HELP!!! Macbook pro early 2009 or late 2008 shutting down

I purchased my macbook pro in january 2009. I have recently had an issue with it randomly shutting down, and then not starting back up until 2 or 3 times. It then starts but doesn't stay on very long. Do to the fact that it is an older laptop, Apple Genius bar is not willing to work on it!! I also have not been able to find my original install disks so I cannot run AHT
What I have tried:
Resetting PRAM
Resetting SMC
ran disk utility (harddrive is ok)
replaced battery (which really seemed to be the issue)
checked all updates
I have looked through some of the system information and everything seems to be normal from what I can tell.
HELP I don't know what else to do or how to find out what's wrong! I am a photographer and I néed my laptop for work!!!

Hi V,
Even though the symptoms don't match up exactly, you may have the NVIDIA issue. First, go to System Profiler > Hardware > Graphics/Displays and see if you have the GeForce 8600M GT GPU. This is the GPU covered under the free repair program. While there, also look at PCIe Lane Width. If it says anything other than x16, the GPU has issues (but this is only one potential symptom). If you have the 8600 GPU, bring the MBP to an Apple Store or AASP for free testing. If Apple's free test confirms the issue, repair is free. Read all about it here: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377
Also, whether you have the 8600 or not, you should run all the updates in Software Update.

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Macbook Pro Early 2009 Randomly Sleeps / Black Screen While In use

My macbook pro Early 2009, randomly goes to sleep while I am using the computer, I first noticed it occuring while I was using the mini display adapter to a computer monitor, and using a second monitor and watching a movie, the screen would go blank and I would have to wake it from sleep for it to come back on, sometimes closing the lid, sometimes pressing the trackpad, or keyboard to get it to work again, sometimes it would go back to sleep within 1 minute of waking.
I assume the problem could have been from perhaps water damage, as I recently used a wet paper towel to clean my keyboard, and perhaps the paper towel was a little to moist, not overly but perhaps just enough to damage the sleep sensor. I am still unsure where that is located, the only other problem I have noticed with the computer is my [battery service indicator] notification has been on for the last year, but since I never used the battery, I always have it plugged in at the desk I never bothered getting it serviced. So
I'm assuming its the Sleep Sensor? but here is what I hace done, just to make sure its not software. I was orignaly running 10.8, and after being frustrated while watching a movie and having my computer sleep every 2 minutes, I whipped my hardrive, put 10.9 developers preview on a usb and installed that.
On 10.9 I can swipe with 3 fingers on the trackpad and the display appears but if i let go of the swipe it goes back to black screen.
I can see Icons like, brightness, and sound, when adjusting the levels, but screen is black behind the icons
The mouse pointer cursor is visible but the screen is black
I can move the mouse and hear system sounds, but screen is black. Now I have to actually restart the computer because It seems like I cannot wake it up at all.
So I formatted the hardrive again and
I tried reinstalling Leopard OSX , as that was the disc that came with the mac,
but have Same problems in 10.5, 10.6, 10.7, 10.8 I upgraged to developer 10.9 to see if the problem would fix, but still occurs.
I ran hardware diagnostic off the leopard disc 2, by pressing the D key on startup with disc in drive, extended hardware test reported no problems.
I SMC reset and PRAM reset, [control]+[option]+[shift]+[powerbutton] while computer is turned off with power plugged in
and after that failed I tried pressing [Option]+[Command]+[P]+[R] before startup chime, chime repeat let go of keys and it booted normally.
Then computer randomly sleeps while in use, while using safari and it has happened 3 times within 2 minutes of typing this.
I have downloaded a program called InsomniaX, and activated the disable sleep for Lid and Idle, but now the screen will randomly just go black and then turn back on, sometimes it will just black screen for 10 seconds and come back on, altho after changing some more of the settings It appears to be not as frequent. It hasen't gone to sleep since writing this entire paragraph, so thats a good sign.
I was going to take it into the apple store, and have them run diagnostics, but I hate going into those stores because of all the iphone people, crowding the place.
Well my screen just blacked and came back within 10 seconds on while I typing this line so InsomniaX didn't work. I hope having the sleep sensor replaced isn't too expensive, or if my model even has such a sensor.
I read on another topic that this problem can be replicated by users putting a magnet on their laptop, something like an iphone or a money clip or even having one of these in their pocket while using the macbook on their lap. I have not had anything near the computer, so I have a different problem.
Just thought Id document this, will let you know what happens after the diagnostic, I tried apple support, and they said I did more than they would have done, so he couldn't really tell me anything besides take it into genius bar, (is that what its still called) and have them run diagnostic, [note its different than the hardware test on the cd]
and my computer screen goes black again, wow..

