom of my MacBook a few times in the position of the cable and suddenly, there was life!"

This doesn't sound like a video card issue, it sounds like a short circuit somewhere (maybe a blown cap or resistor? no way to tell without inspecting). Shutting down when you open the lid would indicate to me a safety mechanism when the unit detects a short or power spike trying to engage the primary display, and one of the involved chipsets terminates the power to avoid permanent damage. I don't believe it's a loose connector, because that isn't normally so predictable a result.

"Nick,

First: try disabling any power save and sleep feature in the System Settings.

Second: initiate a First Aid scan on the hard drive.

Third: Download any available updates from Apple.

Fourth: While you are in Safe Mode close the lid and open it again and see if the problem replicates.

If the problem does not replicate in Safe Mode it might be good to perform a fresh install after you back up your data.

This will tell you whether you have an issue with hardware or with the software.

I would love to hear the results of the steps above.

Thank you,

Michael"