Okay, so I got one of these at a thrift store for $15, and had the galaxy brain idea to open it up and swap out the old plate hard drive with an SSD, even though I don’t have much experience repairing Apple devices.

You quickly come to the realization that while these machines are user-friendly, they’re very UNfriendly to repair. There’s a glass cover for the screen which must be suction cupped off, and eight Torx screws holding the display in place. When the screws are removed, they’re quickly grabbed by the (STRONG!) magnetic edges of the system, making them an absolute “joy” to deal with. And what’s worse, there are four data cables on the display, all difficult to reach. I accidentally pulled one of these out while reaching for the other three, and I’m a little worried that I may have damaged it. (It’s the flat cable attached to a bronze connector, likely the screen data port.)

Anyway. I put the crazy thing together, and while I can hear it boot and the fan spin, the Apple logo does not glow white and the display does not turn on. So I’m a little worried I may have screwed myself on this attempted repair.

My two questions are this:

1. Does anyone know the specific size and thread of the screws around the edge of the display? I’d like to swap them with something that isn’t magnetic, and I’ve heard brass screws will do the trick.
2. Next time I open this machine, I’ll check the four display cables to make sure they’re properly connected, but… what recourse do I have if the cable and/or connector are damaged? It seems like a display or motherboard swap would be necessary, and it’s hard to justify that for a $15 computer, as much as I’d like to bring this back to life.

Thanks for any help you can provide, and my apologies if I’ve put this in the wrong magazine.