JohhnyMac
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Macbook pro not booting (nvida issue?) and recovery of data question

Hi,

 

My MBP has stopped working, it wont boot, no chime, the light at the front just glows, the DVD drive spins up, no graphics/black screen.  A repair centre has said this sounds like the NVIDA issue which apparently affected models of this vintage and they have advised I take it along to the apple store so as they can run some software on it and diagnose if it is the NVIDA issue, do you know if apple are still running an extended warranty on this issue ?

 

Secondly, I want to copy the contents of my harddrive,  I assume that I can just purchase a SATA usb enclosure and hook it up to another MAC,  am i correct in thinking that i can do this and all I need is my password and it should all work smoothly ?

 

Many thanks

MacBookPro 2.4GHz, 2G RAM, Penryn - MacBookPro4,1, MB133B/A, Mac OS X (10.5.2)

Posted on Mar 26, 2012 7:06 AM

by ds store,Solvedanswer
ds store ds store
Level 7 (30,400 points)
A:

Another option is to open the Mac up, remove the hard drive and place in a enclosure or use a IDE/SATA to USB adpater cable and connect to a second Mac (or PC with MacDrive installed, or Linux PC) and and access your drive that way.

 

If your going to transfer files on a PC to a external drive, format the external drive exFAT on the PC that way you can read it with the new Mac or PC or whatever your going to get next.

 

If your using a Windows XP box, download the exFAT from Microsoft.

 

 

It's possible to use Migration Assistant or Setup Assistant against the old drive if you purchase a new Mac.

 

You can use Migration Assistant to move your users to your friends Mac, but that could cause a space/issues.

 

Likely best just to grab your files, erase your User account (create a new one and delete the old one) then use Disk Utiliy Erase Free Space 0x-7x then place the drive back into the computer and take it in for service if you wish.

 

 

Video's here how to open up your Mac

 

http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/

Posted on Mar 26, 2012 1:09 PM

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JohhnyMac

Q: Macbook pro not booting (nvida issue?) and recovery of data question

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  • Helpful answers

  • by mwc1979,Helpful

    mwc1979 mwc1979 Mar 26, 2012 8:30 AM in response to JohhnyMac
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Mar 26, 2012 8:30 AM in response to JohhnyMac

    Yeah, sounds like the NVIDIA issue. If you purchased your computer in 2007/2008, this is most likely the cause. I just had this happen to mine over the past week. Unfortunately for me, they no longer want to support any computers after the 4 year window as addressed here: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377. If yours is still within that time frame, you shouldn't have any problem getting the replacement. If not, you're left in the cold, as I had just experienced with mine which was over by a few months, although it was the NVIDIA chip issue, they didn't want to cover it. I was given an offer to pay $500 something dollars for a fix.

     

    Issue has been addressed here: https://discussions.apple.com/message/9412484#9412484

    and here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2675881

     

    You can try to boot from firewire target disk mode if you have another laptop. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661

     

    Good luck.

     

    - M

  • by JohhnyMac,

    JohhnyMac JohhnyMac Mar 26, 2012 12:43 PM in response to mwc1979
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 26, 2012 12:43 PM in response to mwc1979

    Thanks for the reply, I will visit apple and see where I get to.

     

    Can someone confirm if I connect my existing HHD in an extrenal enclosure to my firends MBP in order to make a backup of my hardrive ? 

     

    Thanks

  • by mwc1979,Helpful

    mwc1979 mwc1979 Mar 26, 2012 12:57 PM in response to JohhnyMac
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Mar 26, 2012 12:57 PM in response to JohhnyMac

    you might want to try booting from the target disk mode on your computer, while connected to your friend's through firewire. Basically holding T key down as your computer boots up. Your computer should then show up on your friend's desktop as a drive....unless you've already taken out your hard drive. You could then make a bootable clone of your drive on another spare drive.

