MacBook pro won't start up

Spook80

Hi all
My MacBook pro won't load past the startup screen with the apple logo.
It started last night, I only had mail and safari open when safari crashed forcing me to power down by holding down power button.
Since then I've tried a few things from numerous apple forums.
It won't load up in safe mode just stalls the same way on apple logo.
I did a hardware test by holding "D" with applications cd in and it says everything is fine.
i then finally managed to get into disk utility by holding "C" with installation cd in but the hard drive isn't there. Also when I try continue to install system again theres no disk to choose to install to.
I'm guessing I need to buy a new hard drive but just wondering if anybody has any ideas or can confirm this sounds like a hard drive problem before I spend any more time and money.
Thanks

Sad Professor

Yep, sounds like the hard drive is dead.

Is this a recent Macbook Pro?

Spook80

Thanks for the reply.
Im trying to find receipts but it's fairly recent as in possibly over a year but definitely not much more if even.
Do ya reckon it's handy enough to replace or should it be only done by a pro?
Cheers again

barryj

Changing the drive is pretty straightforward. Just make sure you have the correct screwdrivers. Apple give details on doing it in the manuals:

http://support.apple.com/manuals/#macbookpro

- barry

Spook80

Thanks for that I'll give it a go assuming it's out of warranty.

Sad Professor

Enter your serial number here to check the machines warranty status

https://selfsolve.apple.com/agreementWarrantyDynamic.do

Note: this isn't necessarily accurate, check your receipt for the actual purchase date.

meep

That's the weirdest thing, the exact same thing happened me over the weekend on my MBP.

Spinning beachball forced a restart which just stood at apple logo.

I started in verbose and noted multiple I/O errors. Immediately thought HD failure.

Was able to mount in target disk mode and get all my important files off and ran repair disk which reported as unrecoverable and recommended re-install.

Ran from install CD and tried to format drive. Always failed. Oh Oh.

Took drive out and formatted it another mac. Put it back in to MBP and installation failed.

Oh well, drive must be fried. I had an old 120MB 2.5" sata lying around that I popped in. This drive was not recognised at all by the MBP.

Now, I have two drives that work perfectly in any machine I connect them to but fail in the MBP. I'm seriously worried this is more than just a HD issue but a motherboard/controller issue.

I currently have the original drive in a usb caddy booting the machine (kind of like a heart/lung machine!). I have an OptiBay Hard Drive Enclosure on the way that will allow be swap out my DVD drive and place the HD back in the machine.

My MBP is out of warranty so I guess no point in even considering repair. Second problem with this unit. A memory chip failed and was replaced under warranty after 9 months of use.

Hopefully yours is just a HD issue.

Spook80

That is strange, sounds the same which kinda has me worried if I go out and buy a new hard drive.
I don't have any other machines to try swapping drives on so might just take the chance.
I don't know too much about it but it almost seems like the drive isn't there anymore as the hardware test comes up fine but when I run disk utility there's nothing there to check except for dvd drive and install cd and same if i try a reintstall.

Spook80

Hi all
Just wanted to post a quick update in case anyone has any suggestions.
I've tried resetting PRAM and NVRAM, resetting the system management controller and booting with installation cd in to access disk utility or reinstalling system. The hard drive just doesn't seem to show up in disk utility or as an option for reinstall.
I'm assuming my hard drive is dead but I tried putting the 120gb hard drive from the xbox in and it won't detect that either (not even sure if that should of worked)
I'm almost resigned to the fact that this is something only apple can repair but as I'm fairly broke i just thought I'd ask again here in case I missed something.
Thanks

meep

See if you can scrounge an external usb enclosure you can pop your drive into. If it works in that, it's likely not the drive but something on the motherboard.

Peter

Spook80

meep wrote: »

See if you can scrounge an external usb enclosure you can pop your drive into. If it works in that, it's likely not the drive but something on the motherboard.

Peter

Cheers good idea I'll try that over the weekend.
I read on a few places thats it's most likely the hdd cable gone.
Does anyone know where I'd pick one of these up in south Dublin?

meep

well, this indicated the cable can be problematic;

http://appledefects.com/wiki/index.php?title=MacBook_Pro

Here's one place to purchase the cable for my model MBP but I wouldn't mind finding somewhere closer to home;

http://www.powerbookmedic.com/Hard-Drive-Data-Cable-for-the-MacBook-Pro-15-Unibody---922-8706-p-17271.html

If you find somewhere, ping me

Peter

Spook80

Thanks for that I'll keep them in mind.
I'm gonna try ring a few places tomorrow so I'll let ya know if I get anywhere

Talisman

Try TheBookYard.com, they are based in the UK and are more expensive than the US resellers.

meep

OptiBay arrived today. Popped HD into it and booted perfectly. Looking forward to getting a replacement cable for the HD bay and running a couple of HDs in the MBP - have an external superdrive now too. Cool.

Spook80

Hi all sorry for delay in posting but for anyone interested i have my macbook back up and running now.
I took a chance and ordered a new hdd cable from powerbook medic.
it arrived today and everythings working again great.
Thanks again to everyone who helped with diagnosing.

Faith

I had that issue at Christmas. It was within warranty so I brought it to the Cork Computer Clinic. First they replaced the logic board, but that didn't fix things, so they replaced the hard drive. It's an absolute dose!