MacBook Pro wont boot

[quinnlaup]

Hi all,

I've got a MacBook Pro in last week which i am struggling with it is the unibody A1278 model. It powers on normally but will not load the O/S. Basically the screen lights and we can here the chime we can also see the apple logo but that is it. I removed the drive and ran a diagnostic test on the drive which showed no faults. The customer has also provided the install disk which i have used to boot the system with however it will not boot from this disk with the customers HDD installed. I then took one of our spare HDD's and successfully booted the system using the install disk. My intention was to install OSX onto the spare drive but having formatted the drive i am getting an error stating that the install has failed but i am not sure why? If i can manage to get OSX installed would it be possible to use the Disk Utility to repair the volume? I really need some fresh ideas ASAP.

kind regards

quinnlaup

 

[Cornerstone Technologies]

install OSX onto the spare drive but having formatted the drive i am getting an error stating that the install has failed but i am not sure why?

Considering that you did not include what the error actually said, I cant reasonably say that anyone can point you in the right direction. What was the error message?

 

[quinnlaup]

I do apologise for not posting the error but it didnt give me a specific error code it simply said that the installer encountered an error that caused the installation to fail, contact the software manufacturer for assistance. I am not sure if there is a log file created during the setup which i could check for a specific error code?

kind regards

quinnlaup

 

[wimwauters]

So what's the result of the Apple hardware tests/diagnostics?

 

[anonymous Mac Tech]

This is really basic stuff for a tech. You said you formatted the spare drive, however what is the partition scheme? Was this a brand new unformatted drive you tried, or one that previously was in a PC?

Also, what is the original problem that the machine came in for? Furthermore, what version of OSX are you trying to install? Is the install disk(s) grey or black?

 

[quinnlaup]

This is really basic stuff for a tech.

Meaow......saucer of milk anyone? You Mac techs really are a prickly bunch.

As i have already apologised earlier in this thread i have absolutely NO INTENTION of doing so again. Had you asked for these details i would have gratefully supplied you with them. You have helped me previously and i have always been both polite and appreciative. Unlike you!!

Also, what is the original problem that the machine came in for?
In my first post i clearly described the issue that the machine came in for as best i could given my very limited knowledge/experience of Macs. I suggest in future that rather than climbing up on your high horse you actually read the post!!

In conclusion this thread seems to have gone the may of so many others on this forum with techs sniping away at others requesting help!

END OF RANT



THREAD CLOSED

 

[Keegan]

Have you tried to press "alt" while starting, and then choose the dvd from the options you get?
then you can run disc utility from the dvd.

Or as asked earlier to run the applications dvd and press d for testing hardware.

 

[Cornerstone Technologies]

This is really basic stuff for a tech.

Meaow......saucer of milk anyone? You Mac techs really are a prickly bunch.

As i have already apologised earlier in this thread i have absolutely NO INTENTION of doing so again. Had you asked for these details i would have gratefully supplied you with them. You have helped me previously and i have always been both polite and appreciative. Unlike you!!

A member suggested running Apple Hardware Diagnostics, and you didn't take that advice. Instead, you made the choice to go on the defensive. Diagnosing a Mac is no different from a PC, as long as you have the tools to do so. It takes a basic amount of troubleshooting and problem solving skills. Don't lash out when members echo the same stuff that would be expected from basic troubleshooting. You need to get a grip.

Also, what is the original problem that the machine came in for?
In my first post i clearly described the issue that the machine came in for as best i could given my very limited knowledge/experience of Macs. I suggest in future that rather than climbing up on your high horse you actually read the post!!

If you do not have the knowledge, and do not intend on following the advice from others, then you are doing your customer a disservice and probably charging them accordingly. I will repeat it again, Apple Hardware Diagnostics. Short of that, Techtools 6 is very good too. Forums are wonderful because of the knowledge contained within. Its like treasure, you have to look for it. You are frustrated because you probably find yourself in a situation where you are unsure what to do. Instead of clarifying and/or asking for clarification, you want to put yourself on some soapbox and portray participants on this treads as less than helpful. That's a dick move, and unjustified. The problem is squarely on you, and no one else.

 

[quinnlaup]

@Cornerstone Technologies

I accept that i was defensive in my previous post however i stand by my point that there is a way to ask for information. I have absolutely no desire to get involved in a war of words with anyone. I agree that i should have responded to Wim Wauter's post before kicking off. With the benefit of hindsight i believe i was hasty in responding to anonymous Mac Tech and therefore i apologise unreservedly.

kind regards

quinnlaup

 

[Dameize]

From what ive read (just skimmed) sounds like you need to just pop the installation disc in and hold the appropriate keys to boot from a disc. I havnt done it for a while but im pretty sure you can format from that so the partition scheme shouldnt really matter as it will do it for you. After that install it and bam your done.

Providing the harddrive is fine and theres no other faults I really cant see why this wont work.

