You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

User profile for user: 05mixedfan
05mixedfan Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

MacBook Pro not getting past log in screen.

I got my MacBook Pro when it was new back in 2015. Here recently I noticed it wasn't allowing me to save any documents, so I restarted it thinking that would help solve the problem. Well I was wrong. Ever since then I haven't been able to successfully log in.


After I enter my password, it gets through about halfway loading, then on the left side of the screen white lettering on a black background pops up, resulting in it to restart completely. No matter what I do I can't get past this process, letting me know it's the hard drive that's having problems. I have tried talking to the online apple staff (including a supervisor) for help and after everything they tried, nothing worked and it's resulted in me having to take it to an apple store.


I am just seeing if anyone would happen to know any way I could use my older iMac desktop to somehow retrieve everything from the laptop without going to an apple store (since the closest one to me is an hour away). I just mainly don't want to lose everything on the Pro because I am a noob, and didn't back it up with Time Machine or an external hard drive.


Thanks in advance to anyone who tries to help me!

MacBook Pro

Posted on Sep 7, 2019 7:34 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
User level: Level 9
60,284 points

Posted on Sep 7, 2019 9:58 PM

It really depends on what versions of macOS are being used on each computer and the file system used on the 2015 laptop. If both computers are using the HFS+ file system, then you may be able to connect the two computers using Target Disk Mode.


If you are using APFS on the 2015 laptop, then the other Mac would need to be running at least OSX 10.13+ in order to mount the APFS file system on the 2015 laptop in Target Disk Mode. If you are using APFS and happened to run out of storage space, then you may have trouble mounting the laptop's drive and is perhaps the source of your original issue. If this is the case, then you may need to use the Terminal to mount the laptop's drive in read only mode.


It sounds like your laptop is experiencing a Kernel Panic. Have you tried starting the computer in Safe Mode?


Take this as an opportunity to start backing up your computers so you are prepared when a problem occurs.


View in context

Similar questions

1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
User level: Level 9
60,284 points

Sep 7, 2019 9:58 PM in response to 05mixedfan

It really depends on what versions of macOS are being used on each computer and the file system used on the 2015 laptop. If both computers are using the HFS+ file system, then you may be able to connect the two computers using Target Disk Mode.


If you are using APFS on the 2015 laptop, then the other Mac would need to be running at least OSX 10.13+ in order to mount the APFS file system on the 2015 laptop in Target Disk Mode. If you are using APFS and happened to run out of storage space, then you may have trouble mounting the laptop's drive and is perhaps the source of your original issue. If this is the case, then you may need to use the Terminal to mount the laptop's drive in read only mode.


It sounds like your laptop is experiencing a Kernel Panic. Have you tried starting the computer in Safe Mode?


Take this as an opportunity to start backing up your computers so you are prepared when a problem occurs.


Reply

MacBook Pro not getting past log in screen.

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.
Learn more Sign up