Nothing happens when I try to boot!

fattyroberts · 11-09-2012, 07:14 AM

Help please.
I am (comparatively) a Mac noob and am having a big problem. I have a 2011 MacBook Pro 17" and it has been working perfectly with bootcamp letting me switch between Windows 7 and OSX Lion no problem for weeks. Last night when I was finished using Lion and knew I would need to be on Windows in the morning I used System Preferences to set the startup disk to my Windows partition and asked it to reboot... but as it was late and I couldn't be bothered to wait for Windows to startup and then shut it down again I just waited for OSX to close and then hit the power button to turn the machine off.
This morning I turned back on expecting it to boot into Windows as normal... but nothing happens. Literally. The power light flickers and I see the screen go from off to on but still a dark grey/black (if you know what I mean, not the proper grey with the apple logo or anything promising like that), I get the apple boot note/tone thing and that's it. I have tried holding OPTION, and various other combos I have seen listed online but none of them do anything (including the eject disc option - there is a disk in there) and nothing AT ALL happens on the screen.
I assumed initially that the problem was disk related and so I pulled the hard drive and connected it to a PC via a Sata drive caddy. The data is all there on both partitions and all seems fine.
I have tried turning the Mac on without the hard drive installed, expecting to get some kind of error message at least, but the same thing (ie nothing!) happens.
I should stress this is a well looked after machine, not yet 2 years old and it has not been dropped or had anything spilled on it etc. I am hoping and praying its not a hardware failure and given its age and condition that seems unlikely, but I am running out of other options.
Any ideas?
Thanks

trevor · 11-09-2012, 12:07 PM

Reset the SMC

Trevor

DeltaMac · 11-09-2012, 01:34 PM

I would also try a PRAM reset
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

fattyroberts · 11-09-2012, 02:29 PM

Thanks...
but resetting the SMC has not worked - I tried both methods for "Mac portables with a battery you can remove" and "battery you should not remove on your own" to no effect.

Resetting the PRAM also does not seem to work though that may be because it does not seem to actually reset it... at least when I follow the instructions

Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys before the gray screen appears.
Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.

I do not get any response from the machine and I do not hear the second start up sound.
The keyboard appears almost lifeless in fact and even the caps lock light does not respond... should it at this stage?
Cheers

trevor · 11-09-2012, 04:51 PM

Try pulling out and reseating the memory.

Trevor

fattyroberts · 11-10-2012, 05:48 AM

Thanks again... but again its not helped

I have carefully taken out and put back the memory, the hard drive and the battery. I have checked all the connections I can see on the main logic/mother board and it all seems ok.
Thinking of it from a PC motherboard with a problem point of view I would like to remove and replace the CMOS battery (or its equivalent, PRAM is it?) on the motherboard but I can't see it. I am assuming there must be one somewhere and if the problem is such that the keyboard shortcuts to reset these things are not working then maybe a physical reset would be more effective? Is that an option and if so, where is the little beggar?
Ta

trevor · 11-12-2012, 12:09 PM

I don't believe that this specific model (A1297 MacBook Pro 17", Late 2011) has a separate PRAM battery, instead relying on the main battery to keep the PRAM/NVRAM alive. I could be wrong on this count, but what evidence I can find points to this being a true statement.

If there was a PRAM battery in the computer, it will probably look similar to this one from an older 17" MacBook Pro.

But in any event I doubt that a physical reset will be more effective in this case. I suspect that something else has happened to your computer. Have you tried a different power supply? That would be my next test.

If it's not that, then we're looking at something much more difficult to diagnose and fix, something where you'll probably want to take it to a professional to look over. Can you take it in to, for example, an Apple Store?

Trevor

fattyroberts · 11-13-2012, 05:27 AM

Thanks for your continued help Trevor.

I believe you are right in that it certainly doesn't seem to have a battery of the type I was looking for. I have carefully disassembled the whole machine and removed the logic board to take a good look and there is nothing of the type. While it was disassembled I looked closely at all the components and cables etc and found no sign of visible damage (liquid/scorch marks etc) and so I put it all back together in the hope that the magic pixies might have fixed it for me.
They must have been busy that day as the problem remains

I took it to the local Apple store yesterday and they scratched their heads and thought about it for a while... but didn't actually do much with it except turn it on and see the problem and try the simple (keyboard press reset etc) solutions before telling me that "it must be the logic board" and telling me that it will cost about £400 to replace.

In the last few days I have read about problems with Macbook pro logic boards and Nvidia graphics problems that were agreed by apple to be manufacturing faults and were replaced (even out of warranty) free of charge. As far as I can tell though this relates to an older model and indeed mine has (if I remember correctly) an ATI graphics card. I assume my problem therefore is not common and one I can ask them to deal with in that way?

Thanks

trevor · 11-13-2012, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fattyroberts


	As far as I can tell though this relates to an older model and indeed mine has (if I remember correctly) an ATI graphics card. I assume my problem therefore is not common and one I can ask them to deal with in that way?

Yes, that's correct. For graphics chipsets, you have the AMD (which purchased ATI) Radeon HD 6770M and the Intel HD 3000 shared graphics. I don't know of any common problems with that model, although there are some mutterings on the web about what people claim to be blown fuses that are soldered to the motherboard that can be replaced if you're comfortable with SMD soldering. I'm slightly dubious (mostly about calling things fuses yet the components can't be reset they have to be replaced?) about this theory, but there it is.

Trevor

DeltaMac · 11-13-2012, 04:30 PM

trevor - I consider a fuse to be a replaceable "thing", and a circuit breaker would be one that can be reset. Of course, needing major surgery to replace a fuse is unhandy, to say the least...
Then, for this situation, you need some method to discover if it really is just a fuse - or, even worse, a major part of the chipset.

trevor · 11-14-2012, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeltaMac


	trevor - I consider a fuse to be a replaceable "thing", and a circuit breaker would be one that can be reset.

