Please Help! Macbook won't start

[aethelbert]

Well, I was in OS X and everything was working alright except the superdrive. It wasn't reading any discs. So I decided to shut down the computer and turn it on (I used shut down and not restart). It froze on the desktop background for a few minutes, so I just held down the power button thinking that it would turn off. That did the job. Now whenever I try to boot the computer, I get the chime and apple logo, then I get a box that tells me in four languages that my computer needs to be restarted and that I should hold down the power button... So I do that and the same thing happens when I turn it on again.

I've tried everything...resetting the PRAM, restoring the factory settings by taking out the battery, and just about everything else. Is it possible for me to fix this or does it need service? It certianly doesn't seem normal. The disc drive was working earlier today as well.

Thanks

PS, in case you didn't see my thread earlier today, my battery was not reading properly. It said that I had -1mAh capacity and the age was like 24,000 months. I don't know if this would be a part of the problem, but I figured that I might as well include it.

 

[mad jew]

If you have third party RAM, then remove it and retest. I doubt it'll help though, so I reckon it's probably time to take it back to Apple. Good luck!

 

[aethelbert]

If you have third party RAM, then remove it and retest. I doubt it'll help though, so I reckon it's probably time to take it back to Apple. Good luck!

Well, they can't blame the problem on third party ram since it came from them...

 

[The Stig]

You do have it plugged in now right? You're not running on battery are you? I hope not.

Get on another computer and check apple.com/support

The Stig

 

[aethelbert]

You do have it plugged in now right? You're not running on battery are you? I hope not.

Well, saying that it won't boot to anything, it's not even turned on. I've checked apple.com/support and tried everything there... nothing helped.

I've got an appointment for later today at the Apple store, so I guess that they're gonna ship it off somewhere for two weeks to "repair" it...

 

[mad jew]

Well, they can't blame the problem on third party ram since it came from them...

Excellent.

I've got an appointment for later today at the Apple store, so I guess that they're gonna ship it off somewhere for two weeks to "repair" it...

Make sure everything is backed up before giving it to them. You might be able to use one of their machines to access your data from Target Disk Mode.

 

[aethelbert]

Make sure everything is backed up before giving it to them. You might be able to use one of their machines to access your data from Target Disk Mode.

Yeah, I haven't been able to back stuff up in target disk mode since my only other mac is being shipped. Will they let me do that in the store? I don't have an external drive, either.

 

[aethelbert]

Well, everything is getting fixed...it was a software problem. The genius go me OS X back! Thanks for your help to those that replied!

 

[mad jew]

Wow! It was a software problem? Mate, I don't want to make you paranoid but those symptoms scream of pretty typical hardware failure. I'm glad it's working for you now but keep it in the back of your mind that the same thing may happen again, so keep everything backed up. Having said that, I'm glad it's up and running again!

 

[aethelbert]

Wow! It was a software problem? Mate, I don't want to make you paranoid but those symptoms scream of pretty typical hardware failure.

The guy at the genius bar told me that it was a software glitch. But for now, all is well as I am back typing on my macbook. The Superdrive is working well along with everything else.

 

[mangotango]

I think my computer might have this same problem... Were you able to back up your files? Or were they still on your computer? Also, were the repairs covered by your warranty? Mine expired a couple months ago..

 

[aethelbert]

I think my computer might have this same problem... Were you able to back up your files? Or were they still on your computer? Also, were the repairs covered by your warranty? Mine expired a couple months ago..

I was able to get everything backed up (the guy at the store did it for me). It took about 90 minutes to do the backup and install Tiger. I don't really know what he did though, as I was too busy playing with an iPhone.

Also, he didn't ask to see any of my warranty papers or receipt. I told him that I bought the computer last week so I guess that he just went on that alone. I do have the latest rev, though, so that means that it has to be within the one year warranty.

 

[Samwise592]

My boss has the EXACT same problem with his G4 mac mini... he was getting printer errors right before it stopped booting. You guys think a replacement of the ram would do it? Target Disk mode just crashes whatever machine you plug it into.

 

[dwainsco]

Apple Specialist in Indianapolis

Man i wish i would have found this thread a little bit earlier.
I work for a Mac Specialist in indianapolis! The Mac Experience
I am actually apple laptop and desktop certified, and can work on those laptops under the apple warranty.

akonradi when you kernel panic like that (the screen that shows you languages to restart) that is typical of a hardware failure...sort of scares me..id make sure i was backed up if i were you. Sometimes re-installs of the system will fix drive corruption for a while..but the corruption tends to come back.

As for the mac mini..if it crashes whatever machine when you plug it in via firewire , that too is a flag that you might be having hard drive issues...the crash is normally caused because the drive can't be mounted..thus resulting in the spinning beach ball...and occasionally hard crash.

Hope this helps! Apple Rules!