I have a 15-inch Santa Rosa MBp running the latest version of SL.

Had some trouble yesterday - fittery video, then it wouldn't shut down, then it needed a few tries to boot up.

So last night, after getting it to boot again, I ran a complete clone with CCC.

CCC reported that it couldn't copy a number of files, seem to be mostly emails from the same person for whatever reason.

After making the clone I ran repair disk permissions - a long list came up and ran verify disk from disk utilities, that came up with "no problems found"

Then did the same repairing permissions and repairing the disk using the install DCD.
Permissions was a long list again, repair came up with no problems found.

I also copied some individual files onto a USB stick, two videos couldn't be copied because the files could not be read.

All sounded to me as if some of the sectors on the hard drive were defective.
But how do I test that - I need to find a hard drive media scan tool.

SMART status etc all indicated things are fine.

So, this morning, I try to boot up the MBp and it keeps getting stuck in the boot up sequence.
The Apple logo comes up, the spinning wheel starts to spin for a short while and then it stops spinning - that's it.

Tried it a few times, get the same results each time.

Again, to me that points to a hard drive problem.

Any suggestions what I could check to try to pin down what the issue is?

Files cannot be read almost always means bad sectors on the drive. Save yourself a LOT of headache and just buy a new one.

Files cannot be read almost always means bad sectors on the drive. Save yourself a LOT of headache and just buy a new one.

Yep you have to know when to throw in the towel...

Thanks for the feedback.

When I have a bit of time this afternoon, I will try a few more things just to verify that this is a hard drive issue.

This MBp is also the one with the screen problem where a candle behind the MBp created a big white blotch in the middle of the screen.
Luckily I haven't replaced the screen yet.

So now the plan is to see what happens on June 11th
Apple to debut thinner Retina Display MacBook Pros at WWDC (http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/12/05/14/apple_to_debut_thinner_retina_display_macbook_pros _at_wwdc.html)

If in fact Apple does introduce a lighter and thinner MBp, getting that may be an option.
However, if that MBp looses it's optical drive, then maybe a MBA as a replacement would be the way to go.

Thanks for the feedback.

When I have a bit of time this afternoon, I will try a few more things just to verify that this is a hard drive issue.


I guarantee it is.

Keep in mind that the more you futz with it, the more likely you are to create more damage. Get what data you can off now, if you haven't already.

I did a clone to an external last night, so I have that.

Right now that MBp won't even finish the boot sequence using the internal drive.

So I'm going to try booting to that external clone (I know that clone booted up on a different MBp) - if that works, then I'm convinced it pretty well has to be the internal hard drive. I just don't want to take the MBp apart to replace the hard drive just to find out it was something else.

Well, I tried booting up from the external clone on the problem MBp.

Fully expected that to work but it didn't.
Got the initial screen, selected the external to boot from, boot sequence stopped at the same place as if booting from the internal hard drive.
I get the grey screen with the apple logo, the spinning wheel for about 25 seconds, then the wheel stops spinning and that's it.

So I reset the PRAM and the SMC just because I couldn't think of anything else to do.
Made no difference.

Could it be something on the logic board?
Same symptoms booting from the internal or external.
External boots fine on another MBp same vintage and OS.

Well, I tried booting up from the external clone on the problem MBp.

Fully expected that to work but it didn't.
Got the initial screen, selected the external to boot from, boot sequence stopped at the same place as if booting from the internal hard drive.
I get the grey screen with the apple logo, the spinning wheel for about 25 seconds, then the wheel stops spinning and that's it.

So I reset the PRAM and the SMC just because I couldn't think of anything else to do.
Made no difference.

Could it be something on the logic board?
Same symptoms booting from the internal or external.
External boots fine on another MBp same vintage and OS.

Have you tried booting your other laptop off of the bad one in Target Disk Mode, or vice versa?

Have you tried booting your other laptop off of the bad one in Target Disk Mode, or vice versa?

No....
Great idea - I keep forgetting about that option.


Just tried it....
Good Mac is booted up on its internal drive, bad Mac went into Target disk mode, ie the Firewire symbol is on the screen and slowly moving about but the hard drive of the "Bad Mac" doesn't show up on the desktop of the "good Mac".
Also checked with Disk Utility to make sure - it's definitely not being seen by the "good Mac".

So I assume this could be an issue with the internal bus of the bad Mac, wouldn't I be able to see the other drive otherwise?

Maybe the next step is to spend the time to take out the hard drive of the "bad Mac" and mount it in an external enclosure to see if I can access it that way.
Not that I really need to, but maybe the corrupt files on that hard drive aren't corrupt at all, maybe they just couldn't be transferred because of a bus problem.

Did you try JC's "or vice versa" comment suggestion? ie: try booting from a known good working/bootable HD or from a compatible bootable Mac using its Target Disk Mode option, or maybe even with a Mac OS X install disk??

A bad hard drive that remains installed in the unit can cause issues and symptoms you may not associate with a bad hard drive - like in your case. Replace drive.

I did try to boot the "bad" Mac from a good working bootable external hard drive. Only got to the grey screen with Apple logo and the spinning wheel which stopped spinning after about 25 seconds, exactly the same as with the internal hard drive of that "bad" Mac.

So I decided earlier that I might take out the hard drive from the "bad" Mac if it was not too much of a hassle.
Turned out to be really very easy until I got to the second set of Torx screws.
The first set I managed to remove with a Torx T7 (should have been a T6 screw driver), but the second set holding in the hard drive connector adapter are too tight and I didn't want to ruin then.
So I'm going to buy a Torx T6 tomorow morning, take out the possibly defective hard drive, put it into an external enclosure and try to boot from that.
That will tell me for sure if the hard drive is defective or if it's something on the motherboard or the internal bus.

Could be a bad hard drive cable problem or the infamous Nvidia 8600 graphic chip issue.

I had the Nvidia 8600 graphic chip issue last year (Apple replaced just under the wire ;) ) with my 2007-2008 15" MBP, and it's symptoms were a black screen and no sign of ANY boot up. But maybe the symptoms vary???

I know this thread is dormant but I just got tasked with rescuing data from an affected MBP with the same symptom as krs saw, ie it gets to the grey Apple logo screen and the spinning wheel stops after 20 seconds or so.

I hooked it up in Target Disk mode to my MacBook (similar vintage), and Disk Utility said the disk was unrepairable, so I ran TechTool Pro 5 and did a disk repair. (First I copied all the user's files onto an external drive). It took about half an hour but it said the disk was fixed.

I could boot up the MBP, but within a minute the screen started to go crazy and then it locked up. It would not reboot.

Booting from a DVD or a USB produced a kernel panic.

Strangely enough, I could start it in Target mode and boot my MacBook from the MBP's hard drive.

I think it's a combination of the faulty Nvidia graphics chip and a hard drive that's nearing its end of life.

The extended warranty is over and the owner has a new MBP, so this beast is going into the closet.

For the adventurous/reckless, there is a thread on iFixit about people starting up these machines and leaving them plugged in, closed, face down, and wrapped in blankets for a couple of hours. The overheating is supposed to cure a cold solder problem in the Nvidia card.

For the adventurous/reckless, there is a thread on iFixit about people starting up these machines and leaving them plugged in, closed, face down, and wrapped in blankets for a couple of hours. The overheating is supposed to cure a cold solder problem in the Nvidia card.

I wonder what NEW problems you introduce?


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