2011 Macbook Pro- won't load all the way during bootup.

[That_Damn_Kid]

The loading bar moves VERY slowly and won't load all the way.

I can access OS X Utility. What's my best option from there? I do have an external hard drive, but I already use it as a recovery disk for my other Macbook Pro.

I don't mind formatting the hard drive and losing the content it has

 

[CoastalOR]

If you have a 15" or 17", then a failed dGPU (known problem) could be causing the boot to fail the hardware check. If it is a failed dGPU, then there is no way to restart, even with a bootable external drive. Apple could test it.

 

[That_Damn_Kid]

If you have a 15" or 17", then a failed dGPU (known problem) could be causing the boot to fail the hardware check. If it is a failed dGPU, then there is no way to restart, even with a bootable external drive. Apple could test it.

It's a 13". Would that make a difference?

 

[bcave098]

First, try starting in safe mode (holding shift), what happens then?

 

[CoastalOR]

It's a 13". Would that make a difference?

Yes, a 13" does not have a dGPU and is not effected by the design flaw.

 

[ZapNZs]

Is your hard drive a solid state drive or hard disk drive?

Have you performed the Apple Hardware Test?
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201257

If you are able to boot into the recovery partition, and access Disk Utility, have you Verified the disk's integrity & repaired the permissions?

 

[That_Damn_Kid]

It's a hard drive. I did verify the disk.

• Partition map appears to be ok
• Volume Recovery HD appears to be ok

Should I select Repair Disk next? EDIT- I ended up selecting Repair Disk. Do I restart the computer now?

I'm having trouble getting it to load in safe mode. Is safe mode supposed to appear immediately or will I need to wait a bit for it to load? It took 3-4 minutes for the computer to load OS X Utilities.

 

[bcave098]

When holding shift, the computer should boot to safe mode, and ask you to log in. If it restarts or shuts off during the boot process, it could indicate a hard drive issue.

 

[That_Damn_Kid]

I held the shift button for over a minute. 10 minutes later the computer is still loading, slowly.

I do have another idea. The hard drive the originally came with my other Macbook Pro( 2011 15" model ) is not being used right now. If I hook that up, would I know immediately if there's a hard drive issue?
[doublepost=1486172503][/doublepost]Success! The I popped in my old hard drive and the laptop is working fine. New hard drive needed it seems.

Turns out this 13" Macbook Pro I got for $50 today was a good deal!

 

[That_Damn_Kid]

Anyone here ever make use of 2 Macbook Pros lol. I'm decided what to do with the 13" inch. I might sell it to a friend or relative.