MacBook Pro (10.6.8) won't startup, can't repair disk, won't PRAM/safe mode etc

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MacBook Pro (10.6.8) won't startup, can't repair disk, won't PRAM/safe mode etc

So, I had been getting a warning saying File cannot be saved (-54) while using iTunes the night before last, so I immediately Googled this and found people to say it could be hard drive problems. I immediately ran a check on my hdd using Disk Utility and it said it needed to be repaired. I was in the middle of something so I left it till the morning.

Yesterday morning I started using it, forgetting the previous night's warning, and, after opening iTunes, Mail, Firefox and Photoshop it became slow and a little unresponsive (mainly Firefox, but whatever), so I immediately restarted and used the apple+R option to conduct the disk repair. When I tried to repair the disk it told me it could not and to back up my files and restore. Since this action I have not been able to get back onto my desktop. In fact, when I now turn it on, I get the apple symbol, followed by a grey bar, then the spinning grey wheel, and it turns off after about 45 seconds or less. I have tried the Apple Hardware Test but it always fails at 51 seconds. I tried the more detailed one and that always fails at 10m32s. And I cannot get into safe mode, it just turns off, same for PRAM.

The only way I can get the machine to stay on is to go back into recovery mode, or by holding down C when it starts up as I managed to get the OS disk in. Still, nothing works.

My main problem is I am not backed up. I have resigned myself to the fact the hard drive probably is knackered (it is now 4 years old to the month. Suspicious?), but I don't want to lose my files. I can take it out and use an SATA drive to extract the files, but do I need to?

I spoke at length to Apple yesterday by phone (100 mins goddammit!), and they seem to think I have somehowlost my OS and that restoring my OS won't lose all my files. Or maybe it will. This was literally their conclusion. Does anybody know for sure if I will or won't based on how it is running in its current state?

Any help at all would be appreciated. Apologies if I have left anything out, I did try to be as detailed as possible.

Thanks in advance

MacBook Pro (13-inch Early 2011), Mac OS X (10.6.8), iPhone 4S

Posted on Jul 10, 2015 1:49 AM

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Answer 1

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,305 points

Jul 10, 2015 3:35 AM in response to rockwell666

The HDD will have to be replaced. Order a new one, install it, format the new HDD and install the OSX ( using the Snow Leopard disk that came with your MBP).

Then you can connect the old HDD to your MBP and see what you can salvage from it.

Consider also ordering a HDD for backups.

Ciao.

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Answer 2

rockwell666 Author

Level 1

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Jul 11, 2015 7:14 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

OK. So I took your advice and repaired the hard drive (with a 1TB Toshiba SSHD) and it's running better than ever, thanks

However, I did find an old time machine backup from last September, 2014. I now have the old internal hooked up to an SATA drive to extract my old files but I'm a little puzzled on one thing.

For example, I'm missing all the new playlists from my iTunes, new bookmarks from my browser, etc. now, my question is, if I replace the package contents of a number of applications from my old internal onto the new ones will it update them back to where I left off last Thursday, or will it corrupt the program?

Any help here would be welcome as Apple again said "maybe that'll work but we don't know and we don't recommend it" hmmm

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Answer 3

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,305 points

Jul 11, 2015 8:01 AM in response to rockwell666

rockwell666 wrote:

For example, I'm missing all the new playlists from my iTunes, new bookmarks from my browser, etc. now, my question is, if I replace the package contents of a number of applications from my old internal onto the new ones will it update them back to where I left off last Thursday, or will it corrupt the program?

Your question is not clear to me. Are you transferring data from the former internal HDD to the new SSHD? In the case of iTunes, you have to replace the entire iTunes library to ensure that the playlists remain the same.

Ciao.

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Answer 4

rockwell666 Author

Level 1

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Aug 4, 2015 5:55 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

So, all was going well since I put in the new SSHD just over three weeks ago until just now I got that warning again saying File cannot be saved (-54) while using iTunes. This new hard drive (Toshiba SSHD 1tb) can't already be faulty, so I must have another problem within

Any ideas what I can now do aside from backing it up this time (I am doing that right now)?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks

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Answer 5

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,305 points

Aug 4, 2015 6:39 AM in response to rockwell666

Use the original installation disk and start the MBP as if you were going to install the OSX.

After the language selection, you should see a menu bar on top of the display.

Click on UTILITIES.

From the drop down menu click on DISK UTILITY.

Run Disk Utility>First Aid.

Any change?

A HDD can fail at any time. I had one dead out of the box.

Check with Toshiba if there is any firmware that might be required.

Ciao.

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