I can't boot my macbook

My first generation MacBook will not boot up. It turns on boot won't boot to home screen

What does actually happen when you try to boot up your MacBook.
You may want to try the steps in this Apple article to fix your problem.
Best of luck.

Similar Messages

  • I can not boot my MacBook Pro. How do I get and save the data that is not backed up??

    I can not boot my MacBook Pro running on Lion 10.7.4. I pressed control, comment P and R keys and O got to the disk utility, then I tried to repair disk and it can not be repaired. I get a message that tells me to back up as much data as possible ?. But if I can not open the computer how can I save my data??
    I have a back up until 2 weeks ago on time machine. but the work of the last 2 weeks is extremely important how can I get it??
    If I use m time machine backup do I loose the additional data of the last two weeks!,
    Please help.. It's a huge amount of work that I have done and can not loose it

    If it were me, I'd get a new hard drive or SSD and put it in an external enclosure. Boot into the recovery partition, format the new drive (not the old one) and install the OS to it. Shut down the Mac, open it up, and swap the drives. You may be able to read your data from the old one externally if you're lucky. If you're very lucky you may be able to use Migration Assistant to move all your stuff to the new drive.
    Look at ifixit.com for the exact procedure to get to the drive on your model. If it's a unibody it's pretty simple.
    http://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-2-5-Inch-Aluminum-Enclosure-EC-TB4P/dp/B005EIGUD4/ ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1392154588&sr=8-3&keywords=2.5+enclosure

  • Can't boot my Macbook from an external drive

    Hi there,
    After my internal hard drive failed, I put an older (temporary, and somewhat small -- 100gb) internal hard drive onto my Macbook, and using a time machine used an external drive to recreate the data and OS that were on the internal drive that failed. Part of the reason I did this, rather than just buying a new internal drive, is that I live in Germany and my family is coming to visit in a month with a brand new mac, so I'm hoping to just run everything off this external drive until I get the new computer and can transfer all my data over.
    Anyway, I can't get the computer to boot from the external drive. It has the right partitioning scheme (GUID), my mac is willing to assign it Bootup Status, and when I browse the contents of the external drive, it basically looks fine. The termporary internal drive, incidentally, is running 10.6.7 as well, and using time machine I put my old applications on it, but not my user data. I can boot from that internal drive, but when I try to boot from the external drive I get stuck on the grey screen. Any idea what might be the problem and how I might fix it?  Or a suggestion about how I can run my computer off this external drive until the new mac arrives next month?
    A few technical details:
    My macbook is about 5 years old, and when I check the "about this mac" tab it says it is running 10.6.7 OS, with a 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo processor and its memory is 2BG 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM.
    The external hard drive is LaCie, 500gb, firewire 800 cable (and with the option to use a USB port too), which uses the macbook as its power source.
    Thanks for your help and advice.
    Bernie

    Hi,
    Thank you for your time.
    Even if Disk Warrior can help recover/restore my files i think replacing the hard drive is necessary, right ?

  • Can't boot 2013 MacBook Pro from 10.6.8

    I've been trying to boot my 2013 MacBook Pro (OS 10.8.5) from a clone on of an old drive running 10.6.8 and then from the original 10.6.8 drive itself (on a 2007 MacBook) but with no success. All I get is the startup sound and then the grey screen with the Apple Logo but with no spinning gear. Waited as long as an hour while I ran errands.
    Any ideas?
    btw, I did search around on the net and it seems this should work, and I'm pretty sure I remember doing this a year or so ago with success.

    One more question if you guys don't mind.
    Has this always been the case, i.e. newer Macs with higher number OS's not being able to boot into older OS's? Like I mentioned above, it seems I used to be able to do this a few years ago. If it's not the case then about what year, or OS version, did this practice start?
    Thx again.

  • How can I boot my Macbook Pro?

    I have a 6 month old Macbook Pro and it has worked extremely well in all of the time I have had it. I have the BootCamp partition done. The version is (I believe) 10.8.2. Yesterday, I turned off my computer as always, and when I tried to turn it on in the morning it got stuck in the screen where you are supposed to put your password in order to get in. I have tried the coomand+alt+p+r and it just got stuck in the screen with the apple and the wheel. I also tried the safe mode and it got stuck in the apple and the wheel again, but this time it didn't have an aple, it had a sign (kind of like a don't smoke sign). I tried the command+s and it says "still waiting on root device" and stays there. I want to know how to solve this!
    Thanks for your time.

