Stuck on startup screen

[NickD]

Just started having some problems with my current-gen MBP (2.53GHZ, 4GB RAM, 250GB HD).

Earlier today, I tried to move a file to a new location and was met with "error code -36" stating that I couldn't write the file. Immediately made sure that I had permissions set to read & write and tried again. No success.

Shortly after, I ran Software Update and tried to install a few updates that popped up. After starting the download, Software Update immediately quit, stating that there was a problem with my network connection and that I should check it out. Did that, and everything was running as usual.

I decided to reboot my computer, and upon doing so, I was met with a normal grey startup screen with a progress bar beneath the spinning wheel. After the progress bar was complete, my computer was stuck on the startup screen with the spinning wheel for almost an hour.

I shut it down and booted up from my Snow Leopard disc. After verifying the disc, Disk Utility told me that it needed to be repaired. Obviously I did so, and then restarted using my MBP's internal HD as the startup disc.

Still no luck. The progress bar is gone, but my computer seems eternally stuck at the grey screen with the spinning wheel.

Any advice?

 

[kainjow]

Try running the repair again (or verify first) and see if it actually got repaired all the way. If not, you may need to use a third-party tool to repair the drive.

Error -36 is an I/O error, which isn't good.

 

[NickD]

Alright. Here's the update.

Took the MBP to the genius bar. They managed to get it to boot up, but the hard drive was corrupted and all my data was erased (everything). Unfortunately for me, I was transferring my backup between hard drives when this happened, so that was lost as well. No backup, and no data.

The genius bar rep did admit that the computer was shipped with the corrupted hard drive, and nothing I could have done would have prevented this from happening.

I was given the business card of a nearby data recovery center. I was told that they might be able to recover data from the corrupted drive. They also replaced the drive in my machine with a new one.

And that's where I'm at right now. Would it even be worth it to talk to Apple about covering the cost of the data recovery? It's pretty significant, and if this entire issue is due to a bad hard drive on their end, would that make a difference?

 

[-aggie-]

Sounds to me like Apple should cover the cost, but they may have something in their warranty that says they are not responsible for data loss. If so, you're SOL.

 

[NickD]

Sounds to me like Apple should cover the cost, but they may have something in their warranty that says they are not responsible for data loss. If so, you're SOL.

Yeah that's what I thought.

I know they aren't responsible for data loss on repairs they make, but I'm wondering if things are different in this case, since the hard drive completely failed without warning.

 

[pcs are junk]

tell them u spent a whole, (however long since u bought the computer) on it 24/7 working on a very very important project, and they sent you a bad hard drive, and screwed u up, and now u gotta start over again. if they say they wont cover it, then say "well how would this effect your reputation as the best company in the world, if i started telling my friends over at macrumors about this?" and then they should send u some credit for the store, or itunes store or something. anyway good luck!