New MBP Won't Boot

[zyggiepyggie]

Hey,

Okay - I'm an Apple tech at the company that I work for.

Last week our cheif exec brought his MacBook Pro (Late 2009) in because it wouldn't boot. I re-installed the OS and sent him away happy. The next day, he returned with the same issue. The laptop wouldn't boot.

So I booted in Verbose mode and see that it's getting stuck at:

AirPort: Link Up on en1
AirPort: RSN handshake complete on en1
Ethernet [AppleBCM5701Ethernet]: Link up on en0, 100-Megabit, Full-duplex, Symmetric flow-control, Debug [796d, 2300, 0de1, 0300, 45e1, 0000]
en1 duplicate IP address 169.254.189.55 from address 10:9a:dd:6e:21:00
en1 duplicate IP address 169.254.189.55 from address 10:9a:dd:6e:21:00
en0 duplicate IP address 169.254.189.55 from address e0:f8:47:0d:57:b4
en0 duplicate IP address 169.254.189.55 from address e0:f8:47:0d:57:b4

If I remove the ethernet cable it only gets as far as 'Airport: RSN handshake complete on en1'

So, I was told to order a new MacBook Pro in order to get him back online asap. The new one arrived, I set it up and a week later he's back - with the same issue.

I've formatted his old laptop and have been using it since it was replaced with no issues at all.

He is on a mobile network account, bound to an Xserve. He has an iMac also on a network account and bound to the same server - he has no issues with this.

All I know is that Entourage crashed and he restarted, since then it hasn't worked. His mailbox is around 4GB in size.

I would appreciate any help anyone can throw my way.

Thanks.

 

[alFR]

PEBKAC

Have you tried safe booting, disabling the airport and then restarting to see what happens then? It looks like a conflict between the airport and the wired network, although AFAIK that shouldn't stop the machine booting - usually it just causes issues with the network (stability, slowdowns). I can't see how it's anything to do with Entourage, that isn't even near running at the point you're getting stuck...

 

[zyggiepyggie]

I have tried safe booting but it just hangs. I can't disable airport, I guess I could physically remove the card if it comes out on these MBPs? I've never had to take one out on this model. I've also tried booting from CD and from an image of 10.6 installed on a USB drive - but still no joy.

I agree - I don't believe it's Entourage either. I just think it's odd how the same thing has happend on two completely different machines.