MacBook briefly boots up for like a quarter of a second then hangs

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Level 1

8 points

MacBook briefly boots up for like a quarter of a second then hangs

Mid 2012 Macbook Pro 13' won't boot, not even chime. I tried downgrading from Catalina to High Sierra 10.13.6 via USB because Catalina got the best of my patience. So then followed all the instructions correctly and when it came down to the final restart it never restarted. So now when I turn it on, it sounds like it briefly boots up for like a quarter of a second then hangs. No screen, no keyboard light, no apple light at the back. Just the small white light at the bottom right of the keyboard comes on then suddenly dims. The green power light does work.

I've tried resetting the SMC and the NVRAM with no luck.

I tried praying for a bit, then nothing happened.

I cried a little... and still nothing.

I then searched through a bazillion forums for answers and found nothing again.

And now I'm here. Hoping for the best.

Please could somebody help?

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Posted on Dec 17, 2019 9:12 PM

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Answer 1

HWTech

Level 9

56,222 points

Dec 18, 2019 6:13 PM in response to RchrdKlly25

My guess either the hard drive is beginning to fail or you have a defective hard drive cable (or both). The hard drive cable on this particular model has an extremely high rate of failure. The system not chiming is a bit of a concern though and could indicate other issues.

See if you can boot into Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R which should boot to the Catalina installer bypassing your internal drive completely. Or you could boot to your High Sierra USB installer if you still have it handy.

If it still won't boot, then hold down the Option key just after powering on the laptop to see if it will show the Apple boot picker menu. Let it sit at the Apple boot picker menu for several minutes to see if the system stays powered on. Does the Apple boot picker menu show your hard drive as a boot option?

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Answer 2

Dec 17, 2019 10:40 PM in response to RchrdKlly25

see if this helps

If your Mac doesn't turn on or start up - Apple Support

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Answer 3

RchrdKlly25 Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 18, 2019 8:33 AM in response to kaz-k

Hi

Yes it was. However, Catalina made things really slow and frustrating hence the downgrade. Also on a music production perspective, it really made things complicated not being able to run most of the VST plug-ins I had..

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Answer 4

RchrdKlly25 Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 19, 2019 6:52 AM in response to HWTech

Hi

Ive tried both of your suggestions and still nothing. It doesn’t get as far as the boot picker menu, the screen doesn’t turn on. I think you may be right about the hard drive cable. It makes sense if it’s faulty for it not to boot into any kind of mode.

Any suggestions on where to from here? or any other attempts before I take it in for repair?

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Answer 5

HWTech

Level 9

56,222 points

Dec 19, 2019 6:59 PM in response to RchrdKlly25

If you don't see the Apple boot picker menu screen even if it has no bootable volumes shown (there should be a bar shown to connect to the WiFi at least), then you may have other issues. It is probably best to have Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider examine the laptop.

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Answer 6

kaz-k

Level 8

49,230 points

Dec 18, 2019 2:44 AM in response to RchrdKlly25

Hi,

Just wonder if it worked before downgrade from Catalina to High Sierra.

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MacBook briefly boots up for like a quarter of a second then hangs

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