White screen on my Late 2008 MacBook

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White screen on my Late 2008 MacBook

My MacBook that I use for school and recording all of a sudden began booting up to a white screen with an Apple logo and a loading bar at the bottom. While my MacBook is old, I assumed it was a hardware issue and could quite possibly be the Hard Drive. Is there anything I can do to save it and it's contents? I have heard that you could FireWire your Mac to another in order to do something productive. I would really appreciate your thoughts, guys!

~Kyle

MacBook, iOS 7.0.4

Posted on Feb 17, 2014 2:12 PM

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Answer 1

Feb 17, 2014 2:22 PM in response to Krine29

Lets start by telling us the version of Mac OS you have, and what model Macbook.

(To find this info, click the b lack Apple icon on the top left and select About This Mac. That will tell you about OS X. Next click More Info and look at the right side under Hardware Overview for the Model Identifier.)

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Answer 2

Krine29 Author

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Feb 17, 2014 2:31 PM in response to Eustace Mendis

Eustace,

I wish I could give you that information but the MacBook will not boot up the operating system and remains stuck with a white screen and dies about a minute later. I did manage to take a picture of the terminal screen during its attempt to start up if that would help. Maybe you guys could translate it for me.

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Answer 3

Feb 17, 2014 2:35 PM in response to Krine29

Did the Macbook come with a OS DVD ? If yes, we can use that to try some steps.

Did you upgrade the OS after you bought it in late 2008?

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Answer 4

Feb 17, 2014 2:48 PM in response to Krine29

There are two approaches that are worth trying,

1. You can boot the computer from the original OS disk, and run Disk Utility to repair the hard drive.

2. You can connect the computer to another Mac using a firewire cable, and use Target Disk Mode. In TDM, the ailing drive should be available on the desktop of the other Mac so you can run Disk Utility from that Mac.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1661

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