Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Safe mode won't work, please help :(

B

BritneyLoren

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 24, 2013
14
0
Sorry guys I am a little computer illiterate so forgive me. My MacBook Pro (late 2011) will not load. It is stuck at the grey screen with the Apple logo and spinning progress wheel. I guess I need to reinstall OS X but I want to keep some of my file and back them up to my 8gb flash drive..it's only a couple videos and pictures. I tried running safe mode but it doesn't do anything, it just stays on that same Apple screen for hours. I went into utilities and it would not repair because it said the keys were out of order or buttons were out of order, I can't remember which one. then I tried holding down the v button and it went to a different screen and started writing a whole bunch of things but then stopped and sat there.
Sorry that was so long, but does anyone know of anything I can do to access my files and then put some of them on my flash drive before I have to just reinstall OSX?
I really appreciate any help. Thank you
 
Last edited:
also, in case I wasn't clear. I left it running for hours normally where it just sits and loads for ever and I also pressed the buttons for safe mode and let it run that way for several hours. Both times it stayed on the same grey Apple screen with the loading spin thing.
 
Thanks for replying! It just happened yesterday. Turned it on and no go. Im not certain about target mode but I have for sure done safe, verbose, single user, utility. Safe, verbose just sit there and the utility works but doesn't seen to have anywhere to see my files.

----------
Swampus said:
Have there been any weird symptoms lately or did this happen suddenly?

Will it still boot into Target Disk Mode?
Click to expand...

Sorry im not sure how to make it show you that I replied to you

----------

sorry I just looked up target mode and no I have not tried that. I don't have access to another Mac computerso I wouldn't be able to do it
 
Have you tried an NVRAM reset? http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

What about SMC? (Seems unlikely to help, but you never know) http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

Do you have AppleCare?

Is there any Apple Store nearby you can take it to for them to help?

---

My guess would be that you might have a failing hard disk. You could have some corrupt data on the disk, and that's why it can't boot or be repaired.

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570 might walk you through some additional steps.

It would be helpful to know what Disk Utility is saying.
 
AlecMyrddyn said:
Have you tried an NVRAM reset? http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

What about SMC? (Seems unlikely to help, but you never know) http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

Do you have AppleCare?

e any Apple Store nearby you can take it to for them to help?

---

My guess would be that you might have a failing hard disk. You could have some corrupt data on the disk, and that's why it can't boot or be repaired.

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570 might walk you through some additional steps.

It would be helpful to know what Disk Utility is saying.
Click to expand...



I have tried both of the first steps and neither one allowed me to login or to view any of my files. I don't have AppleCare and I'm about 2 hours away from the nearest Apple Store. I agree it does look like my hard drive is toast. I just want to see if there's any way that I can possibly get to my and then drag them onto a flash drive before I reformat or reinstall..
Disk utility is the only thing that has actually left the grey screen. I do verify and repair and it says my buttons are out of order but then other times it'll verify just fine. I tried to plugin my flash drive and opening up windows and clicking around to see if there's any way to drag and drop but I didn't see anything.
 
AlecMyrddyn said:
http://codeandculture.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/copy-mac-files-when-booting-from-dvd/

This might help then
You'll have to navigate around using Terminal and issue the cp command from there. But it might allow you to get your files onto a USB stick.
Click to expand...

I don't have a DVD, I was told that MacBook Pros don't come with installation disc anymore and that you can just do it all through the computer itself. Can I still do this method without this DVD or CD you're talking about? I can go to utilities but I'm not seeing where I can go to the terminal
 
BritneyLoren said:
Sorry im not sure how to make it show you that I replied to you
Click to expand...


We get a notification when someone responds. :) But just so you know I'll be out until later tonight. I'll check in when I get back.

I tend to agree with AlecMyrddyn that this looks like a failing disk. However, sometimes when a disk is on its way out, you can still boot to Target Disk Mode even after the disk is no longer able to boot the machine normally.

If so and you have access to another Mac, or another computer with a Firewire port, then you can use your MBP as an external drive on that computer and possibly retrieve your files that way.

Then, once your files are safe, we can try to figure out if it's just a corrupted file structure or an actual physical disk failure.
 
AlecMyrddyn said:
If you don't have a DVD, how are you booting the system and running Disk Utility?
Click to expand...

Holding down command and R brings me to a screen called mac is x utilities where I can choose from restore from Time Machine backup, re install Mac OS X, get help online, and disk utility.
I click on disk utility and some options are to click on my Macintosh HD and then you have first aid, a erase, partition, raid, and restore. Above that you have options..verify, info, burn, mount, eject, enable journaling, new image, convert, resize image. All are greyed out except for info, burn, and New Image. not seeing a terminal option.
 
.
Swampus said:
We get a notification when someone responds. :) But just so you know I'll be out until later tonight. I'll check in when I get back.

I tend to agree with AlecMyrddyn that this looks like a failing disk. However, sometimes when a disk is on its way out, you can still boot to Target Disk Mode even after the disk is no longer able to boot the machine normally.

If so and you have access to another Mac, or another computer with a Firewire port, then you can use your MBP as an external drive on that computer and possibly retrieve your files that way.

