trebber
Level 1 (19 points)
iPhone

Q: Hardware test...

I can't do (unless I'm really stupid) Apple Hardware Test on my box.  I hold down D at boot, no go.  I hold down Option-D at boot, no go.  I do the same with the install disc in, no go ...  Am I missing something?  Does Tech Tool Deluxe do the same thing?  Is it better, or not?

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Jan 5, 2015 6:29 PM

by Drew Reece,Solvedanswer
Drew Reece Drew Reece
Level 5 (7,490 points)
Notebooks
A:

I need to come back to the rivenfive post, I have focusing on my script instead, since it worked for me.

 

This needs to be done on the Mac that needs to run AHT, all the usual warnings apply about running scripts from strangers on the internet!

Backup first if the Mac has ANY important data, get a second opinion if you need help. Don't run it if you are concerned what it does.

It worked for me on 10.6 when I made it & I tested on 10.9 earlier.

 

It needs to use sudo, so login to an admin user account otherwise it will fail to work (the first user account is an admin). It will prompt for the password.

The destination needs to be a 'Macintosh Extended (journaled) format' volume.

 

Download the 'gist' (right hand button) https://gist.github.com/drewreece/2e5eed7dbfbd5dd7e929

Open the archive via double click & you will get an insanely named folder 'gist2e… '

Rename the folder to 'aht-my-disk', move that folder to the Desktop

 

Make the script executable (only needed once), in Terminal 

chmod +x ~/Desktop/aht-my-disk/AHT-my-disk.sh

 

To run it the command in Terminal is …

~/Desktop/aht-my-disk/AHT-my-disk.sh SOURCE-AHT-DISK-IMAGE DESTINATION-DISK

 

The easy way to do this…

Drag & drop the AHT-My-disk.sh script into Terminal to autofill the path to it.

tap spacebar

drag & drop the source disk image

tap spacebar

drag & drop the destination disk

 

Hit return to run the script

 

It will post lots of output to the Terminal as it runs. It does the following…

  • Mount the source AHT disk image
  • Copy the AHT onto the destination disk
  • 'bless' the diags.efi for booting  <- REQUIRES SUDO - enter password at prompt.
  • Unmount the source AHT disk image

 

 

Now when you reboot will be set to use this as the startup disk. Do not hold any startup keys.

If it fails to launch AHT reboot & hold alt at next startup to choose another startup disk, or remove the USB stick to allow the Mac to search for other OS's.


Let me know if it fails or if you get any errors.

Posted on Feb 4, 2015 10:57 AM

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trebber

Q: Hardware test...

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  • by UbuntuXP,

    UbuntuXP UbuntuXP Jan 5, 2015 6:37 PM in response to trebber
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Jan 5, 2015 6:37 PM in response to trebber

    Try this:

     

    http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201257

     

    Also, make sure you're following the steps completely.

  • by trebber,

    trebber trebber Jan 16, 2015 6:57 AM in response to UbuntuXP
    Level 1 (19 points)
    iPhone
    Jan 16, 2015 6:57 AM in response to UbuntuXP

    I bought the Retail version of SL, and it came with just one disc.  Apparently, AHT is not on that disc...

  • by UbuntuXP,

    UbuntuXP UbuntuXP Jan 16, 2015 7:05 AM in response to trebber
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Jan 16, 2015 7:05 AM in response to trebber

    THen you need to take it to an Apple Store and have someone at the Genius Bar look at it.

  • by trebber,

    trebber trebber Jan 16, 2015 8:27 AM in response to UbuntuXP
    Level 1 (19 points)
    iPhone
    Jan 16, 2015 8:27 AM in response to UbuntuXP

    Closest Apple store is 70 miles away.  Back to my original question:

    Does Tech Tool Deluxe do the same thing?  Is it better, or not?  I'm going to include a screenshot of what TTD does, in case you're not familiar.  BTW, TTD reports NO problems, everything passes.  But I still have daily kernel panics...

     

    TTD.png

  • by Jeff Shenk,

    Jeff Shenk Jeff Shenk Jan 16, 2015 8:52 AM in response to trebber
    Level 4 (2,803 points)
    Jan 16, 2015 8:52 AM in response to trebber

    The Hardware Test is specific to a particular hardware configuration, while the retail Installer is not, so they can't include the hardware test on the retail installer, only on machine-specific ones.

    Tech Tool probably checks a lot of the same things, but I wouldn't know how well.

    Does the panic log have any hints as to what is triggering the kernel panics?

  • by Drew Reece,

    Drew Reece Drew Reece Jan 16, 2015 9:14 AM in response to trebber
    Level 5 (7,490 points)
    Notebooks
    Jan 16, 2015 9:14 AM in response to trebber

    There is a list of Apple Hardware Test versions at …

    https://github.com/upekkha/AppleHardwareTest

     

    You will need to figure out the correct one via the commands listed there, then you can download the .dmg & burn that to a CD. If you burn it correctly it will be bootable (silly me - I can't recall if you burn the 'mounted disk image volume', or select the image itself to burn - try both in Disk Utility).

     

    TTD does different things - AHT 'knows' what the hardware should be, so it can perform specific tests, TTD is generic.

     

    I got burned with Tech Tool Pro & have been wary of it since - it deleted essential filesystem features via it's repair options, Disk Warrior fixed it making the Mac bootable again.

     

    I'd suggest you make a new issue to detail the kernel panics - someone may be able to help you find logs & get a better idea of what causes them, diagnostics may not see all issues, but it is a good idea to run them.

