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10.6.2 killed my mac, please help...

E

elee888

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 22, 2009
23
0
I installed 10.6.2 last night on my 2.2Ghz Santa Rosa Macbook Pro and it installed all the way to 100% and then it did a restart by itself, but when it was restarting, nothing came up. Not even the Apple chime. I hear the dvd drive make the usual start up/grind noise and I hear brief access to the HD. The screen stays black. Tried PRAM and SMC reset, no dice. Genius Bar told me that it's hardware related and it will cost me $330 to fix the logicboard. I just find it really odd that it died right after the update. What are the chances? My MBP was running great before the update.

Does anyone know if there is any way to boot from the DVD drive and try to do an archive and install from the DVD? I hear the DVD drive start up when I power on, but I'm not sure if I want to take a chance of having the DVD get stuck in the drive because the machine won't boot up. If this won't work, can I still do a "target disk mode" and try to recover my data with another mac?
 
take it to the apple store if its still under warranty. if it doesnt start up for them, they will try to fix it. if they are unsucessfull, (which they probably wont be) then they will give u a whole new computer and refurbish your old one and sell it. this is probably the best thing to do since if u had any scratches u could have none. =) good luck!
 
Its out of warranty but he said they will fix it for $330 flat fee vs. $1400 because it's in excellent condition.
 
elee888 said:
Its out of warranty but he said they will fix it for $330 flat fee vs. $1400 because it's in excellent condition.
Click to expand...

Did you check online to see if you could purchase a new logic board for your model laptop? Isn't that hard to replace yourself.

Just a suggestion, hope it helps.
 
elee888 said:
I installed 10.6.2 last night on my 2.2Ghz Santa Rosa Macbook Pro and it installed all the way to 100% and then it did a restart by itself, but when it was restarting, nothing came up. Not even the Apple chime. I hear the dvd drive make the usual start up/grind noise and I hear brief access to the HD. The screen stays black. Tried PRAM and SMC reset, no dice. Genius Bar told me that it's hardware related and it will cost me $330 to fix the logicboard. I just find it really odd that it died right after the update. What are the chances? My MBP was running great before the update.

Does anyone know if there is any way to boot from the DVD drive and try to do an archive and install from the DVD? I hear the DVD drive start up when I power on, but I'm not sure if I want to take a chance of having the DVD get stuck in the drive because the machine won't boot up. If this won't work, can I still do a "target disk mode" and try to recover my data with another mac?
Click to expand...

if you're not game to try a reinstall using the MBPro's disc drive then see if you can borrow an external drive and using a 10.5 install dvd, restart holding down the 'option' key.
this will allow you to access the 10.5 disc as the startup disc and you should be able to do an 'archive and install'.
when this is complete, you Home folder will be located in 'Previous System Folder'

if it don't work then you may need to take the AppleStore option and pay the $ but at least your files will all still be there.

the above worked for me when I reverted to 10.5 after getting fed up with the erratic behavior of 10.6 - not to mention the constant whirring fans when using my MBAir on my lap.

they should've called it Husky (as in snow dog) instead of Snow Leopard
 
Sounds like your 8600M GT graphics card failed, potentially a huge coincidence; there is some heat generated when installing an OS X update (fans don't spin up soon enough..) and maybe that's all it needed was just a wee bit to finish it off.

Have you noticed any video distortions recently?

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377

Read that - you do have an extended warranty on the GPU.
 
Can this be any kind of DVD drive? I think my friend has one for his pc. What about starting in Target disk mode. Would that work?

Thanks
 
elee888 said:
Can this be any kind of DVD drive? I think my friend has one for his pc. What about starting in Target disk mode. Would that work?
Click to expand...

If your GPU has failed, you won't be able to do anything to get it working again. You'll be able to get your data off your Mac (but you should have a backup.. Time Machine, right?) though.

The screen remaining blank is an obvious sign that the GPU has failed. Even if OS X 10.6.2 corrupted files or whatever, you'd still get the grey screen and then just a "?" over your Macintosh HD icon.
 
I wish people would stop saying, Snow Leopard "KILLED" my Mac, or my printer or whatever. The genius told the OP that it was hardware related so this thread title is misleading. Just happened to be a coincidence. Also, I hope the OP realizes that it takes a lot more work for the system to install updates for the OS vs. installing a standard application, if the hardware was failing it would show up during a major software install for the OS.
 
why

why is it that software upgrades seem to be scary points in time. I remember when we looked forward to them for fixes and new functionality. Now, it is just a wait and see and wonder, will my machine works as well as before, or not?
 
10.6.2 DID kill my Mac

or more correctly my son's MacBook Pro.

It was left to do the update unattended and some time later there was nothing on the screen (or more correctly screens). Repeated restarts still come up with a blank screen whether or not the external screen is connected. We have been through the usual PRAM and SMC resets.

We are fairly sure that computer is actually restarting. It looks as if the GPU is failing to initialise following a firmware change contained in the 10.6.2 update.

Any ideas how to reinitialise the GPU. I would need a lot of convincing this is a hardware problem.

Do other people with this problem have external screens. Have any iMacs with external screens had this issue?
 
northcob said:
It was left to do the update unattended and some time later there was nothing on the screen (or more correctly screens). Repeated restarts still come up with a blank screen whether or not the external screen is connected. We have been through the usual PRAM and SMC resets.
Click to expand...

Does the MacBook Pro have the 8600M GT GPU? Sounds like it too, failed..
 
northcob said:
or more correctly my son's MacBook Pro.

It was left to do the update unattended and some time later there was nothing on the screen (or more correctly screens). Repeated restarts still come up with a blank screen whether or not the external screen is connected. We have been through the usual PRAM and SMC resets.

We are fairly sure that computer is actually restarting. It looks as if the GPU is failing to initialise following a firmware change contained in the 10.6.2 update.

Any ideas how to reinitialise the GPU. I would need a lot of convincing this is a hardware problem.

Do other people with this problem have external screens. Have any iMacs with external screens had this issue?
Click to expand...

There were no firmware updates included with 10.6.2. I would suggest a trip to the genius bar, or a call to AppleCare.
 
Found the problem

I think I found the problem. Now I think back it happened to my wife's very early Intel MBP some time ago.

The problem is that the OS is turning off the screen backlight as if it is asleep.

Google MacBook Pro Black screen and you will find a load of fixes.

Sometime you can see the image on the screen by looking at it obliquely or using a flashlight. Then login and it should light up. Try shutting the lid (or Power followed by S) to put it to sleep and then wake it up again.

I will lay odds that it is totally a software issue whatever Apple support tell you.
 
HLdan said:
I wish people would stop saying, Snow Leopard "KILLED" my Mac, or my printer or whatever. The genius told the OP that it was hardware related so this thread title is misleading. Just happened to be a coincidence. Also, I hope the OP realizes that it takes a lot more work for the system to install updates for the OS vs. installing a standard application, if the hardware was failing it would show up during a major software install for the OS.
Click to expand...

your leg just happened to break as i hit it with my car
 
northcob said:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377

but there is no reason that should happen when you update. So I would rate it much less likely.
Click to expand...

Your Mac heats up quite a bit when doing an OS X update - fans don't come on quick enough. Only when the restart is done, do the fans slowly start to spin up. If the GPU was already on its last legs, that heat might have been all it needed.

My GPU failed when I had finished an encoding and just shut the lid to put my Mac to sleep. Things were fine right up until I shut the lid..
 
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