Then, once your files are safe, we can try to figure out if it's just a corrupted file structure or an actual physical disk failure.
Click to expand...

thank you so much. This is all new to me. I will ask around and see if I can find someone else with a Mac and try that option. Thanks again!

----------
Swampus said:
She must be booting from the recovery partition then? But not able to access the main partition?
Click to expand...

I think that's what I'm doing..the command R thing. Just doesnt seem to be a way to access my files

----------

one more thing when I click on the Macintosh HD the left pane, unmount is now available and not greyed out anymore..if that makes any difference
 
BritneyLoren said:
Holding down command and R brings me to a screen called mac is x utilities where I can choose from restore from Time Machine backup, re install Mac OS X, get help online, and disk utility.
I click on disk utility and some options are to click on my Macintosh HD and then you have first aid, a erase, partition, raid, and restore. Above that you have options..verify, info, burn, mount, eject, enable journaling, new image, convert, resize image. All are greyed out except for info, burn, and New Image. not seeing a terminal option.
Click to expand...

The terminal would be under "utilities" in the menu bar at the top of the screen. From there, you should be able to follow the instructions linked above.
 
Swampus said:
The terminal would be under "utilities" in the menu bar at the top of the screen. From there, you should be able to follow the instructions linked above.[/QUOTe/]

okay so I'm making some progress. I found the terminal like you said and I made it down to step 3. When I typed in ps /volumes it came up with .trashes, Mac OS X base system, my USB (its called usb200fd) , image volume, Macintosh HD. On step 4 it says CD..I Type in CD and nothing happens so I'm stuck on step 4

----------
AlecMyrddyn said:
OK, you are booting from your recovery partition...

You don't get a screen like this with a Utilities menu before you select Disk Utilites?

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20087663-263/how-to-multitask-in-os-x-lions-recovery-partition/

You might even be able to launch the Finder following those instructions to make the copying easier.
Click to expand...

Yes I just found my way to utilities, the article shows commands..is there something to type that would open finder or get me to my files from here??
Click to expand...
 
cd is not an interactive command. It stands for "change directory", and you need to tell it where to go...

So you would type:

Code: 
cd /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD/Users/yournamehere/Documents

Then you could type

Code: 
ls

to get a list of files.

Since we don't know the name or location or your files and directories, we can't give you the exact commands.

You might be able to launch the finder by typing:

Code: 
/Volumes/Macintosh HD/System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app
 
for the first time I have now been able to finally see my files. I clicked on shell and then I clicked on import and suddenly everything is there. However, when I click on users and then myself it opens the finder..I see all of my stuff but when I click on a folder, all filed are greyed out and I can't click on them
 
Unfortunately, I don't own a working mac to play with the commands.

Terminal has auto-complete, you can start typing something and hit Tab and it'll list the matches or fill it in for you.

You can copy your Documents folder to the USB stick by typing something like:

Code: 
cp -R /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD/users/YourName/Documents /Volumes/usb200fd/

Replace yourname with the name of your user directory.

Keep in mind you can use the Tab key while entering a path for auto-complete. The CNET page I linked discusses how.
 
AlecMyrddyn said:
cd is not an interactive command. It stands for "change directory", and you need to tell it where to go...

So you would type:

Code: 
cd /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD/Users/yournamehere/Documents

Then you could type

Code: 
ls

to get a list of files.

Since we don't know the name or location or your files and directories, we can't give you the exact commands.

You might be able to launch the finder by typing:

Code: 
/Volumes/Macintosh HD/System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app
Click to expand...

okay so I did what you said and then I typed in LS and then it popped up with .ds_store , about stacks.lost,my pictures, .localized, my documents, my videos...not sure what to do now..
 
'cd' lets you change into a new directory.

'ls' shows you what is there.

'cp' lets you copy files from one location to another.

You made it to your home directory, and 'ls' showed you a list of the files and directories.

You could type 'cp -R My\ Documents /Volumes/usb200fd/' to copy the My Documents directory onto the USB stick.

I really can't give you the command to copy a specific file without knowing the name and location of the file. I'm trying to explain how the commands work so you understand them.
 
AlecMyrddyn said:
'cd' lets you change into a new directory.

'ls' shows you what is there.

'cp' lets you copy files from one location to another.

You made it to your home directory, and 'ls' showed you a list of the files and directories.

You could type 'cp -R My\ Documents /Volumes/usb200fd/' to copy the My Documents directory onto the USB stick.

I really can't give you the command to copy a specific file without knowing the name and location of the file. I'm trying to explain how the commands work so you understand them.
Click to expand...

I think you've almost got me there. When I typed in the command to copy I looked on my flash drive and the directory was there. It only copied over only a few files though. Could it be that I don't have enough space on the flash Drive and I should delete some stuff first? basically here it is......I only want a few files and they're all located in a folder on my desktop called keepers...this folder contains about 10 pictures and 2 videos. The videos equate to about 3 gigabytes. So basically all it is is 3 gigabytes and some change in one folder..so everything that I want is in this one folder called keepers in this folder on my desktop..is there any way to just get this folder and its contents?
 
There is, you have to find the full path of the folder you want to copy, and use the cp -R command on that path.

I don't know exactly where Desktop files are kept for sure though. Try looking in /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD/Users/YourName/Desktop ?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back