Macbook Pro refusing to boot

Hi There.
My 2008 macbook pro (installed with Lion) is refusing to boot.
It gets past the chimes and shows the apple logo, but then just sits there with the spinning icon indefinately.
Prior to this is was very unresponsive.
I've tried to select the recovery HD partition, but after selecting it still goes to the apple logo and spinning icon.
Any help greatly appreciated!

See this Apple note on booting with a gray screen. (while this note says for operating systems thru 10.6, the steps are valid up to how to reload the operating system).  You may need to use your original OS X disks to boot and use Disk Utility to repair the hard drive.

Similar Messages

  • HT201295 Late 2011 Macbook Pro refuses to boot. SMC reset doesn't work

    Late 2011 Macbook Pro refuses to boot. SMC reset does nothing. Have tried bypassing SMC (nothing).
    Magsafe light glows very very faintly (barely visible in a room with lights on).
    Have tried reseating the battery connector. Battery indicator status button illuminates no LEDS (despite it being charged before failing).
    The mac didn't get wet. Was using a non apple USB cable at the time to tether/charge iphone. Computer just dead after working fine.
    Any ideas anyone. Logic board?
    Many thanks and best wishes
    Jamie

    Is it a 15" or 17" MBP? There have been logic board issues with that model.
    https://www.ifixit.com/Device/MacBook_Pro
    For all models.
    If it's a 13" take the bottom off and disconnect the battery:
    https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Late+2011+Battery+Repla cement/7649
    So only do this through step #3!
    Wait 10 seconds. Push the power button for 5 seconds. Wait 10 seconds. Reconnect the battery. Put the bottom back on don't screw it on just yet. Tape it temporarily in place and try to start it
    Even if it's a 15" or 17" try this anyway.  Usually when graphics on the logic board fails there will have been anomalies beforehand.

  • Macbook pro refuses to boot.

    2011 Macbook Pro shuts down after 1 minute of loading (grey screen with apple logo). I have tried basic fixes like smc memory clearing, but without result. I can access HD through another mac booting the broken mac in T mode so I have managed to transfer the files from the hard drive. HD could not be repaired using diagnostics/repair so something strange has happened here. Any ideas what the problem could be caused by? Originally the computer stopped responding and was shut down with the power button. After that it did not start anymore.
    I have also a few mails that I would need to access that are stored only on my broken computer. I have tried finding them but without success. How can I find my mail if I start the computer in T and access the HD via another mac computer?

    Have you tried to repair the disk when booted into your Recovery partition?
    How do I do this?

  • MacBook Pro will not boot up

    Hello,
    My three-month-old MacBook Pro refuses to boot up. The problem began about two days ago, and since then, the situation hasn't changed. When I press the power button, the Apple logo on the boot screen appears, but it quickly flashes on and off, with a "no symbol" and a symbol consisting of a folder with a question mark on it flashing at random concurrently. I really need my MacBook Pro to boot up, because I require  it for homework that is due tomorrow. I have never dropped or even scratched this computer, and I always use it in a cool and dry environment, so I don't think it could have been anything to do with overheating. But I'm no expert. Does anyone know what I can do? Thank you so much, in advance!

    Usually the flashing question mark means that the computer can't find a bootable device. Your hard drive may be damaged.
    Try booting into your Recovery partition, holding down the command and R keys whilst booting. Use Disk Utiity to both verify ad repair your hard drive. If the drive cannot be repaired, called back (you can access Safari from the Recovery partition).
    Clinton

  • Mid 2006 Macbook Pro won't boot (from HD or optical)

    My mid 2006 Macbook Pro will not boot from the hard disk, or from the internal DVD. I am currently running the latest version of Lion (10.7).
    I tried searching the forums and found a similar issue here:
    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1687899?start=0&tstart=0
    But that was with a Mac Mini. And it doesn't look like the OP issue was ever resolved. I am having the exact same problem.
    When attempting a normal boot from the internal HD of the Macbook Pro. It will make the happy chime of a successful POST. It will display the Apple logo. And that's as far as she gets.
    No spinning wheel, no error image, no nothing. Eventually the system will start spinning up the fans as if it were under load (this was after about a half hour of just letting it sit there).
    Doing a verbose boot, it never went past this:
    com.apple.driver.Apple.IntelCPUPowerManagement
    Photo of verbose boot:
    Here's what I've tried.
    1. Bought a brand new battery (as the current one was at death's door)
    2. Zapped PRAM (Apple + Option + P + R)
    3. Reset SMC according to these directions: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964?viewlocale=en_US
    4. Attempted to boot to my original Tiger (10.4) install DVD, only to stop at this point during a verbose boot (Apple V):
    Extension "com.apple.driver.AppleACPIPlatform" has immediate dependencies on both com.apple.kernel and com.apple.kpi components; use only one style
    Photos:
    5. I am able to put her in Target Disk Mode (hold T at boot). Then with a firewire cable I can connect it to my wife's Macbook 13" and I am able to run disk utility on it! Disk Utility did find and repair errors, however, it still refuses to boot.
    6. I attempted to boot from my wife's Macbook 13" in Target Disk Mode. I put her machine in Target disk mode. Connected the firewire cable. Powered on my 15" MBP while holding the option key. Then I selected her drive as the boot disk... however it still refuses to boot even from a known working HD.
    7. Finally, I swapped around RAM DIMMs with no change in behavior.
    Help! I know she's an older gal (Laptop is 6 years old now) but I'm not exactly flush with cash and would rather not give up on her just yet.

