Why won't my MacBook power up?

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Level 1

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Why won't my MacBook power up?

I have a very annoying problem with my MacBook.

Whenever I turn it on it stays at a black screen, but I can hear it powering up though. This has been ongoing for about a year now!

So here's the long explanation;

When it first happened I would turn it off by holding down the power button, restart it and the screen would flash on again before going back to black. After maybe ten times of doing this the screen would stay on long enough to get to the login screen.

WHEN IT GETS TO THE LOGIN SCREEN, I HAVE NO PROBLEMS AND THE MAC NO LONGER GOES TO A BLACK SCREEN (People seem to presume that it carries on doing it the whole time I use my Mac, that is not the case).

As time went by, the screen stopped flashing on and it stayed as a black screen for anything up to fifty times of me turning on my Mac, eventually it would end up flashing and getting to the login screen again though. Then I learned that if you held the power button down for around twenty seconds it would make a long continuous beep and the screen would flash on, it was only taking me maybe five times to turn on my Mac.

NOW my problem is that, it won't beep and it doesn't matter how many times I turn my Mac on and off the screen doesn't flash on at all. Therefore I can't get to the login screen and can't use my Mac.

I have tried everything reccommended online regarding the RAM etc. and absolutely nothing works. I even tried the memory cards as I heard that sometimes the chips can become loose on them and they could need soldering back down. The chips were fine though.

To be completely honest, I just want to be able to turn on my Mac and be able to get everything I have on there off of it. I didn't back it up as I have never had a problem with it before and there really is a lot of important things on there that I need!!

What could be the problem that isn't going to end up costing me a fortune to fix? Or is there a quick fix solution to enable me to take off what I need? A Mac is replaceable but all the stuff I have on it isn't! 😟

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.4.11), Black MacBook, no idea what year!

Posted on Dec 1, 2012 6:32 AM

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Answer 1

John Galt

Level 10

140,948 points

Dec 1, 2012 6:46 AM in response to MissNothing

MissNothing wrote:

.. To be completely honest, I just want to be able to turn on my Mac and be able to get everything I have on there off of it. I didn't back it up as I have never had a problem with it before and there really is a lot of important things on there that I need!!

You can use another Mac and FireWire Target Disk Mode to retrieve your MacBook's contents. The worst case scenario would require removing its hard disk drive and installing it in an enclosure, and using another Mac to retrieve its contents. Since you did not have a backup strategy, this would be a good reason to purchase an enclosure in anticipation of this need. They are not expensive ($30 - $40 or so).

To attempt to diagnose the problem, boot from your original Applications Install DVD and Apple Hardware Test:

You must remove the firmware password, if one has been set, before you can use AHT.

If the same problem arises while attempting to boot from the optical drive this will be a question for the Genius Bar.

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Answer 2

Dec 16, 2012 5:30 PM in response to MissNothing

I'm having the same exact problem! I have a late 2011 13'' Macbook pro and it was working wonderfully until about two weeks ago. I am able to turn it on sometimes, but other times it takes up to 20 times or an hour for it to boot up. Once it is on there aren't any noises or anything and it works as it always has. This is driving me crazy!!! The computer is less than a year old, purchased it in March. If you found anything out, please post back and let me know. I'm about to bring it into the apple store Wednesday if this keeps up.

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Answer 3

John Galt

Level 10

140,948 points

Dec 16, 2012 5:53 PM in response to jsscakcss

See your post here jsscakcss

13" Macbook Pro Late 2011 is having a problem turning on properly.

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