computer problem

seannash

out of nowhere my macbook pro stopped working.

it powers up and gets to my desktop screen(minus the icons) and stops.

i get the spinning wheel and thats as far as i get.


ive tried command,alt,p&r and also command and s but it didnt seem to do anything.


anybody got any advice of things i can try before i have to bring it somewhere

Anima

Did you install any new programs recently? Could try booting up in safe mode and removing any application that might be causing the fault.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1455

acman

Ouch! That sucks man...are you using Leopard or Snow Leopard?

I would definitely try posting on macrumors.com before taking it anywhere...the guys over there were an abundance of help to me in the past!

Try here specifically:

http://forums.macrumors.com/forumdisplay.php?f=69

Also, did you try booting up in Safe Mode then looking at the error logs?

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1455

seannash

i tried safe mode but i got the spiining wheel at the log in screen.

im working through all the startup commands now so hopefully one of them will work.really hope its not ****ed.its a few years old but it was working perfectly last night

jimi_t2

seannash wrote: »

i tried safe mode but i got the spiining wheel at the log in screen.

im working through all the startup commands now so hopefully one of them will work.really hope its not ****ed.its a few years old but it was working perfectly last night

If you're getting that far then its indicative of a software problem rather than a hardware problem imo.

Have you tried booting from an OS X boot CD? If this loads without a hitch then you're gravy; its more than likely some corrupt dependencies in your system folder or something.

The command+alt+p+r is for reflashing the PRAM battery which stores the date and time. This is a fix for (predominately) vintage macs whose screen stayed completely black.

seannash

jimi_t2 wrote: »

If you're getting that far then its indicative of a software problem rather than a hardware problem imo.

Have you tried booting from an OS X boot CD? If this loads without a hitch then you're gravy; its more than likely some corrupt dependencies in your system folder or something.

The command+alt+p+r is for reflashing the PRAM battery which stores the date and time. This is a fix for (predominately) vintage macs whose screen stayed completely black.

yeah i unfortunately dont have the start up cd so im a bit ****ed in that department.
i did think that it was a software problem like you said because i could get to the desktop screen.

someopne recommended getting a new start up cd so i might give that a bash

Is mise le key

Dont know if when you started it up in safe mode is the same as this below???.....if not you could give this a bash

so the next thing to try is doing a Safe Boot. To do this, hold down Shift while the Mac starts, until you see the words "Safe Boot" on the screen. If your Mac gets past the blue screen in Safe Boot mode, the most likely cause is a kernel extension incompatible with the version of Mac OS X you have installed.

seannash

Is mise le key wrote: »

Dont know if when you started it up in safe mode is the same as this below???.....if not you could give this a bash

yep i tried this.got it top the log in screen in safe mode then got the spinning wheel again

Is mise le key

seannash wrote: »

yep i tried this.got it top the log in screen in safe mode then got the spinning wheel again

This may be a stupid suggestion as to the problem but is it possible that an alternate user account was created by someone acting the pri.ck or are you not even getting to an actual log in stage?????

jimi_t2

seannash wrote: »

yep i tried this.got it top the log in screen in safe mode then got the spinning wheel again

Corrupt dependencies then.

100% a software issue if you're getting as far as the login screen every time.

Re-install OS X.

jimi_t2

seannash wrote: »

yeah i unfortunately dont have the start up cd so im a bit ****ed in that department.
i did think that it was a software problem like you said because i could get to the desktop screen.

someopne recommended getting a new start up cd so i might give that a bash

Actually, if its an Intel machine how about you boot from a *nix live CD? There's a tonne of distros out there suitable if you just want to have a gander at whats wrong and get some files off

seannash

jimi_t2 wrote: »

Actually, if its an Intel machine how about you boot from a *nix live CD? There's a tonne of distros out there suitable if you just want to have a gander at whats wrong and get some files off

in english man!!!

appreciate the help jimi but could you explain this

jimi_t2

seannash wrote: »

in english man!!!

appreciate the help jimi but could you explain this

An OS X re-install will sort your problem, but as you've said you don't have a suitable CD to boot off of yet.

If you're just looking to get **** off the laptop at the moment, and don't want to go take apart the keyboard and that just to get at the hard drive, there's a good chance you can download one of the free Linux distributions, burn it to a CD and then boot off that.

A linux distribution (really should be called a *nix distro) that's supposed to allow you to run a whole operating system from the CD without installing it is usually referred to as a ''LIVE CD'' or ''Live distro''.

So google your model of macbook ''+ live nix distro'' and read on

Anima

A whole re-install is an awful lot of hassle, should be a last resort. Can you think of anything you might have changed/installed recently? I doubt its a virus or something like that if its OSX.

If you want to try Jimi's idea (which is a good idea if you knew what was causing the fault), get a small Linux version like this : http://www.tinycorelinux.com/ or http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/. Burn it to cd, pop it into the cd tray and boot up.

