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I have a MacBook Air 13" mid 2011.

I have had display problems, so I changed the backlight fuse. After that, there is still no display. The computer works fine otherwise, I can turn it on and hear sounds.

As of now I am wondering whether I soldered wrong, or whether the problem is with the backlight itself.

I also noticed that there is no keyboard backlight. Even if I hit the keyboard backlight keys, it doesn't light up.

I was wondering whether that means that my soldering is wrong, or not. Is the backlight fuse also "protecting" the keyboard backlight ?

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  • It would be impossible to tell if your soldering is "wrong" given that we a) can't see what was done and b) if the fuse was the problem to begin with. As written, this question is way to broad to even speculate what the issue is.
    – Allan
    Apr 9, 2017 at 13:52

2 Answers 2

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If your backlight fuse was defective it might have damaged the backlight of the display. In official repairs an authorized service provider would replace the logic board AND display when the fuse was defective.

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The first thing I'd try is resetting the System Management Controller (SMC).

Reset the SMC

For your model MacBook Air here’s what you do:

  1. Shut down your computer
  2. Keep the MagSafe adapter (power cable) plugged in.
  3. Press at the same time shiftoptioncontrol (on the left side of the built-in keyboard) and the power button
  4. Let go
  5. Turn your computer back on with the power button.

If this has no impact, you can run Apple Hardware Test.

Apple Hardware Test

Your model MacBook Air uses Apple Hardware Test. To use this, follow these steps:

  1. Shut down your MacBook Air
  2. Restart your MacBook Air
  3. Press and hold the D key before the gray startup screen appears.
  4. After a while, Apple Hardware Test (AHT) will start.
  5. When prompted, select your language and click the right arrow.
  6. When the AHT console appears, you can choose to run Basic tests by clicking the Test button. However, I suggest you select the "Perform extended testing" checkbox before you click the Test button.
  7. Your test results will appear in the window in the bottom-right of the console.

Note 1: that the extended test will take some time. Take a note of the results and report back.

Note 2: If pressing and holding the D key at Step 3 doesn't work, start again at Step 1 and, at Step 3 press and hold both the OptionD keys instead. This will try and run diagnostics from the internet instead, so you will need to allow more time for it to complete.

Let me know how you go.

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  • Thanks a lot for your answer and your help ! I have tried resetting the SMC, and it didn't help. I haven't run an Apple Hardware Test yet, since I cannot see anything, and I don't have an external display on hand. I don't know whether that helps, but when I use a flashlight to flash the screen from behind the Apple logo, I do see my desktop, but very faintly and greenish. Apr 16, 2017 at 10:30
  • Well, if you can see your desktop enough by shining a flashlight from behind the screen, I'd do the Apple Hardware Test. There's really not a lot of steps to doing it and it's really something you should do.
    – Monomeeth
    Apr 16, 2017 at 10:33
  • I mean I can only see a square inch :) Apr 22, 2017 at 15:21

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