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Macbook pro boots mostly of times in safemode

M

Marcos Cerutti

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 2, 2009
32
5
São Paulo, Brazil
Hi there folks, I would like to know if someone can help me here on that issue.


I already reset PRAM and SMC, honestly, hundred of times, but I cant manage to run AHT under any situation (anyone know how I can do that?).

Macbook pro 5,2 shut down just after fsck, or just before load DSM, I need to press power button something around 30 times (thats a real number, folks) to get the computer running. None of the times get logged on console. But OS loads fine under safe mode, which drove me to think, I had an installation issue.

As a troubleshooting, before reinstall, I removed both HD and SSD and the battery. well, for my surprise, it booted and looked for a system folder every time I turned it on, which, of course, didn't find any, as the SSD wasn't there.

Just to make sure, I reconnected the system drive and removed one of the RAM modules and booted the machine, same issue, on the DSM, machine went down. Swapped for another memory, same problem, no way to boot up the machine.

Well, clearly was an OS issue. got myself an USB ready to install mavericks and started all the job, when I just selected to boot from the USB (pressing alt before the chime) I got the same problem, machine, the machine went off.

After almost 10 hours trying to make the install move on, I managed it. Well, fresh install, system disk was wiped and a new partition was made, just to be sure. Result: Problem persists, the most bizarre thing is, it boots fine under safe boot.

Details about the machine: webcam never worked (I bought second hand);
There are 2 disks inside the machine; One SSD and the original one. Both disks present no errors on diskutility.
There are no third part fonts installed (as its a clean install). My user home folder, sits outside system disk, on the original 500gb disk.

Few weeks ago, speakers stopped to work after OS loads, but chime plays lovely and headphones still have sound. After a few days, speakers returned to proper work

Any idea what it can be? Could it be a bad sensor that when the kext engages it, the machine stops to boot?

Thanks folks :)
P.S. this is not a hackintosh! (telling this due to the DSM step)
 
Next time you have a shutdown - Note the approximate time that happens, then boot into safe mode, and check in the Console logs for an improper shutdown error, or a code for "Previous Shutdown Cause"

When you have to "press the power button 30 times"...
Does that mean that nothing at all happens until you have pressed the button repeatedly that many time?
Or, that you get a boot chime, and fans run each time, but nothing else happens until after many attempts?
Or, that you get screen, and apple icon, trying to start up, then shuts itself off each time, then after many repeats of the same partial boot, finally does boot?
Or - something different happens each time

On your AHT question - if the original hard drive has been replaced, there is nothing internal that will boot to AHT.
And, your MacBookPro5,2 is too old to boot the AHT through the internet connection, for example.
The Apple Hardware Test is only on the original restore DVD - one of the two grey DVDs that shipped with your MBPro when new, probably on Disk #2 of that set. The instructions for booting to the test would be on the label of that DVD #2.

Is the SSD in the hard drive position, or in the optical drive bay?
The shutdowns may be overtemp, or more likely a faulty hard drive.
And, because it can be the hard drive, the SATA cable can also be the culprit, and can be a good tip to try that, especially if you use the SSD in the hard drive slot. The hard drive may still work there, yet the SSD can be finicky because of the much higher I/O needs for the SSD. A small failure in the cable may work with the hard drive, yet fail intermittently with an SSD. Pretty common failure, the SATA cables can be fragile. It might be a cheap fix for everything, if you try a different SATA cable.
 
Thanks for your attention, Deltamac!

It only shuts down, when I open the lid after a sleep.
When I do boot, it start the grey scree, chime and when the logo shows up, computer completely shut down. The few times I could catch it via verbose mode, it goes down just after DSM something shows up.

Booting in safe mode, not all the times shows the previous code, right now, I don't see any stored on the logs.
SSD sits on the original bay and I moved HDD to the CD bay.

I was thinking, this may be something related to data stored for the wake up? I mean, some corrupted region on memory / disk, that when the OS sleeps, the data uses this spot? Anyway, disk utility shows no errors on the FS nor physical errors.

I checked all cables and they look ok, at least on the visual check

DeltaMac said:
Next time you have a shutdown - Note the approximate time that happens, then boot into safe mode, and check in the Console logs for an improper shutdown error, or a code for "Previous Shutdown Cause"

When you have to "press the power button 30 times"...
Does that mean that nothing at all happens until you have pressed the button repeatedly that many time?
Or, that you get a boot chime, and fans run each time, but nothing else happens until after many attempts?
Or, that you get screen, and apple icon, trying to start up, then shuts itself off each time, then after many repeats of the same partial boot, finally does boot?
Or - something different happens each time

On your AHT question - if the original hard drive has been replaced, there is nothing internal that will boot to AHT.
And, your MacBookPro5,2 is too old to boot the AHT through the internet connection, for example.
The Apple Hardware Test is only on the original restore DVD - one of the two grey DVDs that shipped with your MBPro when new, probably on Disk #2 of that set. The instructions for booting to the test would be on the label of that DVD #2.

