Macbook will not boot, makes clicking sound
When I power up I get a blank screen and I hit clicking but the macbook does not boot up. I think it is not finding the HDD; happened before and there was a combo of keys I hit when I hit the Power button that found the HDD.
Any ideas?
Appreciate any help
Thanks, Ralph
Hi,
To get your mac to boot from the install disc simply insert it then turn on your mac holding the option key(the alt key), then select the disc in the menu.
Dave
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RichYou won't lose any data unless you erase your hard drive.
Put your install DVD into the optical drive and reboot. As soon as you hear the boot chime, hold down the "c"key on your keyboard (or the Option key until the Install Disk shows up). That will force your MacBook to boot from the install DVD in the optical drive.
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If it is then click on the Mac OS partition of your hard drive in the left hand list. Then select the First Aid Tab and run Repair Disk. The Repair Disk button won't be available until you've selected the Mac OS partition on your hard drive. If that repairs any problems run it again until the green OK appears and then run Repair Permissions. -
After updating Airport software, Macbook will not boot
I see others have updated with the new Airport software without incident, but not me.
I just ran software update to install the Airport update (hoping it would cure the problem I've had -- and other users as well -- with the connection dropping every 5 minutes with Linksys routers [check the Airport discussion board for much discussion of this]).
After installing, upon restart my Macbook will not boot fully. I get the Apple symbol, then the spinning gear symbol, then a light blue screen and that's it. After a while the fan comes on.
Call it the light blue screen of death.
All was working fine until the update.
I have boot camp and I can boot into Windows.
I have tried removing the battery and resetting the PRAM. No help.
Sigh... Applecare is closed so I cannot call until Friday morning. Anyone have any suggestions of what I can try?
I have my Mac hard disk backed up from a few days ago using Super Duper on a USB drive but I am reluctant to try booting from it as I fear corrupting the drive. Unfortunately I don't have my Mac system CDs with me as I am away from home at the moment.
I just switched to the Mac 6 weeks ago after 3.5 years with a Dell laptop. Never had a single problem like this in all that time. But I still like my Mac.
PDWell, I spoke too soon. Last night I was able to start up as described above, but this morning when I tried to start it did not even get to the Mac symbol. It just hung at a dark blue screen for several minutes.
Tried restarting with the shift key held down but it would not go into safe mode. Just the dark blue screen.
Resetting PRAM made it startup.
But I'm pretty nervous about this.
So, is there a way in Mac OS X to roll back to the system before the update? In Windows XP this is very simple under System Restore. I have the impression OS X doesn't have this feature and won't until next year with Time Machine.
And I see now I'm not the only user with this problem.
PD -
It rained in my window last night, on my power strip. My macbook adaptor (charger) and iphone adaptor were both plugged into the strip. The power strip is dead. Iphone is fine. Macbook will not boot up and charger light doesn't go on. I borrowed another charger and still no luck. What should I do? (Charger wasn't plugged into Macbook until I dried it off.)
Spill Cleaning
And, don't think that just because it was two teaspoons and not a glassful that there is a difference.
Some liquid has just spilled into your Mac. What should you do?
Do
Immediately shut down the computer and unplug the power cord.
Remove the computer's battery (if you can)
Disconnect any peripherals (printers, iPods, scanners, cameras, etc.)
Lay the computer upside down on paper towels to get as much liquid as possible to drip out.
Note what was spilled on your Mac.
Bring the computer into an Apple store or AASP as soon as possible.
Don't
Don't try to turn it back on. Liquids can help electrical current move about the components of your Mac in destructive ways.
Don't shake the computer (this will only spread the liquid around).
Don't use a hair dryer on it (even at a low setting a hair dryer will damage sensitive components).
Do not put in a bag of rice in as much as rice will get into the ports and optical drive and do further damage. -
My MacBook will not boot up all I get is a white screen with the light on the front of the mac blinking and a beeping.
Check this Apple support article https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1547
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White 2008 MacBook will not boot completely (hangs up)
For Christmas 2008 I bought a New 2008 Apple MacBook (White) for my 13 year old Grandson. He gave it back to me to "fix" .
He said the following problem ----will not boot/Hangs UP during boot---- *first appeared immediately after he downloaded and installed an "APPLE/MACBOOK" update of some kind last week.*
DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR TO ANYONE OUT THERE? IF SO I WOULD APPRECIATE YOUR SUGGESTIONS.
More info:
It will not boot completely. when powered on it-- chimes once with the normal Mac sounds (Not a POST Beep error)---- and a white screen---- with apple logo in center appears--- after several seconds a small spinning "activity/busy" circle appears below the logo. This circle appears and spins for about 3 to 4 minutes with no other activity happening. Then the screen goes blank and power goes off.
