Cannot access Mac OS X desktop or Recovery mode.

From what you say, it looks like your graphic card is damaged. To know if it's the graphic card, hold the Shift key while your Mac is starting to start into safe mode. Can your Mac start? If your Mac starts, does the image shows properly in the display?

Boot to the Online Internet Recovery system. Hold down the Command+Option+r keys until you see a Spinning Globe in the center of the screen. From that run disk utility and check the drive.

If when booting from the Online Internet Recovery system are are again presented with a striped screen image then it is a internal hardware problem. But I doubt that is the problem. I think it is your hard drive failing as if it was a graphics card problem you would get that striped screen all the time and not the Apple Logo and spinning wheel then the white screen. It would be striped from the first press of the power button.

Hi.

(sorry for my bad english)

I have exactly the same problem.

Sometimes, on boot, the Apple logo is red/pink, with little horizontal stripes,

and after that i have a grey screen, or the vertical blue stipes, like the first post.

The boot on another disk with Mountain Lion don't work.

I'm sure all this problems comes with the last SMC Firmware Update 1.7. like this post

Sometimes, after several tries, he boot. Sometimes not.

The chime on startup is always here.

When the boot is ok :

• The Disk Utility found no problems.
• fsck -fy : no problems.

When the boot is not ok :

• fsck -fy : **** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED ****
• fsck -fy again : The volume Mac appears to be OK
• "reboot", and no change, he don't reboot normaly.

I am experiencing the EXACT same thing on my 2011 iMac with Mountain Lion. I took it to the Apple Store and their only suggestion was also that it might be the video card. Of course they couldn't tell me if that was definitely the case, but that the only way to know was if they installed the new video card and charged me $300. They also recommended that I backup all my data and reinstall the operating system which process I am currently attempting (with great difficulty as my computer will boot to the OS maybe one out of 10 tries.) Anyway, I'm just wondering if you've found a solution.

Hello guys! I encountered same trouble with my MBP 2011 15" i7, i try to return the original RAM 4 gb and removed the 8gb and it was restored.. No other problems except RAM...

Hi @NetHub IT

Did you by any chance get it working again? I seem to have run into the exact same problem.

I was working in photoshop earlier today on my 2011 macbook pro when the screen froze and i had to restart (first time ever that my macbook froze). The chime came and the apple with the loading circle, which was only followed by a grey screen, fans spin up but laptop is unresponsive, e.g not even caps lock goes green.

If i boot in safe mode, it gets the blue and black vertical stripes as you mentioned. Any ideas?

Has anyone narrowed down what OP was experiencing? Was it a video card problem or memory problem. My problem is exactly as OP described (15in, Apple spec upgrades, only early 2011 MacBook Pro). I can target the machine and boot it from my other computer, but it won't come up on its own.

PRAM didn't help

Single User didn't help (Says things are fine)

SMC reset did not help

Recovery mode gives me blue lines

Normal boot shows apple logo, then gray screen

Holding down option shows my harddrive and Recovery as options

Tried Apple's online hardware tester (option D?) and it says nothing is wrong

Ran disk utility from another computer, no problems found

Thank you!

I Have the same problem. How did you solve that?

I doubt that the original poster found a solution for his/her problem. The problem with 2011 models is caused by cracking solder due to a defect in Apple's manufacturing process. There are many threads about the problem on this board, if you've a 2011 model (see -> https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4766577?tstart=0).

Clinton

MacBook Pro (15” Late 2011), OS X Yosemite 10.10, 16GB Crucial RAM, 960GB M500 Crucial SSD, 27” Apple Thunderbolt Display

If when you enter recovery mode and there is a gray screen with a lock sign and no passwords work try 0000 it worked for me

Apple have extended the warrantee on the graphics card issue http://www.apple.com/ca/support/macbookpro-videoissues/