MacBook Pro will not boot after software update

MacBook Pro will not boot after doing an Apple Software Update (of course they will not help you). MONEY, MONEY, MONEY is the name of the game. They can cause your computer to crash and still charge you!
Does anyone have an answer to why my computer is showing a little gear spinning for hours? I have tried several things with NO luck.
Thanks-

Run through the list of fixes here
Step by Step to fix your Mac

Similar Messages

17" MacBook Pro will not startup after software update & shutdown

Last night I powered off (shutdown) my MacBook Pro (usually I leave it sleeping). It kindly reminded me I had updates to install. I said OK install them. I didn't check to see what they were, but I believe it was just the camera raw update. I also told it to shutdown after the update.
This morning the computer was off, so far so good.
Press the power button ... nothing. no chime, no diskdrive, blank screen....
Battery level is good, power adapter good with green light.
I have command control power buttoned. reset smu. cannot reset pmu as far as I know as that happens later in the startup procedure? post chime?
I pulled the power and battery and let it sit all day, still nothing.
Any ideas on the sudden failure. The software update seems unrelated, but somewhere in the back of my head I remember hearing about some problem with a camera raw update?
It's a 1st generation 17" MBP. TIA

Just to clarify the symptoms:
Good power adapter, green light on mag-safe when plugged into machine. Good battery(s) have two, both charged.
Press power button and nothing happens, no drive spin up, no noises, no chimes, no screen backlight (even with black screen) etc.
tried control-command power button for 3+ seconds, naughta.
tried pulling power and battery, then hold power for 5 sec. recconect bat and power, naughta.
tried removing all power for 8+ hrs, naughta.
It doesn't seem to be getting power to any components on -power button down -
So, I am guessing here but seems like:
a. Power button/connectors.
B. Firmware issue as last time it was run a software update (unknown) was installed.
C. Logic board?
D. As there is a green light on the power adapter I expect it is not the Left I/O subassembly board?
Are there any other power supply boards that may be involved, or are all of those components on the main board in this machine? Is the power button part of the keyboard assembly?
TIA.

Macbook Pro Will Not Boot After Full Timemachine Restore

Hope someone can help. I upgraded my HD and attempted to restore from time machine. Everything appears to have worked well and the restoration was a success according to what the computer says. However, when I go to reboot I hear the startup sound then the apple pops up on the screen followed by a kernal panic error and the black box telling me that I need to hold down the start button and restart. I've tried resetting the pram, reinstalling from TM again and a couple of other things but it won't start up. I tried doing a clean install and it worked fine then I migrated files from my TM backup and that worked fine as well. However, that's not what I'm looking for, I wanted to get the machine exactly the way it looked before the upgrade and I thought TM was supposed to do that. I've read other forums were people have done it with no problems and am completely stumped at why it is not working. If anyone can shed some light I'd appreciate it.

I booted with the CD and after selecting the language, went to the utilities pane and used the partition feature.
Last night in desperation, I booted back to the CD and once again told it to do a full restore from TM. This was the third time that I had done it so far. The previous two times I had gone into the partition feature and partitioned the drive first. This time I skipped that step and just told it to restore from TM. It said if it did this it would erase everything on the drive. I agreed and let it do its work. This morning it once again, as in both previous times, said it had restored from TM successfully. I told it to restart and lo and behold, it booted and everything is just as I had it on the other drive.
Needless to say, I'm confused but happy. I just wish I knew why it would not boot after restoring the previous two times? Maybe it just wanted me to spend more money:) I tried booting today only after I had gone to frys electronics and bought a SATA to USB cable and cloning software.
Anyway, thanks for your help and if anyone knows why it wouldn't boot, let me know. It would be good to know for the future just in case. For anyone else having this trouble, keep trying. Third time was a charm for me.

Macbook pro (snow leopard) will not boot after software update

I helped my mom buy a Macbook Pro for herself for Christmas. Today, I connected it to her old eMac and used the migration assistant to transfer files over. It was unable to estimate migration time on the only user (after 45 minutes) so I didn't migrate the user. Then I tried to pair her macbook to her new bluetooth keyboard, but no magic happened, so I tried to use the bluetooth setup assistant, which crashed. So I ran a software update, hoping that this would fix whatever the bluetooth problem is. Despite having updated on the 23rd, there were 4 updates. None seemed applicable but I installed them anyway. Now the computer won't boot at all.
Software update said that I had to restart for the updates to take effect, so I restarted. The harddrive went whirrrrrr and the grey screen with the apple logo and the spinning circle displayed. Then the harddrive stopped going whirrrr and 10 minutes later, I started looking on the support site for what to do. I found this:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=10564149&#10564149
Per the instructions in the last post, I fscked the drive (although -f, in accordance with the fsck help). This found no problems. The next suggestion was to boot from the OSX install disk. Only one problem-- there was a disk in the disk drive when the problem occurred and the disk eject button apparently only works while in the gui. I can't install from disk if I can't get the existing disk out of the drive.
So, any other ideas on what I can do to get this machine to boot?
Message was edited by: jenlarkin

