Question

MacBook Pro stuck at Grey Apple Screen

Asked by: tjstalcup

I have tried holding down shift, this does nothing.
I have held down apple+s and done fsck -f , this method says the HardDrive is fine.
I do not have an OSX disc handy, it's at work, for repairing disk permissions.

Basically it loads up to Apple Logo with spinning circle.  Waits for like 2 minutes, then just goes blank and restarts, I let it do it 5 times before I just gave up.

Any ideas on what else I could try?

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Asked On
2008-02-01 at 19:21:07ID23131453
Tags

Apple

,

MacBookPro

,

3

Topic

Apple Laptop

Participating Experts
1
Points
500
Comments
9

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Answers

 

by: pheidiusPosted on 2008-02-01 at 20:50:44ID: 20803184

You should next try reset pram/nvram. command option +p +r

 

by: tjstalcupPosted on 2008-02-01 at 22:11:43ID: 20803396

tried that to, it restarts quickly, but does not fix the problem.

 

by: pheidiusPosted on 2008-02-02 at 08:04:44ID: 20804770

Do you have another Mac at home from which you can start up the mbp using firewire target mode. Do you have any non oem memory installed. Have you recently done added any applications or done an auto software update? Also , If you can't wait until you go back to work and you have an apple store nearby you could go buy a copy of Disk Warrior 4

 

by: pheidiusPosted on 2008-02-02 at 08:17:04ID: 20804822

o and by the way if you end up not buying an aftermarket boot utility suite then appleJack, a free open source cli boot utility has added support for intel macs. http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=79562&package_id=83228&release_id=463203

 

by: tjstalcupPosted on 2008-02-02 at 08:39:53ID: 20804898

I do have another mac, another macbookpro, however, stupid me, I do not have the correct fireware cable.  Yeah, if I go to the Apple Store, I will just have them fix it, not buy software, I didn't pay for AppleCare for nothing, let me try this AppleJack.

 

by: tjstalcupPosted on 2008-02-02 at 08:45:55ID: 20804930

Okay, how do i get into single-use mode, it sounds like I have to be able to boot into OSX in oder to install AppleJack, which completely defeats the purpose.

 

by: tjstalcupPosted on 2008-02-02 at 10:44:30ID: 20805376

Well I just got off the phone with AppleCare Support they are saying I need to reinstall Leopard, using Archive & Install in order to save all my files.  Wish me luck.

 

by: pheidiusPosted on 2008-02-02 at 19:32:48ID: 20807415

Well, if you are still at home then you can't do an archive and install as you will still need to get back to work to get the disks. An archive and install will likely work but it is kind of a nuclear option. It is what the low level tier of Apple Care Techs will always suggest for any of a wide variety of complaints when their limited knowledge base and alloted time to get you off the phone is used up. As far as Apple Jack goes, that was me looking down the road for you as I knew you would have to get your installation to boot before you could install it. Since it is still the weekend, run over to Best Buy or Circuit city and buy a firewire cable. Then connect the two Macbooks with the good one up and running. Next, power on the buggy one while holding down the t key. After a bit the buggy one will display a big orangy t shape and then the HD of the buggy one will appear on your desktop. You can then run disk utility on it. The difference is that the target mode drive is completely dismounted so disk utility can work on the most basic structures of the drive. You can also check the smart status of the drive. You may also be able to install Apple Jack to the buggy one while linked this way. I can't promise that, though, as I have never tried that in particular myself but you could try running the installer and see if it lets you select your target drive as a valid installation disk.

 

by: tjstalcupPosted on 2008-02-03 at 08:08:31ID: 20808997

Unfortunately I did as directed and did an Archive & Install.  My computer is back up and running and I am able to retrieve all of my old files.  The system is running better than before!  Thanks for all the help.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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