MacBook Pro will not start up - apple logo and spinnining wheel
*The problem:*
I have a MacBook Pro bought in October 2009 and have had no problems with it up until now. When I went to turn my Macbook on the other day all I got was the initial grey screen with the apple logo and a spinning wheel. The wheel keeps spinning and never loads up my Mac. The battery is charged, I've not just downloaded/installed new soft/hardware, and I'm using the adaptor that came with the MacBook Pro when I purchased it.
*Stuff I've tried so far:*
I've read the forums/manual and have tried the following:
1. Reset the SMC - no effect
2. Reset the PRAM - no effect
3. Opened the MacBook Pro in safe mode - gets two thirds the way through the loading screen and then sops i.e. no effect
4. Done a hardware test - reported no problems
5. Started up my Mac with the original install DVD inserted into the CD drive, and performed a repair in disc utility - says there is a fault in the volume information and then repairs it at the end. Then I run it again and it says there's a fault in the volume information. It doesn't happen how many times I run the repair, it never fixes it.
6. Tried to reinstall the original disc but it cannot find the hard drive.
7. Tried to reboot but it cannot find the hard drive.
Next:
The only thing I have not yet tried is reformatting the drive. I have not tried this yet as I foolishly did not make a time machine (I didn't have an external hard drive) and I've not backed up my work for several months.
I have two questions:
1. Before I reformat, is there any way I can get documents off the system? I expect the answer is no but I wanted to check first.
2. Is the reformat fails for whatever reason, what is likely to happen next? I intend to book a genius appointment but wondered if people had had a similar experience in the past? How long did re-servicing take? The Mac is still under the three year warranty but I am likely to have to pay anything?
Many thanks in advance.
Message was edited by: Stephen Bate
I have a MacBook Pro bought in October 2009 and have had no problems with it up until now. When I went to turn my Macbook on the other day all I got was the initial grey screen with the apple logo and a spinning wheel. The wheel keeps spinning and never loads up my Mac. The battery is charged, I've not just downloaded/installed new soft/hardware, and I'm using the adaptor that came with the MacBook Pro when I purchased it.
*Stuff I've tried so far:*
I've read the forums/manual and have tried the following:
1. Reset the SMC - no effect
2. Reset the PRAM - no effect
3. Opened the MacBook Pro in safe mode - gets two thirds the way through the loading screen and then sops i.e. no effect
4. Done a hardware test - reported no problems
5. Started up my Mac with the original install DVD inserted into the CD drive, and performed a repair in disc utility - says there is a fault in the volume information and then repairs it at the end. Then I run it again and it says there's a fault in the volume information. It doesn't happen how many times I run the repair, it never fixes it.
6. Tried to reinstall the original disc but it cannot find the hard drive.
7. Tried to reboot but it cannot find the hard drive.
Next:
The only thing I have not yet tried is reformatting the drive. I have not tried this yet as I foolishly did not make a time machine (I didn't have an external hard drive) and I've not backed up my work for several months.
I have two questions:
1. Before I reformat, is there any way I can get documents off the system? I expect the answer is no but I wanted to check first.
2. Is the reformat fails for whatever reason, what is likely to happen next? I intend to book a genius appointment but wondered if people had had a similar experience in the past? How long did re-servicing take? The Mac is still under the three year warranty but I am likely to have to pay anything?
Many thanks in advance.
Message was edited by: Stephen Bate
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6)