Hi Jen:
Since it's new, you're entitled to 90 days of phone support (3 years if you buy AppleCare). It sounds to me like you may have some hardware issue(s) going on - you should not have the sorts of issues you're having with a new Mac. Apple will probably be much better and faster about getting you fixed than this board may be able to if that is the case.

Macbook pro will not boot after snow leopard upgrade

My GF has had a macbook pro since mid 2008. It's been running like a champ since I've known her for the past 3 years with no issues. It has/had OSX 10.5.8 installed. We tried to consolidate all our pictures from all our apple devices and realized she didn't have an icloud on the old 10.5.8 OSX. So I called apple and they told me to order and install the snow leopard OSX 10.6 first and then upgrade to lion etc after that, Well we got the disk yesterday popped it in to install and it's been a disaster.... the computer shutdown for what looked like a normal restart during the installation process and never booted back up. Attempts to manually reboot leave us locked on a grey apple logo screen with spinning gear indefinately whith the Snow Leopard disk installed during boot up. With the disk removed I get the flashing file folder with a question mark. I called apple support we tried all the PRAM and SMC resets and then decided that we should go to the Genius Bar once all those failed. After an hour and a half drive to the nearest genius bar we were told that the we suddenly had a hardware issue which just happened to coincide with the new OS installation.... I'm not buying it and am looking for some help. The macbook was running like a champ until we inserted a disk recommended by apple... Any takers?

You have a five year old computer, so a failing hard drive at this point is not so strange. You have a couple of options you can try. Start with this one, but if it does not work you will have to erase the hard drive. I hope you have a backup of all your files.
Reinstall OS X without erasing the drive
1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Reinstall Snow Leopard
If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed with reinstalling OS X. Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files. After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.
Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.

MacBook Pro will not boot after switching graphics cards

Dear All,
I have a late-2008 unibody MacBook Pro. I have had it since April 2009, and I have not encountered any real problems with it.
Yesterday, I switched to the 9600 graphics card for the first time since purchasing the machine. It logged me out as expected, but then proceeded to flash a blank blue screen at me for 20 minutes. Assuming that this was not normal, I powered down the computer by holding the power button. I powered it on again, and it will not get past the Apple symbol screen with the loading whirligig. I left it on for seven hours (overnight), and no change.
I booted it from the install disc and ran the Disk Utility verify and repair. It either gives me no problem or a block count error, which goes away when I run repair. I tried running verify on permissions, but this gives me a "failed to exit" or some such error, same with repair permissions. Restarting gives me the same apple logo screen until forever.
I've tried resetting PRAM, doing the battery removal and holding power button for 5 seconds, I've tried booting in safe mode (it won't), and doing an archive and install (which it can't do either, as it can't access my HDD or something). I've run the disk utility verify and repair several times.
I unfortunately don't have a recent backup (slapping myself), so I'm open to suggestions before going into despair over my $2600 paperweight before doing an erase and install...
Thanks in advance!
PS: is there a way to open the computer in target disk mode via the install cd so that I CAN back it up?
Message was edited by: Kaklz

Thanks, Joe. That may be an option if all else fails. I don't currently own an enclosure, so I am looking for an alternative before spending any money (I know, "frugal Apple user" is unheard of, but...).
I do have an old G3 tower, which I am using in the meantime, so if I can use this to open my MBP in target disk mode (or some other way of making a backup), I'd be overjoyed!

Macbook Pro will not boot after full time machine restore

I have a 15-inch Macbook Pro, current model with the i7 processor, which I purchased in August 2010. Last week, when I tried to turn it on, it would not boot (just got to the gray screen with the Apple logo and spinning wheel). I took it in for repair and was told that it had a bad hard drive. The hard drive was replaced and I got the computer back yesterday.
Everything looked good, it turned on, so I did a complete restore from my Time Machine backup on my Time Capsule, following the instructions on this page: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/15638.html
The restore was successful and the computer prompted me to restart. I clicked the button to allow the restart and now I am back to the gray screen with the Apple logo and spinning wheel. It won't boot again.
I also looked at this discussion (http://discussions.info.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=10924233) and it sounds like the person here was able to get his computer to work after doing the Time Machine restore in the same process I used, so I don't know what else to do.
I don't live near an Apple store, so it would be great if I could figure this out myself. Thanks for any help!

skylaneval wrote:
I have a 15-inch Macbook Pro, current model with the i7 processor, which I purchased in August 2010. Last week, when I tried to turn it on, it would not boot (just got to the gray screen with the Apple logo and spinning wheel). I took it in for repair and was told that it had a bad hard drive. The hard drive was replaced and I got the computer back yesterday.
Everything looked good, it turned on, so I did a complete restore from my Time Machine backup on my Time Capsule, following the instructions on this page: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/15638.html
See #E8 in [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of the +Time Machine+ forum).

