stuck on boot

[boast]

My father decided to force shutoff the macbook while it was updating, and now its stuck booting up. Tried using the 'recovery hd' to repair the disk and permissions, but still the same issue. The laptop screen is broken and only using it with an external screen works, so when trying to boot into safe mode nothing appears.

What else can be done?

 

[r0k]

My father decided to force shutoff the macbook while it was updating, and now its stuck booting up. Tried using the 'recovery hd' to repair the disk and permissions, but still the same issue. The laptop screen is broken and only using it with an external screen works, so when trying to boot into safe mode nothing appears.

What else can be done?

You left out some details. What version of OS did you have before the update started? It sounds like you had Lion because you mention a 'recovery hd' and of course this is the Lion forum . Have you tried installing OS X from the 'recovery hd'? I believe the default is an "archive and install" which would leave your files there and simply reinstall the OS. More info is available here and here and here.