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User profile for user: oliver.n
oliver.n Author
User level: Level 1
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Macbook Air boots to black screen with fan on after 10.10.5

Hi,


I updated my late-2010 Macbook Air to Yosemite 10.10.5 today. The update struggled to finish: first updating, then requesting a restart, then saying that the update had changed, then going back to the original update page and trying to complete the same update again. This happened three times, at the end of which I restarted the Air. Then it apparently did the update again!

The computer worked fine for the rest of the afternoon, then this evening it started running the fan for no apparent reason (only Google Chrome open).

After about 20 minutes the screen went black and it shut down. This may well have been a low-battery hibernation; it would have been about time.

When I tried to restart, the computer booted to a black screen with the fan running on full.

After a few minutes, it felt quite hot to the touch.

I have tried SMC and PRAM resets and attempted to boot in Safe and Recovery Modes: nothing works.

The screen remains black, and if the fan doesn't come on immediately, it's running within a minute.

Plugging in an external display does nothing, and there doesn't appear to be any sound (through built-in speakers or headphones). The caps lock light comes on and off, and the fan is running, but otherwise there are no obvious signs of life.


Weirdly, the update said it needed 4gb of space, but was only approx 800mb in its actual size.


Any ideas?


Many thanks,

Oliver

MacBook Air (13-inch Late 2010), Mac OS X (10.5.5)

Posted on Aug 15, 2015 4:15 PM

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4 replies
User profile for user: Kappy
Kappy
User level: Level 10
361,741 points

Aug 15, 2015 4:21 PM in response to oliver.n

Try these in order testing your system after each to see if it's back to normal:


1. a. Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM

b. Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)


2. Restart the computer in Safe Mode, then restart again, normally. If this doesn't help, then:


Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the

COMMAND and R keys until the Utilities menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the

computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager

screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.


3. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.


When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu. Select Restart from the Apple menu.


4. Reinstall the 10.10.5 update: OS X Yosemite 10.10.5 Combo Update.


5. Reinstall OS X: Reboot from the Recovery HD. Select Reinstall OS X from the Utilities menu, and click on the Continue button.


Reinstall the 10.10.5 update: OS X Yosemite 10.10.5 Combo Update, if required.


Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

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User profile for user: oliver.n
oliver.n Author
User level: Level 1
0 points

Aug 15, 2015 4:38 PM in response to Kappy

Thank you for your reply.

I have already tried resetting SMC and PRAM / NVRAM (several times). For good measure, I tried it again, but with no success.

I've also tried Safe Mode.


I cannot boot to the Recovery HD, nor can I repair Hard Drive and Permissions, because I can see nothing but a black screen, and cannot hear the chime.

As such, I can't reinstall the update or the OS.


We always use Ethernet!


Thanks again.

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Macbook Air boots to black screen with fan on after 10.10.5

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