MacBook Pro 4,1 hangs on boot

Hi, a friend has an identical MacBookPro4,1 (Early 2008, 2.4GHz) to me which is hanging during the boot process just at the point where the boot screen would change to the first of two 'blue' screens.
I have tried booting OSX from a DVD and USB image, but it hangs at the same point.
Comparing verbose boot messages the point at which it hangs is at the 'AirPort: RSN handshake complete on en1' message, which is the last message mine displays before switching to the blue screen. Looking at my system logs, the next message of the kernel logs appears to be 'APExternalDisplay Memory Reserved: 8331264 bytes', which suggest it is the video system that is the problem.
Curiously it will sometimes boots the Windows 7 Bootcamp image properly but with occassional visual artifacts.
Any thoughts other than replacement of the logic board?
TIA

Hi Xerict,
    just a question, did your mac have any problems to boot?
I tried with arch boot usb stick and it doesn't work (it doesn't even appear in the list of bootable options at the start).
On the other hand, the same usb stick on a recent MacBook Air boots without any problem.
Thanks, Elisiano

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    I tried a couple things, including taking the battery out, and LOW AND BEHOLD: IT CAME ON, like nothing happened!  The screen was fine, the performance was fine, it updated (to the new Safari and iTunes, as an example) fine, and it restarted fine multiple times.  One of the main reasons I wanted to get it working was to save some family pictures we had saved, so I started uploading the images to an image cloud site. I'm sending them at full-res so it takes a while and I go to sleep around 2 am so I'm not too late into the office in the morn.  When I wake up, I go to check the image upload progress and the laptop is Off. I figure it just went into standby after finishing, so I hit the power button...
    And it doesn't boot again.  It's back to the same issue as before. I try doing what I did last time, then resetting the SMC, but nothing has worked this time.
    Any ideas? It's out of warranty of course, which is why I'm here.
    Thanks in advance!

    Since no one else is answering, I’ll jump in.
    Your story is interesting indeed.  I’m not sure I can help you fix the Mac but it sounds like there is a reasonable chance of recovering the data.
    I assume it came with installation disks.  Will it boot from them?  If so run Disk Utility from there and try to repair the system disk.
    For the hardware problems on your Mac it is time to take it to Genius Bar at an Apple store for a free diagnosis and estimate of repairs.
    Genius reservation http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/ .
    It could be your disk failing but it sounds more like flakey electronics in the system.  Let’s assume is is the system board until a Genius tells you otherwise.  If so, you can simply put the working system disk in an external enclosure, mount that on your other Mac and copy the data.  Here is a source for the inexpensive hardware you would need:
    Toolkit: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TOOLKITMHD/
    SATA enclosure: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/ES2.5BPU2W/
    There are multiple directions to go from here.  Let me know what happens when you try theses first options.

  • My macbook pro ended up in safe boot mode randomly twice in a row...how do i fix this permanently??!

    And I think this issue is coming from a few different problems I've had with my MacBook Pro on lion...one major thing was probably the fact that I changed from Lion to Mountain Lion...and then changed right back (I think I did back up my stuff first), but somehow it didn't agree with my computer.  Also I've been wearing it out a lot by throwing it with the case into my car frequently...maybe a bit much, idk...also though I have a lot of trouble keeping up with the numerous files that build up on my desktop and don't know where to begin.  Let's just say my computer has pretty much had it, although for months it's been functioning normally.
    ...oh yeah and did I mention I had to get a brand new hard drive, with that not really making a difference as to how bad I, um, throw my computer around (it's not as bad as you think but to be candid, blech). I did bang my computer at one point in a rage attack and made sure no one really knew when I took it to get it fixed?  TMI...that's what I deserve....so.
    I did try this web link the second time in a row this happened which was about an hour or so that I managed to, uh, kind of fix it with the bottom advice on the page:
    http://applehelpwriter.com/2012/06/24/mac-keeps-starting-in-safe-mode/ 
    (sorry I couldn't get this to click)
    Anyways at the bottom of this help article you will notice the very end of PRAM reset directions where you hear the start up chime two times.  That did not happen, but somehow out of nowhere the computer stopped the safe boot mode routine and the progress bar didn't show up as I continued to hold down the given keys.  I really don't know where my luck came from there...and I also found an article that fixed my computer the first time and I cringe to say that it came from a person on Apple Discussions complaining about something similar that one of my friends helped me google. Planning to actually bookmark the applehelpwriter article in case I just happen to need it but i'm pretty sure someone will be on here with an answer at some point.
    SO....I did get my comp fixed twice now, but I hope that somebody will go back and read the beginning of my question explanation to see if I'm doing something that may be overwhelming my computer. If this safe boot thing happened to me instead of me testing the computer myself AND MORE THANA ONCE yikes...something needs to be done. Take note that the only reason I'm asking the community's advice is that I'm past my computer's contract so if I wanted to I couldn't take my computer to get it fixed and I planned to take one or two more classes in college again to complete my certificate.
    Please help, some people must run into this situation at some point, either way if they ask or don't I'm sure they're lucky to get it fixed somewhere.
    chels

    Only if your home/renters insurance doesn't cover such damage without raising your rates/dropping you.  Ask first of them if it is worthwhile the claim once you get an estimate for repair.  These repair places are pretty good:
    http://www.dttservice.com/
    http://www.powerbookresq.com/
    http://www.microdocusa.com/
    http://www.macspecialist.com/
    http://www.techrestore.com/

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