SMC issues on a MacBook Pro Thunderbolt I've bought few months ago a MacBook Pro Thunderbolt 13'. As a Linux geek, I'm really happy with this computer, and it usually works fine.

Unfortunately, three days ago, I wasn't able to restart it. It stucked without booting when I pressed the power button. I look on Apple website, and there was a procedure that describes how to reset the SMC, and I did that. 

My computer restarted (yeah), but unfortunately, I had problems with the display backlight (cf pic). So I stop the computer, and did the SMC reset thing one more time. I experienced problem to restart , but for the moment all the backlights issues seem to be solved.



I'm now a little bit afraid about the reliability of this computer, and I have lots of question about this SMC I can't answer.


Why does that thing need to be reset? What is it exactly? As a geek, I like to know how my computer works :)
Can we reset it often without problems, or is there a limit on the number of time you can do it without harming the computer? I read differents advises ont he web saying 'go, on do it every week' or 'do it in last resort'.
If the restart problem still occurs, should I send the computer to the customer service for a global checkup?


Thank you for your help :)

Romain
normally the SMC (system management controller) should not have to be reset at all. However it is sometimes necessary when troubleshooting so when people say "last resort" that, they are simply saying is an uncommon problem. The SMC controls things like the fan in your mac and power flow (the reason macs are so much quieter than most computers). If this is not working properly and needs to be reset is is probably because of a hardware issue. Reseting it also does not hurt your computer. It simply turns the controller off and then turns it back on without affecting your hard drive, memory, etc. Finally if the problem does continuously reoccur you should go into customer service because it is probably a hardware problem and it is best to let them look at it.