Carlton Ellis
Level 1 (21 points)
Safari

Q: I cannot boot into Recovery mode with El Capitan.

When I try to boot into Recovery Mode with El Capitan, my computer shuts down with the progress bar (on the Apple Grey screen) half way done.

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11), Mid-2009 MacBookPro5,3

Posted on Oct 2, 2015 11:33 AM

by C Ogle,Apple recommended
C Ogle C Ogle
Level 5 (7,030 points)
A:

If the computer is shutting down while the Apple logo and progress bar are present, that means it is finding corruption on the hard drive and failed to repair it.

 

Is this the 2009 MacBook Pro or another computer? If you are on a more recent computer, check this article to see if booting to Internet Recovery is an option for you - https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202313

 

If it is the 2009 MacBook Pro, Internet Recovery is not an option and you would either need to boot up to an external hard drive, utilize Target Disk Mode connected to another Mac to try to repair it or recover your files, or track down your Snow Leopard installation disk to boot to.

Posted on Oct 2, 2015 12:14 PM

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Carlton Ellis

Q: I cannot boot into Recovery mode with El Capitan.

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  • Helpful answers

  • by C Ogle,Apple recommended

    C Ogle C Ogle Oct 2, 2015 12:14 PM in response to Carlton Ellis
    Level 5 (7,030 points)
    Oct 2, 2015 12:14 PM in response to Carlton Ellis

    If the computer is shutting down while the Apple logo and progress bar are present, that means it is finding corruption on the hard drive and failed to repair it.

     

    Is this the 2009 MacBook Pro or another computer? If you are on a more recent computer, check this article to see if booting to Internet Recovery is an option for you - https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202313

     

    If it is the 2009 MacBook Pro, Internet Recovery is not an option and you would either need to boot up to an external hard drive, utilize Target Disk Mode connected to another Mac to try to repair it or recover your files, or track down your Snow Leopard installation disk to boot to.

  • by BubbaHotepUK,

    BubbaHotepUK BubbaHotepUK Oct 15, 2015 1:18 PM in response to C Ogle
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 15, 2015 1:18 PM in response to C Ogle

    Same problem here, reboot into the recovery partition (Recovery-10.11) doesn't work.  The progress bar gets half-way through the the machine just powers  down, it's a MacBook Pro (Retina, mid 2012).

     

    I've tried booting into recovery via the Internet - it connects, downloads for around 15 minutes or, then I get a white screen with a "no entry" icon in the middle of the screen.  I've left it like this for 10 hours thinking it may be doing something, but nothing happens.

     

    Anything I can do to get into Recovery?

  • by C Ogle,

    C Ogle C Ogle Oct 15, 2015 1:33 PM in response to BubbaHotepUK
    Level 5 (7,030 points)
    Oct 15, 2015 1:33 PM in response to BubbaHotepUK

    "I've tried booting into recovery via the Internet - it connects, downloads for around 15 minutes or, then I get a white screen with a "no entry" icon in the middle of the screen.  I've left it like this for 10 hours thinking it may be doing something, but nothing happens."

     

    BubbaHotepUK,your issue sounds more like a hardware problem than an OS X issue. I would get your computer checked out by a service provider or Apple Retail Store.

  • by BubbaHotepUK,

    BubbaHotepUK BubbaHotepUK Oct 15, 2015 2:01 PM in response to C Ogle
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 15, 2015 2:01 PM in response to C Ogle

    Thanks, but I don't think it's hardware.  I can actually boot into the OS X partition fine, but I need to boot into recovery so I can turn off SIP to get some applications working.  I suspect the El Capitan recovery partition is corrupt, though why the Internet recovery doesn't work is beyond me.

     

    I presumably can downgrade to Yosemite, but that was a disaster in other areas for me (Mail hanging, unreliable Bluetooth and WiFi etc.), and I don't want the hassle of setting things up from scratch either.

  • by dave3122,

    dave3122 dave3122 Oct 22, 2015 4:01 PM in response to BubbaHotepUK
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac App Store
    Oct 22, 2015 4:01 PM in response to BubbaHotepUK

    I just tried to restart into recovery mode and Cmd-R doesn't get it. I searched "restart in recovery mode" on Apple support and the closest I got was finding you guys. It would seem recovery mode is no longer available, although I hope it is. Saved me in a big way once upon a time.

  • by eniofromlos angeles,

    eniofromlos angeles eniofromlos angeles Nov 9, 2015 7:49 PM in response to Carlton Ellis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 9, 2015 7:49 PM in response to Carlton Ellis

    I Was having the same issue, and after installing OS X El Capitan,it was booting up to a black screen,and I couldn't re-start in recovery mode, then I realized when i unplugged 2 of my 3 monitors with my GeForce GTX, there was actually a progress installation bar going on but I could only see it with only one monitor plugged in to to the card. I hope this information can help anybody with the same issue

  • by jrome,

    jrome jrome Sep 21, 2016 3:47 PM in response to eniofromlos angeles
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Sep 21, 2016 3:47 PM in response to eniofromlos angeles

    I have the same problem after Sierra. botting with command-r down just goes to normal login. I need to modify SIP. How do I do this?

  • by jrome,

    jrome jrome Sep 21, 2016 4:33 PM in response to jrome
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Sep 21, 2016 4:33 PM in response to jrome

    Actually, I changed from a nixeus USB keyboard to a Mac keyboard and command-R was recognized. (WHY the difference????). But the recovery mode boot gets stuck halfway through the progress bar.  What is wrong? I have a SSD, so I doubt I have disk issues.