Ken W

Would someone please describe or illustrate the airflow paths through the A1260 (Early 2008 15” MacBook Pro), especially...

The only things left to consider before Apple repair are USB audio and Bluetooth audio. I got a Syba "usb audio card", which is a little dongle that goes in the USB port and supplies headphone & microphone jacks, off Amazon for $8 shipped, and it's been great. Well, except it is a bit wide and blocks the adjacent port, so I also got a 6-inch usb cable off eBay for $4 shipped. Probably for more $$ you could get a Bluetooth audio reciever or headset, and ditch the connection entirely. Good luck.

The Apple 3.5mm headphone jack may have multiple different failure modes, since it contains 4 equally flimsy electrical contacts. Staring into the glowing red Cylon eye, they are: 2 "sleeve" contacts (nearest you), one at 9 o'clock and one at 3 o'clock (positions on an imaginary 12-hour analog clock dial); 1 "ring" contact (farther in) at 12 o'clock; and 1 "tip" contact (all the way in) also at 3 o'clock. The one plaguing my Late 2006 MacBook is the tip contact. Tugging on it with a bent-tipped safety pin while watching through a magnifying glass works, but only until the next time I unplug the headphones, and so is too impractical. Jostling it with things like air, suction, Q-Tips, toothpicks, ballpoint pen inserts works for some, but not for me. What works for me 100% of the time is inserting a 1/8" metal rod all the way and then dragging it out while applying moderate pressure in the 9 o'clock direction (towards the MagSafe connector). There is no problem using metal, even powered on, because headphone...