Hardware test...

Then, you need to get an ext FW reader/writer.

Are you both certain it needs Firewire to boot from external media? I thought Intel Macs moved over to USB?

I don't doubt that USB fails to boot (it can be flaky), but I'm not sure if Firewire is the answer.

I do wonder if you can restore the AHT media to a USB thumb drive? I haven't been able to get that to work. I was using Disk Utilities 'restore' to clone the .dmg onto a USB stick. You need to 'scan for restore' first time, that is in DU's Images menu.

It may be the old Mac I tried, but it wouldn't appear in the boot picker when holding alt at boot.

I only recommend FW, since USB 2 is slower than molasses, but faster than wifi.

trebber wrote:

Just for clarification, and I'm still hoping to get the Tiger disc with the AHT on it to work for me, unless I'm confused, I CAN boot to the external USB DVD drive; IOW, I can put the Tiger disc in the drive and reboot holding Option (alt), and I see both my startup disc and the Tiger install disc, just can't figure a way to run the AHT, even thought there IS an option to restart to the install disc. I don't mind pursuing the USB flash drive option, if I had more specific instructions for TRYING to get the flash drive bootable with the AHT I downloaded from the net.

AHT on grey disks have a keyboard shortcut printed on the disk, see if that is visible, I think it has been D for many years now.

Making a USB AHT disk

I don't know if this will work for you - it failed in my tests…

Open Disk Utility

Drop the downloaded AHT disk image into the sidebar.

Select the AHT.dmg in the sidebar & choose 'Images > Scan for restore' from the top menu.

Once complete select the Restore tab

Drop the AHT.dmg image into the 'Source'

Drop your USB flash drive into the Destination field - it will be erased so don't have important files on it.

Click the Restore button & authenticate as your admin user.

That should make the copy similar to burning a CD from Disk Utility.

Note: if there is an error 'image is wrong format' or 'needs converting' use 'Images > convert' before scanning, some older AHT are using older disk image formats.

If it fails to boot the Mac, use Disk Utility's burn option to make a CD or maybe try a Firewire disk.

You might try this. First, make all hidden files/folders visible by running the following command in Terminal.

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true ; killall Finder

(To reverse this when you're done:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool false ; killall Finder )

Next, insert the grey install disc that came with the computer. Note: if it came with 10.5, then you might have a second disc labelled "Additional Software & Apple Hardware Test." Or:

Macs That Shipped With OS X 10.5.5 (Fall 2008) to OS X 10.6.7 (Summer 2011)

OS X 10.5.5 (Leopard) was released in September of 2008. For Macs that were sold with OS X 10.5.5 and later versions of Leopard, or with any version of Snow Leopard, the AHT is located on the Application Install Disc 2 DVD that was included with the Mac.

http://macs.about.com/od/Troubleshooting/fl/Use-the-Apple-Hardware-Test-AHT-to-F ind-Problems-With-Your-Macs-Hardware.htm

Now, open the mounted disc (if it will mount) and drill down to a folder there .diagnostics and copy it to /System/Library/CoreServices on the Mac. Next, make sure the permissions on the copied disc are correct. To do this, get BatChmod http://www.lagentesoft.com/batchmod/index.html , drag the copied .diagnostics folder into the field and set everything this way (not shown below, but also check Apply to enclosed folders and files):

Now try D key booting.

If it still doesn't work, then, with the grey disc still mounted, you can try to put it on a flash drive:

Insert a flash drive (the .diagnostics folder on my Snow is ~95 MB, so a flash drive with a partition of 1.5 GB should be completely adequate for this--this allows a little extra for the formatting) which should first be partitioned: GUID partition map/MacOS Extended Journaled). Open Disc Utility, select the drive, the top level listing (not the volume) and go to Restore. Drag the .diagnostics folder into the source field, then drag the flash drive into the destination field and hit the Restore button.

When this is all done, and with the flash drive still mounted, go to Sys Prefs>Startup Disk and see if the new flash .diagnostics volume shows up as a bootable volume. Even if it doesn't show up, you can still try booting to it by holding down the Option key at the startup chime from a restart, or the C key from a restart.

You tried putting the AHT from GitHub on a flash drive and it still didn't work? That happened to me also, using the GitHub AHT for a MacMini.

According to this, I think your MBP came with Tiger 10.4.5 or 6.

http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT1159

Unfortunately, not certain that it has a .diagnostics folder on the grey Tiger install DVD. But have a look anyway. If it doesn't, not sure what it's called or where it's located on the DVD.

Sorry if this is becoming more confusing, but, rather than putting just the .diagnostics folder on a flash drive using Disk Utility Restore, which might by itself not be bootable, this might be the way to go. Of course, you'll need a much bigger flash drive or partition. Probably need 8 GB.

http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/105028/is-there-a-way-to-run-the-apple- hardware-test-without-an-optical-drive

Update: just tried putting the .diagnostics on a USB flash drive. Used both Carbon Copy Cloner and Disk Utility Restore, after making a dmg from the .diagnostics folder. Thought that the executables there, diags.efi, might make it bootable, but no dice. It won't boot.

Maybe someone else will have another idea for making .diagnosics bootable, but that leaves the apple.stackexchange method as your best bet.

funny, I can boot to the SL and Tiger Install discs via USB ext. DVD drive

After making hidden files and folders visible from the directions I gave you, if it's the grey Tiger install disc (could be disc 2) that came with the computer, do you see .diagnostics in /System/Library/CoreServices?

It might help if you looked at the mounted Tiger install disc with Pacifist.

If you find it, you might be able to use these directions to get it on a flash drive. They may need some modifications.

http://rivenbyfive.blogspot.com/2012/01/download-and-run-apple-hardware-test.htm l

This seems to have been going on for a long time.

I know you are having daily Kernel Panics trebbler.

I would back up & erase the HD. Then reinstall the OS & see if it is any different with only default software. It could leave the Mac in an unbootable state if it KP's during reinstall or the erase etc. If you are lucky Target disk mode may work, allowing you to restore the (almost) working OS if you have a second Mac & correct cables.

How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode - Apple Support

You can try installing to an external disk if you really want. I would remove the internal HD if you are able to do that - just in case that is the reason for the KP's, if you have a USB/ Firewire caddy you can try booting from the internal HD when it is external.

I would also pull one RAM stick & retest out of desperation & then switch to the other one if it KP's - check how it needs to be arranged in the slots.

If it isn't any better it is time to bite the bullet & take it to an Apple store. They should try diagnostics - if they can't get the tools running something is just plain wrong with this Mac. They will charge for repairs which may be beyond the value of this Mac.

Sorry I have exhausted the steps I use to make AHT work.