     

    Rember is another option for checking RAM…

    http://www.kelleycomputing.net/rember/

     

    Start from cold if you can, some issues can be temperature dependant, re-run to get the Mac up to operating temp.

  • by trebber,

    trebber trebber Jan 16, 2015 5:13 PM in response to Drew Reece
    Level 1 (19 points)
    iPhone
    Jan 16, 2015 5:13 PM in response to Drew Reece

    "Start from cold if you can, some issues can be temperature dependant, re-run to get the Mac up to operating temp."

     

    So, I run it cold first, like right at boot-up?  Then, after it's warmed up again?

  • by Drew Reece,

    Drew Reece Drew Reece Jan 16, 2015 5:41 PM in response to trebber
    Level 5 (7,490 points)
    Notebooks
    Jan 16, 2015 5:41 PM in response to trebber

    trebber wrote:

     

    "Start from cold if you can, some issues can be temperature dependant, re-run to get the Mac up to operating temp."

     

    So, I run it cold first, like right at boot-up?  Then, after it's warmed up again?

    My process is to let the Mac sit powered off until it's room temperature, (generally cold in the UK ). Then boot it & run the tests, let then run for a good few hours to get it up to it's max temp - the room usually warms up too with older Macs.

     

    It allows any thermal expansion/ contraction to happen whilst testing.

  • by trebber,

    trebber trebber Jan 17, 2015 9:02 AM in response to Drew Reece
    Level 1 (19 points)
    iPhone
    Jan 17, 2015 9:02 AM in response to Drew Reece

    So I went to the link you mentioned above.  The reference to the Apple page (in the article) only takes you to the main Apple support page, no AHT's listed there, but further down in the article is a list of links to the hardware tests.  By running the terminal commands, I found I have a MacBook Pro 1,1 and the second command returned F425BEC8, but I don't see that in the list.  I searched the web and found a 1,1 with a 2.16 GHz Intel Core Duo as model number MA601xx/A (xx is a placeholder for country code), but I don't see that on the list either.  So I downloaded the first AHT (?) on the MBP 1,1 list (3A106) and in the resulting .dmg, there's a "read me" and a folder called System, but what do I do with it?  Looking into that folder are two other folders (System>Library>Core Services) but Core Services is empty (? or hidden).  I'm officially lost...  Help?

  • by trebber,

    trebber trebber Jan 17, 2015 9:12 AM in response to Drew Reece
    Level 1 (19 points)
    iPhone
    Jan 17, 2015 9:12 AM in response to Drew Reece

    Forgot to say:  I haven't gotten to this part yet:

    "...you can download the .dmg & burn that to a CD. If you burn it correctly it will be bootable (silly me - I can't recall if you burn the 'mounted disk image volume', or select the image itself to burn - try both in Disk Utility)."

     

    And now for something completely different.

     

    I do have the original Tiger discs that can with my computer back in 2006.  Disc 1 says "AHT Version 3A107".  Should I plug that in and hold down "D" or will I encounter problem since I upgraded to 10.6.8 ?

  • by Drew Reece,

    Drew Reece Drew Reece Jan 17, 2015 9:49 AM in response to trebber
    Level 5 (7,490 points)
    Notebooks
    Jan 17, 2015 9:49 AM in response to trebber

    Use the grey system disk it will be fine.

  • by baltwo,

    baltwo baltwo Jan 17, 2015 12:55 PM in response to trebber
    Level 9 (62,256 points)
    Jan 17, 2015 12:55 PM in response to trebber

    Your machine can't use CMD+D or D to run the AHT. You can only run it via the Tiger install disc.

     

    27" i7 iMac (Mid 2011) refurb, OS X Yo (10.10.1), Mavs, ML & SL, G4 450 MP w/10.5 & 9.2.2

  • by Drew Reece,

    Drew Reece Drew Reece Jan 17, 2015 1:33 PM in response to trebber
    Level 5 (7,490 points)
    Notebooks
    Jan 17, 2015 1:33 PM in response to trebber

    In the disk image the /System/Library/Core Services/ has a .diagnostics folder. The leading dot makes it hidden, so Finder will not show it.

     

    If you have a CD drive try burning it via Disk Utility, Select the Images Menu > Burn then select the downloaded .dmg.

     

    Your Tiger install DVD should also work, but sometimes the downloads have slightly newer versions of AHT. Just be prepared to wait a while when booting from it, the startup process can be slow from CD/DVD's. Use alt to select the startup disk when using a custom made disk.

     

    Good luck

  • by trebber,

    trebber trebber Jan 18, 2015 9:17 AM in response to baltwo
    Level 1 (19 points)
    iPhone
    Jan 18, 2015 9:17 AM in response to baltwo

    baltwo wrote:

     

    Your machine can't use CMD+D or D to run the AHT. You can only run it via the Tiger install disc.

     

    27" i7 iMac (Mid 2011) refurb, OS X Yo (10.10.1), Mavs, ML & SL, G4 450 MP w/10.5 & 9.2.2

    Here's the prob:

    My internal SuperDrive is buggy at best, likes some discs, hates others, keeps regurgitating the Tiger install disc.  I have an external optical drive, but it's USB, and Apple says Firewire only.  When I put the Tiger disc in the ext. USB drive, hold down D, it just boots to my startup disk.  If I boot to the install disc, then Restart selecting the install disc and hold down D, it just starts the installer again, doesn't run the AHT.  Unless I'm missing something...

    Haven't tried burning the .dmg off the net, that'll be next.  Maybe my buggy-a** StupidDrive will swallow it.

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