Sort of a follow up post to This. I made an El Capitan installer and tried to install MacOS on to the computer. It loads to the boot menu just fine, but when I click on the installer it stays on a white screen indefinitely. What do I do from here?
Usually when you perform the SMC Reset, the Magsafe LED will go dark, then go green and/or amber.....I don't usually pay attention to exactly what it does as it will also depend on the charge of the battery.
While the screen is white, if you perform the SMC Reset correctly, then the laptop should power off immediately.
It never hurts to try a PRAM Reset either (hold for at least three chimes).
Remove the internal drive to see if you can Option Boot and boot from the USB installer. Sometimes a very bad internal hard drive failure can cause this condition. Also disconnect all other external devices.
Is this a 13", 15", or 17"? The 15" & 17" models are known to have GPU issues so if your laptop are one of these two models, then a bad GPU is very likely.
Usually when you perform the SMC Reset, the Magsafe LED will go dark, then go green and/or amber.....I don't usually pay attention to exactly what it does as it will also depend on the charge of the battery.
While the screen is white, if you perform the SMC Reset correctly, then the laptop should power off immediately.
It never hurts to try a PRAM Reset either (hold for at least three chimes).
Remove the internal drive to see if you can Option Boot and boot from the USB installer. Sometimes a very bad internal hard drive failure can cause this condition. Also disconnect all other external devices.
Is this a 13", 15", or 17"? The 15" & 17" models are known to have GPU issues so if your laptop are one of these two models, then a bad GPU is very likely.
<< loads to the Boot menu just fine.>>
I am reading that as the Startup Manager aka Boot Picker screen comes up, and lets you select the USB-Stick (which can only appear when the USB-stick appears to be bootable.)
then the screen turns WHITE, and you get NO solid Apple? is that right?
If I got that all correct, try an SMC reset before you begin.
Be sure to follow the diagrams EXACTLY, because the keys with the same labels on the other side will NOT do an SMC reset.
Reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support
The command is ever-so-slightly different for each version of MacOS that supports making a bootable USB thumb drive. You need the EXACT command for El Capitan to successfully build El Capitan. Use the apple article cited below.
What you need to create a bootable installer
• A USB flash drive or other secondary volume formatted as GUID partition Map, Mac OS Extended, with at least 14GB of available storage
• A downloaded installer for macOS Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, or El Capitan.
The Terminal command assumes that Installer in located in the /Applications folder.
from:
How to create a bootable installer for macOS
Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support
NB>> if you name your incoming USB stick exactly MyVolume, you can copy and paste the very long Terminal command from the article directly into the Terminal window, without having to change anything.
SMC reset usually sets it back to the Integrated graphics processor for long enough to Option-boot and get something running. Yours seems to be dying VERY early in the process.
I always like to do the SMC reset with the computer ON, because that is the only way you know for sure you did anything. The charge indicator on the MagSafe should go off for a moment, then resume.
Nothing. If it is the GPU, then it is time to retire it and recycle it. These older 15" & 17" MBPros were notorious for GPU failures.
what means "made an installer?"
If you mean you tried to make a USB-Stick Installer, and this is what happens when you boot from it, something went wrong. The most likely is that it went wrong in the making of the USB-stick.
were you able to name the incoming USB drive exactly MyVolume, and copy the entire command line from the article and paste it, unmodified into the terminal window? or did you make changes?
this is the command copied from the Apple article. Did you get it all?
sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app
it takes more than 20 minutes to make that bootable USB-stick. Did yours take many minutes as well?
What could’ve gone wrong? Terminal said it was successful.
I renamed it El Capitan, I didn’t realize it had to have a certain name. I followed an online tutorial for it though.
I did it again, naming it MyVolume, and got the same result.
I did copy that, it took about 30 minutes
Yes it’s a blank white screen. I reset the smc twice, to no avail.
How do you do it with the computer on? It says you need to hold down the power button and doing that turns the computer off. I tried holding the power button and nothing happened.
Late 2008 MBP stuck on white screen trying to install MacOS.