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The power (A/C, and supply are on, Mag power cord attached and battery charge light on battery is blinking green with 4 steady green lEDs on--- (So I assume I'm OK with NO power or battery issues)
I then tried to boot into "safe" mode. (shift key when power on) (No change)
Then I tried Cmd, Option, P, R keys as suggested in manual during power on to reset nv(p)Ram (No change)
Grandson is searching for manuals, OS Apple Hardware troubleshooting disk etc. While I wait to receive those items from him --------
Does anyone have any Ideas /suggestions?
Thanks in advance!
JoeHI Joe and Welcome to Apple Discussions...
Since you can't boot in Safe Mode that's not a good sign. You really need those install disc(s) to repair the drive if necessary.
When you get the install disc...
Insert the installer disk and Restart, holding down the "C" key until grey Apple appears.
Go to Installer menu (Panther and earlier) or Utilities menu (Tiger and later) and launch Disk Utility.
Select your HDD (manufacturer ID) in the left panel.
Select First Aid in the Main panel.
(Check S.M.A.R.T Status of HDD at the bottom of right panel. It should say: Verified)
Click Repair Disk on the bottom right.
If DU reports disk does not need repairs quit DU and restart.
If DU reports errors Repair again and again until DU reports disk is repaired.
When you are finished with DU, from the Menu Bar, select Utilities/Startup Manager.
Select your start up disk and click Restart
While you have the Disk Utility window open look at the bottom of the window. You will see Capacity and Available. Make sure you always have a minimum of 10% free disk space.
You can try something that doesn't require the install disk and that's Reset the SMC
If you can get the MacBook to boot up to the Desktop, click the Apple Menu then click About This Mac. The Mac OS X version number will be displayed there. 10.x.x
Carolyn -
Macbook 4,1
Early 2008 15" macbook pro
Running Snow Leopard
the Battery was not working after only 23 cycles
I tried the Battery update and now it will not boot at all
I really do not want to loose my data on the drive
panic message is
Unable to find driver for this platform: "ACPI".\n"@/SourceCache/xnu/xnu-1228/iokit/Kernel/IOPlatformExpert.cpp:1378
Please helpPanic Message
panic(cpu 0 caller 0x000x563ebd) : Unable to find driver for this platform:
"ACPI".\n"@/SourceCache/xnu/xnu-1228/iokit/Kernel/IOPlatformExpert.cpp:1378
Debugger called: <panic>
Backtrace (CPU 0), Format - Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)
(7 lines of hex)
BSD Process name corresponding to current thread: Unkonwn
Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 10.8.0" todays date ; root:xnu-1504.15.3~1/release_I386
I tried to boot from CD can, but i dont want to loose any information.
Tried disk tools
Hardware test
Tried to check if it was memory sticks failing or battery , nothing else plugged in
if i boot holding Apple key and S
I get additional warnings about AppleACPIPlatform and not being able to load Kext -
Macbook will not boot, stays on gray screen no apple logo
I was in the middle of watching some streaming content in netflix when my macbook froze. I tried to force quit, but to no avail, so I forced shut down. When I press the power button to reboot, I hear a couple of clicking sounds like the fan is trying to start up, but it doesn't. The screen remains on the gray screen and the apple logo never appears (no apple startup sound either). I do not hear the fan running.
Other possible factors:
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Any ideas?To those of you reporting these problems, are your MacBooks from 2006, roughly?
The reason I ask is, there are reports of 06 MacBooks having AirPort card issues (which I think may relate to a bigger issue, perhaps in the logic board), and my 06 Mac mini has also just recently died on me. Which, to my understanding, uses some of the same hardware as an 06 MacBook.
To elaborate furhter, my mini had a problem with the Wi-fi card at first. It would work fine for 20 minutes, then it would die. This would happen regardless of what operating system I was running (OS X, Windows, Linux), so I'm positive it was/is a hardware issue. More recently, after disassembling the mini, just to take a look for any physical problems, the computer was doing the exact thing described in this post.
Upon start up, I would get the chimes, but would recieve nothing after that. The hard drive would not spin up, and with a CD inserted, the drive would spin, but nothing would come of it. After tinkering some more, I tried removing the CD drive from the computer, so only the hard drive was plugged in, and voilla, the computer booted back to the OS X install. Also, if I were to unplug the hard drive, and have only the CD drive connected, I was able to boot to a CD.
This tells me it's a logic board/power issue, and the same thing may be affecting you.
My educated guess is your hard drive is fine, and all your files are safely stored on the disk, however, for whatever reason, there's not enough power to run BOTH the CD drive and the HDD.
If you feel up to it, disassemble your MacBook and try removing the HDD, or the CD Drive if possible, and see if you get anywhere. It may be easier to remove the HDD and try booting to a CD. However, I'm not familiar with how the insides of a MacBook are laid out.
Hopefully this helps.
