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very unresponsive macbook pro...

W

whyrichard

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Aug 15, 2002
1,718
9
Hey,

I am trying to fix my friends macbook pro... the info I have is only this:

-He was trying to load the hd with a 600 raw image files, then it 'conked out'.

now it is off, but completely unresponsive. I try resetting the PMU (control shift alt power, then power) but nothing happens.

the battery shows near full power.


the plan was to start it up in target disk mode, and move the images to an external... thinking that the hd went to full and the os bit the dust... but nothing.

what should i do next?

thanks,
r.
 
I'd attempt to install another known-to-be-working hard drive and boot from it to either pinpoint or rule out hard drive failure.
 
unibody, likely about two years old.
when i try to start it, literally no signs of life. not a sound.
should i ask him if the hd was making noise?

r.
 
i thought that if the hd failed, the computer would still at least try to startup, and give the bad hard drive icon... or let me to boot from an external using target disk....?

r.
 
whyrichard said:
i thought that if the hd failed, the computer would still at least try to startup, and give the bad hard drive icon... or let me to boot from an external using target disk....?

r.
Click to expand...

Not always. Sometimes it will just continue trying to load from the failed drive, and the boot process never even moves on from that point. If you open it up and disconnect the drive, you can then attempt to boot from another drive to confirm the behavior.

jW
 
If it turns out to be the internal harddrive, do you think I could use the hard drive in my External USB hard drive?

It is a "G Drive Slim 500 gb...

Thanks,
r.
 
Mal said:
Not always. Sometimes it will just continue trying to load from the failed drive, and the boot process never even moves on from that point. If you open it up and disconnect the drive, you can then attempt to boot from another drive to confirm the behavior.

jW
Click to expand...

i just put in a new western digital hd and the same exact behavior persists.

could it be the motherboard? if it is a new hd with no os, it should boot up and give me some signs of life, yes?

r.
 
Take out each stick of RAM, trying to boot with either stick in, if not, remove both sticks and see if the machine will give off a loud beep when you hold down the power button.

Another thing, hold your head to the keyboard as you press the power button, if you hear a tiny ticking like sound with each time your press the power button (pressing it really fast will make the click each time), then it's probable the power board has died.

You can google the specific machine for instructions how to remove the RAM.

Other thing is, how old is the machine? (You can google the machine number which will be on the underside of the machine).
 
Schtumple said:
Take out each stick of RAM, trying to boot with either stick in, if not, remove both sticks and see if the machine will give off a loud beep when you hold down the power button.

Another thing, hold your head to the keyboard as you press the power button, if you hear a tiny ticking like sound with each time your press the power button (pressing it really fast will make the click each time), then it's probable the power board has died.

You can google the specific machine for instructions how to remove the RAM.

Other thing is, how old is the machine? (You can google the machine number which will be on the underside of the machine).
Click to expand...

it is a 2010 macbook pro 15" unibody.

I did as you say, took out one, tried to boot, took out the other, tried to boot, took out both, tried to boot. nothing. no boot. no beep.

....?

r.
 
If you don't get a single repeated beep with both RAM sticks out, you've got either a dead logic board or a dead power in board. I'd take it somewhere and have them quote you to fix it.

jW
 
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