MacBook Pro (early 08) startup problem - gray screen!

Hi there,
Im new here on this forums so excuse me if solution of this problem is somewhere here, bud I didn't find it. So what going on...
My MBP (early 08) randomly froze about three time last week. Each time after reset was every think okay. But this time it froze and after that I cant startup it. After pressing power button computer seem to start up HDD, optical drive etc., but screen remains black after about 30 sec appears gray screen but without Apple logo. And thats it, this is all I get no starup sound nothing.
A tried to reset PRAM, EFI, SMC but nothing happened. I also put back original RAM modules but still nothing.
Do you guys have any idea how to solve it? Unfortunately Im from Europe (Czech Rep.) so we do not have hare any retail store or something like Genius bar.
I hope this is just silly motherboard problem, 'cause I do not want do visit authorized repair center here. Thanks so much for your advice.
Jan

If it is a "silly motherboard problem" you'll be visiting the repair center. Boot from your OS installer disk, select your language and from the menu select Disk Utilities. Run Repair Disk. Post back with the results.

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Macbook Pro Early 2011 Startup Problems

Hi everyone. I have been having issues with my Macbook Pro starting up since about mid-December. Initially, I had this problem every few weeks, but recently it's been happening about once a week or more.
Some details:
My Macbook Pro is early 2011, 15", and is running Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5.
Processor is 2 GHz Intel Core i7
Memory: 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
Storage Capacity: 50GB SATA Disk
Intel HD Graphics 3000 384 MB graphics
There have been multiple issues, but I think they're all related. The laptop works just fine while it's turned on and the screen is working.
The main issue I've had is that I used to always just close the lid when I was finished using the laptop. The first issue is that every once in a while, when I opened the lid, the screen wouldn't turn on. More recently, the screen is getting light, but it's just a blank black screen and I can't do anything; there's no mouse onscreen and none of the keyboard buttons do anything. When this happens I need to use the power button to turn off the Macbook and once I hear it turn off I try to use the power button to turn it back on again. Usually if I hold the power button long enough (about 10 seconds) I hear the startup sound start, but I never get the final chime. I can hear the fans going so I know the laptop isn't dead, but nothing is responsive and nothing comes up on the screen. Sometimes if I leave the Macbook this way the fans start getting really loud like they're working harder than usual. I'm not entirely sure how and why the Macbook finally starts up normally again eventually; I'm starting to think that it's just a matter of waiting and when I come back to it after 5/10 minutes it will eventually startup normally. Once or twice when I had the problem I unplugged the laptop from the power source and flipped the closed laptop so the lid was facing down and the bottom up and left it that way for at least a minute. Everything started up fine when I tried again. However this hasn't worked the last several times I've tried. Overall, the power button just seems really unresponsive when this happens since I need to hold it for longer than usual to even hear any sort of startup noise.
Every time this happens now I try holding down the power button to turn it on, hear it make some noises, but not the startup chime, hold the power button down to turn it off, hear it click off, and try the same thing again. During this I try various things like PRAM and SMC resets and holding down various buttons, but eventually, usually after taking at least a 2 to 3 minute break from this, the laptop finally starts up again like normal and I have no idea how it's working again.
For a while I thought that the SMC reset might have fixed the problem, but it's still happening. I've already taken the Macbook in to the Apple Store twice. The first time they ran all the hardware tests, but everything seemed to be working fine. The second time they reinstalled the software and I was hoping that would fix the problem, but the problem has persisted since the reinstall so I know this probably isn't a software issue. This also isn't caused by the laptop being moved or dropped or anything since often it will work fine, but when I come back to it without moving it an inch, the screen won't turn on again.
For a few days this problem was a daily thing. Every single time I opened the lid the screen wouldn't turn on. Eventually I learned that this was probably because the laptop wasn't registering that the lid had been opened and so it didn't know to turn back on from sleep mode. After reading some articles online I decided to start putting my laptop to sleep by using the shutdown dialogue before closing the lid and this seemed to work for a while, but it no longer seems to be the solution. This doesn't happen every time I open the lid, but it happens enough that it's wasting a lot of my time and energy in trying to get it to work and trying to figure out the problem every time it happens.
There has been a second problem as well and I'm not sure if it's related, but I want to mention it in case it is or in case someone at least has a solution to this problem. The laptop, while on, works just fine. But every once in a while when I'm using regular programs on the laptop, out of nowhere, the screen will suddenly become just a black or gray screen or a white/beige screen with vertical lines and sometimes a buzzing noise to accompany this. When this happens all I can do is restart the laptop with the power button. This has not happened too often to be that much of a hindrance, but it still worries me. (Early on, before the screens with vertical lines, about two or three times the laptop would just shut off by itself without any warning while I was in the middle of something.) I doubt that it's related to a specific program. It's happened while I've used programs I always use. Once when I was using Skype, once for Google Chrome, once for Photoshop. Recently there was also a time when I was playing music on iTunes and doing things on Google Chrome and suddenly the music stopped and the mouse was frozen in place. The force quit keys didn't work so I needed to power down and restart
I've read several online discussions and articles and I think there may be a problem with my video cable, video chip, display driver, or logic board (or logic board battery). I'm nervous about opening up my laptop myself since I'm worried about causing any damage in the process of attempting to fix hardware. I also worry that if I bring it into the Apple Store again it will pass all the hardware tests so I won't be able to get anything fixed.
Does anyone have any suggestions for what steps I can try to fix this? Should I go back to the Apple Store? Is there something specific I should tell them?
Sorry for such a long post. I just wanted to thoroughly explain my problem.