    You are still under warranty.  Call Apple Care. Make sure you get a case number as all repairs have an additional 90 days of warranty. 
    #1 - You have 14 days from the date of purchase to return your computer with no questions asked.
    #2 - You have 90 days of FREE phone tech support.
    #3 - You have the standard one year Apple warranty.
    #4 - If you've purchased an AppleCare Protection Plan, your warranty last for 3 years.   You can obtain AppleCare anytime up to the first year of the purchase of your computer.
    Take FULL advantage of your warranty.  Posting on a message board should be done as a last resort and if you are out of warranty or Apple Care has expired.

  • HT201612 I was trying to install windows using boot amp but now I can't boot my MaOckbook pro again

    I was trying to install windows using boot amp but now I can't boot my MacBook  pro again

    Go to the Windows Control Panel and select Boot Camp applet. In that applet there is a Boot Drive option. Select Mac OS X.
    Or restart the system and hold down the Option key for a few second. A Boot Menu screen will come up. Select Macintosh HD.
    Once in OS X go to the Sys Prefences, Startup Disk and select Macintosh HD Mt Lion 10.8.2 and click Restart then Restart again. the system will now restart in Mac OS X.
    To boot back to Windows do the same, Startup Disk, and select Windows then Restart and Restart again.

  • Ssd can't boot from mainbay folder with question mark

    Hello I've searched for my problem but can't find anything same so I'm gona ask.
    first of  all I'm sorry for my English.
    I'm using MacBook pro mid 2012 with samsung 840 evo ssd 500gb.
    today it was working perfect it felt asleep and after wake up it  restarted and flashing folder with question mark appeared on screen.
    I Know it's some kind of hdd problem. So I've took it out and put in external box to connect to my friends  MacBook to see if it's working and does all information is still in it. It was working perfectly. after that I connected it via usb and boot it by holding opt key and it startups normal. To check that it isint sata cable I have puted empty hdd in main bay and booted from ssd connected by usb and both drives show up in disk utility.
    So hdd working perfect. Sata cable is good and can read drive.
    Macbook boots from ssd connected by usb without any problems.
    The only problem is that I can't boot my MacBook from ssd in mainbay it shows flashing folder with question mark.
    Maybe anyone had  had that issue before.?
    How can I solve this problem.?
    again sorry for my English. And thank you for all your answers.

    Do not apologize for your English.  I assure you your English is better than what my facility with your language may be. 
    I have seen a couple of posts similar to yours where the SSD will not boot internally but a conventional HDD will.  The resolution in one case was a new SATA cable even though the tests suggested otherwise.
    I would take the MBP to an apple store and have them check it thoroughly and see if they can pinpoint to the cable as the problem.  Obviously this just a guess on my part.
    A call to Samsung technical support may also be a good idea.
    Ciao.

  • Can't boot from external HD with Leopard on MacBook Pro or PowerBook

    I can't boot from an external HD with 10.5.5 Leopard on either my MacBook Pro or my PowerBook G4. I had a PowerBook G4 from which I could boot from either an external FW400 drive or an external FW800 drive. At some point, I stopped being able to boot from any HD, but I'm not sure if it was after upgrading to Leopard or not? Recently I just bought a MacBook Pro 15" and transferred all my files over from the PowerBook to the MacBook Pro during the install. However, even with the new computer, still cannot boot from an external drive. I have Leopard 10.5.5 running on both the external HD and the internal HD.
    Is this a common problem? Anybody know how to fix it?
    Thanks!

    That probably wasn't very clear was it? I have several ext. HD's, some with bootable systems and some just backups. One bootable disk was made with CopyCloner and the other was a clean format and only had an original install of the OS just to use for an emergency boot. They both booted just fine. Then at some point, they stopped being bootable. I have used the Control Panel "Startup" and also used the Option key boot and picked the bootable disk. Neither one boots anymore. It started doing this on the old PowerBook and then also refused to boot on the MacBook Pro. This is not the problem with the HD since it happens with any bootable HD. Something is going on at the system level and it was transfered from the PowerBook to the MacBook.
    Thanks,
    Bill

  • My iMac can't boot Windows 7 From USB while my Macbook Pro can do it

    I install Windows 7 64 bit and rEFIt into a USB hard disk and hope to boot from my iMac 27" (2010 Mid). However, it shows that no boot deivce is found.
    If I plug the SAME disk to my Macbook Pro 17" (2009 Mid), it can boot Windows 7 without any problem.
    I tried with Linux and get same result, iMac says no boot device while my Macbook Pro can boot it without problem.
    I tried experiment for weeks and still can't get iMac work.
    I think it is very abnormal and I wonder if someone can tell me how to fix it or any directory to solve this problem.

