Non-booting MacBook Pro

I'm trying to figure out some issues with a friend's MacBook Pro (2008/Lion). There's something going on with the hard drive and it won't boot normally. It hangs on the grey screen with spinning gear. I've booted into the Recovery partition and run First Aid and tried single user mode running fsck -fy. Both say the drive is OK, but it still won't boot. I can boot into safe mode but once the progress bar disappears I get the same spinning gear. Now I'm trying to access it via Firewire Target mode. The machine goes in the mode and shows in my MacPro Finder but as soon as I try to access files or use Disk Warrior, the drive apparently stops or seizes and I get a spinning beachball and can't access the drive.
Is there anything else I can try? Why does it mount as a FW drive, but can't be accessed?

Look in your owners manual it will provide you all the info you need on how get going again. If you don't have access to it you can download one here.
Regards,
Roger

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Non-booting MacBook Pro, ?? on startup screen, more....

I swapped out a hard drive on my MacBook Pro (unibody, 2.26, 4GB RAM) and was going to wipe the drive and reinstall OS 10.5. I selected the Install Disk from 'startup disk' in system preferences and restarted. I heard 2 closely-spaced chimes, then nothing. I tried booting with the option key pressed and a padlock appeared on the screen with a elongated button and an arrow. I tried entering my password and nothing happened. Okay. Reboot and eject the install disk. A long wait, the folder with the question mark appears. Okay. Reboot and tried to reset PRAM via the 'vulcan grip.' Nothing. No chimes, no restarts, no nothing. Okay. Try Target Disk mode. Nothing. Return original HD. Same results. Help!!!!!?????
Thanks.
Jan Georgen

Look in your owners manual it will provide you all the info you need on how get going again. If you don't have access to it you can download one here.
Regards,
Roger

How to get kernel on a non booting MacBook pro? recently ran out of enough memory on start up disk. will boot to internet restore or from ox dvd. has anyone every had this problem? I can't even get in free up space.

How to get to kernel on a MacBook pro with booting issues. Internet restore has not bee successful. It will not boot from 10.5 install disc cause I recently upgraded to lastest ox.
Any help is appreciated.

Not using any mouse pad, I have a very smooth desktop. But I just tried to use a sheet of A4 printing paper, but no result, the problem persisted.
Someone on this forum suggested, that USB3 may interfere with the magic mouse.
I have 2 LaCie HDD's about 70 cm away from the mouse, I use them on Thunderbolt. But in operation or not - the result is the same, the mouse plays up! Just now I was clicking the desktop and the mouse created a new folder!!
Thanks for the advice, Bee
Cheers, Gerd

Seems like non retina macbook pro is more expensive than retina macbook pro!

MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.6 GHz is $2,299.00 with the Antiglare Widescreen Display now. If I wanna upgrade it with Crucial 16GB kit ($80) and 256GB Crucial m4 2.5" SSD with Data Transfer Kit ($220) it's gonna coast $2,599.00 all together. On the other hand, with the base Retina version with the upgrades (2.6 GHz, 16GB) from Apple It only coasts 2,499.00. I even save $100 for my external DVD burner if I want to get one. Most people say on this forum non retina is cheaper than retina MAcbook pro but I couldn't figure it out how please tell me if I am missing anything!
I have been looking for most discussions in this forum about retina and non retina Macbook pro. Most people think that upgrading is the biggest issue with the Retina Macbook pro but can we upgrade the non retina version more than 16GB? if we can't it's not an issue. With the SDD I guess we can go with the external ones if we really need one and I assume that external SSD's are going to get cheaper in the time too or we can get external USB3 / Thunderbolt hard drives. I just decided to purchase one of these Macbook pro and started looking for more information online to figure out which one is better but I got more confused because the numbers say the Retina is cheaper and upgrading is not that big of a deal but most people who know about Apple products more than me on this forum say non Retina is cheaper and it can be upgraded after purchasing it.
I might be wrong with my thoughts but I need some info about upgrading. What rigs can I upgrade with the non retina Macbook pro?
(Only RAM and Hard drive or more than that?) I would like to know your thoughts and advises too?
Thanks for your help!
I am thinking of getting one of these for video editing (Final cut pro X)!

