Mid 2010 Macbook pro won't boot past grey screen, totally unresponsive

[Jamesmunroe]

Hi all,

First, thanks for the terrific forum, this is my first post but I've been a long-time reader. This site has always solved my apple issues before but this time I'm really in a pickle and I can't find an answer anywhere.

A few days after successfully upgrading my Mid 2010 Macbook pro's internal drive to a larger capacity SSD rebooting it suddenly led to a mysterious grey screen which leaves me with no option but to hold the power button until it shuts down. Nothing I do, no combination of keys, makes any difference when booting-up, it always goes to the grey screen.

Some background: my Macbook had it's external graphics die and required a logic board replacement a year ago and has been running great ever since. It also has an OWC Data-doubler in the place of the Superdrive. I am only posting here after trying EVERYTHING I possibly could to solve this issue. I've tried resetting the NVRAM and SMC, booting into safe mode, single user mode, booting from an external HD and nothing works. Like I said, no boot modifier keys work. This also includes attempting to run the Apple Hardware Diagnostic so I have no way of telling what hardware might be broken.

I know it's not the SSD or the cloned image on it because I used that drive to boot another macbook with no problems at all and I've tried several other working bootable drive images with no success either.

Unfortunately, all problem solving techniques suggest booting from an external drive, or a network drive, or the recovery partition but none of these are an option when boot modifier keys aren't working.

So, please help me out! Does anyone have any suggestion of what might be broken (hardware-wise) or anything else I can try? Is there any way to invoke the Apple diagnostics from external hardware WITHOUT using a modifier key on the laptop in question?

Thanks in advance for your help, even if it's just to say that the logic board is ruined again and that it's time to throw this lemon of a laptop in the trash

 

[JTToft]

Doesn't sound good. A thought:

Take out the SSD, leaving the SATA connector in your main bay disconnected, connect it externally and then try booting from it.
Though probably unlikely, it's conceivable that you have a bad SATA cable and that the machine won't allow you to use boot modifier keys when it's connected.

 

[Eorlas]

Your mid 2010 mbp could be dying as mine is.

Or you could try the advice above my post instead of listening to my doomsday proposal

 

[sebseb]

It's pretty much hardware. I have the same model and mine also did the exact same thing. It would not load, if I put a CD in, it wouldn't eject it. After some attempts the screen didn't even load and it officially died. I never got the chance to get the logic board replaced but I'm pretty sure it was that. There was a recall for the 15" model but mine died a week ago and recall was already over.

 

[Jamesmunroe]

Thanks for the help all. It seems like the consensus is that it's my logic board. Given that I replaced that part not too long ago and they've only gotten more expensive since - I think it's time for a new computer. Now the question is, what do I do with the old one... It has the high res screen and everything!

 

[JTToft]

Now the question is, what do I do with the old one... It has the high res screen and everything!

- Sell it for parts. Or keep it yourself for parts. Or seperate its different components and sell them seperately. The problem is most likely just the logic board, meaning your screen, SuperDrive, Data Doubler, hard drive, AirPort card, etc. should be fine.

 

[sebseb]

I rather sell mine but I feel that nobody will buy it. So my new plan is to use the components and create a multi device out of it. You can buy a 40$ circuit board that converts that display into an HDMI monitor though requires some DIY. Also buy an adaptor for the optical drive and connect it using the usb to a new computer. I will be removing everything and placing a Raspberry Pi inside to do some of my linux work that I used to do on the Pi and it will be easier. There are tutorials how to use the trackpad and keyboard using usb.