Hi,
There have been many reports of graphics problems with early 2011 Macbook Pros. There is a long-running thread on this forum about it but instead of wading through that -- it's miles long -- take a look at this article, which sums it up, more or less.
http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/01/16/owners-of-late-2011-macbook-pros-repor t-critical-gpu-failures-system-crashes
You may have already done this, but try starting up in Recovery mode by holding down Command and R keys together, and in the window that appears, select Disk Utility and Continue. Then select your startup disk -- usually called Macintosh HD -- and in First Aid click on Repair Disk.
This will let you know if your disk has any problems.
Also try Safe mode by starting up while holding down the Shift key.
If you go back to the Apple store try to find out if yours is one of the problem computers from early 2011.
P.S. Your disk is probably 500 GB.

My macbook pro (early 2011) freezes at gray screen and spinning gear and does not start up

I tried starting in safe mode but that process freezes as well. The final text says socket is not connected.

See this article. You might have damaged software, and you'll have to reinstall from the recovery mode, depending on which version of OSX you have.

Macbook pro won't start up-gray screen(circle with slash)

My MacBook Pro 2008 gets to the gray screen with the apple logo and the loading wheel then the apple turns into a circle with a slash through it and the loading wheel just keeps spinning. Help please

Hi MichaelWoods514,
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
You may see a prohibitory sign, or a folder with a flashing question mark on it.
For more information on this, take a look at this article:
Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2570
Best of luck,
Mario

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

Why would my MacBook Pro be stuck on a Gray Screen?

Today when I went to start up my MacBook Pro the screen was completely black (it appeared to be lit but still a lit black), then I called Apple support and they walked me through a few steps, which just made the screen white. Along with the white screen it displays the Apple logo, then a circle with a line through it (like a do not enter sign), then a gray file with a question mark in it. These 3 images just kind of scroll through on repeat.
I am not really looking for ways to fix it, I do have an appointment with the Genius Bar, however I was hoping to just understand a little behind why this would be happening... And if you had any ideas on what the cost I'm looking at for the fix. I have a mid 2012 MacBook Pro that has been updated with the latest software. It was working perfectly fine yesterday, and I have never had any problems with it until this right now.
Please help and thank you so much!

Any one of these problems can cause Mac to not start properly.
Cannot finish checking the startup disk.
Cannot find the System folder.
OS X is corrupted.
Standard Troubleshooting steps are:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2570
Startup in Safe mode
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14204?viewlocale=en_US
Repair Disk
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5836
Reset PRAM: http://support.apple.com/kb/ph14222
Reinstall OS X
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH13871
Taking the computer to the Apple store.
Mac/ Intel Startup sequences:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2674

My macbook pro only goes to a gray screen with a blinking ?

when i turn on my macbook pro it goes right to a gray screen after about a minute a file folder comes up whit a ? in it

There are four general causes of this issue:
1. The computer's PRAM no longer contains a valid startup disk setting when there aren't any problems with the disk itself. This can be checked for by pressing the Option key and seeing if the drive appears.
2. The internal drive's directory structure has become damaged. This requires usage of an alternate bootable system to perform the repair.
3. Critical system files have been deleted. This requires usage of an alternate bootable system to reinstall them.
4. The internal drive has died or become unplugged. This is the most likely case if the computer took a sharp impact or there are unusual sounds coming from the hard drive's location.
(82990)

Macbook Pro (Early 2011) charging problems

Hey Guys,
The Macbook Pro was bought in July of 2011 which is only a few months old .When I plug in my magsafe to charge the macbook pro it turns green, then orage to show that it is charging. However, after a few mintues of charging the orange LED light goes off and it stops charging, then the orange light comes on to charge for another few mintues then stops charging. I have been aren't to charge the macbook pro
Is the charger broken? I cant find or see anything tearing in the charging cable or anything broken with the power brick.
Thanks

