Glenstorm

Q: Macbook Pro hangs when booting

Hey there fellow Apple Users. . .

 

I have a Macbook Pro 8,2 (Early 2011) that has recently started acting up.  This has been a solid machine for the 4 years I've owned it.  It was purchased as a refurb unit.

 

Anyhow a few day ago went to bed and left the computer rendering a project in iMovie 9.0.9  In the morning I woke to a gray screen and the fans were running.  I tried to reboot and the progress bar made a third of the way and then switched to a gray screen and then the fans started running fast.  I rebooted again a few times sometimes it just sat there at the gray screen sometimes it restarted on it's own but it never got past the gray screen. 

 

So far I've accomplished the following:

Booted into Single User mode and run fsck with no errors detected. 

Copied the internal hard drive to an external drive.

Determined the movie had finished rendering. The final file was saved to my desktop.

Poked around the log files but haven't found any clues as to what broke.

Booted from Internet Recovery with the same result.

Booted from an external Rescue drive with the same result.

Booted with the Apple Hardware Test which reported no trouble found.

 

Anyone have a suggestion about what else to try?

Thanks!

MacBook Pro (15-inch Early 2011), OS X Yosemite (10.10.5), null

Posted on Jul 25, 2016 9:32 PM

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Q: Macbook Pro hangs when booting

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  • by Esquared,Apple recommended

    Esquared Esquared Jul 26, 2016 12:32 AM in response to Glenstorm
    Level 6 (8,410 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 26, 2016 12:32 AM in response to Glenstorm

    Many of the 2011 models show problems with the graphics processor after a couple of years. Have your MacBook checked for that: there is a free extended repair program for this.

     

    https://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/

  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Jul 26, 2016 4:12 AM in response to Glenstorm
    Level 9 (52,113 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 26, 2016 4:12 AM in response to Glenstorm
  • by Glenstorm,

    Glenstorm Glenstorm Jul 26, 2016 6:11 AM in response to OGELTHORPE
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    Jul 26, 2016 6:11 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

    Ogelthorpe,

     

    I've done each of those also.  The only blip there was that after resetting the NVRAM theres a band that flashes across the screen two thirds from the bottom before the gray screen appears.  The band is mostly black with some blocks of color.  Kinda like the static on an old tv screen.  I'd say it's half an inch high.

     

    Thanks,

  • by Glenstorm,

    Glenstorm Glenstorm Jul 26, 2016 6:13 AM in response to Esquared
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    Jul 26, 2016 6:13 AM in response to Esquared

    I'm aware of that problem and I guess I'm looking for any clues that that is the problem.  i.e. Would there be any log entries or commands I could run in Single User mode that would point to the graphics defect.

     

    Thanks

  • by Esquared,

    Esquared Esquared Jul 26, 2016 6:22 AM in response to Glenstorm
    Level 6 (8,410 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 26, 2016 6:22 AM in response to Glenstorm

    Check if any kernel panics were logged: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201753

     

    The words "GPU panic" in such a log are a clear indication that the graphics card is failing.

  • by notcloudy,

    notcloudy notcloudy Jul 26, 2016 6:28 AM in response to Glenstorm
    Level 4 (1,190 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 26, 2016 6:28 AM in response to Glenstorm

    Glenstorm wrote:

     

    Ogelthorpe,

     

    I've done each of those also.  The only blip there was that after resetting the NVRAM theres a band that flashes across the screen two thirds from the bottom before the gray screen appears.  The band is mostly black with some blocks of color.  Kinda like the static on an old tv screen.  I'd say it's half an inch high.

     

    Thanks,

    When that happens - do a restart - until you get a correct desktop lode- sort of shazam here is the desktop, then lode of any startup items.    

     

    As to your original problem - what are your setting for energy saving on the monitor & screen saver -- and sleeping the drive -- one issue may be that the monitor went to sleep because the system assumed no activity.   

  • by Glenstorm,

    Glenstorm Glenstorm Jul 26, 2016 6:36 AM in response to notcloudy
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    Jul 26, 2016 6:36 AM in response to notcloudy

    notcloudy,

     

    I never get a successful lode. . .  After the band appears the screens goes gray and sits there indefinitely.

  • by Glenstorm,

    Glenstorm Glenstorm Jul 26, 2016 7:01 AM in response to Esquared
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    Jul 26, 2016 7:01 AM in response to Esquared

    There aren't any panic logs in /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports

     

  • by notcloudy,

    notcloudy notcloudy Jul 28, 2016 5:32 AM in response to Glenstorm
    Level 4 (1,190 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 28, 2016 5:32 AM in response to Glenstorm

    Glenstorm wrote:

     

    notcloudy,

     

    I never get a successful lode. . .  After the band appears the screens goes gray and sits there indefinitely.

    So the line appears after the chime but before it goes to the grey and (in my case - blue screens) before the desk top loads).

     

    Have you tried selecting the startup drive?  Its after the chime press the option key - and that should let you select the startup drive.   When you reset pram - your preferences can lose the selected startup drive.

     

    With my load problems - initially going from grey to blue when I stopped the resets --- and just went with selecting the drive - it took about  half an hour to get to the desk top sitting on both the grey and blue screens for a period of time.   

     

    The lines I get after a long boot are after the blue screen before the desk top and in that case the desktop has sort of two tile floor tint (you know it when you see it) so I restart until it looks okay.

  • by Glenstorm,

    Glenstorm Glenstorm Jul 28, 2016 9:46 AM in response to notcloudy
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    Jul 28, 2016 9:46 AM in response to notcloudy

    Notcloud,

     

    Ive tried the alternate boot drives, an external and Apple's network recovery with no luck getting to the desktop.

     

    I dropped the computer off at a Authorized Service Provided and they were pretty sure it was the defective graphics card problem.  Crossing my fingers that that holds true and I'll be getting a new logic board.

     

    THanks to everyone for your help and suggestions.