Yep, the only things that you can upgrade on the non-Retina models is the RAM and the HD/SSD. I'm assuming that your calculations are correct, so you've just got to decide if you want to the Retina display model or not. For me, there have been too many issues with the Retina models to buy one just now - but I'm sure that there are a lot of happy Retina owners out there - we only hear from those having problems.
Clinton

Non-retina MacBook Pro advice

Hi, I need your advice concerning a non-retina MacBook Pro 15".
I have a 5 years old MacBook Pro 15 (not unibody), upgraded with RAM and SSD. It's working fine but I would have to spend about 300€ to replace battery and fix another little problem. Again, the Mac is working fine and I'm pretty satisifed with it.
Anyway, a friend who is also a certified apple tech suggested me to go for a new one.
Being a significantly investment (around 2000€), I'd like to know your opinion about the retina vs non retina models.
He told me to go for the non-retina because:
- I already own a Sata3 SSD which can be installed on the new one
- save the money I would spend for my actual mac to get the high res antiglare option
- get the firewire and superdrive
- easy ram upgrade
- slightly cheaper
- it should serve another 5 years time frame
What about it?
My main field is web development, CS6, audio production, office and common daily stuff.
One last question. Since the latest update was in June 2012, is it worth to wait for a 2013 model?
Thank you very much!

The jury is still out on the retina display for the premium one has to pay. Personally, I would examine what is available in the refurbished section. The pricing is more favorable and you get essentially new MBPs with the same warranty and Apple support as virgin new ones.
If cutting edge performance is your preference, do wait for the next generation when ever that will be. I on the other hand went 'backwards' and recently bought a late 2011 MBP. The principle reason being that I wanted the 17" display. It may not have all of the latest 'speed' options but I find it to be an excellent machine.
I also have a 2006 Core Duo and it works perfectly within the constraints of the installed hardware. It is noticeably slower in certain situations compared to the newer MBPs but unless one's requirements are for really heavy duty applications, it is more than adequate.
Determine what your real needs are and what features are really required and go from there Try to extinguish emotion in your selection and do an impartial cost benefit analysis.
Ciao.

Are non-Unibody Macbook Pros still viable for professional Photoshop/Lightroom work?

I currently own a late 2008 Macbook pro (the first unibody) model with a 2.4ghz core 2 duo processor, and I am looking for something similar to get my wife who works with as an upgrade to her crappy old laptop that crashes on her when she has more than a few DNGs open in Photoshop. I was wondering if the 2007/8 Non Unibody Higher End Macbook Pros are still viable for Photoshop/Lightroom work? I know that some of these models seem very old now, but she has a 2005 Windows Toshiba Laptop that can barely handle it's own operating system...so would a decently powered non-unibody Macbook Pro still be viable today or would she have just any many headaches when trying to multitask?
Thanks, it's my first post!

Thank you everybody for all the replies!
First off, I think we'll wait what the 11th of june will bring us, hopefully a new mac mini. As Michael Wasley stated, the glossy imac screen isn't going to work for him. So that brings us to a Mac Mini or Macbook Pro. I'm using the macbook pro myself for the last couple of years and i'm a great fan of it's capabilities.. but my brother prefers a fixed 'computer' and not a laptop..
At this point i think he's going to buy (the new?) mac mini (and use his own screen), upgrade the RAM to somewhere between 12-16 GB, possible get a SSD drive and for sure get the biggest i7 processor available.
Hopefully that will get things running.
Kind regards,
Mark

Non-Retina Macbook Pro Vs. Refurbished Early 2013 Retina Macbook Pro

Hey guys,
Im currently shopping around for a new laptop as I start University Monday and still have not decided on a Macbook. I originally thought I'd be completely fine purchasing a Non Retina Macbook Pro with student pricing at $999. I was ready to purchase it when I found myself gaining more interest in the Retina version, which seems to be better in every possible way except hard drive space, as well as the obvious difference in price. I feel as is 128GB will be not nearly enough, and the 256GB is $1500 at student pricing, which after tax will be way out of my budget. I've narrowed it down to two choices really, the Newest Non Retina Macbook Pro 13 inch $999, and a Refurbished February 2013 Retina Macbook Pro 13 inch, Non iris and 256 GB.
http://store.apple.com/ca/product/FE...retina-Display
There's the link for it... I guess I'm simply just asking for your opinions guys. My laptop will be used for Internet Browsing, Watching shows, Simple Movie editing, Music, and the occasional low requirement gaming (League of Legends).
One of my concerns is also Resale.. I believe by 2-4 Years I will want to sell my macbook, and Im not sure anyone will even want to purchase a non retina by then, or the value will just plummet.
Also, is the difference in hardware that crazy between the Earlier Retina and current non retina? I know the current retina blows the non retina out of the water, but Im not sure about the early 2013 retina.
I've been saying retina too much lately...
Anyways, let me know what you think guys
Thanks !

