macbook wont start up

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Level 1

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macbook wont start up

i have an intel mac 2 gb ram. been running it using only magsafe adapter because battery got swollen. now the power indicator light doesnt come on and when i press the power button it gets as far as the white screen with the apple and spinning wheel then it cuts off. when I press the power button, I can hear the fan and harddrive running but it doesn't get to the login screen.

also previously when it was starting up sometimes it would beep or I would get the 'grey screen of death'

macbook, Mac OS X (10.5.2)

Posted on Aug 19, 2012 8:36 PM

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Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

239,225 points

Aug 19, 2012 8:45 PM in response to woman1

Hello,

One loud beep usually means Hard Drive failure, common enough. 😟

Can you count the beeps or flashes?

1 beep = no RAM installed

2 beeps = incompatible RAM types

3 beeps = no good banks

4 beeps = no good boot images in the boot ROM (and/or bad sys config block)

5 beeps = processor is not usable

In addition to the beeps, on some computers the power LED will flash a corresponding number of times plus one. The LED will repeat the sequence after approximately a 5-second pause. The tones are only played once.

Note: In this case, a flash is considered to be 1/4 second or 250 ms or greater in length.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1547

If you don't know the model, find the Serial# & use it on one of these sites, but don't post the Serial# here...

http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html

http://www.appleserialnumberinfo.com/Desktop/index.php

How to find the serial number of your Apple hardware product...

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1349

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Answer 2

woman1 Author

Level 1

0 points

Aug 20, 2012 9:13 AM in response to BDAqua

my model is 2008 a1181. it was usually 3 beeps; what does no available banks mean? also thank you for the support links but I still can't figure out what's wrong

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Answer 3

BDAqua

Level 10

239,225 points

Aug 20, 2012 9:43 AM in response to woman1

Banks are twin sets of RAM slots/modules, so either you have a bad Ram stick or two, or a logic board problem around the RAM slots.

Might try re-seating the RAM...

http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/macbook_13_mem_hd/

Or if you want to try replacing the RAM...

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/MacBook/DDR2/

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