    My iMac runs snow leopard and my MacBook pro runs Lion. Both of them are updated with latest updated. I just get one external USB hard disk with Windows 7 32 bit installed and magically, my iMac can boot it from rEFIt. However, I don't know what makes it works. I tried to make same configuration, software and steps on other USB hard disks for hundreds times but I can repeat it again. All other attempt can make USB hard disk boot on MacBook Pro but not iMac only.

  • Can't boot installation cd on my Macbook pro 8.1

    Hi everybody,
    I am trying to install archlinux for dualboot with os x. The problem is that no matter what I do I just can't boot the installation CD. First I come to the normal screen where I can choose to boot archlinux, boot existing os, do memtest etc. If I choose boot archlinux I get an output similar to this: (I am trying to copy the text by hand from my macbook to another computer)
    Loading /arch/boot/x86_64/vmlinux.....
    Loading /arch/boot/x86_64/archiso.img.....................ready.
    Probing EDD (edd=off to disable).... ok
    Decompressing Linux... Parsing ELF... done.
    Booting the kernel.
    [          4.261364] i8042: No controller found
    :: Starting udevd...
    done.
    :: Running hook [udev]
    :: Triggering uevents...[      5.859626] ata2.01: failed to resume link (SControl0)
    [          5.859749]  ata1.01: failed to resume link (SControl0)
    [          12.352939] ata2.01: failed to resume link (SControl0)
    [          18.866288] ata2.01: failed to resume link (SControl0)
    [           25.379640] ata2.01: failed to resume link (SControl0)
    done.
    :: Running Hook [memdisk]
    :: Running Hook [archiso]
    :: Running Hook [archiso_pxe_nbd]
    :: Running Hook [archiso_loop_mnt]
    :: Waiting for boot device...
    Waiting 30 seconds for device /dev/disk/by-label/ARCH_201108 ...
    ERROR: boot device didn't show up after 30 seconds..
    And I get the same result no matter what i do. I have tried it on two different harddrives (both newly formatted and with a fresh install of OS X 10.6.6 fully updated), with or without premade partitions of many different kinds. I have made like 5 different cd:s and dvd:s and I now that at least one of them have worked on another macbook of the same model.
    Please could someone help me because I have no idea what I possibly can be doing wrong.
    Last edited by gkarreskog (2011-08-29 14:35:44)

    groundnuty wrote:
    had the same problem today.
    My observations are:
    1) I tried that with brand new mac pro 8.1 - OSX just as I got it from apple. All worked, arch boot up and I was able to begin installation. eth0 worked as well.
    2) I tried it again few days later and got the same problem as you described/pasted. meanwhile I downloaded upgrade from apple - I guess that is what causes the problem. Basicly cd is not detected at all, so /dev/disk/by-label/ARCH_201108 obviously is not there.
    Anyway the solution to this was quite easy - sice in initramfs you can detect usb keys:
    1) Copy all the files from your arch-install cd to some usb key (just cp. no need to format/dd etc)
    2) try to boot from the cd like before untill you arrive at ramfs
    3) plug your usb key and hope it will get detected
    4) then do
    ln -s /dev/<usb key> /dev/disk/by-label/ARCH_201108
    5) logout (exit)
    and you have your arch booting
    Ho
    I'm ok with that procedure.
    But now i'm on archlinux installer, how to make an proper installation of grub, that work?
    Because all of the things I tried didn't worked.
    Thanks !

  • MacBook froze while working, had to power it off, since then I can't boot any more.

    Hello,
    I have a MacBook Pro 13" from 2010. It's running Lion with all the latest updates.
    Today I was surfing the web had several apps open and was chatting on skype. Suddenly I noticed Skype hung itself up, it said "Not responding" then 30 seconds later non of the apps would respond like it was all frozen. I could only move the mouse cursor. It felt like the system was overloaded. Another few seconds later also the mouse froze.
    I gave it a few minutes hoping it would come back but nothing.
    So I held down the power button to turn if off.
    I restarted and when it's booting I see the white bar, as if it's trying to recover from the last crash, but about 10 seconds into booting, it just turns completely off. I never even get to the login screen. I left the laptop off for a few hours. I tried again, same thing over and over. Laptop completely turns off after about 10 seconds into booting.
    I also have windows 7 installed over bootcamp, so I tried loading that, works without probem! I am writing this post from Windows 7 now. I opened up windows explorer and had was browsing through the Mac partition, it all works, I get full read access. Guess it's not a hardware issue then -phew!
    I have no idea what I can do to fix that problem since I can't even get to the login screen.
    What can I do?
    Can it be a Kernel error? Or some kind of error while it tries to recover from the last crash?
    Is there any way to tell Mac not to try to recover from the last crash and just to a clean boot?

