Macbook Pro won't boot

[mac_in_tosh]

Son's Macbook Pro is from 2012 running the original OS (Lion?). When started up, he only gets a folder with a question mark on the screen. We tried the following, all done with the laptop directly connected to cable modem via ethernet:

o Restarting with Command-R held down and selecting the startup disk (there is only one HD involved). No luck.

o Same but this time running Disk Utility to repair the HD, followed by startup disk selection. No luck.

o Same but this time attempting to re-install the OS after erasing the HD. It appeared to be busy for about 3 hours, indicating something like 20 more minutes to go, then one minute to go, then back to 20 minutes, etc. Finally it said the OS couldn't be installed.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[oldscribe]

Hi,

When started up, he only gets a folder with a question mark on the screen.

Means your OS X cant be found, this is an indication of HD failure. As long as you have a recent back up then just pop a new HD in and reload Lion via internet or usb caddy.

 

[mac_in_tosh]

But Disk Utility showed no problems.

 

[honestone]

Maybe try Disk Utility again, after booting via Command-R. Select the disk, and at the Volume Level, do an Erase and Format. For the Erase, given you are (I assume) booting "into" Lion with Command-R, select the Erase, and let it do a "7 Pass" Erase (can't remember what it was called back then, but just select the Erase option that will take the longest time). Then, format the drive.

If the OS will still not install, it still might be wise to purchase a new HD for the machine. SSD would actually be better (and the performance difference will blow your son away!), but not sure how "easy" it is to install an SSD. We actually need the exact MacBook Pro model he has.

 

[mac_in_tosh]

Just to update this thread - the laptop was taken to an Apple store and they fixed it. It was an internal cable, something that apparently is a known issue with that generation MacBook Pro. It was fixed without charge.

 

[honestone]

That's great! Glad it was Apple's fault.