2011 MBP won’t boot

[glenthompson]

My late 2011 MBP 15” won’t boot. When starting it up, I get the dong, the Apple logo, then the list of users (drive has FileVault). After selecting the user and entering the password it starts to boot as normal. When the progress bar gets about halfway across, it goes to a white screen and nothing past there. I’ve tried safe boot, multiple userids, recovery, external clone, SMC reset, and PRAM reset and nothing changes. It’s normally used in clamshell mode with a Thunderbolt Display. I’ve tried it connected and not connected with no change.

Any other suggestions of what to try? My greatest fear is a bad GPU since this model is prone to that but I had escaped that problem to date. Since I need to get my taxes done I’m loading one of my time machine backups onto an old iMac to use. My anal devotion to good backups may pay off.

 

[Audit13]

Sounds like a bad gpu to me. My late 2011 15" i7 did exactly the same thing until I had it repaired.

 

[glenthompson]

Sounds like a bad gpu to me. My late 2011 15" i7 did exactly the same thing until I had it repaired.

Did you replace the logic board or do one of the other fixes like reflowing?

 

[Audit13]

Did you replace the logic board or do one of the other fixes like reflowing?

It was a while ago but I had the GPU chip removed and replaced with an updated revision that has worked very well for over a year.

 

[ron1004]

It was a while ago but I had the GPU chip removed and replaced with an updated revision that has worked very well for over a year.

Please let us know where you had this done, the cost and turnaround time.

 

[Audit13]

Please let us know where you had this done, the cost and turnaround time.

In had it done here: macrepaircanada.com.

It was so long ago that I forgot that exact price but I think it was around $500 CAD and took about a week.

If I had to do it over today, I would not recommend a gpu replacement because the MacBooks have dropped in price on the used market since I had the repair done.

 

[ron1004]

In had it done here: macrepaircanada.com.

It was so long ago that I forgot that exact price but I think it was around $500 CAD and took about a week.

If I had to do it over today, I would not recommend a gpu replacement because the MacBooks have dropped in price on the used market since I had the repair done.

Thanks for that.

I see some in the US are charging USD250 for the repair these days, and I might go with that, and then disable the Radeon GPU completely.

 

[Audit13]

Thanks for that.

I see some in the US are charging USD250 for the repair these days, and I might go with that, and then disable the Radeon GPU completely.

In my case, the gpu was removed from the board and a new chip was installed. Is this the case with the $250 repair?

 

[ron1004]

In my case, the gpu was removed from the board and a new chip was installed. Is this the case with the $250 repair?

I haven't been able to confirm that detail yet regarding a new chip for $250.

I've sent a message to macrepaircanada.com who advertise a permanent repair to the GPU, and might go with them.

 

[Audit13]

I've used them several times to repair water damaged machines. Hamad is excellent.