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Q: MacBook Pro display is white after start up chime and Apple logo.  Recent warning of memory full.

MacBook Pro display is white after start up chime and Apple logo.  Recent warning of memory full.

Posted on Jul 24, 2013 1:37 PM

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Q: MacBook Pro display is white after start up chime and Apple logo.  Recent warning of memory full.

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  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jul 24, 2013 1:41 PM in response to Saywutusay
    Level 10 (271,328 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 24, 2013 1:41 PM in response to Saywutusay

    "Memory" or "storage?"

     

    If you are running Snow Leopard:

     

    Reinstall OS X without erasing the drive

     

    1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions

     

    Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list.  In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive.  If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.

     

    If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.

     

    2. Reinstall Snow Leopard

     

    If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer.  Proceed with reinstalling OS X.  Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files.  After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.

     

    Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.

     

    If you are running Lion or Mountain Lion:

     

    Reinstalling Lion/Mountain Lion Without Erasing the Drive

     

    Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.

     

    Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.

     

    When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list.  In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive.  If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.

     

    Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Continue button.

     

    Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

     

  • by murtoza,

    murtoza murtoza Jul 24, 2013 1:44 PM in response to Saywutusay
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 24, 2013 1:44 PM in response to Saywutusay

    Run the Mac in verbose mode to know the problem in details.

     

    To run in verbose mode hold Command - V while run the computer.

    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1492

     

    Thanks

  • by Saywutusay,

    Saywutusay Saywutusay Jul 24, 2013 2:55 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 24, 2013 2:55 PM in response to Kappy

    Sorry, storage.  Start up disk is full.  After white screen, I can sleep it, restart it, and shut down and restart it but every time I still get the white screen .  So I think my start up disk has no space for even simple display start up, etc.  I tried the Command + R and get only repetitive beeps  Tried the Option button and get nothing.  Tried the Command + V and get the repetitive beeps again.  Without a screen or a menu, cannot get to Disk Utility.  I did not think I was that close to completely full storage.  Any other suggestions?

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jul 24, 2013 3:05 PM in response to Saywutusay
    Level 10 (271,328 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 24, 2013 3:05 PM in response to Saywutusay

    Do you always get repetitive beeps when trying to boot the computer? If you do, then you have a hardware problem - bad memory or bad slots.

     

    Intel-based Mac Power On Self Test RAM error beeps

    MacBook Air- Computer starts up with 9 beeps (won't boot into OS X)

    Power On Self-Test Beep Definition - Part 2

  • by Saywutusay,

    Saywutusay Saywutusay Jul 24, 2013 3:28 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 24, 2013 3:28 PM in response to Kappy

    No, it was just with those command + R and command + V buttons.  I got the Options button to work after the chime and I went into DU and nothing was verified but I selected verify disk and everthing is okay on the Mac HD. When I go to the sub-menu under the Mac HD and click on Mac OS X Base System, I can't click Repair Disk since it and the Verify Disk are grayed and not active.  On my HD I had info. stating 159.18 GB capacity, 256.8MB available, 158.93 used, and # of files 540,727. 

  • by Saywutusay,

    Saywutusay Saywutusay Jul 24, 2013 3:31 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 24, 2013 3:31 PM in response to Kappy

    Should I select Repair Disk from the Mac HD since that is active and not grayed out?

  • by SushiP,

    SushiP SushiP Jul 24, 2013 3:43 PM in response to Saywutusay
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Jul 24, 2013 3:43 PM in response to Saywutusay

    If you don't have at least 10% of your hard drive empty, there is no room for caches.

  • by Saywutusay,

    Saywutusay Saywutusay Jul 24, 2013 3:53 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 24, 2013 3:53 PM in response to Kappy

    I re-read your entry.  I don't think there were any errors in the Mac HD.  I clicked on the sub-entry which was disk 1 and in that is the Mac OS X Base System.  However, clicking that does not enter any details, nor does it activate any Verify disk or Repair disk buttons.  I went to the Mac HD again and clicked on that and then clicked on Repair Permissions button.  That is repairing and is now complete. 

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jul 24, 2013 3:58 PM in response to Saywutusay
    Level 10 (271,328 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 24, 2013 3:58 PM in response to Saywutusay

    You may only repair permissions on an active startup volume. To repair the volume you must boot from some other device such as another drive, an installer DVD, a Recovery HD (Lion or Mountain Lion,) for example.

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jul 24, 2013 3:59 PM in response to Saywutusay
    Level 10 (271,328 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 24, 2013 3:59 PM in response to Saywutusay

    That entry is not one of your disk drives. It's an entry from an installer.