Late 2011 Macbook Pro Shuts Down at Processing Bar

I've had it happen before. Can't say it's your case, but I'm guessing a corrupted boot volume. Did it freeze where you forced a shutdown by holding down the power button? If you can't fix it and you're hesitant to erase (I understand because I won't reformat it just in case I can get some of that data back), you can just start with a clean OS install from Recovery (I think it should be Lion?) to a new drive and then you can log into the Mac App Store and load up whatever you want. You might have to force it by going through the link from the Apple website. I can't get it to show up by searching in the App Store, but if I follow this link it comes up:

Get OS X El Capitan

At least on mine (running High Sierra), I get this message once it connects to the App Store:

This version of OS X El Capitan is for users running OS X Snow Leopard or OS X Lion who would like to upgrade to MacOS High Sierra. If you are running Snow Leopard or Lion and would like to upgrade to High Sierra, you will need to install El Capitan first. This version of El Capitan can also be installed on Mac computers that are not compatible with High Sierra.

What you want to use is Internet Recovery. Hold down option-command-R together at startup. You should either be connected via ethernet cable (preferred) or it will show WiFi SSID options. Those might be clunky - especially if you need a login screen like with some public WiFi. If it's a home WiFi with a direct WiFi password it should work pretty easily.

About macOS Recovery - Apple Support

Does it need to be El Capitan? Your machine should support High Sierra.

harrylars wrote:

Thanks.

Just so I'm clear ... I should use option-command-R to download Lion onto an external drive (I'm guessing a new/an empty one). Then what?

I can't install Lion onto Mac HD because I have newer OS X. I'm fine installing High Sierra, but when I tried, it didn't work (nothing's installing right now).

I'd be happy to try erasing Mac HD and reinstalling OS X if I knew I could access those word documents ...

option-command-R at power on will go to Internet Recovery. It may take a while, but you should see a little globe spinning. You can install on anything - internal, external, etc. You would need to use Disk Utility to Format (Erase) the drive. I'd recommend a new internal drive, but that's up to you. You can theoretically boot off an external drive. I usually boot test it first (hold option at power up and select the drive) but you don't have to.

If these files are important, irreplaceable, and not backed up elsewhere, I'd say don't erase the drive. Just put it aside and see if you can extract whatever files you don't have later. You're probably better off with a new drive. I personally recommend an SSD but that will cost more than a new hard drive.

I don't normally ask this, but where are you located? Just a broad area (i.e. "Orange County, California") so maybe I can see where you might be able to buy a new drive locally rather than having to order one. If it's outside of the US, then I might not have a good idea.

harrylars wrote:

I used Internet Recovery to install Lion on a USB (because I had one), after formatting the USB in Disk Utility via Recovery mode. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what to do with it now -- I'd like to boot from it, but I don't think it's bootable; it's not showing up when I hit option at startup. Is there a way to make it bootable without access to any other Mac computers?

I'm in Los Angeles, CA.

Should the complete copy I made of my hard drive last night contain the files? I used the Restore option in Disk Utility to copy Macintosh HD onto a 1 TB external drive. Of course, I also copied whatever issue the original drive has preventing startup.

I was just going to suggest buying a hard drive, and I know that doing an online order isn't as quick and easy as just going to a store and buying one. There are a lot of people posting from around the world, so I can't just say "go to Best Buy" or even (if in the US but in the midwest) "go to Fry's Electronics". But if you've already wiped your drive so it's probably pointless to suggest a place to buy a new drive.

If there's really a problem, I'd think trying to save the data is the most important thing for you right now.

"Did it freeze where you forced a shutdown by holding down the power button?"

Mine did! I don't know why, I was using my Mac as always the day before. I forced the shutdown.

I need help, I can't reinstall the OS either says it is blocked. I just want my files back, thats all.

Curious thing is that Windows partition works fine. 😕

AzTKMex wrote:

"Did it freeze where you forced a shutdown by holding down the power button?"

Mine did! I don't know why, I was using my Mac as always the day before. I forced the shutdown.

I need help, I can't reinstall the OS either says it is blocked. I just want my files back, thats all.

Curious thing is that Windows partition works fine. 😕

Yeah. Corrupted volume mostly likely. I've probably shut it down dozens (maybe even over 100) of times. I've never had a corrupted volume before since it seemed to fix itself or perhaps First Aid/Repair Disk would fix it, but then it finally happened. The first thing to do is see if Disk Utility can fix it. If it can't then you need to make a decision as to whether reformat or keep it.

If the data is really important, then your best course of action might be to just get a new drive and start from scratch by installing MacOS on a new drive. Then hold onto the old drive and try to extract whatever data you can get out of it. Some people are tempted to simply reformat the old drive and then realize that they probably should have saved it.

AzTKMex wrote:

So, Did your Mac fix itself after restarting over and over?

Mine wasn’t a restart (mine shut down at the same point in the progress bar), but I’m not sure about the OP. In my case I got a new hard drive and restored from a cloned backup. I haven been able extract anything from my old drive. It’s corrupted and Disk Utility can’t repair it. And when I try to mount it the directory that I need won’t open.

So, Did your Mac fix itself after restarting over and over?