First let me address the issue of refurbished MBPs. Same warranty and telephone support as a new one. I have done this three times and will also probably do it next time. In every instance there have been NO detectable cosmetic flaws.
The rertina's fast performance to large extent is due to the SSD storage. Install a SSD in a conventional MBP and you will achieve similar results. The difference in performance between the 2013 and the current models will be slight. You would barely notice and difference in normal light resource applications. My personal feeling is that storage capacity is more important that CPU speed and even RAM. External HDDs are for backups, not for storing data because of storage limitations on the computer (if possible). When I go mobile, I do not want to take an external HDD with me.
Games on any MBP are not going to be a top notch experience. They do not excel in that department.
Ciao.

Can you install 16gbs of ram in a 2012/2013 non retina macbook pro?

the newest non retina macbook pro on the apple website. the reason im asking is that apple only offers 4gbs and 8gbs. does apple not sell 16gbs of ram on the macbook because of price or does the computer not support it? im getting the 2.9GHz dual-core intel core i7 btw thanks for the help.

According to this usually-reliable source, two @ 8GB will work:
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook_pro/specs/macbook-pro-core-i7-2.9- 13-mid-2012-unibody-usb3-specs.html

How to fix a non-working keyboard backlight (2008 Non-Unibody MacBook Pro)

I was having trouble with my 2008 Non-Unibody MacBook Pro's backlit keyboard. In spite of seeing the backlight bar go up and down, it would not light up.
I have solved the problem by replugging the power ribbon that connects to the backlight.
Here is a YouTube video I made that explains the procedure:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuOsBJe8NbU
Hope it helps anybody!
Take care!

Same Problem here.
I have installed bootcamp. i played Crysis for over 5 hours. After that i went on OS X. For 2 hours just surfing the net.I opened handbrake and the macbook RUNS at 89 degrees Celsius. and the fans i could not hear them. maybe they are on 2000rpm. Thank god i realise it soon, and stop handbrake encoding.
After that i came here and read that others have the same problem. so i reset the SMC. after resseting SMC . the 1 time i opened handbrake the fans start rolling at 67 Celsius .I stopped the encoding and start it again after 5 minutes. AGAIN the macbook reach 89 degrees without the fans rolling from over 2000rpm.
Please apple fix it. We don't want our MBPs to be burned Please realise this problem and give us a fix.

HT1338 While booting macbook pro OSX lion 10.7.3 display blue screen for 3 seconds and booting,booting time is also very high. HOw to solve the proble

while booting macbook pro OSx version MAC OSX 10.7.3 display blue screen for some 5 second and continue the booting? such that booting time is high.How to resolve the problem.please guide me to solve that.I have tried NEW installation format installed 10.7.3 from online installation after that aslo im getting the ame problem.

Run through this list and get back with me
Step by Step to fix your Mac
Mac won't boot or "You need to restart"
Create a data recovery, undelete boot drive

Should I buy the 13' non retina MacBook Pro or the RMbP

I am looking forward to buying a new MacBook Pro this year, but I am having a hard time choosing between the newer retina base model of the MacBook Pro or the older (2012) non retina MacBook Pro. I would use the laptop for non heavy gaming, web browsing, and creating documents for school. What would be better in the long run? I know that the newer retina is non upgradable but would the 128ssd and the 4gb of ram would still be good for a couple more years?

Personally, I would spend the extra $$ and get the 13" with 8GB of RAM and 256GB Flash Storage. I bought my daughter an early 13" Retina with 8GB of RAM and 128GB Flash Storage of which she only has ~27GB left. She'll be needing an upgraded Flash Storage (OWC) soon if she doesn't offload some files to an external drive. Her rMBP is not the PCIe flash storage.

