2011 8,2 Can no longer install ANY os on MBP. Ideas?

[286sx12]

Hello Everyone,

This is my first post about any of my Macs though I have lurked about for years. I try to be as diligent as possible in my research when troubleshooting before reaching out on a new thread for help. Just about every time, I find the answer that I was looking for, but this issue seems to be different.

My early 2011 MPB (i7 quad 15") has lost its ability to install any macOS though it will install Windows 10 just fine. This came about as I was updating my systems to Mojave and it installed on this unit, but upon reboot it gave me the "no entry" (circle with line though it) icon and I could go no further. Upon researching I learned that 2011 machines where unsupported in Mojave. I reinstalled High Sierra, but after I use "option" to select the usb installer the bar will progress about 3/4 before the apple logo disappears and I am left with a blank grey/white screen. I have left it that way for hours thinking it would eventually go through but it don't. I get the same response when trying to load Yosemite, El Capitan, Sierra and High Sierra. When I use the usb installer to load Mojave, it will go through the entire installation process perfectly until it finishes and has the drive boot on its own, which results in the "no entry" logo. I have tried three seperate drives (1 HDD and 2 SSD) with no luck. I pulled the drive from my other 2011 MBP running High Sierra and it fails to boot in there as well, but boots perfectly in the 13" 2011. I tried recovery, but it will progress about 3/4 the way through and then grey/white screen as well. I have tried the key command resets for pram and smc with no luck.

Any comments would be greatly appreciate. The video seems to work fine as I can see the full installation graphic when installing Mojave and I can install windows 10 and it is fully functional.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Hopefully we can all solve another issue here.

Jason

 

[Audit13]

Sounds like a defective Radeon GPU: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ntel-integrated-gpu-efi-variable-fix.2037591/

 

[286sx12]

Sounds like a defective Radeon GPU: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ntel-integrated-gpu-efi-variable-fix.2037591/

Thank you Audit for the link. I took the time to make sure I was able to replicate my findings before posting, so please excuse the delay in response. I had previously researched this threat, but I did not originally thing it applied to my issue though I believe it ultimately did.

Previously, I was unable to install any operating system. That still applies to all but Mojave. I applied the operations from the link above and attempted to install High Sierra, then Sierra, then Yosemite unsuccessfully before Mojave. I could not install Mojave using APFS on my 1TB internal SSD but it did install (slowly) with mac os extended. Upon booting to the desktop the macbook was laggy and would consistently hang for minutes at a time. I rebooted several times with the same result. I left the macbook on for about 4 hours and when I came back to it, everything operated as smoothly as it used to and has done so since. I have shut down or rebooted multiple times and once I log in it handles great. It boots quickly and just before the loading screen changes over to the login screen, the screen changes to a different colored graphic (grey screen). I assume that is the point when the discrete graphics change but I'm not sure.

I find it strange that I can only install a macOS that is unsupported for my year macbook and all others just grey out during the initial install and hang up. I have reinstalled Mojave now 3 separate times to see if I can reproduce the successful install, and it does it the same way every time.

So, after taking you through all of this, can someone tell me how I can verify if the Radeon GPU is now disabled and why the macbook will only install Mojave and not the supported macOS'?

Thanks for reading. I look forward to your response.

Jason

 

[chrfr]

Thank you Audit for the link. I took the time to make sure I was able to replicate my findings before posting, so please excuse the delay in response. I had previously researched this threat, but I did not originally thing it applied to my issue though I believe it ultimately did.

Previously, I was unable to install any operating system. That still applies to all but Mojave. I applied the operations from the link above and attempted to install High Sierra, then Sierra, then Yosemite unsuccessfully before Mojave. I could not install Mojave using APFS on my 1TB internal SSD but it did install (slowly) with mac os extended. Upon booting to the desktop the macbook was laggy and would consistently hang for minutes at a time. I rebooted several times with the same result. I left the macbook on for about 4 hours and when I came back to it, everything operated as smoothly as it used to and has done so since. I have shut down or rebooted multiple times and once I log in it handles great. It boots quickly and just before the loading screen changes over to the login screen, the screen changes to a different colored graphic (grey screen). I assume that is the point when the discrete graphics change but I'm not sure.

I find it strange that I can only install a macOS that is unsupported for my year macbook and all others just grey out during the initial install and hang up. I have reinstalled Mojave now 3 separate times to see if I can reproduce the successful install, and it does it the same way every time.

So, after taking you through all of this, can someone tell me how I can verify if the Radeon GPU is now disabled and why the macbook will only install Mojave and not the supported macOS'?

Thanks for reading. I look forward to your response.

Jason

While it's a less common failure than on 2012 MacBook Pros, these computers can also have SATA cable failures. I would look into replacing that- it shouldn't be too expensive.

 

[Audit13]

Maybe the machine can install Mojave because it has been patched to skip the hardware checks during the installation process? I'm not really sure.

The machine may have finished indexing which caused the machine to resume normal speed.

To test the graphics, you could run Cinebench's OpenGL test: https://www.maxon.net/en/products/cinebench/

 

[286sx12]

Hello and thank you for your responses. I ordered a sata cable and swapped it out. I once again tried to reinstall several macOS (Yosemite, El Capitan and High Sierra) with no luck. It continues to progress to the solid grey screen with no additional operations afterwards. Mojave does install though it takes well over an hour. My other 2011 MBP, 2012 MBP and 2017 MBP all install in about half the time. The mbp in question does not seem to be getting hot and the fans do cycle as expected.
I did notice that this unit runs very slow when on battery as opposed to being plugged in. On battery it takes 4-5 times longer to boot than plugged in and the graphics are laggy. I tried running a the OpenGL test on Cinebench and it reported an error that would not let it run the test whether it was plugged in or on battery. I ran the cpu test and it scored a 137 while plugged in and a 17 on battery. Something there seems to be amiss.

My real goal is to get back to High Sierra and disable the Radeon GPU but I just can't seem it make it work. I will try a bit more this weekend before bowing down to defeat. Thanks again for your input. You have definitely helped me make headway on this issue.

Jason