Hi pictureswithPS, welcome to Apple Discussions!
1. I have an original late-2008 unibody MBP that was purchased a week after the introduction. I have never had a single "black screen of death" ever, and I do some gaming under OS X on my machine. The heat issues are, in my humble opinion, greatly exaggerated. Does the machine get warm? Yes. However, any computer with this much power in this thin of an enclosure is going to get warm. Mine has never crashed, frozen, black screened, etc. once.
2. I don't think PS is particularly intensive on the graphics card. It may use the graphics card, yes, but I don't think it will be quite as intensive as a 3D modeling application or 3D games. I would doubt you would ever run into problems anyway.
3. Lastly I am aware that their are tools to manage fan speed behavior - as a workaround to cool down temperatures. Using this software would it void the warranty that is provided by Apple?
No, it wouldn't likely void the warranty. However, if your fans die prematurely as a result of running them at high speeds for extended periods of time, I doubt Apple would be especially happy about replacing them. I do not use any 3rd party tools to manage my fans, and never will. It is simply not necessary.
--Travis

Macbook Pro early 2009 connect to apple tv

How can I connect my macbook pro (early 2009) to my apple tv?? I have no problem connecting my ipad 2 or iphone...any help or suggesting greatly appreciated...thanks

What do you mean by connect? If are referring to mirroring then it is not possible natively
If trying to use homesharing
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2972?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

My macbook pro (late 2008) shuts down but battery is at 25-30%

My macbook pro (late 2008) shuts down but battery is at 25-30% and I don't get a low power warning box before this happens. This only happens when the power chord is not connected, and it restarts with no problems once I put the power chord in. Does this mean I need a new battery, or is it an indication of something else? Using osx 10.5.8

Mine is Unibody 15" MBP late 2008, with the exact problem as yours. It can be a sudden shut down at 25-32%, or, after upgrading to OS 10.7.2, can be hang all of sudden on battery power.
Condition on, "Replace Soon". From 4.5 - 6 hours when new, goes down to 1 - 2 hours on discrete graphics.
But after 'abusing' it for the first year in the heat of Jakarta's climate in a non AC room when doing a video editing, before moving back to a comfort AC room at home sweet home, the battery performance is still top notch comparing to other kind than Apple. Also, it caused me to replace the right fan, after a lot of hard work on that first year. Oh, and by the way, I regularly done the battery calibration, at least once or twice between 3-6 months.
Here's also an useful link about battery I found on the internet:
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batterie s
My battery condition:
Battery Information:
Model Information:
Serial Number:          6N8389BD13EB
Manufacturer:          SMP
Device Name:          bq20z951
Pack Lot Code:          0
PCB Lot Code:          0
Firmware Version:          002a
Hardware Revision:          000a
Cell Revision:          100
Charge Information:
Charge Remaining (mAh):          2192
Fully Charged:          No
Charging:          Yes
Full Charge Capacity (mAh):          2716
Health Information:
Cycle Count:          616
Condition:          Replace Soon
Battery Installed:          Yes
Amperage (mA):          254
Voltage (mV):          12392
System Power Settings:
AC Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes):          0
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes):          10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes):          15
Automatic Restart on Power Loss:          No
Wake on AC Change:          No
Wake on Clamshell Open:          Yes
Wake on LAN:          No
Current Power Source:          Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim:          Yes
GPUSwitch:          2
PrioritizeNetworkReachabilityOverSleep:          0
RestartAfterKernelPanic:          157680000
Battery Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes):          10
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes):          10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes):          5
Wake on AC Change:          No
Wake on Clamshell Open:          Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim:          Yes
GPUSwitch:          2
Reduce Brightness:          Yes
RestartAfterKernelPanic:          157680000
Hardware Configuration:
UPS Installed:          No
AC Charger Information:
Connected:          Yes
ID:          0x0100
Wattage (W):          85
Revision:          0x0000
Family:          0x00ba
Serial Number:          0x0063ac36
Charging:          Yes
Got the battery replacement today. Hopefully it will last for at least 3 years like it predecessor.

Macbook Pro (2011) froze while working, forced shut down, now won't turn on. Grey screen with apple logo and spinning wheel for hours. Help?

Macbook Pro (2011) froze while working, forced shut down, now won't turn on. Grey screen with apple logo and spinning wheel for hours. Help?
Unfortunately do not know the operating system since I never updated anything and I can't get in to it.
Thanks for your assistance.

If you want to preserve the data on the boot drive, and it's not already backed up, you must try to back up now, before you do anything else. It may or may not be possible. If you don't care about the data, you can skip this step.
There are several ways to back up a Mac that is not fully functional. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
1. Boot from the Recovery partition or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) Launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.”
2. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, boot the non-working Mac in target disk mode. Use the working Mac to copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
3. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.

