MacBook Pro won't boot - installer and recovery options don't load

Go ahead and reset the SMC, it is not destructive and you can do it a million times with no ill effects.

The symptoms you describe on a 15-in MacBook pro 2011 with dual Graphics correlate with possible Discrete Graphic failure. The system does to see that the Discrete graphics processor has failed, so it keeps using it, and at the login screen, you get a blank screen and nothing more.

There was a recall program for this issue but it has long since expired. There are numerous user-developed work-arounds available, all of which disable the Discrete graphics processor (disabling your ability to use an external display) and use only the Integrated graphics processor. My collected list of these hacks is show below. Please read ALL before acting.

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Install gfxCardStatus (https://gfx.io) and set it to "i" (integrated graphics only). It will allow your MBP to run on integrated graphics only, bypassing the discrete GPU which has the issues. This may allow your MBP to run normally, although it will have reduced graphics performance when permforming demanding graphics tasks. The alternative is replacing the logic board, which is not cost effective on a machine that old, unless gfx does not resolve the issue and you really want to keep this MBP.

There is an acknowledged bug in the current version of Cody Kreiger's Open-Source gfxcardstatus, and the developer has confessed he does not have time to fix it right now.

There is a fork off the main build by steveschow available that seems to fix that problem for current versions of MacOS such as ElCapitan and Sierra. He provides a finished .app for direct download -- you do not have to compile anything.

https://github.com/steveschow/gfxCardStatus/releases

Also note that if your Mac does not run long enough to allow gfxcardstatus to be added, this is not really practical.

In addition, Steve Schow writes that he has abandoned further development -- because there are better solutions available [for both the 2010 model and 2011 models].

2010 model:

I have discontinued use of gfxCardStatus to solve the MBP kernel panic problem as the issue is better solved on 2010 models with the nVidia GPU by the following hack:

https://github.com/julian-poidevin/MBPMid2010_GPUFix.

2011 model:

the use of ArchLinux bootable CD to gain access to and re-write the EFI on the drive, and permanently disable the discrete graphics chip. This page and scroll down past the list to the blog:

http://github.com/steveschow/gfxCardStatus

There are two similar procedure listed. I used the second from MacRumors as it seemed easier. I have made the Arch Linux bootable CD on another Mac, and tried this approach. I now have a perfectly-functioning MacBook Pro late 2011 15-in model with Discrete Graphics disabled. Runs just fine. But NO external display support any more.

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There is a completely different hack developed more recently. It requires only single-User mode to get started, then type a complicated string into NVRAM, then disable System Integrity Protection and run an additional little program (direct-download link provided there) to make the change semi-permanent.

http://dosdude1.com/gpudisable/

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Your description of symptoms as written is just fine.

The single-user mode option is the one to try if you cannot login normally. If that works for you, you may wish to install the most modern version of graphics card status, to get extra visibility.