Q: MacBook won't boot (even in safe mode)
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Mar 12, 2016 8:20 AMby Grant Bennet-Alder,If you suspect your Mac is broke, try Option key held down at Startup. This lights up with a gray screen right away, then spends as long as five minutes looking for any possible bootable volumes, and shows an icon for each one found.
Or use Option-Command-R at Startup for Internet Recovery, if you have an available Internet connection. Macs after about 2011 should be able to do this.
This should show a globe Icon, and ask for your Wi-Fi password if needed, then downloads the Recovery software from the Internet (takes a while).
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by a brody,Mar 12, 2016 8:30 AM
a brody
Mar 12, 2016 8:30 AM
in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
Level 9
(66,865 points)
Classic Mac OSThere is no Option key in internet recovery. It is simply command-R.
OS X: About OS X Recovery - Apple Support
Option key alone will bring up the startup manager if there is a bootable system on board. If you accidentally formatted the boot block of all your partitions, yes, you'll need data recovery and an external bootable optical drive to recovery any information on board:
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Mar 12, 2016 8:33 AMby sanche21,Thanks a lot for your help, but again, none of these keyboard combinations are making a difference, the screen stays black the entire time. What do you think it would mean if I never even get to a boot menu? Hardware failure? It seems unlikely that my hardware would fail right after I tried setting up a dual boot, but that's all I can think of. I usually don't have to turn to the internet for these issues, but I'm stumped.
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Mar 12, 2016 8:37 AMby sanche21,@a brody
sorry I didn't mean the option keys, I meant any key combinations (including command-R). So you think an optical drive would help? I tried booting off of a flash drive, but it doesn't seem to work. Would an optical drive be more likely to work? I'm not worried about recovering my data, I just want to get my computer back into a working state at this point.
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Mar 12, 2016 8:40 AMby Grant Bennet-Alder,Using the Option key at startup should ALWAYS invoke the Startup Manager, whose code is all in ROM. No content on any drive is required to show a gray screen, if the screen is working. Not showing the gray screen says you have a Hardware problem.
You are correct that if there are no bootable Volumes, nothing else will appear (no drive icons) in the next five minutes.
Just as you say, It is typically not needed to hold the Option key with command R, and your Mac SHOULD do this automatically. But holding Command with Option and R can sometimes speed up the process. That shortcut is listed in this article, for example:
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Mar 12, 2016 8:49 AMby Grant Bennet-Alder,HelpfulThanks a lot for your help, but again, none of these keyboard combinations are making a difference, the screen stays black the entire time.
Then you may have a Hardware problem. Holding the Option key at startup does not require anything on any Hard drive, and the code is all in ROM.
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Mar 12, 2016 8:49 AMby sanche21,Ok, that's what I suspected. My screen is working, but it stays black. The only time the computer shows any life is if I let the battery die, then it shows the usual "battery low" image. Do you know what hardware might be broken? Do you think there's any chance of repair, or is it pretty much hopeless?
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Mar 12, 2016 9:23 AMby Grant Bennet-Alder,Make an appointment at your Apple store genius Bar, if you have one. The appointment for an evaluation is Free, in warranty or out.
If you have no Apple store, the cost at an Apple authorized Service Provider should be fairly low, and you will get an idea of what the problem might be. There may be a recall program covering "display problems", so point out that the computer does seem to start properly and chime, but the screen stays black.
