A1181 (EMC 2242) - Black Screen, No Chime

I have recently acquired a MacBook Core 2 Duo (Model A1181 - EMC 2242) from a friend, on the basis that "if I can fix it, I can keep it or sell it".

This thing has beaten me, to the point where I don't particularly care if I sell it or make use of it - I just want to see it working again out of defiance.

When connecting to the power adapter, the MagSafe light is green. The removable battery appears to charge, and work as normal.

After pressing the power button, the screen may flicker briefly once and then stays solid black with no backlight. The indicator light on the front of the machine stays solid white. There appears to be some mechanical noise from inside the machine.

There is no Apple chime, and the machine does not boot.

The CD drive will not accept, or eject any media.

I have tried connecting to an external display, with no result.

The side USB ports, however, will power peripherals that are connected to it.

I have tried all the tips I can find, including SMC reset, PRAM reset, etc etc, and have tried reseating RAM chips (including trying to see if either one of the RAM ports is faulty by only leaving a single RAM chip in place, and then swapping them over). I've also tried using different RAM chips.

I have stripped the machine down, as per the iFixit guide, and cannot see any obvious faults, or liquid damage.

Currently, all signs point to a faulty logic board... but before I decide to accept defeat and ditch this thing... does anyone have any other possible solutions?