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My MacBook Pro 15-inch crashes upon startup.

Hey guys. I'm having huge problems!!!! Please prepaid to me ASAP!! I need this computer to work otherwise I'm screwed for middle schools ( it needs to be fixed by Monday this week )

My Mac wont boot. Every time it boots it will crash.

This is the boot in verbosboot or however you call it, is on YouTube with this link here:

I recorded it just so you know how long it boots. This is how long it takes for it to hang on the apple logo with a spinning wheel. At the end of the log when it shuts down. The wheel freezes. Then the Mac reboots and says it restarted because of a problem. Or as I call it kernel panic.

http://youtu.be/DDHRD-sXuQ8

Here are the fixes I have tried:

1. Reinstall OS X: tried it. Still nothing changed... :(

2. Reset pram and VRAM: nothing changed :(

3. Safe mode: does the exact same thing. :(

4. Verify the disk in recovery mode with disk utility: says its fine :(

Specs:

This is a mid 2012 15-inch MacBook Pro

8 core intel processor

8GB installed RAM

500GB hard drive / RPM: Unknown

Age: 6 months from purchase

OS: OS X 10.8.2 / Mountain Lion AKA latest version of OSX

Notes:

I don't know if it was cause I plugged in a new external hard drive but it does not seems so. But however it has been put to sleep instead of being shut down for about 2 weeks ( why? Cause I'm on holidays. And too lazy to shut it down and than wait 2 min in the morning to play games )

Was perfectly fine before I stop shutting it down...

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), Crashes upon startup

Posted on Jan 5, 2013 12:55 AM

39 replies

Jan 5, 2013 3:49 AM in response to Shootist007

Didn't you read all of the fist post I did.

I said exactly everything you would need to know:

Anyway here it is...

Was perfectly fine before I stop shutting it down...

But here is something extra.

2 files in my extension files were broken.

IOSoragefamily.kext

IOarchitecturemodlefamily.kext

Located in system/library/extensions.

However it's been like that for months until I decided to fix the files.

The only thing the files did was control USB and storage pictures and make them function.

When the files were fixed I restarted.

Then I got the thought that instead of fixing them by myself that I should just let the apple installer do it unsteady

So I jump into recovery HD. After installing. It was sitting there simotainiusly crashing over and over for 10 min while I was out of the room at the time.

Shootist007

Level 6

16,703 points

Jan 5, 2013 3:55 AM in response to alexanderfromcalgary

Sure I can but you need a Working Operating system first. There is no way, or not a very easy way to do it, without a working version of OS X.

You can use either the built in Recovery HD or maybe better to use the Online Internet Recovery system, Hold down the Command+Option+r keys at startup until you see a spinning globe in the center of the screen, to Partition that external and then install Mac OS X on it so you can at least start the system.

To Repartition that external have it connected to your Mac then boot from either of those options. Once you have booted from the built in Recovery HD or the Internet Recovery system open Disk Utility and shrink the partition that is on that external. You do that by selecting the drive name (The Top entry in the left hand column) and select the Partition tab then Drag up from the bottom right hand corner of the Partition Layout sections until you have shrunk the main partition by about 30-40GBs. Then click Apply. Wait for that to finish then click the Plus sign in the Partition Layout section and name the partition and format it Mac Externded (Journaled) with a partition table of GUID (that is done from the Options button). then again Click Apply. Once that is all done exit Disk Utility and select Reinstall Mac OS X and then continue. It will ask you fpr the drive to install To. select the new partition on the external and then wait for it to download and restart the system to start the install.

Lexiepex

Level 6

14,102 points

Jan 5, 2013 5:30 AM in response to alexanderfromcalgary

You probably mishandled something at the system level, and this is still there:

the "broken" kexts normally are replaced by reinstalling the OS. So the reason why they were broken is still in your computer.

Any instructions in Terminal that may have caused this? Open Terminal, type "history" (without the quotes) and ALL your commands will be listed: find the ones that are suspicious, give these to us here.

Jan 5, 2013 12:13 PM in response to Lexiepex

Did you read all of my first post dude? Remember I can't access my computer cause it crashes upon startup. Unless you are referring to the terminal in recovery HD.

