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TOMIMOT

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 16, 2011
335
27
Canada
Hey guys! been searching the forums trying to find a fix but I'm finding different variants of the issue I'm having but can't seem to find a solution. My MBP is having issues booting up, I hit the power button and all I get is a black screen. Apple logo doesn't come up. After a good 30 - 60 seconds I try to force a reboot by holding the power button and then finally I get the Apple logo and it starts to boot normally. I don't remember my mbp ever taking that long to boot. Yes I have an SSD too. any ideas guys? would I be forced to completely wipe my drive to fix this?
 

CheMillan

macrumors regular
Jan 5, 2015
104
52
Los Angeles
From OSXDaily:

A Solution for MacBook Pro Booting to a Black Screen

Rarely, a Mac may encounter some peculiar issue during system boot that can cause quite a bit of panic, like booting to a completely black screen. It would be easy to interpret that as a potential hardware problem, and in some particularly rare situations that may be the case, but it’s more often a software issue that can be resolved with some simple troubleshooting steps.

Case in point; one of our readers experience with his MacBook Pro, which out of the blue rebooted to a completely dark screen. Though it’s rare, we figured this would be a good opportunity to share three potential solutions to this problem, and similar issues, should you encounter a dark screen on system start.

First, Reset the System Management Controller to Fix the Black Display on Boot

The first thing you’ll want to do resolve nearly every power related issue on a Mac is to reset the SMC, or System Management Controller. This will dump and reset settings for anything power management related, and is long known to resolve problems with things like fans, heat, sleeping problems, and of course, display issues.

On any modern MacBook Pro or MacBook Air with a built-in battery, which is just a bout all of them nowadays, this is how you do that:

1. Shut down the Mac and connect it to your MagSafe adapter and a wall outlet as usual
2. Hold down the Shift+Control+Option+Power button at the same time for a few seconds
3. Release all keys at the same time, then boot the Mac as usual
Older Macs can find directions here for the same process on their machines, it’s slightly different if you can take out the battery.

When the Mac boots, hopefully the black screen has gone away and you’re back to normal, but if it doesn’t… reader Nathan D. wrote in with the next tip.

Second, Try a Keypress Sequence to Ditch the Black Screen
Regular readers may recall that we covered some OS X keyboard shortcuts for the Shutdown, Sleep, and Restart controls of just about every Mac, and this little key press sequence takes advantage of those. Oddly enough, it seems to work to resolve some of the mystery Mac booting into black screen issues. Here’s the precise sequence to follow:

1. Press the Power / OFF button once – this will bring up the dialog box which you can’t see
2. Press the “S” button – this is the shortcut to sleep the Mac
3. Hold down the Power button until a hard shut down is forced
4. Wait about 15 seconds, then hit the Power button again to turn it back on

This key press solution was discovered by reader Nathan D., who found it tucked away on MacRumors Forums, and it has worked for several other commenters there as well. Some other users on the MR forums suggest that resetting PRAM helped them too, but most power issues are resolved by the SMC reset.

Finally, Try a PRAM Reset to Resolve the Black Boot Display
If the above two tricks failed, a PRAM reset can often do the trick, as many of the commenters on this article can attest to. As a potential solution to the black screen on boot, this is done upon restarting the Mac similar to an SMC reset:
1. Reboot the Mac and as soon as you hear the boot chime, hold down the Command+Option+P+R keys together
2. When you hear the boot sound again, the PRAM has been reset so let the Mac boot again as usual

At this point your Mac should boot again as usual and no longer have the black display, loading OS X as usual.

If you happen to run into this unusual issue with your Mac, let us know how you resolved it, and if the above tips worked for your MacBook, whichever Pro or Air model it may be.
 

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TOMIMOT

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 16, 2011
335
27
Canada
From OSXDaily:

A Solution for MacBook Pro Booting to a Black Screen

Rarely, a Mac may encounter some peculiar issue during system boot that can cause quite a bit of panic, like booting to a completely black screen. It would be easy to interpret that as a potential hardware problem, and in some particularly rare situations that may be the case, but it’s more often a software issue that can be resolved with some simple troubleshooting steps.

Case in point; one of our readers experience with his MacBook Pro, which out of the blue rebooted to a completely dark screen. Though it’s rare, we figured this would be a good opportunity to share three potential solutions to this problem, and similar issues, should you encounter a dark screen on system start.

First, Reset the System Management Controller to Fix the Black Display on Boot

The first thing you’ll want to do resolve nearly every power related issue on a Mac is to reset the SMC, or System Management Controller. This will dump and reset settings for anything power management related, and is long known to resolve problems with things like fans, heat, sleeping problems, and of course, display issues.

On any modern MacBook Pro or MacBook Air with a built-in battery, which is just a bout all of them nowadays, this is how you do that:

1. Shut down the Mac and connect it to your MagSafe adapter and a wall outlet as usual
2. Hold down the Shift+Control+Option+Power button at the same time for a few seconds
3. Release all keys at the same time, then boot the Mac as usual
Older Macs can find directions here for the same process on their machines, it’s slightly different if you can take out the battery.

When the Mac boots, hopefully the black screen has gone away and you’re back to normal, but if it doesn’t… reader Nathan D. wrote in with the next tip.

Second, Try a Keypress Sequence to Ditch the Black Screen
Regular readers may recall that we covered some OS X keyboard shortcuts for the Shutdown, Sleep, and Restart controls of just about every Mac, and this little key press sequence takes advantage of those. Oddly enough, it seems to work to resolve some of the mystery Mac booting into black screen issues. Here’s the precise sequence to follow:

1. Press the Power / OFF button once – this will bring up the dialog box which you can’t see
2. Press the “S” button – this is the shortcut to sleep the Mac
3. Hold down the Power button until a hard shut down is forced
4. Wait about 15 seconds, then hit the Power button again to turn it back on

This key press solution was discovered by reader Nathan D., who found it tucked away on MacRumors Forums, and it has worked for several other commenters there as well. Some other users on the MR forums suggest that resetting PRAM helped them too, but most power issues are resolved by the SMC reset.

Finally, Try a PRAM Reset to Resolve the Black Boot Display
If the above two tricks failed, a PRAM reset can often do the trick, as many of the commenters on this article can attest to. As a potential solution to the black screen on boot, this is done upon restarting the Mac similar to an SMC reset:
1. Reboot the Mac and as soon as you hear the boot chime, hold down the Command+Option+P+R keys together
2. When you hear the boot sound again, the PRAM has been reset so let the Mac boot again as usual

At this point your Mac should boot again as usual and no longer have the black display, loading OS X as usual.

If you happen to run into this unusual issue with your Mac, let us know how you resolved it, and if the above tips worked for your MacBook, whichever Pro or Air model it may be.

Thanks for the post but I've tried all these options to no avail :(
 
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