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My White Macbook is stuck at the loading screen, and disk utility, safe mode doesn't work either. What should I do?

I went on vacation a few days ago and in El Salvador, they have this mobile broadband sticks. Well, I was using one until it gave me a network error. After that, it shut down my computer entirely. The first time it happened, I didn't think much of it. I took the battery out and put it back in for it could work. It happened another two times, and after the third time, my MacBook stays stuck at the loading screen, and it will take 5-10 minutes on that screen, before it shuts down, or it wouldn't turn on at all. I've tried booting into safe mode, but it appears to not boot into it. I've tried resetting the Pram, and using disk utility, but that still won't work. I don't know what else to do to make it boot into OS X Lion.

I'm an AP student, and the majority of my work is in that computer, and it is very important! What can I do? Not only that, but I enter school in a few weeks and I need the AP work by the time I enter.

What can I do? Can someone help?

Thanks

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Aug 21, 2011 11:59 AM

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Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Posted on Aug 21, 2011 12:02 PM

Reinstalling Lion Without the Installer

Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alterhatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.

Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.

When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.

Reinstall Lion: Select Reinstall Lion and click on the Continue button.

Note: You can also re-download the Lion installer by opening the App Store application. Hold down the OPTION key and click on the Purchases icon in the toolbar. You should now see an active Install button to the right of your Lion purchase entry. There are situations in which this will not work. For example, if you are already booted into the Lion you originally purchased with your Apple ID or if an instance of the Lion installer is located anywhere on your computer.

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25 replies

Aug 21, 2011 1:06 PM in response to Kappy

Kappy wrote:

No. TDM only works on Firewire. Most computer stores should have Firewire to Firewire cables. Be sure to get the correct one. There's FW400 to FW400, FW800 to FW800, and FW400 to FW800. You will need the cable that can be connected to both computers.

Kappy, I thought we used Target mode over Ethernet cables in the early MacBook Aluminum Unibody machines when Apple left off the FW. Or was that only to come from a Target mode machine? Don't have that MB Unibody anymore or I would check.

Anyway, if that's correct. He could launch in Target mode and use the more common ethernet cable to get his files off.

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Aug 21, 2011 1:16 PM in response to Chris Hayden

Nope. You could network two machines via an Ethernet cable. But you couldn't use TDM.

Ethernet is quite slow compared to Firewire because of different protocols and timing. FW400 is as fast as Gigabit Ethernet. I would not suggest choosing Ethernet over Firewire unless one or both computers did not have Firewire ports.

Aug 21, 2011 1:30 PM in response to Kappy

Kappy wrote:

Nope. You could network two machines via an Ethernet cable. But you couldn't use TDM.

Ethernet is quite slow compared to Firewire because of different protocols and timing. FW400 is as fast as Gigabit Ethernet. I would not suggest choosing Ethernet over Firewire unless one or both computers did not have Firewire ports.

Here'sApple's guidance. They left out some models, but the connection routing details are clear. On the White MB, I would stay with FW only. Even though other models allowed Ethernet. As far as speed goes, not sure that's an issue for retriving some files, running programs that might matter.

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Aug 21, 2011 1:43 PM in response to Chris Hayden

Sure, speed is an issue even recovering files. The basic info re: TDM is in the link I provided a little earlier in the topic.

Problem with Ethernet is that you have to be able to startup both computers and both computers must have functioning Ethernet ports. Of course if one has a non-bootable startup drive, then Ethernet is out of the question.

Aug 21, 2011 1:55 PM in response to nfan12

nfan12 wrote:

But, can you use USB to Firewire or Firewire to USB or so and so? Because I have another Mac I can transfer to, but I don't know if any stores around here sell Firewire to Firewire. Or USB to USB?

Here's another option if you have hardware skills:

If you want to go to the trouble of removing the hard drive from your White MacBook and putting it in a laptop sized 2.5" enclosure you could use whatever connection (USB 2.0, FireWire 400/800) that both ends support.

YouTube has videos that will show the steps for removing the drive.

nfan12 Author

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Aug 21, 2011 5:05 PM in response to nfan12

Okay, so I ran Disk Utility, and it said my drives where clean. I'm planning on Re-installing Lion, but I have another question: does Lion save your files when it's re installing?

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Aug 21, 2011 5:08 PM in response to nfan12

Yes, unless you erased the hard drive first.

nfan12 Author

Level 1

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Aug 21, 2011 5:17 PM in response to nfan12

Now when I'm in the installation process, the Macintosh HD comes out locked, and I cannot do anything, what can I do?

nfan12 Author

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Aug 21, 2011 5:36 PM in response to nfan12

I went back to Disk Utility and ran a scan on Macintosh HD, and it came out corrupt, and it says that it cannot repair it. Is there no other way to take the files out of there without connecting it to another computer?

Aug 21, 2011 5:58 PM in response to nfan12

I would proceed as if that hard drive is in the process of failing. Hard drives can fail at any time. Every time I have Apple work on one of my machines, no matter how small the repair or upgrade, they have me sign that they are not responsible if I lose data. They also ask me if I have all my important files backed up.

That said, I would seek professional disk recovery service to try to get any important files off the disk. That process, in extreme cases, may require the hard disk recovery service to disassemble the platters from inside the HD to get at the data. It is a potentially costly operation and never guaranteed.

The same recovery professional, or an Apple Store can run software tests to look at the health of the drive, BUT a clear test does not guaranteed health make.

I've worked with drives that had $125k projects on them, and the rule of thumb is never do anything as intensive as a reinstallation of an OS without getting a backup of any important files.

Now, we also had hard drives go out and come back to life just long enough to get our projects off to another drive. That's iffy to try, but might be worth the risk.

If the bearings have burned up, the files may still be retrievable from the platters by pros.

If there are no non-replaceable files on the drive, replacing the drive with a fresh one might be the cheaper way to go. Then, reinstall Lion and any backup from a Time-Machine or individual files.

Good Luck!

My White Macbook is stuck at the loading screen, and disk utility, safe mode doesn't work either. What should I do?