mac won't boot! :-( no warning given. fsck good so what's up?

[beachball doom]

Help! 2011 macbook crashed suddenly. No warning signs. It went into a reboot loop.

Since then I have spent a whole lot of hours trying to diagnose the problem and going nowhere.

Can't get to safe mode. Can't get to OSX recovery. Can't get to diagnostics. These options lead to a boring grey screen, same one I get to if I boot without pressing those keys. Tried booting from a OSX thumbdrive. Same grey screen.

Option D does get me to internet diagnostics. Macbook passed the basic test. Hardrive works fine as a target disk over firewire. I reset the NVRAM. In single user mode I ran fsck and "the volume appears to be ok". However a lot of the boot messages that come up prior to that don't look terribly healthy.

Is it possible that that hardrive is permanently damaged? If so why would it work fine as a target disk? I don't get it.

Is it possible that the hardrive can become instantly and irrevocably corrupted? Can I duplicate it (ie clone it to an external hardrive via target mode) format the drive and then copy the clone back over it ie so all the software and files return intact?

I've been using macs for many years and never seen one suddenly fail like this.

 

[keysofanxiety]

Is it the 15" or 17" 2011? If it's not booting into an OS X thumb drive then that would indicate an issue with the Logic Board/graphics card. As the 15/17s have a documented issue with the Radeons failing, I'd stipulate that this would be the issue.

 

[beachball doom]

Is it the 15" or 17" 2011? If it's not booting into an OS X thumb drive then that would indicate an issue with the Logic Board/graphics card. As the 15/17s have a documented issue with the Radeons failing, I'd stipulate that this would be the issue.

Yes 15". it did pass the internet diagnostics however? what else would show the gpu is bad?

 

[keysofanxiety]

Yes 15". it did pass the internet diagnostics however? what else would show the gpu is bad?

What you described. If it doesn't boot from USB either then the GPU's definitely shot. Get to an Apple Store ASAP as the extended repair program expires shortly.

 

[beachball doom]

What you described. If it doesn't boot from USB either then the GPU's definitely shot. Get to an Apple Store ASAP as the extended repair program expires shortly.

Does that apply in Australia to macbooks purchased second hand? no apple warranty or whatever it's called? anyway i'll call the nearest apple store tomoz I guess. can't hurt.

 

[keysofanxiety]

Does that apply in Australia to macbooks purchased second hand? no apple warranty or whatever it's called? anyway i'll call the nearest apple store tomoz I guess. can't hurt.

It would be outside of AppleCare anyway, but the repair extension is global and you shouldn't run into any issues. See: https://www.apple.com/uk/support/macbookpro-videoissues/

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

If you have a brick-and-mortar Apple Store anywhere close, take it to them IMMEDIATELY.
That means yesterday!

 

[beachball doom]

Just called the local apple shop. They will fix gpu problems, five working days at no cost. Wow. Not a bad deal. However there's a $80 fee if you bring in something that doesn't have a GPU problem. How can I absolutely pin it down to GPU? Looking around online it seems that usually GPU fail involves some symptoms that this doesn't have. Didn't see any distorted graphics for example. Also it seems they usually fail over a few months or weeks not all in one go. Thanks for the response.

 

[beachball doom]

what do you think? is it worth risking $80?

 

[Beachguy]

I think it is. After all, if it IS something else, it still isn't working and needs repair.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

As has been explained to you above, the "RadeonGate" free fix is for a LIMITED TIME ONLY, and I think it's running out VERY soon.

If you want to have a chance at getting this, why haven't you taken it in already?

Time is literally running out for you, my friend...

 

[beachball doom]

ok ok stop bugging me...

I took it in last week, I figured out there was another licensed mac shop near by that wasn't charging the $80 guarantee.

Turns out it was a good option, they fixed it in only three days. They replaced the entire logic board.

I won't be badmouthing apple for a while.

Also interesting to note that it runs a lot cooler now. Previously when doing complex tasks the machine got insanely hot. Now the temperature is quite reasonable.

thanks for the great advice!