jperr92

Q: Black Screen But Can See My Cursor

So every time I boot up my computer I am getting a black screen but my cursor is responsive. I tried rebooting in recovery mode but could not reinstall my OS because of Apple being unable to "verify" my computer. My macbook is a 2010 but I was just as the Genius Bar over Christmas to have my computer checked out and they said everything is running great. Any ideas? Solutions?

 

I live 3 hours away from the closest apple store so anything anyone can recommend would be helpful.

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Mar 11, 2014 6:45 AM

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Q: Black Screen But Can See My Cursor

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  • by Barry Hemphill,

    Barry Hemphill Barry Hemphill Mar 11, 2014 6:47 AM in response to jperr92
    Level 8 (38,124 points)
    Peripherals
    Mar 11, 2014 6:47 AM in response to jperr92

    Try resetting the SMC (cannot hurt anything).

     

    Barry

  • by Alex Werner,

    Alex Werner Alex Werner Mar 11, 2014 6:49 AM in response to jperr92
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Mar 11, 2014 6:49 AM in response to jperr92

    This has happened to me before, it is most likely just your compute in sleep mode. to get out of it , just press teh power button or mash the keyboard.

  • by jperr92,

    jperr92 jperr92 Mar 11, 2014 7:08 AM in response to Barry Hemphill
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Mar 11, 2014 7:08 AM in response to Barry Hemphill

    I can't do anything with SMC mode because I can't see anything on my screen, no task bar or anything. And no my computer is not "just asleep" I have tried using the power button as well as the keyboard.

  • by Barry Hemphill,

    Barry Hemphill Barry Hemphill Mar 11, 2014 9:12 AM in response to jperr92
    Level 8 (38,124 points)
    Peripherals
    Mar 11, 2014 9:12 AM in response to jperr92

    SMC is reset like this (there is no "SMC mode").

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

     

    Barry

  • by jesseinma,Helpful

    jesseinma jesseinma Mar 17, 2014 6:11 AM in response to jperr92
    Level 1 (40 points)
    Mar 17, 2014 6:11 AM in response to jperr92

    I had the same issue with my 2008 iMac and Apple support walked me through the fix yesterday...


    1. Shut the computer down by holding the power button for 10 seconds

    2. Restart the computer and press shift at the same time until you see the progress bar start moving

    3. Once you reach the point where your screen goes dark and you see the cursor, type the first letter of the username for your computer, then hit Enter, then type your password, then hit Enter.

    4. After a moment, you should see the spinning beach ball

    5. Your screen should then move on to something along the lines of "Completing OSX Installation" (I can't remember the exact wording). Let it finish. After that it should go to your normal desktop and the issue should be fixed. (If your screen goes pitch black during this process, hit the space bar. I thought it wasn't working, but the screen was just sleeping).


    Apparently it's an issue with an automatic update that never quite got past the login screen.


    Hope this helps!

  • by goodman5,

    goodman5 goodman5 Apr 4, 2014 6:58 AM in response to jesseinma
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 4, 2014 6:58 AM in response to jesseinma

    Thanks jesseinma! you've saved my morning, your solution is spot on.

  • by BuggElementary,

    BuggElementary BuggElementary May 7, 2014 7:17 AM in response to jesseinma
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 7, 2014 7:17 AM in response to jesseinma

    Hallelujah!  Worked for me too!  I didn't have to put in the username; thankfully because I didn't remember it.

  • by Peter Dy,

    Peter Dy Peter Dy May 7, 2014 12:58 PM in response to jesseinma
    Level 1 (140 points)
    May 7, 2014 12:58 PM in response to jesseinma

    I'm having this same problem. I see the mouse arrow and Notification banners and alerts but the screen is black for at least 10 secs before the Finder appears.

     

    I tried the above procedure but I'm not sure it will work for the new MBP (I have a Late 2013 w/ Retina Display). I got to Safe Boot progress bar but the screen never went blank to enter in username and password. Contacting support to see if they have any ideas or modifications to this procedure.

  • by Cavebat1,

    Cavebat1 Cavebat1 May 20, 2014 7:04 AM in response to jesseinma
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 20, 2014 7:04 AM in response to jesseinma

    Thank you thank you thank you !!  Worked perfectly! Followed Apple instructions and viola it worked perfect. Can't thank you enough for your post!!  I run a 2010 27" IMac. All photos and music untouched! OMG thanks! 

  • by MeadowSage1,

    MeadowSage1 MeadowSage1 May 22, 2014 5:39 AM in response to jesseinma
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 22, 2014 5:39 AM in response to jesseinma

    Jesse thank you so much you are a life saver! This worked perfectly so glad I found this was just getting ready to pack it up and take it to a repair shop!!!

  • by mattbethe,

    mattbethe mattbethe May 23, 2014 8:57 AM in response to jesseinma
    Level 1 (5 points)
    May 23, 2014 8:57 AM in response to jesseinma

    Brilliant!  Saved the computer at work.  Apple needs to fix this ASAP!

  • by ttillett,

    ttillett ttillett May 23, 2014 9:21 AM in response to jesseinma
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 23, 2014 9:21 AM in response to jesseinma

    BEAUTIFULL!!! This absolutely did the trick. Spent two hours resetting SMC, fixing dics and partitions and a bunch of other stuff. None of that worked. THIS DID.

     

     

    THANK YOU

     

    THANK YOU

     

    THANK YOU

  • by DribbleCastle,

    DribbleCastle DribbleCastle May 25, 2014 12:41 AM in response to jesseinma
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 25, 2014 12:41 AM in response to jesseinma

    Had the same issue.   Mine was not when I booted my Mac but instead when I let the screen turn off and then click the keyboard to turn it back on (not sleep mode).    Typically my screen would stay black with the mouse cursor for about 20 seconds before coming back on fully.

     

    Following the instructions above suggested by jesseinma which were basically to boot into Safe Boot and then restart the Mac seems to have worked so far.   Fingers crossed that it will stay fixed because the issue was really annoying. 

     

    Thanks for the help.

  • by joeyates4,

    joeyates4 joeyates4 May 26, 2014 4:34 AM in response to jesseinma
    Level 1 (10 points)
    May 26, 2014 4:34 AM in response to jesseinma

    Wow -- jesseinma's fix totally worked.  I'm really surprised that Apple would have a routine update crash with such a bizarre recovery.  Beware upgrading to OS X 10.9.3!

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