LisaLoParo
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Q: Macbook Pro 2009 has gray screen, safe mode won't work

I have a Macbook Pro 2009, with a new hard drive installed in August of 2013. I opened my computer a couple days ago to a gray screen with a prohibitory sign and a spinning gear that will not disappear. I have no backup and tried to backup my hard drive to an external drive in Recovery Mode, but I got an error message and the backup did not work: the image could not be created. So I decided to try Safe Mode, but the Macbook will not enter safe mode. Is there any way to get onto the computer just to backup a handful of files onto an external drive before I format my drive and start over? Am I doing something wrong by trying to enter safe mode? (I held down the Shift key after the chime and released it when the Apple logo and the gear appeared) Any help is appreciated. I've read all the topics in the forums I could find on this issue, but none of the directions seem to help. Thank you.

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2009), Mac OS X (10.7.1)

Posted on Apr 17, 2014 9:14 AM

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LisaLoParo

Q: Macbook Pro 2009 has gray screen, safe mode won't work

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  • by Melophage,

    Melophage Melophage Apr 17, 2014 9:56 AM in response to LisaLoParo
    Level 5 (7,161 points)
    Apr 17, 2014 9:56 AM in response to LisaLoParo

    LisaLoParo,

     

    no, you’re not doing anything wrong in trying to boot into Safe mode.

     

    I can think of three possible alternatives to Safe mode to try:

     

    • If you have an external disk, you could boot from the grey Mac OS X Install DVD which came in the box with your MacBook Pro, and try copying files from your internal disk to the external disk;
    • If you have a bootable external disk, you could boot from it using Startup Manager, and try copying files from your internal disk to the external disk;
    • If you have access to a FireWire 800 cable and a second Mac with a FireWire 800 port, you could try booting your MacBook Pro into Target Disk mode so that it can be used as an external disk from the second Mac, and try copying files from your MacBook Pro to the second Mac.

     

    You’d only need to try one of these three alternatives; if you try one of them and it doesn’t work, then you’d get the same result by trying either of the other two. Good luck.

  • by LisaLoParo,

    LisaLoParo LisaLoParo Apr 18, 2014 10:15 AM in response to Melophage
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 18, 2014 10:15 AM in response to Melophage

    Thank you for all these suggestions. I have read about Target Disk mode (and thank you for the link). Would my computer be the host computer in this case? I have another Macbook pro to connect via FireWire, would that be the target computer?

  • by Melophage,Helpful

    Melophage Melophage Apr 18, 2014 12:01 PM in response to LisaLoParo
    Level 5 (7,161 points)
    Apr 18, 2014 12:01 PM in response to LisaLoParo

    LisaLoParo,

     

    no, it’s the other way around. Your Mac, booted into Target Disk mode, would be the target computer; the second Mac would be the host computer. (In this terminology, the “target” is actually the internal disk of the the computer to be booted into Target Disk mode.)

  • by LisaLoParo,

    LisaLoParo LisaLoParo Apr 18, 2014 12:14 PM in response to Melophage
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 18, 2014 12:14 PM in response to Melophage

    Okay, yes, thank you. That confused me a bit. I appreciate your help!

  • by LisaLoParo,

    LisaLoParo LisaLoParo Apr 18, 2014 5:27 PM in response to Melophage
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 18, 2014 5:27 PM in response to Melophage

    Target Disk mode did not work. The title "Macintosh HD" indicating the drive in Disk Utility is gray instead of black and the disk will not mount. Is there now any chance of retrieving data? I have an appointment at the genius bar tomorrow but I'd like to know if it's worth it at this point.

  • by Melophage,

    Melophage Melophage Apr 19, 2014 11:25 AM in response to LisaLoParo
    Level 5 (7,161 points)
    Apr 19, 2014 11:25 AM in response to LisaLoParo

    LisaLoParo,

     

    your only chance now is to hire a data recovery service; but note that they’re typically quite expensive. After your appointment tomorrow, you might want to purchase an external hard drive for use as a Time Machine backup destination, so that in case of future disk problems, restoration from a backup would be a simple remedy.

  • by LisaLoParo,

    LisaLoParo LisaLoParo Apr 19, 2014 12:34 PM in response to Melophage
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 19, 2014 12:34 PM in response to Melophage

    Yeah, I was expecting that. Thank you for your help. I do indeed have an external hard drive but did not back up as frequently as I ought to have done. I guess that will teach me not to wait so long in future. Many thanks!