Is it possible that a virus of some sort is preventing a normal boot up even if with a clean install?

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Level 1

8 points

Is it possible that a virus of some sort is preventing a normal boot up even if with a clean install?

I'm new to Macs' problem but from my observation, my MBP is acting quite abnormal. At first I was using hard drive on my MBP 2012, a problem occurred, I can't start up normally it just froze on the progress bar with the apple logo, I tried all the fix I could find. And I thought my hard drive was failing so I bought a brand new ssd, and same thing happens. Now I just tried internet recovery, it seemed like it's going to work, but I have to continue my set up in safe mode (both with yosemite and Lion) internet recovery gave me Lion.

I checked the permissions with Disk Utility it always say that "should be this ...., it's currently this ...." I did the repair and it says to be complete I restart came back to find it exactly the same when I first verify it.

So I was thinking of there is a start up program that manages the boot up sequence and a virus got through, and it stays there, it that even possible?? I mean even with clean install everything should be fine, but it's not.

Now with Lion in, with normal boot up it gives me a blank white screen with an arrow that I can scroll around with... it's really frustrating

Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Apr 17, 2015 11:54 AM

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Answer 1

Csound1

Level 9

59,973 points

Apr 17, 2015 11:56 AM in response to tontk

No, forgetting for a minute that there are no OS X viruses, after clean install everything is gone except the new install.

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Answer 2

tontk Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 17, 2015 11:59 AM in response to Csound1

I was aware of that, but it just seemed weird, same problem just happens at the same point on both Lion and Yosemite. And I really cannot find a solution to this, I checked everything and it turned out fine...

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Answer 3

John Galt

Level 10

141,126 points

Apr 17, 2015 12:01 PM in response to tontk

I mean even with clean install everything should be fine, but it's not.

Apple does not use the terminology "clean install". If you mean you erased that Mac's contents completely and reinstalled OS X, then none of its previous contents can possibly remain.

Here are Apple's instructions: OS X: How to erase and install - Apple Support

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Answer 4

tontk Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 17, 2015 12:03 PM in response to John Galt

believe me, I have erased everything, gave it a new partition and all, to reiterate, this is on a brand new ssd even.

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Answer 5

Csound1

Level 9

59,973 points

Apr 17, 2015 12:38 PM in response to tontk

tontk wrote:

I was aware of that, but it just seemed weird, same problem just happens at the same point on both Lion and Yosemite. And I really cannot find a solution to this, I checked everything and it turned out fine...

Impossible beats wierd. A clean install removes everything prior to the install.

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Answer 6

John Galt

Level 10

141,126 points

Apr 17, 2015 1:12 PM in response to tontk

I believe you. The failure to boot must therefore be related to hardware, which means a defective SSD, logic board, or the cable between the two.

Does the Mac boot to the "spinning globe" picture when using OS X Internet Recovery? If it doesn't, you're not going to get anywhere without a screwdriver.

Where did you obtain the SSD? A vendor known to support Macs, including the ability to upload the correct firmware on the SSD, or...?

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Answer 7

Drew Reece

Level 6

10,660 points

Apr 17, 2015 1:34 PM in response to tontk

tontk wrote:

I checked the permissions with Disk Utility it always say that "should be this ...., it's currently this ...." I did the repair and it says to be complete I restart came back to find it exactly the same when I first verify it.

See this…

Mac OS X: Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions messages that you can safely ignore - Apple Support

Those messages sound like ones that can be ignored.

Actually there have been vulnerabilities in Mac's firmware that have potential to be exploited via physical access attacks. That means a compromised system could remain compromised even after a new HD is fitted or a new OS is installed. The attack alters the boot firmware on the logic board.

It is not at all clear is this is an active exploit or if was ever used 'in the wild'. It seems very unlikely you would ever be effected by these types of attacks unless you are on a list of targets for the security services - in which case you have bigger concerns.

http://www.securityweek.com/researcher-demonstrate-attack-apple-efi-firmware

There is nothing you can do about this (except burn the Mac & pulverise it into dust) so the simplest explanations should be ruled out first - your hardware is probably having issues.

If the Mac shipped with OS install disks or a USB key use it to run Apple hardware test.

Using Apple Hardware Test - Apple Support

Verbose mode may also allow you to see more of the startup process (but is complex to diagnose).

Mac OS X: How to start up in single-user or verbose mode - Apple Support

Also try using external disks as the startup disk, that can rule help out the internal disk/ SATA connector as the issue, place your old disk in a USB or other case & use that to boot - does that freeze too? Many others have reported issues with SATA cables - they appear to fail on certain models.

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