My trusty Macbook Pro early 2008 (Penryn, 4gb, 840 pro ssd) has failed to boot and no amount of Cmd + Option + P + R can revive it. This happened the next day after I bought a Macbook Air 2013. So I thought I will tinker with it as I have nothing to loose except for an app mockup that I have toiled around for two days.
First, I tried reviving it using a hair dryer method as it worked before with Xbox 360. I have cleaned it up and applied a thermal paste (Zalman). It has produced the wake-up sound but no luck in booting.
Then I stumbled with this blog by Russell Heistuman about baking the logic board of a Macbook Pro and give it a try.
So I preheated the oven for 10 minutes setting it to “Bake” and 190°C. I placed the board on top of baking tray with an aluminum balls as advised from the blog. Then I timed it at 7 minutes and 30 seconds.
I let it cool down for 15 minutes. Re-apply the thermal paste and re-assemble the whole thing. I heard the boot sound and it was music to my ears. Thanks to Russell for the second life of this MBP.