2011 Macbook Pro will only start in Safe Mode. Disk Utility says disk is corrupted but offers no advice. What to do now?

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Level 1

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2011 Macbook Pro will only start in Safe Mode. Disk Utility says disk is corrupted but offers no advice. What to do now?

My Macbook Pro (2011, OSX 10.11.6) will now only start in Safe Mode. This just started a short while ago for no apparent reason. Disk Utility suggested that the disk is "corrupted" but offered no advice as to repairing this. I discovered the Combo Updates and tried running the OSX 10.11.6 Combo Update but it stopped short, telling me that it couldn't be install on the disk, that the disk does not meet the requirements. I cannot find a clear list of requirements. My hard drive has about 20 GB free on it. Does anyone know where I can turn next? Thanks for any suggestions!

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on May 3, 2018 1:07 PM

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Answer 1

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y_p_w

Level 6

17,642 points

May 3, 2018 6:24 PM in response to sclptr

I'll differ from Niel a little bit. If the data is important to you, I'd recommend keeping it just in case you want to try and recover any data in the future. I had a corrupted boot drive last year and got back on my feet with a new drive. I did have a backup though. New hard drives cost about $40-50 in the US, and new SSDs (which will really improve performance) might be more but I think worth it. Installation is considered a DIY job by Apple, but not everyone feels comfortable doing it.

You can start over with a new hard drive (or SSD) pretty easily using Internet Recovery to format a new drive, then to install MacOS. Of if you have a backup, you can format a bare drive and use that backup (Time Machine or a clone) to restore the backup to a new drive.

About macOS Recovery - Apple Support

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Answer 2

y_p_w

Level 6

17,642 points

May 3, 2018 9:07 PM in response to sclptr

sclptr wrote:

The MacOS Recovery (control-R after start) worked great choosing the option to reinstall the OS. Thanks again!

That's one way. Recovery HD is in a "hidden" partition on your drive. You can enter it either with control-R or by holding option down during power-on, then selecting the "Recovery HD" partition to boot when it comes up on the screen. If the drive is physically damaged (and not just a corrupted boot volume) then it requires a new drive and there's no way to access Recovery HD.

I prefer "Internet Recovery" which does pretty much the same thing, but loads everything from the internet. There are two options with Internet Recovery. One is to load the "original" version of MacOS/OS X that came with the computer, or the latest compatible version.

About macOS Recovery - Apple Support

I usually mention saving the old hard drive because quite a few people with your issue haven't created a backup and are insistent that they absolutely can't afford to overwrite that data.

I suppose this is a good time to recommend having a backup. I've had a backup save me after at least one drive failure.

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Answer 3

sclptr Author

Level 1

4 points

May 3, 2018 6:24 PM in response to y_p_w

Thanks so much for your input. I actually just got back up and running by using the macOS Recovery (control-R, right after start). I chose the option to reinstall the OSX. It worked flawlessly and, at least for now, I'm good as new. I appreciate the comments about the SSD upgrade. I was thinking the same thing to extend whatever life is left in this relic.

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Answer 4

sclptr Author

Level 1

4 points

May 3, 2018 6:26 PM in response to sclptr

Hi. I solved the problem (could only boot in Safe Mode) by using Control-R just after restart. When the MacOS Recovery screen appeared I chose the option to reinstall the OSX. It took awhile but now I'm good as new. Good luck!

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