    Will repairing the internal HDD delete access to Windows 7? that's that I am worried about, because if it deletes the windows partition and won't fix the mac partition, then I am screwed, then I can't boot into anything.
    A Backup of my files? Well I do use DropBox to live sync my Music, Picture, Documents and Project folder. However there are files on the desktop and probably some apps and related files in the Application Support folder  which I'd like to backup. And since I have full read access from my wndows partition to my mac partition I will just back then up now.
    How big are the chances that the Disk Utility will break access to the Winows 7 partition?

  • 13" late 2011 MacBook Pro has frozen after Yosemite installation. I can, however, boot from a clone of my MacBook Air that is on an external drive. Despite the fact that I can boot from the external, could it be the RAM that's the prob

    My daughter's 13" late 2011 MacBook Pro has frozen (null sign displays) after Yosemite installation. I can, however, boot from a clone of my MacBook Air that is on an external drive. I reinstalled Yosemite on the MBP HD, but it still hangs in mid install. Despite the fact that I can boot from the external, could it be the RAM that's the problem? I'd happily put 8 GB in if it seems probable that would solve the problem. I've tried all the suggested procedures that I've seen posted here. Disk Utility, and my older version of DiskWarrior indicate the HD is OK. I have DiskWarrior 5 on order.

    Boot the MBP with the OPTION key down.  If successful, you should see two HDD icons,  Select the recovery partition (on the right).
    From the 4 option menu select Disk Utility.
    Run Disk Utility>First Aid, Verify and Repair.
    If the disk cannot be repaired, it will have to be replaced.
    Ciao.

  • Can't Boot Macbook Pro from CD, Tried 3 known Working Discs, Can boot Ubuntu

    I am trying to boot my macbook pro with the Snow Leopard CDROM. Regardless of how I attempt to boot I get the white screen with the Apple logo and nothing else. I've let it sit there for 45 minutes at one point. There is no apparent disc activity at this point.
    I've tried holding C while booting. I've trying runing the Installer while booted of the internal disk, selecting Utilities, and then Restart and same problem.
    I've tried 3 known working copies of Snow Leopard our helpdesk uses on a daily bases. None of them have any scratches and are quickly mounted and easily redeable in my mac when booted from internal disk.
    I can boot fine from an Ubuntu 11 64-bit CDROM.
    I've tried reseting the PRAM multiple times. I've tried booting into firmware mode but that doesn't seem to work. (cmd-option-O-F)
    Very frustrating.

    Is this the gray disc that came with the machine, or is it a retail disc? If it's retail, did the machine come with SL installed? If so, you can't use a retail disc.

  • After 10.4.11 upgrade Macbook won't start can't boot from external HD

    Hi guys,
    I just suffer as all other that after try ti install the 10.4.11 update my macbook won't start, I have a external HD with a image of my macbook but went I press and hold the option key I only see the bootcamp parttion and my internal HD, I don't see the external HD.
    How can I boot from my external HD if I have a bootcamp partition?
    Thanks

    I follow the robotobi post and solve this issue.
    Thanks robotobi

  • 128gb ssd on macbook pro can't boot from any win dvd

    Like in title, installed 128gb ssd on macbook pro and can't boot from any windows based dvd.
    I’m try just everything... First I was put new ssd disk in laptop, boot and than choose windows boot cd disk for startup device. CD/DVD working 10-20 sec and after that nothing happened for 3-4 min… I can just turn off computer. I was try to boot with win7, vista, xp and other boot dvd-s for partition management… Every attemp simply freeze machine.
    Then I was try to install mac os (snow leopard) from install dvd and installation was done smooth without any problem… Really don’t know why I can install osx and can’t install or boot any type of windows cd/dvd.
    After installing snow leopard I was try to make new partition and install windows trough apple bootcamp 3.0 but again same problem. When machine reset and try to boot from cd it simply freeze.
    Falcon 128gb SSD attached over USB workin fine eaven osx booting from external ssd. SO, next what I wish to try is to clone old 320gb with two partitions to new 120gb ssd. I'm just try eaven this and when ssd attach to laptop it says that there is no bootable device... so, they don't see ssd like bootable...
    Configuration:
    Macbook pro 15 (late 2008 i think)model 3.1
    128gb gskill falcon ssd
    Mac firmware 1.3 (i think, how I can make upgrade and check fw ver under windows)
    hdd firmware (1571)
    Regards,
    Benis

    p.s. any sugestion for some other ssd that will work on this machine?

Maybe you are looking for