That's true.

Trevor

11-09-2012, 07:14 AM	#1
fattyroberts Prospect Join Date: Nov 2012 Posts: 4	Nothing happens when I try to boot! Help please. I am (comparatively) a Mac noob and am having a big problem. I have a 2011 MacBook Pro 17" and it has been working perfectly with bootcamp letting me switch between Windows 7 and OSX Lion no problem for weeks. Last night when I was finished using Lion and knew I would need to be on Windows in the morning I used System Preferences to set the startup disk to my Windows partition and asked it to reboot... but as it was late and I couldn't be bothered to wait for Windows to startup and then shut it down again I just waited for OSX to close and then hit the power button to turn the machine off. This morning I turned back on expecting it to boot into Windows as normal... but nothing happens. Literally. The power light flickers and I see the screen go from off to on but still a dark grey/black (if you know what I mean, not the proper grey with the apple logo or anything promising like that), I get the apple boot note/tone thing and that's it. I have tried holding OPTION, and various other combos I have seen listed online but none of them do anything (including the eject disc option - there is a disk in there) and nothing AT ALL happens on the screen. I assumed initially that the problem was disk related and so I pulled the hard drive and connected it to a PC via a Sata drive caddy. The data is all there on both partitions and all seems fine. I have tried turning the Mac on without the hard drive installed, expecting to get some kind of error message at least, but the same thing (ie nothing!) happens. I should stress this is a well looked after machine, not yet 2 years old and it has not been dropped or had anything spilled on it etc. I am hoping and praying its not a hardware failure and given its age and condition that seems unlikely, but I am running out of other options. Any ideas? Thanks

11-09-2012, 12:07 PM	#2
trevor Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Boulder, CO USA Posts: 19,551	Reset the SMC Trevor __________________ How to ask questions the smart way

11-09-2012, 02:29 PM	#4
fattyroberts Prospect Join Date: Nov 2012 Posts: 4	Thanks... but resetting the SMC has not worked - I tried both methods for "Mac portables with a battery you can remove" and "battery you should not remove on your own" to no effect. Resetting the PRAM also does not seem to work though that may be because it does not seem to actually reset it... at least when I follow the instructions Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys before the gray screen appears. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time. I do not get any response from the machine and I do not hear the second start up sound. The keyboard appears almost lifeless in fact and even the caps lock light does not respond... should it at this stage? Cheers

11-09-2012, 04:51 PM	#5
trevor Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Boulder, CO USA Posts: 19,551	Try pulling out and reseating the memory. Trevor __________________ How to ask questions the smart way

11-12-2012, 12:09 PM	#7
trevor Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Boulder, CO USA Posts: 19,551	I don't believe that this specific model (A1297 MacBook Pro 17", Late 2011) has a separate PRAM battery, instead relying on the main battery to keep the PRAM/NVRAM alive. I could be wrong on this count, but what evidence I can find points to this being a true statement. If there was a PRAM battery in the computer, it will probably look similar to this one from an older 17" MacBook Pro. But in any event I doubt that a physical reset will be more effective in this case. I suspect that something else has happened to your computer. Have you tried a different power supply? That would be my next test. If it's not that, then we're looking at something much more difficult to diagnose and fix, something where you'll probably want to take it to a professional to look over. Can you take it in to, for example, an Apple Store? Trevor __________________ How to ask questions the smart way

11-09-2012, 01:34 PM	#3
DeltaMac League Commissioner Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 7,960	I would also try a PRAM reset http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

11-10-2012, 05:48 AM	#6
fattyroberts Prospect Join Date: Nov 2012 Posts: 4	Thanks again... but again its not helped I have carefully taken out and put back the memory, the hard drive and the battery. I have checked all the connections I can see on the main logic/mother board and it all seems ok. Thinking of it from a PC motherboard with a problem point of view I would like to remove and replace the CMOS battery (or its equivalent, PRAM is it?) on the motherboard but I can't see it. I am assuming there must be one somewhere and if the problem is such that the keyboard shortcuts to reset these things are not working then maybe a physical reset would be more effective? Is that an option and if so, where is the little beggar? Ta

11-13-2012, 05:27 AM	#8
fattyroberts Prospect Join Date: Nov 2012 Posts: 4	Thanks for your continued help Trevor. I believe you are right in that it certainly doesn't seem to have a battery of the type I was looking for. I have carefully disassembled the whole machine and removed the logic board to take a good look and there is nothing of the type. While it was disassembled I looked closely at all the components and cables etc and found no sign of visible damage (liquid/scorch marks etc) and so I put it all back together in the hope that the magic pixies might have fixed it for me. They must have been busy that day as the problem remains I took it to the local Apple store yesterday and they scratched their heads and thought about it for a while... but didn't actually do much with it except turn it on and see the problem and try the simple (keyboard press reset etc) solutions before telling me that "it must be the logic board" and telling me that it will cost about £400 to replace. In the last few days I have read about problems with Macbook pro logic boards and Nvidia graphics problems that were agreed by apple to be manufacturing faults and were replaced (even out of warranty) free of charge. As far as I can tell though this relates to an older model and indeed mine has (if I remember correctly) an ATI graphics card. I assume my problem therefore is not common and one I can ask them to deal with in that way? Thanks

11-13-2012, 04:30 PM	#10
DeltaMac League Commissioner Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 7,960	trevor - I consider a fuse to be a replaceable "thing", and a circuit breaker would be one that can be reset. Of course, needing major surgery to replace a fuse is unhandy, to say the least... Then, for this situation, you need some method to discover if it really is just a fuse - or, even worse, a major part of the chipset.

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