The CD should take over if the BIOS is set to boot for CD/DVD, you might have to hit a key first. It might take a few minutes but you'll be at a desktop then where you can browse the hard drives and delete/modify anything that might help OSX boot properly.

seannash

lads thanks a million for the help but im having a problem with the links that anima provided.

i dont have a clue what to download as theres a lot of files

guess the obvious answer is download them all right

jimi_t2

seannash wrote: »

lads thanks a million for the help but im having a problem with the links that anima provided.

i dont have a clue what to download as theres a lot of files

guess the obvious answer is download them all right

This is your laddy for damn small linux

http://ftp.heanet.ie/mirrors/damnsmalllinux.org/current/dsl-4.4.10.iso

Burn that onto a CD using a proper tool like nero, selecting ''Burn Image to CD'' rather than just dragging and dropping.

Slap it in, and hold down C as the laptop is booting.

Watch all the excitement.

seannash

jimi_t2 wrote: »

This is your laddy for damn small linux

http://ftp.heanet.ie/mirrors/damnsmalllinux.org/current/dsl-4.4.10.iso

Burn that onto a CD using a proper tool like nero, selecting ''Burn Image to CD'' rather than just dragging and dropping.

Slap it in, and hold down C as the laptop is booting.

Watch all the excitement.

great stuff jimi,appreciate it

seannash

okay so ill update this now as im still nowhere near solving the problem.

i cant find anyone who has a mac os disk.

the linux solution didnt work as it wouldnt give me the option to boot from it and i burned it every way i could on cd and dvd.

so i thought id try something else
i have a dmg file on my sisters pc.

i want to burn it to dvd so that i can use it as a bootable dvd on my mac.again i tried to do it myself in neuro but it wouldnt recognise the dng file so i couldnt burn it to dvd on it.

i really dont weant to bring it to someone only to have them boot from a disk and charge me for it

so any help would again be appreciated.i did a search but it didnt get me anywhere

Anima

When you first switch your computer on, does it give you the option to choose which device to boot from? Usually you have to hit F-12. If you have this choice, hit F-12 and boot from the CD/DVD drive with the bootable disk in it.

If you dont get the option, you'll have to go into the BIOS. Then find the location of the boot order settings and have the CD/DVD drive as the 1st boot device and your HDD as the second one. If its not booting with your current settings its probably because the HDD is 1st.

seannash

Anima wrote: »

When you first switch your computer on, does it give you the option to choose which device to boot from? Usually you have to hit F-12. If you have this choice, hit F-12 and boot from the CD/DVD drive with the bootable disk in it.

If you dont get the option, you'll have to go into the BIOS. Then find the location of the boot order settings and have the CD/DVD drive as the 1st boot device and your HDD as the second one. If its not booting with your current settings its probably because the HDD is 1st.

it does.it gives me the macintosh hard drive symbol.

Anima

Hmm don't really follow what you mean. Is the dvd booting and thats where your getting the symbol? Or is OSX just booting as normal again?

seannash

My head is melted!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i now have got two install disks from a friend of mine.

i have inserted the 10.4.10 disk into my lappy and tried to boot from it(c during install).it comes up that i cannot install the software.
i only want to boot from it so i cant see why it wont let me do that.

i also acquired a copy of snow leopard to boot from.its an upgrade disk from the same friend.
i try to boot from it but i get the same ****ing message.

it does ask me do i want to upgrade my os but its not mine so i wont have any pass for it and also it wont fix the issue.

i thought booting from these disks would be the answer but its not appearing to be.

am i doing something wrong.:mad::mad:

Anima

Is the OSX install disk a live dvd as well? I don't think it is, could be wrong though. It would explain the behaviour you described however. I think you should just format and reinstall. If you have your CD key, just use the 10.4 disk.

seannash

hey anima.i dont have my original cd key(mac is 4 years old and lost it in the move)

will i be able to format and install without a cd key.

i really just want o look at the hard drive and delete some flies which i think might be causing this.

on the verge of bringing it into a computer shop but figured id give it one last attempt

seannash

and it gets worse!!!


i tried a reinstall using the leopard upgrade cd and now it wont go past the apple logo screen.

nightmare

Zascar

Just get a pc they ever break :pac:

seannash

Zascar wrote: »

Just get a pc they ever break :pac:

ha ha ha,score one for windows.

have to say ive had this lappy for 4 years and never done any maintainance on it and this has been the only issue.

4 years of constant use is pretty good i reckon

Zascar

Ah only kidding Mac's are great like that but nothing is perfect! Best of luck getting it sorted!

Pot Noodle =

Bring it to Mactivate they will sort it for you

jimi_t2

You're definitely doing something wrong if you can't boot off of a LIVE CD.

The Harddrive is in HFS+ format. This is pretty much specifically for OSX and no other OS will format a harddrive in this manner, so be careful reformating.

Try

Zapping the PRAM (apple+alt+p+r) when starting up.

Let it do that polyphonic ''bong'' a couple times

IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARD THE LAST BONG

Hold down the option key with each of your various CDs in the drive. This should give you a selection of what to boot from.

If that doesn't work I dunno...

seannash

its in the shop now lads.

appreciate all the responses but i figured id bite the bullet and just get it fixed instead of wasting more time