Computer won't start

[Ja Di ksw]

My less than 1 year old computer (MBP, 17") is at it (again!), even though I take good care of this thing. It is refusing to start. It just goes to the grey screen with the apple logo and the little spinning whatever underneath, but won't go further. I can't even get it to boot up from my install DVD to wipe it clean and reinstall everything like I had to last time! Thankfully it will boot up as an external HD, so I'm trying to pull everything important off of it onto my work computer (typing on that now), but can anyone help? I really don't want to send this into Apple Care, I live in Austria and it would take forever. But I can't get the thing to start, or even let me reinstall everything.

I always bought mac b/c they "just worked" and were "reliable," but this computer - and my last one as it got older - have been anything but. It is a huge disappointment.

Edit: using the latest version of Snow Leopard, MBP is the generation before the current one, and has the faster HD custom order.

 

[Kristenn]

I'm no expert but it sounds like a fuddud hard drive. =/

 

[richard.mac]

sounds like the hard drive is failing cause you could boot off an external. thinking Macs and will always just work is not the way to go, even though Mac OS X might just work there could be a hardware fault like any computer.

boot up into verbose mode holding command+V and see where it stalls.

 

[Ja Di ksw]

Oddly, it is now booting up from the OS DVD, but when I check or repair permissions it says everything is already fine, however it will now NOT boot up as an external HD.

I tried verbose mode, it goes to "AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement: initialization complete" and stops there. Does that help at all?

I stopped after moving over the essentials while it was an external HD , wishing I had gotten everything off, I thought it would keep working that way. Sigh.

 

[richard.mac]

sounds like it cant initialise power management speedstep etc. for the CPU. may be a hardware or software fault not sure.

try a hardware test by holding D with the restore DVD inserted. might have to try an archive and install.

 

[Ja Di ksw]

btw, thanks for the help, this is really worrying me (afraid of losing things from my computer).

Right now I tried plugging it into a co-workers computer, and for some reason there it worked as an external HD! Now I'm afraid to unplug it and have it not work again, so I'm transferring everything over. Unfortunately he has almost no room on his computer, so I'm going over the wired network from his to my work computer.

As soon as that's done I will try the hardware test.

I did try starting up in safe mode, and single user mode as well. In single user mode I typed in fsck -fy There was one time it said File System was Modified, but after that it said no problems.

After this I am buying one giant external HD. My old one was too small for everything on my computer.