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2009 MacBook won't boot with Airport Adapter

R

raptor402

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 30, 2011
399
2
Hey, forum

I recently started working on a project to convert my old 2009 unibody Macbook, which had been rendered useless due to a busted keyboard, into a WoodMac, a wooden, homemade Mac Mini. It was going along well. I had a very simple design for the box, and I had taken out all the electronics from the chassis that I would need and tested the thing in the open.

I reprocured a miniDP to HDMI adapter from a friend and fired up the setup to test the external monitor. There's no boot screen via miniDP, so I waited for a while. Then, I gave up and rebooted with the original display attached. It was stuck on a grey screen. So, I removed everything but the HDD (as I had tested it before), and booted it up. Worked like a charm. After some troubleshooting, I found that it gets stuck on the boot screen if the airport adapter (the card for wireless) is connected. It won't even show the boot menu in that case. What could be the issue and how can I resolve it?

tl;dr version: in an open-air setup, the laptop gets stuck on a grey boot screen (without apple logo) if the airport adapter is connected; it boots up just fine without the adapter.

Any help will be appreciated.

Regards
Raptor
 
M

madmacfan

macrumors 6502
Feb 19, 2012
282
2
London, United Kingdom
raptor402 said:
Hey, forum

I recently started working on a project to convert my old 2009 unibody Macbook, which had been rendered useless due to a busted keyboard, into a WoodMac, a wooden, homemade Mac Mini. It was going along well. I had a very simple design for the box, and I had taken out all the electronics from the chassis that I would need and tested the thing in the open.

I reprocured a miniDP to HDMI adapter from a friend and fired up the setup to test the external monitor. There's no boot screen via miniDP, so I waited for a while. Then, I gave up and rebooted with the original display attached. It was stuck on a grey screen. So, I removed everything but the HDD (as I had tested it before), and booted it up. Worked like a charm. After some troubleshooting, I found that it gets stuck on the boot screen if the airport adapter (the card for wireless) is connected. It won't even show the boot menu in that case. What could be the issue and how can I resolve it?

tl;dr version: in an open-air setup, the laptop gets stuck on a grey boot screen (without apple logo) if the airport adapter is connected; it boots up just fine without the adapter.

Any help will be appreciated.

Regards
Raptor
Click to expand...

What kind of airport adapter are you using. Are you using the original airport card the Macbook came with, or are you using an external adapter? if it's the latter, Try using the original airport card. If you are using the original card, then make sure you've connected it up correctly and that it's properly earthed.
 
R

raptor402

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 30, 2011
399
2
madmacfan said:
What kind of airport adapter are you using. Are you using the original airport card the Macbook came with, or are you using an external adapter? if it's the latter, Try using the original airport card. If you are using the original card, then make sure you've connected it up correctly and that it's properly earthed.
Click to expand...

It's the original Airport Card, not an external adapter. The connection is fine, via the ribbon cable. I've checked and rechecked it on both ends. I haven't connected the antennae due to screen orientation (I'm facing the top of the screen, but the bottom of the motherboard, since that's how it's oriented when accessed.

I'm pretty sure that the antennae are not the cause, but I'll try it with them.

Thanks for your response.

Regards
Raptor
 
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