My MacBook Pro ran out of battery and shut down ,will power up but goes to panic screen on start up but nothing else , how can I get past this screen to try to fix problem?

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I inserted a burnt disc into my macbook pro and iTunes froze, had to shut down my mac in order to eject the disc. Is it not possible to transfer music from homemade cds onto my mac?

I inserted a burnt disc into my macbook pro and iTunes froze, had to shut down my mac in order to eject the disc. Is it not possible to transfer music from homemade cds onto my mac?

Yes, it is possible.
You had an issue in this individual instance.

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After installing Mavericks my MacBook Pro and my MacMini can't shut down, only a grey screen and finish. Must be killed by the power button. Why?

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Ausserdem startet die Macs wesentlich langsamer als mit OS X 10.6.8.

same here... sometimes it works, most of the time it doesn't!!

MacBook pro (late 2008) shutting down even without the battery

Hello
I have a MacBook pro late 2008 model, recently it started to randomly shut down.
I have tried the following
- Reseting Pram
- Reseting the SMC
- Recalibrating the battery
- New hard drive
- Returned to original RAM (from 4 to 2Gb)
- Removed the battery and run with the MagSafe only
- Downloaded a fan control program to run it at max and verify if this was not a heating issue (although this also happens right after starting the laptop)
Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm already loosing hope on my Mac :(
Thanks for any help that you could provide

Hi V,
Even though the symptoms don't match up exactly, you may have the NVIDIA issue. First, go to System Profiler > Hardware > Graphics/Displays and see if you have the GeForce 8600M GT GPU. This is the GPU covered under the free repair program. While there, also look at PCIe Lane Width. If it says anything other than x16, the GPU has issues (but this is only one potential symptom). If you have the 8600 GPU, bring the MBP to an Apple Store or AASP for free testing. If Apple's free test confirms the issue, repair is free. Read all about it here: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377
Also, whether you have the 8600 or not, you should run all the updates in Software Update.

My macbook pro will not start late 2008 green light on charger cable indicate battery is fully charged

my macbook pro late 2008 will not start

Reinstalling Lion/Mountain Lion 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 Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion 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.

New MacBook Pro early 2009

Does anyone know why Apple didn't put a standard 400 Firewire interface into the new Macbook Pro? It has 3 USB ports but not the standard Firewire. Its just a pain in the *** to get the new computer, sit down to transfer you files from your old mac (that has the 400 firewire, with cables) and find out that you're missing the right cable. That's my only gripe. Tomorrow I go to the store to get the correct cable.

I've been using computers for 27 years. Started with a TRS-80 when I was 10 years old.
Technology advances, that's just the way it is. I guess there are those folks out there who would still be happy with parallel printers, 25-pin serial connectors for our dial up modems, and 5.25" floppy drives....but I'm not one of them.
I've thrown out more perfectly good, working, useful....but outdated....computer equipment that I can shake a stick at. In fact, I have an old LaserJet printer that I paid $1300 for that I've got to toss out because none of the computers in my house will have a parallel port anymore, and the printer is a boat anchor. But it works as beautifully as the day I bought it. Only problem is...the $99 inkjet printer I have is faster, has better quality, and is also a scanner/copier.
I bought my wife an iMac, and after spending some time with it, decided to purchase a Mac for myself. I considered the Mini, but decided on a Macbook (2009 model).
I fell in love with the thing. Sure, it doesn't have a professional grade display, and a firewire port would be nice, but heck...I don't miss those things. I have one Firewire device, and I can use in on the iMac if I choose. I bought the machine to basically learn OS X and experiment with it.
Now, I'm officially hooked, and being the uber geek that I am, I purchased a MBP 15" with the 2.93 processor and SSD drive (grunt like Tim Allen here).
Do I NEED a pro? Heck no. And 90% of the people who buy one don't "need" one.
I'll be listing my not yet one month old MacBook on eBay as soon as I get my hands on the Pro. But truthfully, the Macbook is all the machine I'd ever need. I've edited video with it. Created DVDs. Done everything the bigger faster iMac we have in the living room will do. And honestly, it doesn't do it noticeably slower. Maybe a few seconds.
The MBP will replace my aging Dell XPS machine, and I wanted the beefier machine to Boot Camp Windows 7 when it arrives, giving me the best of both worlds. Sadly, I still need Windows for a few things that are too beefy to run under Fusion or Parallels.
I figure Apple owes me some sort of Customer of the Year award. I've purchased two iPhones, an iMac, an Airport Express, a MacBook, and a MacBook pro since December. LOL!
After starting with Windows in 1987, I'll be down to one dedicated Windows machine in my house.
1 - Windows XP laptop
1 - Ubuntu Linux laptop
1 - iMac
1 - MacBook
Pass the Kool Aid...I need a drink.