I want to daisy chain my 15 inch mid 2012 non retina macbook pro to a 2012 27inch imac and then to a 27 inch thunderbolt display

I have a mid 2012 non retina 15inch macbook pro, and a 27inch 2012 imac, and a 27inch thunderbolt dsplay and I want to use the imac and the thunderbolt display as dual monitors for my macbook pro and daisy chain them together. I have an extra thunderbolt cable, How would I go about doing this, every time I try to connect it via Target Display mode it only shows up on the imac and the thunderbolt diplay shows the imac screen but I cannot access anything on it. I would love some help, I am probably just missing something simple.

Yes there is on Mac computers that do not come from the factory with "Built In", Note the Words Built In, DVD drive.
On all Mac computers that come with Built In DVD drive Apple has Restricted the installation of Windows from ONLY That Built In drive and Only when it is Physically installed inside the system.
Many people have tried what you want to do and to my knowledge None have been successful.
It is something that is Hard Wired, Written, into the Firmware of these Mac computers.
Some have tried installing Windows on the standard HDD and then moving that HDD to the optical bay or leaving it in the main bay and installing a SSD into either the main drive bay or optical bay and have been greeted with the system not booting to either OS or not booting to Windows.
Something about how boot camp sets up the drive and possibly makes changes to the Firmware or EFI partition on the drive that Windows is installed to or to both that restrict it. You can't even make another Mac OS X partition on that drive without screwing up the Windows install.
To your last post the Answer is NO as stated above.

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.

Can't boot MacBook Pro 13" (mid 2010) after installing the update SMC 1.6

First for a long time was a white screen and noisy cooler
After the system battery icon was crossed out and the indicator on the left side of macbook does not show anything and everything worked cooler at high speed (he was cold macbook)
After reboot appeared and the system has stopped running
Few days ago I have installed Mac Os X 10.6.4 but when the system had started working I saw my desktop it was at least 2-3 sec, after that macbook went to sleep mode. I pressed any key macbook and system started working, but without lighting screen. I used bright lamp and saw that all shortcuts and indicators (like wifi, battery etc.) have appeared on my desktop. After 2-3 sec macbook went to sleep mode again. Pressing on buttons and light from lamp gave me possibility to done update to 10.6.5 and after to 10.6.8. But at the end situation was not changed.
When I boot macbook with using install DVD, I can use all utilities (disk utility, network util etc.) and macbook don't goes to sleep mode and screen has light. In my opinion reason of this - not correct installation latest EFI or SMC updates. I tried to install EFI update 2.0 and SMC 1.5 for 10.6.5/10.6.8, but system showed me that I can't do this update. I'll try to find some way to make EFI update, maybe this would help me solve this problem. P.S. answer from Applle support: Our updates can't to break your macbook... it's just coincidence. Probability theory it's just mystification
this is info about my MacBook Pro 13" (mid 2010) MC374ll/A. As you can see I have SMC version 1.68f99 instead 1.62f7
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1237 - I found information about right version SMC for my MacBook Pro mid 2010 13" from this table.
If somebody has same problem, welcome to discussion. Maybe we'll find way to solve this problem... Or Apple will make fixes for us.

After some time, I found answer how I can repair my MacBook Pro 13" (mid 2010). As I was writing early - Mac Os X update SMC 1.6 broke my computer.
This is a link on repair instructions: http://habrahabr.ru/sandbox/67092/
As a result I write this post on my old (but working) MacBook Pro.

How do I install base system on external drive to boot MacBook Pro?

I have a MacBook Pro 2.2 core 2 duo. I use an external HD for storage. Want to make external drive bootable (i.e. to run apps like DiskWarrior on MacBookPro).
How do I install the base system?
Thank you.

First, be sure the external drive is partitioned using the GUID partition scheme. If it isn't then you will have to re-partition the drive which will erase anything you have on the drive.
Second, the external drive must be formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)
Last, boot from the OS X Installer Disc One that came with the computer and install OS X onto the external drive. Do not do an Erase and Install if you don't want to erase the external drive. You can customize the installation to omit any additional components you don't need such as language localizations, Asian Fonts, unneeded printer drivers, etc.

Non-booting MacBook Pro

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