Grey screen of DEAAAAAAAAAATH
Hi
Hopefully someone can help me with this issue. This has been a recurring issue for whatever reason. The computer sometimes will only get to the grey screen with apple logo and time clock spinning. If I boot into safe mode the system works..although sluggishly...it does take a very long time to boot that way too. I created a new admin account to see if that would boot normally but it won't so I will assume that it isn't a damaged account. I ran disk first aid and it says that the HD is smart verified..so again I will assume that the HD is OK. It happened once when the lid was closed and put to sleep...never woke up..but that too isn't the consistent variable.
Since it will boot in safe mode but even a new account doesn't bring it back then there has to be somthing outside my account that is F@@%Ked....or can the HD be failing even if it still says smart verified
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Macbook Pro 2.4 intel core 2 duo
4 gig memory
OS10.6.8
scott
Comments
That's normal, safe mode disables the GPU so graphics run in software mode.
If the new account was set to login automatically rather than the old one, it's more likely a system problem.
Yes, it can fail without showing in SMART. Try booting up in verbose mode by holding command-v, it will scroll a bunch of text and show where it has hung up.
thank you Marvin ...very helpful!!
"If the new account was set to login automatically rather than the old one, it's more likely a system problem."
yes...
I just did the command V..this is what I got
waiting for DSMOS
disk 0s2..I/O error
disk 0s2..I/O error
disk 0s2..I/O error
disk 0s2..I/O error
iPV6 packet filtering initiated,default to accept..logging disabled
disk 0s2..I/O error
disk 0s2..I/O error
disk 0s2..I/O error
disk 0s2..I/O error
Pervious shutdown cause-5
it keeps on with the disk 0s2..I/O error
so if this means the HD is failing then why would it start at all in safe mode?..and wehn I had this happen before...I reinstalled the OS from a time machine backup and all was fine again...until it happens again..
sorry for the newbie questions....just trying to lean
thanks again
scott
I just did the command V..this is what I got
waiting for DSMOS
disk 0s2..I/O error
disk 0s2..I/O error
disk 0s2..I/O error
disk 0s2..I/O error
iPV6 packet filtering initiated,default to accept..logging disabled
disk 0s2..I/O error
disk 0s2..I/O error
disk 0s2..I/O error
disk 0s2..I/O error
Pervious shutdown cause-5
it keeps on with the disk 0s2..I/O error
so if this means the HD is failing then why would it start at all in safe mode?
Ooh! I literally had this problem yesterday on my MacBook Pro! No idea how it happened, but I started it up, switched to the recovery partition, and repaired the disk.
That didn’t work. SO! I grabbed a FireWire cable and rigged ‘er up to my Mac Pro in Target Disk Mode. I repaired the disk using my Mac Pro’s Disk Utility, and boom; fixed ‘er right up. If you don’t have a separate computer handy, perhaps creating an install disc (on either a disc or a USB drive) and running Disk Utility from there will work.
You’re right; if it’s booting to either safe mode or the recovery partition, the drive itself won’t be dead. If you hear a rhythmic clicking from the drive, however…
thanks Tallest Skil
This has happened frequently..I mean 4-5 times in the last year. Can anyone think of what could be the cause? Can I just boot from my Apple instal disk and use disk utility for a repair?
No rhythmic clicking...I had that once on my old macpro...knew it was dead!
This has happened frequently..I mean 4-5 times in the last year. Can anyone think of what could be the cause?
I can’t think of anything if it’s happening this often without hardware failure. Maybe a precursor to that? Maybe you just have an application that is improperly writing to the blocks?
Do you ever access the drive via a network or from an OS without good HFS+ support?
I haven't added anything new software wise ...Upgrades yes...and I never connect anything to it other than thumb drives( fat 32 formatted). I checked and I don't have a firewire cable that has both 800 on both ends( 400 and 800)..hmmmm
My wife wears it out surfing for clothes..could she be the culprit:)
It could just be a filesystem error. Safe mode doesn't load the whole system, kernel extensions are all disabled for example and not read from the disk.
If your machine is older e.g 2007 and the drive hasn't been replaced, it could just be showing signs of wear. The typical lifespan of a hard drive is 5 years. One option would be to zero the drive first so that it eliminates any bad sectors on the drive before reinstalling the OS.
You'd be best switching it with an SSD though:
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronics-EVO-Series-2-5-Inch-MZ-7TE500BW/dp/B00E3W19MO
its a mid 2010 model...I think..can't remember actually..but that is what my serial comes up as. If it is a file system kernel extensions error ,any ideas as to what would cause a recurring error such as this..I'm trying to convince my wife to stop online shopping...if it is associated to that...that would be helpful:)
I do have it partitioned...2 drives...
I guess its scrub time..
You can try running the hardware test from the install DVD (hold D to run the test when booting) to see if any of the rest of the hardware is causing problems.