 

[anonymous Mac Tech]

From what ive read (just skimmed) sounds like you need to just pop the installation disc in and hold the appropriate keys to boot from a disc. I havnt done it for a while but im pretty sure you can format from that so the partition scheme shouldnt really matter as it will do it for you. After that install it and bam your done.

Providing the harddrive is fine and theres no other faults I really cant see why this wont work.

If the drive is out of a PC, Disk Utility will NOT just repartition the drive for you when you reformat it. Assuming this behavior causes novices a variety of behaviors and causes a variety of problems. If the drive is a new format, then disk utility will default the partition scheme for whatever machine the drive is installed in.

 

[Dameize]

Had no idea, just made the assumption as thats what linux does. Ive only really installed OSX about 3 or 4 times.

 

[quinnlaup]

Hey folks

I thought this thread would have been dead in the water after my previous out burst but i would sincerely like to thank everyone that has contributed so far. The situation is this the machine is a MacBook Pro running version 10.6 of Mac OS (Snow Leopard). The customer has also provided the grey installation disk only and not the disk with the hardware diagnostics. The problem i am experiencing is that this machine will not boot ie: it powers on normally you hear the chime and then see the apple logo but it wont load any further. The machine will not boot from the installation disk with the customers HDD connected however it will boot from the disk when the HDD is removed. The machine also will not boot into safe mode.

So far i have removed the HDD (fujitsu brand) and tested it on one of my bench PC's using the Fujitsu diagnostic tool which has passed the drive. The next thing i did was to eventually get a copy of Snow Leopard installed onto a spare HDD. This allowed me to boot the machine and i was then able to connect the customers HDD via USB caddy. I can view all the customers files so at this point i decided to image the drive as this would allow me to try out different fixes without worrying about the possibility of data loss. After doing a bit of research i tried to repair the volume using the disk utility this completed successfully but did not resolve the issue. I then took Cornerstone Technologies advice and purchased Tech Tools Pro which i used to again try and repair the volume it also said it found a number of issues which it fixed but once again this did not resolve the issue. Not really sure what else to try, going to keep on with research and see what i can find.

kind regards

quinnlaup

 

[Cornerstone Technologies]

Recently I had a MacBook pro in the shop that would not boot from my Snow Leopard I stall disk. I would get failures and even a few kernel panics. Turns out the firmware had been updated and my install disc was the issue. I ended up making an updated install disc and I had no mOre trouble. Thing that I always assume is that the thing most overlooked often is a cause. Took me a couple of days, but I was able to solve it.

It sounds like the file system and directory structure of the original drive is messed up. I have found that on Fujitsu and Hitachi drives suffer from these issues and are generally unrecoverable. If it was my client, I would suggest formatting the drive and trying that. Depending on how it turns out, a new drive could be the eventual answer.

 

[quinnlaup]

I just want to update this thread further by saying that i decided to replace the customers HDD with a brand new one. I fitted the HDD as normal into the machine and attempted to install Snow Leopard onto the drive however when it came to partitioning the drive it failed saying POSIX error: memory could not be allocated. I then decided to remove the drive from the machine and connect it via USB. I reattempted the installation onto the drive and hey presto it worked, which leads me to think that the internal SATA cable may be faulty? How likely is this or is there possibly a fault with the SATA controller on the mainboard? I would be very interested in your thoughts.

kind regards

quinnlaup

 

[dracken]

I had a machine a while back with the same error: POSIX error: memory could not be allocated. It was the HDD cable that fixed the issue. I have seen a lot of bad HDD cables recently.

 

[Nach0]

? How likely is this or is there possibly a fault with the SATA controller on the mainboard? I would be very interested in your thoughts.

kind regards

quinnlaup

Having never seen that POSIX error myself (5years as an apple tech) I can say that I have seen sata cables that fail be it a bad connection to the motherboard or a fault in the thin cable itself.
Very rarely is it the logic board with those symptoms
Thankfully a sata cable is a damn side cheaper then a logic board

 

[dracken]

Having never seen that POSIX error myself (5years as an apple tech) I can say that I have seen sata cables that fail be it a bad connection to the motherboard or a fault in the thin cable itself.
Very rarely is it the logic board with those symptoms
Thankfully a sata cable is a damn side cheaper then a logic board

I have only seen that particular error message that one time. It seems like we see 3 - 4 bad hdd cables a month now on our customers machines though.

 

[anonymous Mac Tech]

Personally, I've seen this error with using non Apple branded drives on the unibody macbook pros (not often but on a couple occasions). Tried swapping cables with same problem or sometimes it will format and start and sometimes finish install, but take an extremely long time to install and run like a dog. Even tried disabling the SMS (sudden motion sensor) and still no change. Only thing that worked was using an Apple branded drive.

 

[quinnlaup]

Guys

thanks for your feedback i think initially i will go with the SATA cable as its the cheapest option if that doesn't work i will try the apple branded HDD. I will follow up if/when we get this one resolved.



kind regards

quinnlaup