MacBook Pro will not reboot after Security update or boot from disc

I recently downloaded the latest security update and instead of immediately restarting I chose to shut down the system. The next day I booted up and ran into a problem with the start up stalling on the gray screen with the Apple logo and the spinning gears.
After searching through many topics on this issues I have determined that I can likely repair permissions to resolve this issue or try a number of other options. However I can not seem to boot up from the Install disc or in Safe Mode. Booting up holding down the Option key doesn't give me any other option than the hard drive.
Does anyone else have any ideas on how I can get past this increasingly annoying spinning gear mode so that I can try to repair the damage?

This is what worked for me:
Situation: After installing OS X 10.5.6, my mid 2007 MBP began to freeze, and eventually wouldn't reboot normally, nor in safe-mode or from a disk. Also tried resetting SMC and PRAM, still would boot from disk.
Tried fysk, which worked for a while, but eventually the computer wouldn't reboot again.
Connected it to another mac via firewire in target mode and erased all the data (yes I had a time machine back-up), but still wouldn't reboot from disk.
Solution: A friend of mine tried resetting the PRAM again (command, Option P,R) but this time, he continued pressing the start button until the third chime (rather than the second as per apple instruction).
All of a sudden we were able to reboot from disk, reintall the OS X 10.4.9 and then do a regular update to 10.5.6. My MBP has been working fine ever since.
Hope this helps someone.

Macbook pro will not boot after entering password

password sensitive to open home page. enter password bar goes to 1/3 and shuts computer off

Startup Issues - Resolve
Startup Issues - Resolve (2)
Startup Issues - Resolve (3)

I interrupted a software update and my macbook pro will not boot. I have tried to reboot using the startup disc, I have tried to verify the disc, and repair the disc. It tells me I need to erase and reformat the hard drive then reinstall the operating sys

I interrupted a software update and my macbook pro will not boot. I have tried to reboot using the startup disc, I have tried to verify the disc, and repair the disc. It tells me I need to erase and reformat the hard drive then reinstall the operating system. I do not have a back up of all my applications, my garageband music and other things. I also do not have time capsule set up on this machine, but I do have a 2 TB time capsule.
Is there anyway to back up this corrupted drive so I can restore my applications later?

There's an old saying. If you don't have a backup disc, then there must be nothing important to backup. That's just lesson #1. Lesson #2 is to never interrupt a software update. Not a good thing.
OK, I'm sure you know this. It just upsets me to read your story, knowing you have a lot of important stuff on your hard drive, and didn't use time machine.
You're pretty much in a bad place. My only hope for you is to boot to your Installation Disc, then using disk utility see if you can save the internal hard drive (by fixing what can be fixed). You might be able to see your user folder and some of your apps. I wouldn't even consider copying the library, because who knows what's been corrupted in there.
Good luck.

Macbook pro won't boot after installing update 10.9.3

macbook pro won't boot after installing update 10.9.3

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
The purpose of the test is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party software that loads automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode.
Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a Fusion Drive or a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.
The login screen appears even if you usually login automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Test while in safe mode. Same problem?
After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

MacBook pro will not boot. I get the gray screen, an apple icon and spinning wheel. Tried to start in safe mode but get the same screen. The only thing different was that I loaded the zedge sync app yesterday. Now getting this problem.

Macbook pro will not boot. I get the gray screen, an apple icon and spinning wheel. I tried to start in safe mode, but get this same screen. The only thing different is that I added the zedge update app to do a sync for adding ringtones to my apple cell phone. How can I get a good boot. I am fairly new to apple computer.

