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AaronM5670

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 19, 2012
603
163
Norwich, UK
Hi guys,

I bought a brand new rMBP 15" from the Apple Store Regent Street, London on Saturday (1st November). I turned it on this evening and I simply got a black screen on bootup. Understandably I'm very worried; is there an easy fix or does it require a replacement? It's barely 5 days old! The starter bong sounds but then there's nothing after that. I've rebooted three times but still nothing.

I hope someone can help! Thanks in advance.
 

cjmillsnun

macrumors 68020
Aug 28, 2009
2,399
48
Before you take it back (and just get them to swap it if it is only 6 days old. Boot it (wait 30 seconds after it chimes) and press and hold F2. I once had a panic that my Mac's backlight had gone. It turned out the cat had turned the brightness down for me.
 

AaronM5670

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 19, 2012
603
163
Norwich, UK
Before you take it back (and just get them to swap it if it is only 6 days old. Boot it (wait 30 seconds after it chimes) and press and hold F2. I once had a panic that my Mac's backlight had gone. It turned out the cat had turned the brightness down for me.

Thanks; hopefully this is the case! Will try when I get home in a few minutes. I never recall turning the brightness down though and I don't have any animals or anything that could interfere with it, maybe just a strange glich - at least I hope...!
 

AaronM5670

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 19, 2012
603
163
Norwich, UK
Before you take it back (and just get them to swap it if it is only 6 days old. Boot it (wait 30 seconds after it chimes) and press and hold F2. I once had a panic that my Mac's backlight had gone. It turned out the cat had turned the brightness down for me.

I've just tried to do that after 30 seconds and even longer, the screen definitely doesn't brighten. I think it's completely dead. There is a very faint backlight illuminating but other than that it's nothing. Should I take it back?

----------

I held down the option, command, p and r keys on startup, a grey, multicoloured, pixellated screen appeared and then the recovery options started. I used Disk Utility to repair the SSD and now it seems to work. I have just logged in as I type. I'll see if this happens again and if so I'll return it. Very strange and worrying. Not what I'd expect from a brand new machine!
 

AaronM5670

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 19, 2012
603
163
Norwich, UK
Turned it on again this evening and the black screen issue reoccurred. I'll take it in for replacement at the next available opportunity as I don't think it's fixable. Luckily I have a full recent time machine backup from just before it died.
 

AaronM5670

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 19, 2012
603
163
Norwich, UK
Went to the Apple Store in Cambridge today and received a replacement within 15 minutes. The Genius managed to replicate the fault in the store and did an Apple hardware test which as I feared revealed a GPU fault. Everything was backed up though luckily so I have a (hopefully) fully-working rMBP now.
 

AaronM5670

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 19, 2012
603
163
Norwich, UK
The same thing has happened again on the replacement machine so I think it must be software-related. To say I'm mad is an understatement.
 

AaronM5670

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 19, 2012
603
163
Norwich, UK
On to rMBP #3 now! :D

Based on my own opinions and thoughts, I'm making a bootable Yosemite USB drive and then installing this clean out of the box instead of running the preinstalled Mavericks. As the issue cannot be hardware, I've decided that it must occur when updating from Mavericks to Yosemite after initial setup.
 

AaronM5670

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 19, 2012
603
163
Norwich, UK
Updated using my bootable USB stick before the setup wizard (with the pre-installed Mavericks) and now Yosemite is booting fine without any black screen issues.

I would thoroughly advise anyone who has purchased a new rMBP to do the same otherwise Apple will have no idea as to what's going on and will keep offering you a replacement machine until eventually you get one fresh off of the production line with Yosemite pre-installed! :mad:
 

FrakkinShip

macrumors member
Dec 11, 2010
46
0
Updated using my bootable USB stick before the setup wizard (with the pre-installed Mavericks) and now Yosemite is booting fine without any black screen issues.

I would thoroughly advise anyone who has purchased a new rMBP to do the same otherwise Apple will have no idea as to what's going on and will keep offering you a replacement machine until eventually you get one fresh off of the production line with Yosemite pre-installed! :mad:

What were the steps used to make the bootable usb drive and install it from there?
 

AaronM5670

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 19, 2012
603
163
Norwich, UK
What were the steps used to make the bootable usb drive and install it from there?


1. From another Mac: connect and format a USB stick (at least 8GB) to the Mac OS X journaled format.

2. Download the Yosemite install app from the Mac App Store.

3. Open terminal and type the following command (assuming that the USB stick is labelled the default 'untitled' and the OS X installer app is in the default location in the 'Applications folder': sudo /Applications/Install OS X Yosemite.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install OS X Yosemite.app --nointeraction

4. Type in your password when prompted and wait for the process to finish (maybe 20 minutes). Eject and remove the USB stick after.

5. Plug in the USB stick into the new Mac, start it up and immediately hold the 'alt' key, select the 'install OS X Yosemite' device. Follow the instructions in the setup wizard.
 

FrakkinShip

macrumors member
Dec 11, 2010
46
0
1. From another Mac: connect and format a USB stick (at least 8GB) to the Mac OS X journaled format.