First try resetting the SMC...
Reset SMC of a MacBook or MacBook Pro’s with an internal battery:
* Shutdown your MacBook/Pro
* Connect the power adapter to your Mac
* On the MacBook/Pro’s keyboard, hold down the Shift+Control+Option keys and the Power button at the same time
* Release all keys and the power button at the same time
* Boot your Mac as usual
Then try resetting the PRAM...
Resetting the PRAM
You reset the PRAM by rebooting a Mac and then immediately hold down theCommand+Option+P+R keys, you will then hear the Mac reboot sound again, signifying your PRAM has been reset. You must hit the key combination before the grey screen appears otherwise it won’t work.
If those two tricks fail, take the adapter and the laptop to the applestore. IMO it sounds like a battery issue and not a charger problem.

Late 2008 MacBook Pro won't boot; only gray screen with Apple, spinning gear, and then the mouse pointer.

Thanks to all in advance! Okay, last night I was trying to encrypt a Time Machine BackUp disk (Seagate 500GB Back Up Plus) and a dialog box popped up and said "POSIX could not..." And then whatever was next. So I unplugged the drive, plugged it back in, and the files still showed up, so I was like "oh okay so it's not screwed up." The next I try and boot my MacBook Pro, and of course it doesn't. The gray screen comes up, the logo shows up, the gear is spinnin, the it goes away and the mouse shows up. But that's where it stops. And sits. And sits. And sits. So I force it to shut down. I run through this many more times, as well as attempting the Recovery Mode, Safe Boot, and to no surprise, it doesn't work. So I go grab my trusty Snow Leopard disc, pop it in, ctrl-C on start up and it loads. So I select the option of restoring from a Time Machine backup and plug in the external drive only to not see it in the list. So I go to Disk Utility, and find out that the entire external drive has been erased and renamed disk8s2. So I go to my internal drive, but it shows how much has been used and it matches to how much as of last night. So I tried repairing the disk and restarting and of course it doesn't work. So now I don't know what to do. Really I'll take any suggestions besides buying anything (I'm only a 16 year old guy haha). So yeah. Thanks!

The encryption never actually followed through.
You started it, though. That makes the volume inaccessible to any OS X version before 10.7.

Macbook Pro Stuck at Apple Logo (gray screen) and keeps restarting

I've a problem with my Macbook Pro wherein it keeps getting stuck at the Apple Logo upon restarting (no spinning wheel). It eventually restarts itself maybe after 5 minutes but still keeps getting stuck in the grey screen where the Apple Logo comes up.
I've tried restarting this with CMD+R to do a "fsck -fy" and here's what I keep getting (attached picture). This screen eventually exits and my Mac restarts itself and gets stuck at the Apple Logo (grey screen).
I think this maybe a HD problem (possibly some corrupt files). Any suggestions/similar experiences? Any chance this can be resolved without reinstalling OS X?
Thank you!!!

Kreis wrote:
Any chance this can be resolved without reinstalling OS X?
Without erasing and installing yes.
Run through this list
..Step by Step to fix your Mac

My macBook pro won't turn on, gray screen only

I turned off macbbok pro to reboot because options blanked out when using the curser. When rebooting, I just get the gray screen with the gear icon spinning. Any ideas to get it going??

Step by Step to fix your Mac

MacBook Pro freezes at startup on grey screen with apple and spinner

I was on Firefox and suddenly the screen froze. 10-15 minutes later i still couldn't do anything on it so i had to force power my laptop off by holding down the power button. Normally when I have this sort of issue, this will solve it. But when I try to turn my laptop back on it gets to the grey screen with the apple logo and little spinner thing and just stays on that screen forever. I'm not really sure what to do now. A couple articles suggested "reseting the PRAM" and I tried that but it didn't help. If you have any suggestions if really appreciate it. And I'm not really sure if i have everything backed up and I really don't want to lose all my pictures so if you could keep that in mind if you have any ideas I'd appreciate it. thanks!

emeraldxx wrote:
But when I try to turn my laptop back on it gets to the grey screen with the apple logo and little spinner thing and just stays on that screen forever.
Could be problems with the boot drive, corrupted system and or a incompatible/old outdated third party kerenel extension file..
Run through this list of fixes, it's systematically designed to narrown down your issue.
..Step by Step to fix your Mac

MacBook Pro early 2010. has gray screen no login

Mac Book Pro, mid 2010 has solid gray screen, no apple logo or login option. Heats up — section under ports and along the back above vents. Fans have been going into overdrive. Horizontal pixelated screen with vertical bands. Safe reboot Shift-command-V has not worked. Understand this is a known problem with this model — Model A1286, (MC372LL/A). Any fixes?