Reset PRAM: http://support.apple.com/kb/PH4405 and then try a normal boot.
Run the Startup Manager to select Startup disk: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1310
If those did not work your disk may be sick or dying. The top priority at this point is to make a backup copy of your data.
Check the health of the disk. Boot in Recovery Mode (Boot, Command-R). Run Disk Utility. Click on the upper left disk icon. Does the S.M.A.R.T. status say “Verified”? If not the disk/SSD is unhealthy and needs to be replaced. Even if it does not show “Verified” you can still attempt a backup.
Click on the icon indented below, usually called “Macintosh HD” and Verify Disk. If it finishes with a green “OK” message then all is well with the disk. If it shows errors in red then you have found a problem to address once the system is backed up. Do not attempt software repairs until you have secured the data.
If the disk will not show up at all in Disk Utility as your ran the tests above then it may be dead or it may have a bad internal SATA cable. A trip to an Apple store for confirmation would be in order.
If you have an external disk drive you can use as a backup drive then do so. If not Google “Hitachi USB 3.0 external hard drive 1TB” to purchase one or go to a brick-and-mortar store (including an Apple store) to pickup one. Any 1 TB external drive will do.
Assuming it is still breathing you can try to recover the data without booting from the sick disk.
Reformat the external disk. (This will erase all data on the external disk.)
Boot in Recovery Mode. Start Disk Utility. Plug in the new disk. Select it’s disk Icon (the second one down, left justified). Select the Partition tab.
Partition Layout > Single Partition
Name: Emergency Recovery 1 (or whatever name you wish to use)
Format: Mac OS Extended (journaled)
Options… > GUID Partition Table > OK
Apply
Select the Restore tab.
Drag the old system volume (Macintosh HD) to Source.
Drag the new disk volume (Emergency Recovery 1) to Destination.
Click on Restore.
It may take a long time for the backup.
If that will not complete post back for other emergency data recovery methods, including those from a brody.
If the backup succeeds, use the First Aid tab in Disk Utility to select the old volume (Macintosh HD) and Repair Disk. If it does not finish with a green OK message try to repair it once or twice more. If it repairs with a green OK message, will it boot normally? If not, boot from the Recovery Partition and reinstall OS X.
If it is still not healthy, post back for further instructions.

Macbook Pro will not boot beyond grey screen. System freezes.

My Macbook Pro will not boot-up or get beyond the grey screen (with spinning gear wheel.) I've tried all the recommended actions: resetting PRAM, disk repair, permissions repair, re-boot in safe mode etc but still the problem persists. When viewing the safe-boot in verbose mode, the system seems to hang at the stage when it's checking the Airport & Ethernet - the last line on the page reads: "AppleBCOM5701Ethernet: 0 0 setFixedSpeed - logic error, speed any?"
Any ideas how to fix this without doing an Archive & Install?
I'm assuming that if I do an "Archive & Install" then I will lose all my Applications (VLC, Handbrake, MS Office for Mac etc.) Will this actually be the case? Will I lose them.
Any help gratefully received. Many thanks.

jfromplymouth wrote: ...I'm assuming that if I do an "Archive & Install" then I will lose all my Applications (VLC, Handbrake, MS Office for Mac etc.) Will this actually be the case? Will I lose them...
Archive and Install just affects the System files, so any apps you have should still be available afterwards. The Installer on the disk that came with your Mac, when you bought it, will tell you this before you proceed. Of course, you can always back out of the Installer if you feel chicken.
Notwithstanding it is still necessary to backup everything. You need to check that Time Machine is set to also backup your Applications folder. It might be set not to do this.
It may not be necessary to worry about this if you have the original installer disc(s). I think any stuff downloaded from iTunes etc can be re-downloaded. However, it's probably quicker to get Time Machine to backup your apps if you can afford the HDD space. It's bound to be quicker than re-downloading the stuff plus any updates. And of course there's those Apps that you have but forgotten about. What about them?

How do I uninstall Yosemite please ? Since I upgraded my 2011 MacBook Pro will not boot up

My 2011 MacBook Pro will not boot up following my upgrade to Yosemite. How do I uninstall or downgrade back to the previous version of OS please ?

You can't downgrade or uninstall unless you first erase the drive. Try the following:
Reinstalling OS X Without Erasing the Drive
Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall OS X: Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continue button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.
Also see:
Reinstall OS X Without Erasing the Drive
Choose the version you have installed now:
OS X Yosemite- Reinstall OS X
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet
if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

HT4718 I recently upgrade my OS and now my MacBook Pro will not boot up

I recently upgrade my OS and now my MacBook Pro will not boot up

Reinstall Lion, Mountain Lion, or Mavericks without erasing drive
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported then click on the Repair Permissions button. When the process is completed, then quit DU and return to the main menu. Select Restart from the Apple menu.
Reinstall Mountain Lion or Mavericks
OS X Mavericks- Reinstall OS X
OS X Mountain Lion- Reinstall OS X
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet
if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

MacBook Pro will not boot after software update

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for