Macbook (late 2008) shuts down when unplugged

Hello friends,
My late 2008 Macbook had been warning me for a while that I'd need to replace my battery soon. Last week it shut off randomly while watching House of Cards (*cries*). I figured my battery was kaputt, because it will only turn on with the power cord so I ordered a new one. I shut down the computer down and popped in the new battery. It still won't stay on with battery power alone.
Is there some magical step I missed?

did you allow your new battery time to charge up? also did you order your new battery from apple or somewhere else. apparently there are a lot of batteries on the market claiming to be for macs that dont last very long, if in fact they work at all.

MacBook Pro won't sleep or stay shut down?

Product: MacBook Pro 13" "mid 2009," 8GB RAM (3rd party RAM upgrade), 2.26GHz, Mountain Lion 10.8.2
This happens ~75% of the time:
1) When I put it to sleep, the fans keep running, hard drive keeps spinning, and the outside front pulsing light goes through unusual on/off pulsing cycles. When I open the lid, it's at the login window. So it knows I put it to sleep, but it doesn't stay asleep. And I can't just put it to sleep and throw it in a bag -- it would overheat.
2) When I shut down, it goes through the process, and as soon as it's off, the front pulsing light turns on, and the computer starts up again. I can't stop that from happening. So to shut down fully (for travel, unplugging power, etc), I need to force shut down (hold power button for several seconds), and that can't be good to do so many times.
I've read through so many posts online (not a totally unique issue here, Apple!), and I have done all of this:
- archive and install
- clear all faulty fonts
- reset SMC
- reset PRAM
- removed all strange startup items (with Genius Bar guy)
- delete /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.PowerManagement.plist and /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.AutoWake.plist to re-create them
- remove all sharing (file, printers, iTunes library)
- turned off Bluetooth
I even did a clean install, then pulled in my stuff backed up on external HD. Unfortunately I didn't test enough if I could replicate these issues before restoring all my files and settings.
Apple Genius Bar told me that it's not a hardware issue -- that's all been checked.
Anything else to do? other than doing another clean install and copying files, applications, etc. one by one? (which might not fix anything)
Thanks so much for any help.

I don't have any good solutions as it seem you have tried all the advised repairs and resets. If it were me I would wipe the HDD clean and install 10.5 or 10.6 depending on the installation disks you possess. If the problem is resolved then upgrade to 10.7 or 10.8 and see what happens.
I have a MacBook Pro that would not work correctly with an interim OS update no matter how I approached it. The consensus on this forum was that I was doing something wrong. I reinstalled to the pre update state and waited till the next upgrade was released. When I applied this everything was fine and has remained so. Perhaps OS X 10.8.3 will offer you some relief.

Macbook Pro 10.6.8 won't shut down. Blue screen with spinning wheel.

it's an 15 inch macbook pro. since I bought this computer was working fine about last year. Somehow, start of this year, the problem begins. Everytime when i opened microsoft word 2011 on mac or Photoshop cs5, and quit the software as normaly. When i try to shut down the blue screen with spinning wheel apears. this spining wheel is endless. But funny thing is that after use other software such as games, web browser (safari) etc. and quit them. when i shut down there was not a problem. only word 2011 for mac and adobe photoshop cs5. Any solutions?

Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ If you’re running Mac OS X 10.7 or later, open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the page that opens.
Step 1
Select "system.log" from the file list. Enter "BOOT_TIME" (without the quotes) in the search box. Note the timestamps of those log messages, which refer to the times when the system was booted. Now clear the search box and scroll back in the log to the last boot time when you had the problem. Post the messages logged during the time something abnormal was happening. That time might be before or after the boot.
For example, if the problem is a slow startup taking three minutes, post the messages timestamped within three minutes after the boot time, not before. If the problem is a system crash or freeze, post the messages from before the boot time, when the system was about to crash or was failing to shut down. In either case, please include the BOOT_TIME message at the beginning or the end of the log extract.
Post the log text, please, not a screenshot. If there are runs of repeated messages, post only one example of each. Don’t post many repetitions of the same message.
If the log doesn't go back far enough in time, scroll down in the Console file list to /private/var/log/system.log.0.bz2. Search that archived log, and if necessary the older ones below it, for the same information.
Important: Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Edit it out by search-and-replace in a text editor before posting.
Step 2
Do the same with kernel.log.
Step 3
Still in Console, look under System Diagnostic Reports for crash or panic logs, and post the most recent one, if any. In the interest of privacy, I suggest you edit out the “Anonymous UUID,” a long string of letters, numbers, and dashes in the header of the report, if present (it may not be.) Please don’t post shutdownStall or hang logs — they're very long and not helpful.

HELP!!! Macbook pro early 2009 or late 2008 shutting down

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