Macbook not starting up, unable to access safe mode

You might try:

Reinstalling OS X Without Erasing the Drive

Make sure you have a current backup before proceeding.

Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears.

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

When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility and press the Continue button. After Disk Utility loads select the indented Macintosh HD entry from the the left side list. Click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If Disk Utility 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 Disk Utility and return to the main menu.

Reinstall OS X: Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continue button.

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

If your MBP came with Lion or later pre-installed then you can do the following provided the HDD has not failed:

Install OS X Using Network Recovery

Be sure you have backed up your files because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.

Boot to the Network Recovery Server:

Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND-OPTION- R keys until a globe appears on the screen. Wait patiently - 15-20 minutes - until the Recovery main menu appears.

Partition and Format the hard drive:

1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
2. After DU loads select your newly installed hard drive (this is the out-dented entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Apply button and wait until the process has completed. Quit DU and return to the main menu.

Reinstall OS X: Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continue button. Be sure to select the correct drive to use if you have more than one.

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

This should restore the version of OS X originally pre-installed on the computer.

What is the exact model that you have? To find the model identifier open System Profiler in the Utilities folder. It's displayed in the panel on the right. Make a copy to post in your reply.

I would check the following: MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011). If you got software restore discs with it, then it's an Early 2011 model and the link is relevant.

Otherwise, I would try going through the procedure again. Can you boot from the Recovery HD? If you can then use Disk Utility to repair the startup volume (indented entry under the out-dented physical drive entry.) Then try the Network Recovery again. If you still get the white screen, then likely the HDD has failed.

Boot Using Command+R keys:

1. Restart the computer.

2. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the

"COMMAND" and the "R" keys together.

3. Release the keys when the Utilities Menu appears.

You may need to use the recovery partition of the internal drive or a usb bootable install. Can you access the recovery partition with Command R or by using the option key at startup? Pick the recovery drive. There you can run disk utilities or the reinstall option. According to apple, if you have the latest firmware,you should be able to use internet recovery.

I think your HDD is toast.

Were you running Maverick 10.9? The early 2011 MBP came with Snow Leopard. The Late with Lion. Do you have any install disks for this computer? The only Operating system that can be downloaded free, other than internet recovery. Is El Capitan. You would need a mac computer that you can use to go to the app store and use your apple ID to download El Capitan It installs in the application folder. Then with a usb stick of at least 8GB you have to use terminal to create it. http://www.macworld.com/article/2981585/operating-systems/how-to-make-a-bootable -os-x-10-11-el-capitan-installer-drive.html If you have an install disk you can boot to that and try to repair the drive.