  • by JohhnyMac,

    JohhnyMac JohhnyMac Mar 26, 2012 1:01 PM in response to mwc1979
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 26, 2012 1:01 PM in response to mwc1979

    is this likely to work as mine seems DOA ?

  • by ds store,Solvedanswer

    ds store ds store Mar 26, 2012 1:09 PM in response to JohhnyMac
    Level 7 (30,400 points)
    Mar 26, 2012 1:09 PM in response to JohhnyMac

    Another option is to open the Mac up, remove the hard drive and place in a enclosure or use a IDE/SATA to USB adpater cable and connect to a second Mac (or PC with MacDrive installed, or Linux PC) and and access your drive that way.

     

    If your going to transfer files on a PC to a external drive, format the external drive exFAT on the PC that way you can read it with the new Mac or PC or whatever your going to get next.

     

    If your using a Windows XP box, download the exFAT from Microsoft.

     

     

    It's possible to use Migration Assistant or Setup Assistant against the old drive if you purchase a new Mac.

     

    You can use Migration Assistant to move your users to your friends Mac, but that could cause a space/issues.

     

    Likely best just to grab your files, erase your User account (create a new one and delete the old one) then use Disk Utiliy Erase Free Space 0x-7x then place the drive back into the computer and take it in for service if you wish.

     

     

    Video's here how to open up your Mac

     

    http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/

  • by JohhnyMac,

    JohhnyMac JohhnyMac Apr 1, 2012 9:50 AM in response to ds store
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 1, 2012 9:50 AM in response to ds store

    Hi,  I have backed up my data and ready to take it to the genius bar on Tuesday.  I just want to scheck something; if it is the NVIDA issue is it likely that this stops the machine for booting i.e. would it still boot but the simply fail to paint the graphics ?  Also if my machine is booting I would expect that I should be able to toggle the caps lock key, in my case the caps lock does not toggle. 

     

    Conclusion, machine fails to boot and paint graphics (black screen).  Is this syytomatic of the NVIDA issues ?

     

    Many thanks

     

    John

  • by dalstott,

    dalstott dalstott Apr 1, 2012 10:24 AM in response to JohhnyMac
    Level 4 (2,625 points)
    Apr 1, 2012 10:24 AM in response to JohhnyMac

    I had a Nvidia failure and the MBP would boot and display the distorted video.

     

    Here is the Apple info:

     

    What to look for:

    • Distorted or scrambled video on the computer screen
    • No video on the computer screen (or external display) even though the computer is on

     

    Specific products affected:

    • MacBook Pro 15-inch and 17-inch models with NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics processors
      • MacBook Pro (17-Inch, 2.4GHz)
      • MacBook Pro (15-Inch, 2.4/2.2GHz)
      • MacBook Pro (Early 2008)
    • These computers were manufactured between approximately May 2007 and September 2008

     

    As you can see there is no mention of faiing to boot. Keep your fingers crossed and maybe it will be something simpler.

  • by JohhnyMac,

    JohhnyMac JohhnyMac Apr 8, 2012 3:48 AM in response to dalstott
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 8, 2012 3:48 AM in response to dalstott

    Thanks for the help on this.  I took the MBP into the store on Tuesday and the genius confirmed that it was the nvida fault, they had it fixed and ready to take home on Wednesday.

     

    Happy days.

  • by dalstott,

    dalstott dalstott Apr 8, 2012 2:50 PM in response to JohhnyMac
    Level 4 (2,625 points)
    Apr 8, 2012 2:50 PM in response to JohhnyMac

    Good to hear your happy ending.

  • by cutthroatking,

    cutthroatking cutthroatking May 6, 2012 6:07 PM in response to JohhnyMac
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 6, 2012 6:07 PM in response to JohhnyMac

    I am having the same issue,it just started today.it started out the screen would flicker then look up and I had to hard boot and now it will not boot.i purchased it in January of 2008 so I hope they will cover it