MacBook Pro stuck on white screen and won't go into recovery mode.

[snerkler]

I was using my late 2011 MBP running OS X Sierra and all of a sudden the screen went grey with thin white stripes and then turned off. Now if you turn it on it looks like it's going to boot up showing the Apple logo and loading bar but then the screen goes completely white and does nothing except the cooling fans go crazy. I've tried booting in verbose and safe mode but neither worked, and neither does trying to start up in recovery mode, all just going to the white screen with the fans going crazy.

Any idea what's gone wrong and how to fix it? I don't know how I can fix it if I can't get into recovery mode and disk utility.

Edit: I've got a CD-ROM disc in the disc drive that won't eject either and I need to get it out, any idea how I can do this?

 

[Samuelsan2001]

I was using my late 2011 MBP running OS X Sierra and all of a sudden the screen went grey with thin white stripes and then turned off. Now if you turn it on it looks like it's going to boot up showing the Apple logo and loading bar but then the screen goes completely white and does nothing except the cooling fans go crazy. I've tried booting in verbose and safe mode but neither worked, and neither does trying to start up in recovery mode, all just going to the white screen with the fans going crazy.

Any idea what's gone wrong and how to fix it? I don't know how I can fix it if I can't get into recovery mode and disk utility.

Edit: I've got a CD-ROM disc in the disc drive that won't eject either and I need to get it out, any idea how I can do this?

Is this a 15 inch model with discrete graphics card? If so then it is most likely that the dGPU has died as so many of that vintage did and there is no real cost effective fix anymore. Apple sort of fixed it for free until January this year but they all just go again at some point as it’s to do with and using lead free solder that cracks on heating cooling over time.

 

[snerkler]

Is this a 15 inch model with discrete graphics card? If so then it is most likely that the dGPU has died as so many of that vintage did and there is no real cost effective fix anymore. Apple sort of fixed it for free until January this year but they all just go again at some point as it’s to do with and using lead free solder that cracks on heating cooling over time.

Thanks for the reply, I'm not sure what you mean by discrete graphics card though? It's a late 2011 pre retina 15" MBP.

Excuse my wonderfully poor knowledge but if the graphics card has gone how can it still display the apple logo and loading bar at start up, and why won't it let me eject the CD ROM?

 

[Audit13]

Does the Macbook start to boot with the progress bar getting halfway and the screen turns white? If yes, the amd graphics chip has failed.

When the machine is started from a cold boot, the integrated graphics chip is used. As the boot process continues, the machine switches to amd graphics which is why the apple logo appears at the start of the boot process.

I also have a 15" 2011 with a failed graphics chip.

 

[snerkler]

Does the Macbook start to boot with the progress bar getting halfway and the screen turns white? If yes, the amd graphics chip has failed.

When the machine is started from a cold boot, the integrated graphics chip is used. As the boot process continues, the machine switches to amd graphics which is why the apple logo appears at the start of the boot process.

I also have a 15" 2011 with a failed graphics chip.

That's normally what happens, but tonight when I got home I've tried it again and twice it's actually booted up to my desktop but then within about 5s the fans of gone crazy, screen's gone black and then it turned off. If I then try to turn it back on I get the apple logo with the progress bar briefly and then the screen goes white.

Is it an expensive fix? I really need to upgrade tbh as I run lightroom and photoshop a lot which demand a lot of processing so the fans are always going crazy. Plus my graphics card isn't fully supported by lightroom anymore.

 

[Audit13]

The fans go crazy because the amd graphics chip is getting hot. The heatsink and fans cant cool the chip sufficiently and the machine shuts off to prevent further damage.

You'll either have to replace the GPU or the whole board, but you will face this problem again after doing either repair.

 

[snerkler]

The fans go crazy because the amd graphics chip is getting hot. The heatsink and fans cant cool the chip sufficiently and the machine shuts off to prevent further damage.

You'll either have to replace the GPU or the whole board, but you will face this problem again after doing either repair.

Thanks for the response. How long, are we talking a couple of years or a few months?

 

[Audit13]

I really don't know how long the repair will last.

I missed the deadline for the extended warranty so I had the gpu replaced with an updated revision that supposedly runs cooler. The company that replaced it provides a one year warranty.

I avoid using apps that don't work with the Intel gpu such as chrome and Firefox.

Look here for a possible software solution: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ntel-integrated-gpu-efi-variable-fix.2037591/

 

[snerkler]

I really don't know how long the repair will last.

I missed the deadline for the extended warranty so I had the gpu replaced with an updated revision that supposedly runs cooler. The company that replaced it provides a one year warranty.

I avoid using apps that don't work with the Intel gpu such as chrome and Firefox.

Look here for a possible software solution: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ntel-integrated-gpu-efi-variable-fix.2037591/

Thanks again, I'll look into that. I use chrome and never seen any apparent issues, what doesn't work?

 

[Audit13]

Chrome uses the amd gpu but safari does not. Safari didn't cause my 15" 2010 or 15" 2011 to crash because I could surf without using a discrete gpu.

 

[snerkler]

Well I've bitten the bullet and ordered a new MBP, I'm still crying at the cost of these things these days