HT201257: Using Apple Hardware Test

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Tim Trickett
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: What does it mean when the basic hardware test does not complete even after a couple hours?

MACBOOK Pro running OS 10.10.3 started the spinning wheel of death, hanging up on any application started, even Activity Monitor. Tried to run Apple Hardware Test (holding "D" down when booting). Got to the press button to start basic test, goes though some test then stops showing 1 minute and 35 seconds and then freezes. Still waiting after a couple of hours. What does this symptom imply?

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks

Posted on Jul 16, 2015 2:35 PM

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Tim Trickett

Q: What does it mean when the basic hardware test does not complete even after a couple hours?

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  • by Kappy,Helpful

    Kappy Kappy Jul 16, 2015 2:43 PM in response to Tim Trickett
    Level 10 (270,381 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 16, 2015 2:43 PM in response to Tim Trickett

    Bad hard drive would be one guess. Try booting from a known reliable external backup clone. You can also try:

     

    Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions - Yosemite, Mavericks, Mountain Lion or Lion

     

    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.

     

    Repair

     

    When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility and press the Continue button. After Disk Utility loads select the Macintosh HD entry from the the left side list.  Click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If Disk Utility 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 Disk Utility and return to the main menu. Select Restart from the Apple menu.