2. Download the Yosemite install app from the Mac App Store.

3. Open terminal and type the following command (assuming that the USB stick is labelled the default 'untitled' and the OS X installer app is in the default location in the 'Applications folder': sudo /Applications/Install OS X Yosemite.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install OS X Yosemite.app --nointeraction

4. Type in your password when prompted and wait for the process to finish (maybe 20 minutes). Eject and remove the USB stick after.

5. Plug in the USB stick into the new Mac, start it up and immediately hold the 'alt' key, select the 'install OS X Yosemite' device. Follow the instructions in the setup wizard.
Bah! I'll only have the one Mac next week.
 

AaronM5670

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 19, 2012
603
163
Norwich, UK

AaronM5670

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 19, 2012
603
163
Norwich, UK
After 4 weeks of having the 3rd replacement rMBP, the same black screen issue has occurred.

It can't be old corrupted software as I didn't restore from my previous replacement, and it would be unlikely to have been hardware as this is machine number 4. Must be some inherent flaw with either the design or the process of updating from Mavericks to Yosemite. I'll be getting on to Apple again soon but I've never had something like this happen ever before.
 

icsd08063

macrumors member
Nov 5, 2014
63
17
Greece
After 4 weeks of having the 3rd replacement rMBP, the same black screen issue has occurred.

It can't be old corrupted software as I didn't restore from my previous replacement, and it would be unlikely to have been hardware as this is machine number 4. Must be some inherent flaw with either the design or the process of updating from Mavericks to Yosemite. I'll be getting on to Apple again soon but I've never had something like this happen ever before.

Oh man.. That's just sad..
Well, here is something I would try. Not upgrade to Yosemite.
Of course that would require a 5th rMBP. When you do get it, do not upgrade to Yosemite from the very first day. Certainly not a solution but worth giving a shot.
 

cjmillsnun

macrumors 68020
Aug 28, 2009
2,399
48
Oh man.. That's just sad..
Well, here is something I would try. Not upgrade to Yosemite.
Of course that would require a 5th rMBP. When you do get it, do not upgrade to Yosemite from the very first day. Certainly not a solution but worth giving a shot.

Problem is they all come with Yosemite now...

That said, I have a 15" rMBP with Yosemite.

It's fine.
 

AaronM5670

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 19, 2012
603
163
Norwich, UK
Are you sure that this is not related to some software you are installing?
The only software I've installed on any of them is iWork. MS Office, Photoshop, Illustrator and FCP. I'd be highly surprised if any of these have caused it. I haven't had a single machine long enough to be able to install much software on it!
 

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,419
43,307
After 4 weeks of having the 3rd replacement rMBP, the same black screen issue has occurred.
Wow, the odds of getting 3 defective is astronomical. I wonder if it could be something external. Do you have a surge protector? The apps you mention are fairly generic in the sense that they should be causing any issues.
 

JHUFrank

macrumors 6502a
Apr 16, 2010
652
66
I thought the 15 inch rMBP had some display issues? I did a quick google and there is quite a bit of info out there. One thing I have run into when you mass purchase machines, is getting a production run that has a bad component. I've had to do some massive component replacements at work. Wonder if your Apple store got shipped a bad production run?
Wow, the odds of getting 3 defective is astronomical. I wonder if it could be something external. Do you have a surge protector? The apps you mention are fairly generic in the sense that they should be causing any issues.
 

AaronM5670

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 19, 2012
603
163
Norwich, UK
Wow, the odds of getting 3 defective is astronomical. I wonder if it could be something external. Do you have a surge protector? The apps you mention are fairly generic in the sense that they should be causing any issues.
I'm sure it can't be anything like this as I've just had a complete rewire in my house, and at work the plugs all have extension leads with surge protection. My iMac and every other electrical device I have run faultlessly. I'm sure it can't be the apps, as you said they're fairly commonplace. it can't be anything but hardware or upgrading from Mavericks to Yosemite. I simply haven't had enough time with the machines to install anything much on them. It's for when I'm travelling on the train or need to use Illustrator or PS on the go. My iMac is my main machine.

I thought the 15 inch rMBP had some display issues? I did a quick google and there is quite a bit of info out there. One thing I have run into when you mass purchase machines, is getting a production run that has a bad component. I've had to do some massive component replacements at work. Wonder if your Apple store got shipped a bad production run?
Due to my travelling work commitments, I travel regularly between a lot of different places. The first machine came from Regent Street Apple Store, the second from Cambridge, the third from Milton Keynes and the current one from Covent Garden.
 

OneMike

macrumors 603
Oct 19, 2005
5,813
1,795
would be bizarre to have it happen once. The amount of issues you experienced. Wow, very scary.
 

marlon bishop

macrumors member
Jan 4, 2012
77
0
Florida
Went to the Apple Store in Cambridge today and received a replacement within 15 minutes. The Genius managed to replicate the fault in the store and did an Apple hardware test which as I feared revealed a GPU fault. Everything was backed up though luckily so I have a (hopefully) fully-working rMBP now.

Good Stuff!
 

AaronM5670

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 19, 2012
603
163
Norwich, UK
Good Stuff!
I can't tell if this is sarcastic or a simple misunderstanding!

I might simply ask for my money back and wait for the next rMBP Broadwell/even rMBA and make do with a VNC.

It must be some sort of issue with the manufacturing process and I just can't be faced with the disappointment and sheer hassle of another one.

I'll ring Apple when I have time tomorrow morning and see what they have to say.
 
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