Help! MacBook Pro won't boot!

[Logan]

Hi,

So as I was randomly using my MacBook Pro, it shut itself down and now wont boot into OS X, though it will boot into Windows XP using bootcamp. I've tried using the System Restore Disc to repair permissions and disk but to no avail. I've also held option while booting and made sure i was selecting the right drive. Dont know what else to do to get it started- it just stays on the white screen with the apple logo and the spinning thing.

Any help is appreciated.

Logan

[lundy]

Can you boot to the single user mode? (command-s during boot)

I think when I had that problem, I had to delete com.apple.loginwindow.plist and com.apple.windowserver.plist and the only way to get at them, if you don't have a secondary partition to boot into, is through the single-user command line.

[Marvin]

Try booting in verbose mode by holding command-v at boot time. That might let you know where it's getting stuck during boot.

[dstranathan]

I had to replace my MacBooks mobo last week at the Apple Store.

[Logan]

OK, so far ive tried booting using command-s for single user mode. When i do this, it gives me a black screen with a bunch of white text on it, the last line being

"Extension "com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTCKeyEventDriver" has no kernel dependency.

Not sure what this means or how Im supposed to delete the plists from this screen.

When i start using command-v in verbose mode, i get the same black screen with white text. the last few lines being:

BSD root: disk0s2, major 14, minor 2
Load of /sbin/launchd, errno 88, trying /sbin/mach_init
Load of /sbin/launchd failed, errno 88
Extension "com.apple.driver./AppleUSBTCKeyboard" has no kernel dependency.
Extension "com.apple.driver./AppleUSBTCKeyEventDriver" has no kernel dependency.
CSRHIDTransitionDriver: : probe: -v
CSRHIDTransitionDriver: :start before command
CSRHIDTransitionDriver: :stop
IOBluetoothHCIController: :start Idle Timer Stopped

Dont know where to go from here.

Logan

[lundy]

Type

cd /

and then

ls -la

to see if the file directory seems to be there.

Be patient, this might take a while to resolve.

[Logan]

Type

cd /

and then

ls -la

to see if the file directory seems to be there.

Be patient, this might take a while to resolve.

Where do I type this? Its not lettng me type anything

[lundy]

Where do I type this? Its not lettng me type anything
Can't type? You may have a hosed system there. When you boot from the CD, can you do an Archive and Install of the OS? It won't erase anything, and that to me seems to be the next step.

Not being able to type in single-user means something is torqued at the Darwin level. I think. Anyway, Archive and Install does not delete anything; it just puts the old system aside and installs a new system. Your apps, documents, and data are not touched.

Ask away if you are not sure how to reinstall.

[Logan]

Problem solved. Thanks.

[othello]

i have just had the same issue. scaring the crap out of me i can tell you!

i get the same problem in verbose mode, but cannot start-up from the cd. it just sits there.

but i can get the hosed macbook pro to start in firewire disk mode so am copying important files from it first. then going to try again.

any ideas if holding down the c key at start-up doesn't force start by cd?

[othello]

starting with alt held down to select boot options does not bring up the OSX 10.4 install DVD, only the hard disk

er...

is the only way to erase the drive, then when i start it (with a cd in the drive) it will install osx again?

i am so busy with work and i really need to be able to do an archive and install and not have to reinstall all my apps!

[da_jonesy]

Problem solved. Thanks.
How did you solve this Logan?

[da_jonesy]

Can't type? You may have a hosed system there. When you boot from the CD, can you do an Archive and Install of the OS? It won't erase anything, and that to me seems to be the next step.

Not being able to type in single-user means something is torqued at the Darwin level. I think. Anyway, Archive and Install does not delete anything; it just puts the old system aside and installs a new system. Your apps, documents, and data are not touched.

Ask away if you are not sure how to reinstall.


Here is the issue... I have the same problem. I've tried booting from the startup disk, however the installer will not allow me to select my OSX partition to install OSX onto... so I can't do an Archive and Install.

[Logan]

I was having the same problem but I just kept turnign it on and off and holding c when i booted with the install disk in, and one of hte times i got lucky and it let me boot and i archived and installed it.

[spacefreak]

Thanks for the thread. I went trough all the proposed solutions and ended up doing an archive-install from the MBP installation DVDs.

This inability to boot-up came right after I did a software update. Very weird.

Thanks again.

[Bierman]

I experienced the same problem one day, wouldn't boot up and would stick on the grey screen with the apple logo and spinning spindle.... I thought I should share my experience with you all, although its not a happy story I assure you

so once it started happening I very quickly found this (excellent) thread and tried everything suggested:

single user mode would hang
ditto verbose
archive and install reported there were errors, try again
tried target firewire mode, which although I could see the folder hierarchy of the laptop's hard drive, was insanely slow to even navigate through

I then tried to create an image of the disk usig disk utility on an external firewire hdd, which didn't work, reporting input/output errors.

by this point I'm extremely worried. I can in no way whatsoever access any of the information on the hdd, to back up my data and wipe the hdd and reinstall (which of course would have been impossible because.....)

the read/write heads of my drive were failing. a nine month old laptop, treated with care, and the hdd fails. It's now in the hands of data recovery specialists, who are going to charge me somewhere in the region of £400 to recover my data..... and this process has taken over a week and a half already! In the meantime I can't get the hdd replaced under my warranty because its with the data recovery people, and to top it all off, of course, Apple Care wont compensate me for the costs incurred trying to recover my data.

Lesson to anyone reading this: back up your data, often.

[adeslat]

Johnny,

I was reading this and have gotten to the point where I can do an archive and install --
can you tell me how to do this so I do not loose anything.

My disk seems fine -- I went through the disk repair facility -- but when I boot in single user it fails.

so it seems to me what you suggested to this gentleman is what I need to do.

Anne

[lundy]

Are you able to boot the system CD? I'm confused. When you say you have gotten to the point, what point?

[tolerresea]

I am glad his issue was resolved. I am having the same problem and am a little confused at the remedy. My macbook pro wont boot into Apple but botts into Vista just fine. When I try to boot to the Apple I get the Apple logo with the spinning wheel. The wheel just continues to spin and the OS wont load. Can anyone offer any assistance?

[tolerresea]

Had to take the mac into an Apple store and have them reload the os. I tried to reinstall the os with the disks but the mac would not boot from them. This is the primary reason why I switched to the mac. I am not happy and this does not bode well for the future. Looks like I will use Vista on the mac exclusively from here on out - runs better on the Apple anyway.