Is the SSD in the hard drive position, or in the optical drive bay?
The shutdowns may be overtemp, or more likely a faulty hard drive.
And, because it can be the hard drive, the SATA cable can also be the culprit, and can be a good tip to try that, especially if you use the SSD in the hard drive slot. The hard drive may still work there, yet the SSD can be finicky because of the much higher I/O needs for the SSD. A small failure in the cable may work with the hard drive, yet fail intermittently with an SSD. Pretty common failure, the SATA cables can be fragile. It might be a cheap fix for everything, if you try a different SATA cable.
Click to expand...
 
Unless you are really rough with the cable, a faulty SATA cable will very seldom have any visible damage.
You test it by replacing the cable.
There is no other method that normal users would have access to.

I am still curious about the "pressing the power button 30 times to get the computer running"
When you next have the sudden power off - try an SMC reset to see if THAT reset will get you going again more quickly.
After the power is off, press left-side Shift-Control-Option along with the power button once.
Release the keys.
Wait 5 seconds, then press and release the power button to start the computer.

BTW, there is one disadvantage to having the hard drive in the optical bay. The Sudden Motion sensor that will shut the hard drive down if the MBPro is dropped is not available in the optical bay. Although dropping may not happen that often, the hard drive shutdown is nice to have if you do drop your MBPro.
 
Hi Deltamac!
I got the issue again. ( I have to sleep the machine)
I did SMC reset as well, actually, several times. Today for example, I had to press power buttom, 7 times till the computer booted up, and luckily, it didnt shutdown. I got the logs, and one thing I realise, was "Sleep Failure code"

I saved up the logs. Thanks for your time, mate!
 

Attachments

  • log.txt
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The Shutdown failure cause: -128 is a hardware problem of some kind. Apple will need to help you out with that one.

If you typically have to press the power button repeatedly before it will start, that may indicate an overheating problem of some kind (won't start again until it cools down) - And you can try that theory by waiting at least 30 minutes before trying the power button after it shuts off. It will be completely cool at that time, and an immediate start (after that wait time) should tell you that it was too hot.
If that happens, then you can try opening up your MBPro, cleaning out any dust or lint that you find. Even better, after 5 or 6 years, the heat sinks may need cleaning and a fresh thermal grease coating on the heat sink joints.
[doublepost=1458338244][/doublepost]I also should note that your Kingston 120GB may not be the best quality SSD. I have occasionally seen user reports on that one which indicate that the electronics may have problems with - yes - sleeping, and coming out of sleep.
Possibly you will have a fix if you replace the Kingston SSD with a different one.
 
Hi there DeltaMac!

Thanks for the input man! I dont think the issue may be overheating, as it only happens when I bring it on from sleep or on a power on. I will try add a different HDD on the SSD bay.
Do you know if I can have any sort of hardware test?
Thanks man!
 
Yes - you can run the Apple hardware test.
Restart your Mac, while holding the D on your keyboard.
Run the test. There's a choice to run either a standard or extended test. Run both tests.
If that doesn't work, then the hard drive may not be the original, or has been reformatted at some point.
Then, the test is on Disk 2 of the restore DVDs that came with the MBPro when it was new.

If those DVDs are not available, you still may be able to find the test on the internet. You have to find the one that is for your specific model
 
Well, last crash screwed up my file system. I had to reinstall it. I managed to run AHT, and it didn't return any problems, stating: No trouble found. I ran an extended test, 2:58 hours. No issues presented as well. Few minutes ago, I got the crash at boot again and logs pointing to shutdown cause -128.

I booted the machine without IR/ Sleep cable, and later without DVD cable and later without camera cable. All the times, the system went down when the apple logo shows up.

Same thing, booting up with single memory units as well. Well, last chance is to boot up with a regular HDD instead SSD.
Any ideas how can I figure out what that -128 code is pointing at, mate?
Cheers!
 
I have not ever found a lot of the "Previous shutdown cause", and there doesn't seem to be a comprehensive list.
People see those codes, and they are often different than many that I find.
But, I will make a big leap, and say that unexpected shutdowns, particularly during boot, are often a failing hard drive.
Or, you may still have a faulty SATA cable. If you want to check that out, replace your SATA cables, even if they look OK (you can't tell by looking). One issue is that you can have an SATA cable that is good with a spinning hard drive, but will be intermittent with an SSD (cable failure due to timing issues resulting from the higher data rates on the SSD)

And, your MBPro is now on the obsolete list, so no more direct attention from Apple. You will get to decide for yourself if it continues to be worth your time and effort to troubleshoot...
 
Honestly, I want to make it work, as the machine still pretty powerful. I just mixed a project on Logic, with 50 tracks, and it handled pretty well… but its not that reliable when I must open it up. Man, I will do that, will change cable and go for a HDD instead my cheap SDD :)Will keep you posted mate.

Cheers!
 
I would not go back to a HDD when you have experienced the speed of an SSD.
But, your choice, I suppose. :D

So, preferred installs with SSD/HDD combo: SSD goes in the optical drive slot, and HDD stays in the normal drive position.
 
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