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Can't boot after installing 10.8.3

I installed 10.8.3 today on all the Macs in the house using the Combo updater. Everything went ok on the 2011 Mini, 2012 13" Macbook Pro, 2012 (I think) Macbook Air, and 2009 17" Macbook Pro. But on my early 2011 17" Macbook Pro with 8GB of RAM and 2.2Ghz Core i7, it's been a nightmare. The install seemed to go fine, but when I rebooted after a while on the grey sreen with the spinner and Apple logo the Apple turned to the prohibitory sign (the circle with the slash through it), and there it gets stuck. I've tried with no luck:

1) boot to a recovery partition, and ran both a repair and repair permission on the drive in Disk Utility. Neither found any issues.

2) reset the NVRAM/PRAM several times

3) when I tried to boot into verbose Safe mode, after a little while a message appeard, "Still waiting for root device" and the circle with the slash through it appeared in the middle of the screen. After a few mintues, the message appears again. And it just sits there spitting that message out for long minutes.

4) after I tried safe boot and it failed, I wiped the drive, installed a clean copy of 10.8 on it, and then installed nothing but the 10.8.3 update. Rebooted and the same problem.

After the clean install and update failed, I wiped the drive again and restored 10.8.2 from Time Machine, which is where I am now and it's working and booting fine. As an experiment, I cloned the boot drive to an external hard drive, rebooted off the extenral drive, and installed 10.8.3 there. And that works. I can boot from the firewire drive with 10.8.3 on it just fine. So it seems to me that it's having a problem with my boot drive, which is an Intel X25M 160GB SSD. I'd greatly appreciate any help because this has been driving me nuts all day.

The strange thing is that now that I've restored back to 10.8.2, 10.8.3 no longer shows up for me in Software Update. It showed up on the other 2 Macbook Pros. Has Apple maybe pulled it from Software Update for my model MBP because of the problems?

Posted on Mar 15, 2013 12:23 PM

50 replies

jcharr1 Author

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Mar 16, 2013 2:39 PM in response to tcl4m

Unfortunately, I don't have a PC or access to one. That's why I was trying to use my old bootcamp backup.

Mar 17, 2013 4:59 AM in response to jcharr1

Same problem after update firmware(x-25e) and combo update 😟.

stekme

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Mar 17, 2013 10:45 AM in response to jcharr1

ITS BIG problem for me too!

MBP-13 / 2011 with Intel SSD 128gb

1. Instll from Mac App Store as Update - not load

2. Run DU, chek - few errors..

3. clean SSD, install 10.8, run Combo update. - not load

4. clean ssd, install 10.8, run Mac App Store Update - not load

I think its problem of Apple and we must wait new update!

Older versions of Mac OS X updates work clean.. but 10.8.3... why???

Mar 17, 2013 12:31 PM in response to stekme

I am running an X25-M 160GB, 2011 17" MacBook Pro. The update killed my MBP but thankfully I had a Time Machine backup to 10.8.2. I don't think I can update firmware on my SSD directly from a Mac and I don't have a PC to do it with. Is there going to be a fix for this?

Mar 18, 2013 4:16 AM in response to islander71

Download the firmware iso from http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=18363

Create a bootable cd from the iso using Disk Utility.

Restart the mac with the disk in the drive while holding the "C" key on the keyboard.

Run the firmware update.

Reinstall the 10.8.3 update.

Easy 5 minute fix.

pejaham

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Mar 18, 2013 4:32 AM in response to Sydneypup

On my 2011 Mac Mini the Intel driver update CD does not boot. It hangs with displaying "FreeDOS" in the BIOS console. What is the trick?

Mar 18, 2013 4:37 AM in response to pejaham

You have an Intel X25 SSD, right?

It didn't hang on mine.

I had to enter Y, then enter twice, before it started.

May be a display problem?

pejaham

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Mar 18, 2013 6:16 AM in response to Sydneypup

Yes, I have an Intel X25 SSD - Info from "About this Mac":

INTEL SSDSA2M160G2GC

Version: 2CV102G9

The monitor is a Cinema Display 24" with Mini Display port - which should work on a Mac Mini. I'll try another monitor. Do you have a Bootcamp partition configured? Maybe the EFI loader cannot boot straight into DOS. I also tried rEFIt and rEFIned - no luck.

Thanks

Mar 18, 2013 6:34 AM in response to pejaham

I'm sorry. I didn't mean an actual monitor problem. I wonder if the prompts are not displaying for some reason.

You might try typing y, then hit Enter, Then Y, and Enter again.

I believe the first Y was a response to Do you have an Intel SSD, and the second was a response to Have you read, and agree to the license agreement.

I do not have a Bootcamp partition configured.

Here is my info:

INTEL SSDSA2M160G2GC

Revision: 2CV102M3 (after firmware update)

Mar 18, 2013 6:45 AM in response to pejaham

I ran across this old post on an Intel forum.Their workaround was to to create a bootable flash drive instead of CD. It is a pretty old post, but may be worth a shot. http://communities.intel.com/thread/3923

pejaham

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Mar 18, 2013 6:47 AM in response to Sydneypup

Ah ok - on my console I just get the "FreeDOS" message with the curser positioned after the string, then the DVD activity dies and nothing. Did you get a different prompt before typing the y/enter keys or what prompt shoud I get? I'll try the keyboard input anyway with the y/enter as you suggested.

My SSD model seems to be exactly the same as yours, so basically it should work. On what Mac model did you run the firmware updater?

Thanks,

Peter

pejaham

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Mar 18, 2013 6:55 AM in response to pejaham

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

Peter

Mar 18, 2013 7:07 AM in response to pejaham

I can't remember exactly what the text read, I just remember having to type Y and Enter twice.

I ran it on an Early 2011 13" MacBook Pro.

Mar 18, 2013 7:21 AM in response to jcharr1

Hi jcharr1,

As you have many other mac system's.. take a time machine back up of the best working mac on an external pendrive..

then Choose Apple menu > Restart, and then hold down the Command (⌘) and R keys while your Mac restarts. If you’re not connected to the Internet, choose a network from the Wi-Fi menu (in the top-right corner of the screen). then choose the first option "Restore from machine backup"

once thats completed you would have 10.8.3 exactly the same way how it is on your best working mac.

Warning: these steps are subject to data loss..

all the best..

jcharr1 Author

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Mar 18, 2013 7:46 AM in response to ayaz_mohd

Thanks for the suggestion, ayaz_mohd. I haven't tried that, but I seriously doubt it would work. I don't have any problems installing 10.8.3. 10.8.3 just seems to be incompatible with my SSD, at least stuck at the firmware it's on now. I tried wiping my SSD, installing 10.8 fresh, and installed 10.8.3, but even after doing that I still had the same problem. So that leads me to belive that there's an incompatibility between 10.8.3 and my SSD hardware and/or firmware, and restoring another 10.8.3 on this SSD will just result in having the same problem.

Can't boot after installing 10.8.3