josephd77
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Q: various issues (including -3403D)

I bought a used Macbook Air 11.6" (Mid 2011) off of Ebay. The seller specified it had a bad battery and a grey screen. Since purchasing, I've confirmed that the batter is bad and tried everything I could to fix/re-install the OS(no luck). I took it to the Apple store and they had it for awhile running tests. They told me it's either an issue with the hard drive or the logic board, but that it's most likely the hard drive.

 

I took it back and bought another hard drive off of Newegg. Just received it yesterday and installed it. Now, whenever I try to boot from Lion or Mountain Lion(via USB), it just displays that circle with the line through it. When I try booting from Snow Leopard, it then displays the Apple logo and shows the loading indicator below it... but after awhile, the screen goes blank and stays that way.

 

At this point I've tried running the hardware test. It connects to my network just fine, but then says "apple.com/support -3403d" and doesn't do anything else. I tried connecting to another network and it still does the same thing. I made yet another appointment at the Apple store for tomorrow. Just thought I'd post all this here in case anyone knows how to fix this & I can cancel tomorrow's appointment.

Posted on Mar 8, 2015 12:21 PM

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josephd77

Q: various issues (including -3403D)

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  • by my ginger,

    my ginger my ginger Mar 8, 2015 1:30 PM in response to josephd77
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Mar 8, 2015 1:30 PM in response to josephd77

    What are you using for snow leopard since snow leopard is a dvd install disk unless it has been  put on a bootable external drive? If you are using a bootable drive or external dvd hold down the C key for dvd and the option key for boot drive. and go to utilities option off the installer. As you will have to format the new drive. You can also do a pram reset. Command/Option/P/R at startup for three chimes or a SMC resethttps://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295     https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202796 Though this is for an external drive ,you would have to do this for a new internal drive also.

  • by my ginger,

    my ginger my ginger Mar 8, 2015 1:48 PM in response to josephd77
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Mar 8, 2015 1:48 PM in response to josephd77

    If you do have a mid 2011 macbook air the operating system was 10.7 lion.If your usb stick is a bootable installer then you start up with Option Or Option R. To get to internet for hardware test you use D or Command D. Which if it is working will open a wifi connection.Sometimes it takes a little while.

  • by josephd77,

    josephd77 josephd77 Mar 8, 2015 1:56 PM in response to my ginger
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 8, 2015 1:56 PM in response to my ginger

    I've been making bootable usb drives of Snow Leopard, Lion & Mountain Lion. Both Lions just show the circle w/ bar thru when I try those. Snow is the only one that will show the Apple logo & loading icon(but screen then goes blank). I borrowed an external DVD drive & an official retail disc of Snow(only retail DVD I have access to). It also does the same thing as the bootable USB drive w/ Snow.

    I've only able to perform the above by holding OPTION. If I try to hold C, the screen just stays grey and doesn't do anything.

     

    **I will have to try your recommendations in the 2nd post shortly.

  • by my ginger,

    my ginger my ginger Mar 8, 2015 2:49 PM in response to josephd77
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Mar 8, 2015 2:49 PM in response to josephd77

    How did you make the bootable usb drives? Did you use a downloaded install from apple? Have you tried booting on a different  Macbook to see if they work?  The circle and slash means it can't find a volume to boot to.

  • by josephd77,

    josephd77 josephd77 Mar 8, 2015 3:14 PM in response to my ginger
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 8, 2015 3:14 PM in response to my ginger

    The .dmg files I've been using were image copies of the installation discs I got from a friend. I've tried making bootable usb drives from them using the applications PowerISO as well as TransMac(both from my Windows desktop). I have various Windows based desktops & laptops here. Unfortunately, this particular Macbook Air is the only Mac I have at the moment(a side from an Apple IIe that remarkably still works).

  • by my ginger,

    my ginger my ginger Mar 8, 2015 3:27 PM in response to josephd77
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Mar 8, 2015 3:27 PM in response to josephd77

    Can't laugh I have a performa 500 that still works. When I was making a bootable usb stick for yosemite ,I tried TransMac. It didn't work for me. Ended up using terminal in a macbook to do it.  I know nothing about PowerISO. I have been told that when using a windows computer it has to be done as an ISO. Might take some looking. This could be the problem. `If you could copy the DMG files to a disk and the get use of a mac you could create the bootable usb stick from that.

  • by josephd77,

    josephd77 josephd77 Mar 8, 2015 10:37 PM in response to my ginger
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 8, 2015 10:37 PM in response to my ginger

    So I'm pretty sure Apple is going to tell me the logic board needs to be replaced. If that's the case, my Air is a 11.6"(Mid 2011) i5 1.6GHz w/ 2GB of memory. I notice for that same year, there is another model that is exactly the same but with 4GB of memory. If I buy the logic board with 4GB, can that be swapped out just fine?

  • by my ginger,

    my ginger my ginger Mar 9, 2015 11:23 AM in response to josephd77
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Mar 9, 2015 11:23 AM in response to josephd77

    For internet recovery to work. Your router must be on WPA or WPA2. It will not work on any other encryption. As far as the bootable disks you made. They have to have a mac formate to be read by the laptop. If you use TransMac, you first have to formate in windows to GPT  I think that the macbook air cannot read the boot drive. Most every flash drive or usb sticks are not formatted for Mac's. Thats why it is easier to make a bootable drive from a mac as the file is a DMG.

  • by josephd77,

    josephd77 josephd77 Mar 9, 2015 12:28 PM in response to my ginger
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 9, 2015 12:28 PM in response to my ginger

    .... back from the Apple Store. They confirmed that the logic board does need to be replaced. thanks for the help though!

  • by my ginger,

    my ginger my ginger Mar 10, 2015 11:07 AM in response to josephd77
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Mar 10, 2015 11:07 AM in response to josephd77

    Just curious. How did they arrive at that? Did they try to use a bootable external disk or drive to see if it would mount and go to screen?

  • by josephd77,

    josephd77 josephd77 Mar 10, 2015 3:13 PM in response to my ginger
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 10, 2015 3:13 PM in response to my ginger

    The tech I met with went over the notes from my previous visit(last week - when they told me it's either the HD or logic board & ended the tests there). He then hooked up my Air to the stores network(cat5 to thunderbolt adapter). Once it connected, he tried running a series of tests. He even tried to install Lion over the lan connection. Apparently, nothing was processing successfully. He told me the problem is with the logic board and that it's possible someone tried modifying the firmware on it(which screwed it up). He also said Apple can't perform firmware repairs but offered to replace the logic board.

  • by my ginger,

    my ginger my ginger Mar 10, 2015 3:51 PM in response to josephd77
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Mar 10, 2015 3:51 PM in response to josephd77

    No, but you can download an put a firmware update on a usb stick and see if it can be installed. It will ether tell you it can't, not needed or it will install it.  https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201518

  • by josephd77,

    josephd77 josephd77 Mar 14, 2015 11:50 PM in response to my ginger
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 14, 2015 11:50 PM in response to my ginger

    I ended up ordering that 4GB logic board to replace this non functional 2GB model. It installed perfectly and everything is now working fine. I didn't bother trying that firmware fix as I had already ordered this other board before I saw your reply. Just thought I'd let you know(thanks for all the help though!)