Have done an SMC reset — yesterday. Seemed to solve the problem. Problem reappeared this morning. Fans were not running, Activities Monitor indicated no undo load on CPU , very low usage. Pixelated screen showed up while working, one program (PowerPoint, text slides), replicated Safe Reboot, and did a PRAM refresh. Have tried this several times; always goes back to solid gray screen. Performed a Hardware Analysis last night, indicated no issues. Currently at work in Mexico City, no Apple Store or genius available, only resellers. This machine has been very well taken care of. Need for work,will be here another ten days.

Black Screen on MacBook Pro Early 2008

Hey guys,
i have a problem. My MacBook Pro Early 2008 doesnt boot anymore. If i press the power button the screen remains black and the hdd spins a few seconds and you can hear the superdrive make a short noise. But nothing more happens.
I know from the nVidia 8600m GT issue and i even have the modelnumber A1260 but the apple reseller told me that if there comes no start sound , it is not that problem. My question is: is it possible that the (probably) defect 8600m gt chip on my logicboard has caused a defect of the whole logicboard ? I heard from a guy whos board was repaired for free but its PowerManagment Unit on the logicboard was defect but the Technical guy told him , that it was caused by the nvdia chip and so it was repaired for free. How can i find out if my chip was the reason for the defect ?
Iam not a native speaker and i hope you can understand what iam trying to say iam happy for every correction and help.
greets
max

"How can i find out if my chip was the reason for the defect ?"
By having it examined by a certified Apple technician. If necessary, show the tech the KB Article: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377 MacBook Pro: Distorted video or no video issues
"apple reseller told me that if there comes *no start sound* , it is not that problem."
You do not have a start sound?
Have you tried starting up from your install DVD?
If you have AppleCare, strongly suggest that you contact them first.
!http://i45.tinypic.com/jl0z95.jpg!

Macbook pro (early 2011) won't boot after sleep. Black screen with chime

I put my macbook pro early 2011 (Quad, 8 Gb RAM, 2 x SSD-disks, external 27" LED-screen) into sleep mode a couple of days ago. Everything was fine then.
However, the morning after it wouldn't wake up - this is the bootup process:
- Black screen
- Chime
- Still black screen, nothing happens.
So I've tried resetting NVRAM, SMC etc - no luck. Even tried the "Powerbutton" + "S" + Enter but to no avail.So I immediately began dd:ing my SSD-disk before trying anything else, figured it might be some preboot-corruption of some sort since I'm running FileVault2 with full AES-encryption.
Now, the problem (after some troubleshooting) doesn't seem to be disk-oriented. Remember the black screen? I've tried pulling the SATA-cables one by one on the motherboard of the Macbook pro and discovered that when I pulled the cable which reaches over the optical device (just above the SATA-cable for the optical device) then I get a white screen and I'm able to get as far as boot-option, or even disk repair (if I run my SSD-disk over USB and without any cables (three of them) attacked to the motherboard).
So since nothing works when I have disks connected or that third cable (some kind of logic board bridge? Reaches through the screen over to the other side of the mother board).
Also worth noting is that I was running out of free disk-space on my system disk. The disk is 250 Gb and free space was about 5-10 Gb (less than 5%). I also make the macbook pro dump contents of memory to disk (since my disk is encrypted it resides safely there).
So, my fear is that Apple hasn't used A-grade controllers for the disk drives (I've had drive corruption before, a Crucial 6 GB/s drive trashed less than a week before a presentation) and doesn't handle "unexpected events" nor signal/noise ratio very well. Maybe free space on disk was less than the 8 Gb needed to dump RAM (shouldn't have needed the full 8 Gb though) and this caused some kind of panic overwrite which trashed the controller?
Anyways, I've attached an image of the motherboard and I am wondering - what does the top cable which reaches over the optical drive do? Is it connected to the logic-board?

sspott wrote:
** The volume Macintosh HD could not be repaired.
Looks to me like a fatal error on the hard disk. IMHO, the only solution is to boot from an external device, reformat the hard drive, and restore from backup. If you don't have a backup, you're in trouble. Boot from the external device, try to mount the int'l drive, and, if successful, back up as much as possible. Also, try running Disk Utility—it may be possible to fix it while booted from a different device, thought I wouldn't bank on it. At any rate, make sure to run an AHT afterwards, to check for possible hardware issues with the drive.
If the machine is still covered by AppleCare, take it to the store by all means. But they won't try to recover anything from the int'l drive, just check it, erase it if they don't find hardware issues, and re-install a fresh copy of the OS.
That's why you should always have at least 1 up-to-date backup (2, with one kept off-site, is better).

MacBook Pro (early 08) startup problem - gray screen!

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