Q: How can I start the Apple Hardware Test when holding D doesn't work and I don't have the installation disc?
How can I start the Apple Hardware Test when holding D doesn't work and I don't have the installation disc?
- The directions say, "Press and hold the D key before the gray startup screen appears." This does not work.
- The "Apple Hardware Test Read Me.rtf" file says, "If your computer does not restart to Apple Hardware Test: Restart your computer with the DVD containing Apple Hardware Test." I do not have such a DVD, and my installation disc -- assuming it is with the packaging from when I bought this laptop -- is about 11,000 km away.
I am preparing to send in my August 2010 Macbook Pro to be refurbished, because it is randomly ceasing to function (e.g. randomly taking minutes to complete a given task) but I was hoping to diagnose and solve any problems myself before it came to that. Apple Support recommends this diagnostic test as a first step, and so I am trying to do it. Please help me.
MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.1), 2.4GHzIntelCore2Duo;4GB 1067MHzDDR3
Posted on Jan 22, 2015 6:07 PM
These are the commands I would use if it were my system:
Assume you have downloaded the correct hardware test image -- you've never told us the exact model of MacBook you have so are you positive you have the correct one? Once the test image is mounted in /Volumes/AHTCTwo (this name might be different depending on which AHT image you downloaded) -- just double-click on the "dmg" file you downloaded to mount it, then do the following in a terminal window:
cd /Volumes/AHTCTwo/System/Library/CoreServices
sudo mkdir /System/Library/CoreServices/.diagnostics <== only if the .diagnostics folder does not exist
sudo ditto .diagnostics /System/Library/CoreServices/.diagnostics
cd /System/Library/CoreServices/.diagnostics
sudo xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine CommonAHTResources/
sudo xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine Mac-F22586C8/
sudo xattr -d com.apple.quarantine diags.efi
All the "sudo" commands may prompt for your admin password (only do this when you've logged into an "admin" type account).
The last 3 "sudo" commands remove the com.apple.quarantine attributes recursively (if they don't have that extended attribute you don't need to do them) that get put on the files and folders during the copy - doesn't seem to be a way to have this not happen as I tried a couple of different things to copy the folders and file. Also the names of the folders may be different for the version of the AHT image you downloaded for your system - change the names accordingly. There was one "diags.efi" file and two folders in the image I downloaded.
There was also a "Apple Hardware Test Read Me.app" program in the /Volumes/AHTCTwo folder - would guess that all of the AHT download images have them - so run it and it opens up TextEdit and it explains a lot of what will happen. Suggest you read it before running the hardware test (which you do by holding down the "d" key during a power-on or reboot).
If you have any questions -- ASK FIRST.
Good luck
Posted on Jan 23, 2015 2:36 PM