One option would be to zero the drive first so that it eliminates any bad sectors on the drive before reinstalling the OS.
I just wanted to add that zeroing isn't the default option, so you do have to check that. It can't fix bad sectors, so it remaps them. An increase in bad sectors though as measured by some of the utilities out there is a strong sign of a failing drive. I don't personally like to wait until the thing no longer mounts to replace it.
Thanks Keylogger and everyone for the help
I will do some more work tonight and see if I can fix this. It is easy to replace a drive in a macbookpro(2010) and are SSD just as cheap as the old spinners for this type of puter? It has 250gig and that is more than enough for what we use it for
scott
Thanks Keylogger and everyone for the help
I will do some more work tonight and see if I can fix this. It is easy to replace a drive in a macbookpro(2010) and are SSD just as cheap as the old spinners for this type of puter? It has 250gig and that is more than enough for what we use it for
scott
I read through this again. I'm not 100% confident in that being the root cause of your problems, but it could be the case. IO error just indicates a failed read or write somewhere, but the 2010 15" models do have a couple known problems. Looking at the year I thought gpu at first, yet I've never experienced a grey screen due to gpu problems. If you've performed ram upgrades it would be prudent to test it as well. As for SSDs, this is what I would personally buy. I've had decent luck with them. There are cheaper ssds, but they will cost more than a 2.5" HDD.
Edit: I haven't checked around for the lowest price. I just went on amazon and made sure I was linking something new rather than a used or refurbished version.
no ram and any upgrades at all...its a 13" macbook pro. Yes I read about the GPU issues too. I am going to scrub the drive clean tonight and see what happens..I will Zero the drive too.
Marvin mentioned that It could just be a filesystem error. Safe mode doesn't load the whole system, kernel extensions are all disabled for example and not read from the disk
Could I overwrite from a backup all the Kernel extensions and filesystem files?or am I asking for a clusterF@@ck with that one?
If I can do you know where they are..there are 3 library folders...all is backed up so I figure I can't loose anything
thanks
no ram and any upgrades at all...its a 13" macbook pro. Yes I read about the GPU issues too. I am going to scrub the drive clean tonight and see what happens..I will Zero the drive too.
The gpu issues affect the 15" only. The 13" doesn't have the 330m.
Marvin is correct regarding the kernel extensions. It would have to be a significant filesystem error to introduce that kind of problem. I guess it could happen. If that was the case I would still wonder about the origination of that error.
Could I overwrite from a backup all the Kernel extensions and filesystem files?or am I asking for a clusterF@@ck with that one?
If I can do you know where they are..there are 3 library folders...all is backed up so I figure I can't loose anything
If you're trying to track down an error in the OS installation, a clean install would be ideal. I would then retrieve other file from backup.
well I tried to instal a new system.actually it did instal..but everything is running really slow and the beach ball is now my friend..can't even get the combo 10.6.8 to run..for whatever reason...sooooooooo
I was going to get this drive,,,,any opinion...
thanks
Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Internal SSD
The Crucial drive should be ok and is cheap. Someone here replaced their drive in a 2010 model:
http://loneplacebo.com/macbook-pro-crucial-m500-ssd-upgrade/
Samsung ones are reliable too but the 830 and 840 Pro are more expensive. The Samsung EVO is only a little more but is the TLC NAND. You may as well go with the best deal, which is the M500.
You won't get the full speed of the drive as the machine only has SATA 2 but still 5x faster than the HDD and the other thing is you never have to shut it down. You just shut the lid like you would put an iPad on standby. It has no moving parts so there's never a reason to have it physically powered off.
Thanks Marvin...
I always shut it down every night...that will be a change...should you do a reboot every now and then though?. The laptop is only for surfing etc so if it is 5X faster than before it will be AOK. I got OSX to instal (old drive yet to be removed) but software update and everything is mudstuck slow..10.6.8 never completes to DL from apple..so I gave up..off to amazon.
Sorry to be off topic but has apple fixed the gmail issues with maverick that everyone was talking about
thanks again
Nope, there's no need to do that. You can leave OS X on for months and it'll run fine. If you run out of RAM, reboots are a quick way to flush it all out but otherwise, it's not beneficial. Occasionally it's good to leave the machine turned on but not in use (display sleep but not full sleep) so that the SSD can run its idle garbage collection. OS X does some automated things overnight too.
What issues were there?
It had something to do with how it managed it files ..Imap or POP ..I can't rememeber now exactly. That was one reason I stayed at 10.6.8 since I use gmail and prefer POP over IMAP..
I tried updating to Mavericks once and the DL failed from apples server each time half way through...maybe over loaded at the time....not sure but gave up. 10.6.8 has always worked for me..if it ain't broken...eventually I will have too...maybe Yosemite
Thanks for the heads up on leaving the system running
scott
OH..just order the M500..will post my impression