fuzzyraccoon
Level 1 (4 points)
Notebooks

Q: Old Macbook

Hello! I have a very old Macbook (Intel Core duo, Tiger upgrade to Snow Leopard, 2 GB Ram upgrade) that until very recently had been working perfectly alright. It does need to be plugged in or it'll turn off automatically however, and that's what started all of this. It looks like it kept saving my Google tabs over and over again because I got a notice saying that the virtual memory was almost full. Unfortunately at that point it moved too slowly to even go to the repair disk menu to repair.

 

My real problem is that I don't have a disk image or backup that I can boot from to repair. I have all my important documents saved so wiping it completely is something I have no issues with. But because this laptop was purchased in 2007, I have no idea where my original disk is. What do I do?

 

To give a little background as well, at this point it won't even let me enter safe mode. It will show the apple icon, load for about three minutes, then automatically shut off.

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Jun 21, 2016 3:56 PM

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fuzzyraccoon

Q: Old Macbook

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  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Jun 21, 2016 4:20 PM in response to fuzzyraccoon
    Level 9 (52,047 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 21, 2016 4:20 PM in response to fuzzyraccoon

    It sounds like your HDD may be very unhappy.

     

    You can get duplicate original OSX install disks by contacting Apple Customer Service.  A lesser option is to purchase the Snow Leopard Retail disk from the Apple online store:

     

    http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MC573Z/A/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard

     

    With a disk, you will be able to access the HDD and if possible, repair it.  If not, then it will need to be replaced.

     

    It appears that the battery also needs attention.  If it is non-functional, remove it immediately.  It can start to expand and severely damage your Mac.

     

    Ciao.

  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Jun 22, 2016 5:25 AM in response to fuzzyraccoon
    Level 9 (53,591 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 22, 2016 5:25 AM in response to fuzzyraccoon

    To me this sounds like a classic case of too-full hard drive.  Your computer needs at least 8 or more GB free at all times in order to have space to write files (virtual memory).  With Tiger I usually left 18 GB free, minimum.  If the computer cannot find the space, and easily/quickly, it takes time to find it and if it can't it crashes.  Furthermore, once a drive fills up it starts using the slower parts of the drive so file access takes longer.

     

    The above can happen if you simply add on too much stuff, or it can happen if the drive is failing, or it can happen if some application is corrupt or misbehaving and writing data to the drive without you noticing.  I once had 6 GB of Safari error logs build up without my noticing it because I was using an old version of Safari and the web site designed for newer versions was causing an internal error.

     

    If Safe Mode is not working then it may be your drive is failing.  Safe Mode usually deletes any caches (not error logs) on a computer so in the case of too-full drive it normally clears up enough space to permit booting to immediately do some file deletion.  Depending upon the size of your drive it could take a long time to boot because it is also trying to repair the drive.  I'd let it run for 10 minutes or so before presuming it isn't doing anything.

     

    For this kind of thing I always make sure I have a clone backup of my hard drive. This allows me to boot from it to effect repairs on the internal drive.  In your case you will have to do as Ogelthorpe recommends and get a replacement system installer disc for the computer.

     

    Try safe mode if your Mac doesn't finish starting up (formerly: What is Safe Boot, Safe Mode? (Mac OS X)) - http://support.apple.com/HT201262 - "You can use safe mode to help you resolve issues that might keep your Mac from completely starting up."