While attempting to upgrade the firmware on my MacBook (late 2006 model) the machine froze and the screen blanked. The MacBook will now not start. I have tried starting with various keyboard commands ("X" to force startup; "C" to force startup from the original Tiger DVD, etc.) Nothing works Any ideas, please?
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Take the unit to an Apple-authorized repair center.
That's my first recommendation.
Barring that, unplug the unit, remove the battery, and press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.
Put the battery back in (and AC if needed) and try again.
http://docs.info.apple.com
If no change, then indeed, take it to Apple.
You may find the answer to your problem here:
http://www.macfixit.com/ar
I have done all the things suggested in these three posts - no result with any of them. The machine is not responding (I do hear the startup chime, but the screen is black). I have attempted to put the machine in target mode - no success. I have connected an external hard drive to a second Macbook, first with USB, with Firewire connection to the faulty Mac - no result; second with Firewire to the second Mac and Firewire to the hard drive/faulty Mac - no result. On trying to eject the hard drive after powering down the faulty Mac, I get the spinning pizza of death, and can not get the second machine to respond until I power off the hard drive and get a wrongful disconnect message. The faulty Mac continues to be black.
Is the "take it to the service centre" considered a solution on this site? Not sure of the protocols, but it sounds a bit like someone looking at a broken down car and saying "go see a mechanic" without opening the hood. I was actually more interested in trying to understand the cause of the malfunction in the hope that understanding might lead to i) a solution or, if not, to ii) some way of guarding against a repetition.
This problem came about, apparently, while I was attempting to install an upgrade which the Apple software upgrade application told me I needed to apply. If this has resulted in a hardware malfunction, I would have thought that the experts would want to get on top of it asap, and that Apple would want to make reassuring noises about a fix.
My thanks to strung for pointing me at the MacFixit report (although the report did not provide a solution in my case).
At this stage, I have indeed taken the machine to an Apple service center. They suspect that the logic board has fried, but have no idea why. There were various opinions offered by a number of techs as to why resetting the PRAM/NVRAM was either a good or a bad idea; and how they had heard that a mysterious flash fix had resurrected a couple of affected machines.
MacFixit says that the firmware upgrade is not to be performed on Core 2 Duo machines - yet the Apple software upgrade app definitely showed it to me as a necessary upgrade.
I'm frankly mystified. I guess I'll leave the question open for any further comments that might arise.
One thing you didn't mention specifically was whether or not you'd tried the firmware restoration CD, linked in the macfixit report:
http://www.apple.com/suppo
Yep, holding the C key works fine to boot the restore DVD... why don't they put that in the users guide? I was asked to repair a 'bad macbook' ...The system just sat there with an on screen 'turning wheel' for 3 minutes then said 'reboot' .... what a bummer. No way to diagnose the disk or anything in that system? External boot device? Now I see why these guys have 3% market share.
So I decided to remove the HD from the macbook to back up all user files on a tower PC HD using Transmac (and normal sata cable). This worked fine. Anyway I am now re installing the OS and apps... hope that user data restore will be easy ...
Once you have booted from the system CD, you can pull one of the menu items down to Disk Utility which will allow you to run a disk repair.
You can also force a disk repair by starting with the shift key held down.
These are things that an experienced Mac user would know, just like an experienced PC user would know to hold down the F8 key to start in safe mode.
Its just a bit different from a PC, not more difficult. You probably have years of experience on a PC and do things automatically that a newbie would have no clue about. With a little experience on a Mac, this will become second nature to you too.
OK Thanks. Actually the OS installation halted when it was checking the disk. I tried the disk utility and that program got stuck somehere on 'verifying the disk' . I suspect there is something wrong with the HD as the macbook was dropped about 3 inches while running. Also, some files could not be copied to the PC using transmac. I will try to install the OS on a new HD.
BTW where's the BIOS?
External boot device ? If the drive is within a range of normal functionality (ie: it's not /too/ badly messed up), you can always use single-user mode and run fsck. Very (!) roughly analagous to chkdsk
http://support.apple.com/k
In most cases, when you can't boot from the installed OS, it's no different than Windows: use installer the disk that came with the system. In this case, use DiskUtility from the menu as described by Strung.
Your 3% market-share comment is both pointless and dated, and as such incorrect.
It sounds to me like the disk is too damaged for disk utility to fix it. If you go into Disk Utility again, you will find a section on the bottom right of the frame when you have selected your hard drive, which shows you the S.M.A.R.T. status of the drive. If it says the drive is failing, then there is a mechanical problem with the drive and it needs replacing.
Otherwise, if Disk Utility shows errors it cannot repair, you must then use disk utility to re-initialize (reformat) the drive before re-installing the system. Your other option is to buy a high power commercial disk repair utility like Disk Warrior or TechTool Pro.
If you suspect that the drive was physically damaged, my recommendation would be to replace it with a bigger and faster one. It is not too difficult to replace the drive in a MacBook (but it is a bitch in a MacBook Pro). Put the old drive into an external USB case, re-install the operating system on the new drive, update it using Software update, then use the Migration Assistant app (in the utilities folder) to restore all your settings and files from the external USB drive.
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by: eoinosullivanPosted on 2007-05-10 at 09:47:50ID: 19066732
If you hold down the power button does the system attempt to start at all??
If not there is likely a serious hardware issue which you'll need to take to Apple (you are within warranty still).
If you get the initial apple PING sound then you should be able to insert a CD and keep the letter C key held down until it boots from the CD/DVD.