Help: MacBook Pro issues

Since it didn't strike anything hard, and you caught it, combined with the symptoms you described, I would say that it sounds like your hard drive did not like the trip very much. They typically don't like sudden jolts very much, such as what would happen if it took a tumble but was caught before hitting the floor or ground.

 

I had the same situation with a Windows laptop a few years ago, twice actually. It was the hard drive both times. When they're spinning sudden movements can cause the needle thing that's reading the data to strike the platters I believe, scratching them and forever ruining the hard drive.

Did you have a backup?

 

I think he means do you have your data backed up (e.g. with time machine). If you do not I would certainly do that RIGHT AWAY. You do not want your hard drive to crash and lose all your files.

IF the fall somehow damaged your hard drive there is no way that you can fix it at home.

 

I wouldn't go out and replace a hard drive unless I knew the problem was the hard drive. Your problem sounds like it's a hard drive problem but it could be something else.

Today's logic boards aren't exactly "tough." The electrical traces on the logic board can crack easily yielding really erratic performance, and a lot of the internal cables aren't cables at all, but rather mylar strips with conductive copper traces etched onto them. Any time intermittent contact exists somewhere in the system it can cause the system to lock up erratically or behave oddly. For example, what happened to the cables connecting the logic board to the display, the wireless connections, and the camera, all of which are located in the lid of your laptop when you "caught" the unit as it fell. Were the jolts enough to cause problems with them?

Todays HDs are a lot tougher than they used to be. If impact wasn't actually made I'd be surprised if the disk was the source of the problem. I use a product called Scannerz with FSE to test my drives but they make a cheaper version of it called Scannerz Lite that can test your drive before going out and spending money on a problem that might not be a problem.

Personally, if I were you I'd take your unit into someone familiar with them that's willing to give you a free evaluation before spending money on anything, including Scannerz or Scannerz Lite. Granted, their excellent tools and it might very well be the HD, but common sense tells me making such an assumption may be unwarranted without adequate evaluation. For example, some time ago I had an old PowerBook 12" model and anytime I travelled the Airport card would dislodge slightly and manage to lock up the system during a boot...and that was just from vibration related to traveling. In that case the solution was always simple: reseat the Airport card, which back in those days was accessible. If vibrations from an airplane trip could cause an Airport card to unseat, what make you think that a sudden grab of a falling unit couldn't do likewise with yours?

Translation: get it checked out, dude!