MBP Booting Problem, Maybe Worse

[RealaT]

Hi everyone, I'm after some advice on my MBP that seems to have developed a strange problem.

Last week I had a couple of issues where my MBP did not go to sleep and remained switched on after I put it away in my carry bag. Because of this it got very hot and ran the battery down completely.

Now I notice that when I try and reboot OSX, it is taking about 5 minutes just to get onto the desktop. It will stay on the grey apple screen with the spinning gear for ages with no activity, then will suddenly spring back to life and go on the halt at the plain blue screen for several minutes before finally booting and operating normally.

I've tried several things already to fix this problem which i'll list now to avoid repetition. I have tried repairing permissions and also ran everything Onyx had to offer and those haven't fixed the issue. I also tried resetting both the PRAM and the SMU. I ran the Apple hardware test and it found no issues.

I then decided that an archive and re-install was in order. So I booted my Leopard disc and did that, but now it still takes ages to boot up. The new problem this created is that it now takes me to a log-on screen (i've never used a log-on screen before) and asks me for my password. Unfortunately OSX seems to have decided to just make up a new password for me as my actual password for my user account does not work, even though the password hint has remained the same!! So now it takes ages to boot and I cannot log into my account.

Anyway, I was looking for suggestions from more experienced mac users as to what to try next. I'm currently using disk utility to back up the entire HDD onto an external as an image file. Then I'll be doing a full format and re-install.

Has anyone ever had a similar experience to mine?

 

[RealaT]

Just a follow up.

Re-installed Leopard onto my freshly formatted drive. And it still takes 5 minutes to boot up!

To make matters worse, after i'd spent all this morning copying the entire contents of the HDD onto my external. I plug it back in to restore the contents and the .dmg file is reported as 0kb in size!!! So now i've lost everything and have to start fresh. I thought this sort of thing was reserved for Windows users

The strangest thing is that the MBP runs perfectly once it has booted up, it just takes over 5 mins to do so. I can see any indication of HDD corruption and have never had an error message telling me of any problems.

Looks like it's going to be a long weekend.

EDIT: After performing the 10.5.2 update through software update, the boot time has increased to over 10 minutes

 

[bart rijksen]

you might have a logic board problem. Best is to go to an apple store

 

[RealaT]

You might be right, it still doesn't go to sleep properly either, it just sits on a black screen and remains powered on but it a 'locked' state (ie. cannot wake it back up again)

Apple store isn't an option though as the nearest store is over 100 miles away and is bascally a full day travelling just to get there and back.

What do Apple do in this respect? Do you ring them and arrange to send it away? Sending isn't a problem as I have a spare MacBook to use.

Also, just tried taking my ram chips out 1 at a time and that hasn't cleared it either.

 

[RealaT]

Another update: Tried swapping out the 250gb HDD for an older 80gb. But problems still persist.

The machine now will never go into sleep more, instead it just locks up onto a blank screen with the fans still running.

Once my Applecare code comes through I'll be getting right on the phone.

 

[docal97]

i would agree that there appears to be a serious problem going on with your machine.

You should call AppleCare and they will arrange to have it picked up(usually within 1 day), and then you can get it fixed. It would be better to do it this way then to waste a travel day b/c they are going to just keep it anyway for repairs.

Good luck.......

 

[RealaT]

I agree that this seems like a serious hardware problem. Guess I'll let Apple fix it since it's covered. Time isn't really a problem because I have my Core Duo MacBook I keep as a spare.

Just got 2 questions about returns. Firstly, will Apple mind that I've upgraded the RAM myself? I would just put in the originals but I sold them a few weeks back when I was strapped for cash. Also, would they mind that I've had it open to replace the hard drive? I will be putting the original hard drive back in, and I do a VERY careful job when I'm in there so it looks flawless inside, but I was just curious.

I've been and bought Applecare for this machine today because of this. It's only 6 months old and seems to have developed a logic board fault already, goodness knows what I could come up against in a couple of years time!!

OK guys thanks for the help, will post on here how it turns out.

 

[rlm22b]

Mine Is Doing The Same Thing!!!

I have a 2.4 Penryn. I got it March 15th. It was having all of the same symptoms as yours about a month in. Applecare had me reset P Ram, repair the disk permissions, reinstall Leopard the whole nine. None of it worked. They told me I can send it in or take it to a store. The closest Apple Store is 2 hours away and the one from which I purchased it is 4 hours away. I called the store which I purchased it from and the manager was really cool. He told me to take it to the one that was 2 hours away and if they give me trouble to have them call him.

Here's the thing though. I'm dirt poor after paying $1924 for the darn thing so I can't afford to drive to the store yet. It's been another month now, still having similar symptoms. Some have gotten better but I still want to have it looked at.

Wrote this on the fly, sorry for any incoherence. Off to class.