    My Mac started freezing (colored pinwheel) every time I tried using any application (i.e. Safari, iPhoto). After restarting for the 2nd time, it would no longer boot - makes start up sound but gets stuck on gray screen w/ apple icon.  I tried resetting PRAM also - did nothing. I decided to reinstall OS; problem now is my HD is nowhere to be found! I am a tech dummy so this is way beyond my comprehension...I'm not seeing my HD from the Disk Utility either??? 
    Side question...I backed up my files (mostly pics JPEG and videos) on DVD (had to compress to save). Why can't I open files on PC?

  • MacBook Pro won't boot from Superdrive

    I have a MacBook Pro which is around 7 Months old, I wanted to run Disk Warrior on it but the Macbook Pro wouldn't boot from the disk, tried the MAC install disk same issue.
    Holding down the C key at boot time causes the drive to spin up it gets as far as the grey screen with the apple logo then the drive stops. Tried also holding down the alt key, I can see the hard disk and DVD icons but selecting the DVD same thing happens as above.
    The superdrive seams to work fine when the machine is running just refuses to boot from it.
    Any help would be much appreciated
    rgs
    Colin

    Colin: Are you trying to boot from the Install/Restore DVD that was shipped with your MacBook Pro? If not, do. Your DiskWarrior DVD may not be able to boot your MBP model, and an older Snow Leopard installer DVD can't either.
    The best setup for using DiskWarrior or any other Disk utility on your MBP's internal drive is to have a bootable clone of that drive as a backup, with all your utility software installed on it just as it is on the internal drive. Then whenever you have a problem, you can boot from the other drive to repair the troubled one. No need then to boot or run the utilities from a DVD, which is tediously slow at best, even when it works perfectly.

  • MacBook pro won't boot up Keeps turning off

    MacBook pro won't boot up.  When power button pressed the white screen w apple comes on w progress bar but shuts off before bar completed. If I move cursor or hit buttons it boots but will turn off if cursor stops Moving or stop pushing buttons.  Just started happening.   Ran hardware test and all shows ok.  Any ideas??

    Thanks for all the help; however, I still continue to have problems booting off of any other media.
    I've tried the Apple CD w/ no success - I made an image of the apple cd and restored it to a USB drive, and it won't boot. I've tested both methods on another mac, and both options boot fine.
    I'm going with my last restort here and am going to install OSX on a portable USB HD, and try to boot off of that (no clue if it will work given the outcomes of the other things I have tried). From there I'm going to backup the HD, and try DW as suggested.
    Any thoughts as to why the mac refuses to boot off of any other media? It always boots halfway and then tells me I need to shutdown my mac.
    Thanks again,

  • My Mid 2010 MacBook Pro will not boot

    My Mid 2010 MacBook Pro will not boot regularly, in safe mode, in recovery mode or from original OS DVD. Is this the logic board?
    I've tried resetting the SMC and pram numerous times and even tried switching out hdd's to try and do a clean install on a new hdd.
    If I attempt to boot regularly or from recovery drive the grey apple logo appears for a period before the screen goes black and the power LED operates as though in 'sleep' mode. I'm unable to wake it from this state and the same applies to booting in safe mode.
    When attempting to boot from the OS DVD that was originally packed with the computer it just freezes on the language select option, this occurs with the other hdd's I have attempted to use.
    Any other suggestions to get it working? I fear the logic board has gone and that the repair won't be worth the money.
    Thank you in advance.

    Hi JRC8.8,
    It sounds like you have been on the right track in trying to troubleshoot this issue. You may want to see if your MacBook Pro will boot directly to the Apple Hardware Test, as outlined in the following article:
    Apple Support: Using Apple Hardware Test
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1509
    Regards,
    - Brenden

  • Macbook Pro Will Not Boot Windows Disk

    I have a late 08 (or early 09) Unibody Macbook Pro 2.53Ghz. I start the Bootcamp Assistant and successfully create my Windows partition. When I restart with the Windows 7 disk, I get a blinking cursor for 1 second then it goes to a black screen and never leaves. I have tried several different Windows 7 disks with the same result. I have even tried booting from a Windows Vista, Windows XP and even a Ubuntu disk all with the same result, stuck at a black screen.
    I took the hard drive out of this mac and put it into my wife's older Macbook pro, and it booted off the Windows 7 disk and completed the install to the drive with no issues. I then put the hard drive back into my Macbook Pro and get the same black screen when trying to start the Windows partition, and still have the same problem that it will not boot from any other OS disk be it Windows or Ubuntu. It boots from OS X DVDs without a problem.
    Also several months ago I had a Windows XP installation on this computer with no issues. I wiped it just before going to Snow Leopard.
    Any clue as to what is going on here?

    What is really odd is if I take my hard drive out of my Unibody Macbook Pro and put it into my wife's non-unibody Macbook Pro, it boots the Windows partition with no problem (Remembering I previously swapped these hard drives to complete the Windows installation to my hard drive). Seeing as the disk boots on her machine fine and not in mine, and my Windows cds (DVDs) boot fine on hers and not on mine, it seems to me it's something specific about my machine, but I can't imagine what it is.

  • 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?

  • MacBook Pro won't boot up after interruption of update

    I interrupted the installation for the OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.2 and now my MacBook Pro will not boot up. Any suggestions besides calling Apple support or going to the store?

    Hi,
    I am having the same problem with my Macbook Pro. Did you manage to find a solution to this problem?

  • MacBook Pro will not boot

    MacBook Pro will not boot. Just get grey screen. When I hold down control + R, I get blank blue screen.

    Which model MacBook Pro do you have?
    It's COMMAND and R that will take you to your Recovery partion, not Control and R.
    If a later model, can you boot into Internet Recovery (booting whilst holding down the command, option and R keys)?
    Clinton

  • 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

  • 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.

Maybe you are looking for