Jan 5, 2013 1:00 PM in response to Shootist007

I'm tring to make a new partition on the external drive.

But I get the following error:

Disk Utilitity internal error.

Disk Utilitity has lost connect with the disk Management Tool and can't continue. Please quit and relaunch disk Utilitity.

Lexiepex

Level 6

14,102 points

Jan 5, 2013 1:06 PM in response to alexanderfromcalgary

YES I WAS

Jan 5, 2013 1:24 PM in response to Lexiepex

Ok well you don't need to caps lock that reply.

And by the way I'm trying what Shootist007 suggested first.

Shootist007

Level 6

16,703 points

Jan 5, 2013 2:14 PM in response to alexanderfromcalgary

How are you booting the system? From the internal recovery HD or the online one?

Jan 5, 2013 4:30 PM in response to Shootist007

So I found out there is something in my hard drive that seems to be causing it to crash.

Although idk how I will be able to find out what it is

Jan 5, 2013 5:13 PM in response to Shootist007

well i have a flash drive with OS X 10.8 and 10.7 but i did both the flash drive and online

so far i got a fresh OS X on the main drive. and a broken OS X on a partion of my external harddrive.

and by the looks. it looks as if there is a file broken on the not the os. but in the computer. like a virus to say.

Jan 5, 2013 5:14 PM in response to Shootist007

but now i needs some help in finding out what file could be causing this to happen. any ideas?

thomas_r.

Level 7

31,989 points

Jan 5, 2013 6:33 PM in response to alexanderfromcalgary

Just to chime in here, I see you mentioned the possibility of a virus... that's not it. Don't waste time going down that road. See my Mac Malware Guide.

My guess, based on what you have tried, is that this is likely to be a hardware problem. Possibly a physically failing hard drive, but could be something else. If you could erase the hard drive and reinstall the system, that would be informative, but it sounds like you have data that has not been backed up. That may prove to be a harsh lesson in the importance of backups, since if the hard drive is failing, you may not be able to recover any of your data without paying four figures to an expensive data recovery service.

One thing that would be worth trying would be to try connecting to another Mac via Target Disk Mode:

http://pondini.org/OSX/TargetDisk.html

If that doesn't work, or you don't have another Mac to connect to, get an external drive, boot in recovery mode and install the system on the external disk. Then see if you can boot from that (hold down option at startup to select the disk to boot from), and see if you can access data on the internal drive.

Jan 5, 2013 6:57 PM in response to thomas_r.

I think you need to read the WHOLE disscussion to know what point I'm at.

I have done all that.

The hard drive is confirmed to be just fine.

However.... I found out that it's a file or something is broken causing it to crash.

thomas_r.

Level 7

31,989 points

Jan 5, 2013 7:36 PM in response to alexanderfromcalgary

Verifying the disk in Disk Utility does not necessarily mean that it is fine, it simply means there are no problems Disk Utility is capable of detecting.

You say you "tried all that," but I don't see anywhere that you have reported results of installing on an external and booting from that.

How did you find that it's a specific file? Nowhere do I see a clear explanation for that. If something has identified a damaged file, what is that something, and what file(s) did it identify?

Jan 5, 2013 7:49 PM in response to thomas_r.

It very hard to explain but I used both disk verify and apple hardware test.

In fact I'm runnin a FRESH OS X at the time and it's doing just fine.

Right now I'm working on finding out what is wrong.

All I will say right now.

Is that both te external hard drive And the hard drive in the laptop are not faulty. My OS that was on the laptop at first has been trasfered to a Partion on the external drive.

By the looks the OS can't start even if its ok the external hard drive. Confirming that there are not faulty drives.

Or hardware. Since a fresh Mac OS X verisimilitude can run just fine and function just fine.

And it leaves me to think its a file that is in it that is causing the faulty OS.

Kinda like a virus. You need to find it somewhere in the computer. But instead of it being a virus. It's a broken / Corrupted file that is loaded and crashes the startup.

Here is one thing you should know. The crash happened exactly right when the login screen for OS X mountain lion is to show up...

My MacBook Pro 15-inch crashes upon startup.