-Chris. -
MacBook will not boot (does not pass apple gearwheel stage)
After experiencing a freeze on my computer (couldn't access even force quit to unfreeze), I hard shut down my computer. When trying o restart, it would not pass the apple and gearwheel page, eventually the apple turned to a circle with the slash through, I think means the system will not load? I have inserted the osx DVD ( snow leopard, this system is about 2 years old) and performed disk utility to check that the hard drive is not faulty. I repaired the disk since it said there were issues (minor I think since it took very little time to repair, 7 minutes about ). Still, the issue of not loading persists. A additional problem now is that I cannot eject the osx DVD, now the computer will always boot to this DVD. Could this be am issue with another hardware component? For a while I have had a battery warning, but since the battery did not seem to be in trouble, and the MacBook continued to be useable I ignored the warning, and it had been warning me for white some time without any obvious problem. Could this be the problem now? The computer seems only to boot to the disc when it is connected to the power source.
You shouldn't have waited until now to back up. You'll lose all your files eventually if you don't. Before you do anything else, get hold of an external hard drive that you can use for backup. While booted from the DVD, but before reinstalling, select Utilities > Disk Utility from the menu bar and make a backup according to the instructions linked below. If all goes well, you won't need it. After you're back up and running, set up a permanent backup solution using Time Machine.
Mac OS X v10.5, v10.6: How to back up and restore your files -
Macbook will not boot after 10.5.2 install
After installing the 10.5.2 update via software update (from 10.5.1) my macbook will no longer boot. I get the Apple logo for about 5 seconds then I get the 'You need to restart your computer' message. I can't get past this point. Any suggestions on how to get my laptop back to life would be appreciated.
Start by:
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger and Leopard.) 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 installer. Now shutdown the computer for a couple of minutes and then restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior (4.1 for Leopard) and/or TechTool Pro (4.6.1 for Leopard) to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
Then download the standalone updater and reinstall 10.5.2. If that doesn't solve your problem then you will have to do an Archive and Install.
How to Perform an Archive and Install
1. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
2. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
3. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
4. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
5. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update. -
Hi,
This is my first post around here, so I'm a bit of a newbie (obviously).
I have a black Macbook which dual boots XP and Leopard. I was using the Basilisk II emulator this morning to run System 7.5.5. I changed the resolution of the screen and then the mouse stopped working. I managed to quit to the desktop then went to the Terminal to kill off the process. It told me that I wasn't allowed due to the admin changing my shell permissions. I decided to log out to try and resolve the problem and it went to Welcome Assistant. I quit that and the Mac shut down. On rebooting, I got the OS X boot screen for about 2 minutes then the computer clicked and rebooted. I retried this about 3 times then after calling Apple and reading some sites on another computer, I decided to boot Windows. That booted fine and I am now using it to post this. I installed Mediafour Macdrive and all my files are still there. I do not yet have Applecare but I am still within the year warranty. What's happened and what can I do?
Thanks in advance,
neonsonicboy.Hi neonsonicboy,
I don't know if I'd consider you a newbie if you're trying to run Basilisk II and System 7.5.5 and you're navigating Terminal.
With that being said, I don't know much about how Basilisk II works... other than I'm familiar with what it is: http://basilisk.cebix.net/
It sounds like, the Mac OS X side got out of whack but I'm unsure if something you were doing in Terminal or via the emulation tool is what caused it. When you stated that you got the OS X boot screen, were you getting just the Apple logo or were you getting a spinning gear underneath it?
A couple of things we can try...
1.) Boot off the Installation disc and attempt to verify directory integrity on the Mac OS X side.
1a.) If unsuccessful, attempt to repair.
1b.) If successful, attempt to boot the unit into Safe Mode
2.) If directory integrity has failed, we may find ourselves in a situation where we need to reinstall the Mac OS X operating system.
But let's try that first step and see what happens, before proceeding with something more invasive like an OS reinstall. -
Macbook Will Not Boot Up Correctly - PLEASE HELP
Hello,
So my MacBook Pro 17" boots up to the login screen where I have two names. One of the login names works fine, but the other will not let me sign in. After I put my password, the desktop background for that name comes up then it freezes and just has the spinning mouse rainbow. I really need to get back in that name as it has all of my programs and projects. How do I fix this?
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MacBook will not boot after iTunes 10.5.2, iPhoto, and Safari update
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With Command+R -> Re-install OSX, re-installing OSX will leave your files intact. Do not erase and install.
If that does not work
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2. Option - 2 - If you have another Mac, you can use Target Disk Mode to access the failed Mac's disk as an external firewire drive. How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode and OS X Mountain Lion: Transfer files between two computers using target disk mode. You will need a Firewire cable or a TB-to-Firewire cable/adapter if the working Mac is equipped with Thunderbolt. Your 2008 Mac has one FW400 and one FW800 port according to MacBook Pro (Early 2008 and Late 2008) - Technical Specifications or if you have MacBook (Early 2008 and Late 2008) - Technical Specifications it has one FW400 port.
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