Issues: problems saving after sleep mode, freezes on startup, restarts at random, DVD drive not working, possibly possessed

Question

Issues: problems saving after sleep mode, freezes on startup, restarts at random, DVD drive not working, possibly possessed

My Macbook's been exhibiting some strange behavior lately.

1. Once it wakes up from sleep mode, it is incapable of saving any files.

2. Sometimes when I click "Shut Down" it just immediately shuts down - without the "Do you want to shut down your computer" prompt needing to be clicked.

3. It often freezes on startup.

4. Sometimes it restarts at random.

5. DVD drive does not read, makes noise upon startup & at random.

About my computer:

OSX El Capitan 10.11.6

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008)

2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

8 GB 1067 MHz DDR3

NVIDIA GeForce 9400M 256 MB

Can anyone help solve these problems/exorcise the demons? Thanks!

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Sep 5, 2016 1:58 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Sep 6, 2016 6:02 PM in response to OldRailroadMan

Hello OldRailroadMan,

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

I understand from your post that your MacBook Pro is exhibiting issues like freezing on startup, problems saving files after sleep mode, issues with the optical drive, not shutting down properly, and restarting at random. I know how important it is for your MacBook Pro to be running smoothly for you. I recommend restarting your Mac into safe mode and testing it. Once you're done, restart it as normal and test it again.

Safe Mode

Starting up in safe mode

Follow these steps to start up into safe mode.

Start or restart your Mac.

Immediately after you hear the startup sound, press and hold the Shift key.

Release the Shift key when you see the Apple logo appear on the screen.

Cheers!

Reply

Answer 2

Sep 14, 2016 4:06 PM in response to Alwayswantingtohelp1

Thanks Alwayswantingtohelp1. I tried this, but I still have the same problems. Any other ideas?

Reply

Answer 3

CarlAVII

Community Specialist

Sep 14, 2016 4:53 PM in response to OldRailroadMan

Hi OldRailroadMan,

The next step I would recommend would be to try restarting your Mac into OS X Recovery and using Disk Utility to check for errors on the disk and repair them.

Disk Utility (El Capitan): Repair a disk

Choose Apple menu > Restart. Once your Mac restarts and you hear the startup chime, hold down the Command and R keys.

When the Apple logo appears, you can release the keys.

Click Disk Utility, then click Continue.

In the sidebar, select the disk you want to repair.

Click the First Aid button .

Click Repair Disk.

Best Regards

Reply