Macbook pro not booting after update

[hoppy199]

hi guys, first time posting here so go easy

been struggling to find a way of reviving my 15" macbook pro mid 09 i7
after trying to update to the latest version of el capitan it just will not boot up any more. it will turn on, get to about 40% of the loading bar, go to a white screen and eventually cut out.

my first port of call was to google the f*ck out of it. these are the things i have tried:

boot in recovery mode - wont reach disk utility
start in safe mode
reset the NVRAM
reset the SMC
boot in single user mode and entered fsck -fy (after few goes it said everything was ok)
booting in verbose mode (mac got rather upset and came up with messsage saying it was killing the cpu and shutting down in 3 seconds)

none of this worked so I went for the reinstall osx aproach. I took the hdd out and pulled off all the files I wanted through plugging it into another mac (which worked fine). tried doing a clean install of el capitan by booting it through USB and pretty much got the same response although now loads to about 70% before doing the same thing. (white screen and turns off)

tried the same thing but booting off an external hdd - same result.
tried putting the el capitan installer on an old hdd and plugging that straight into hdd slot
even tried booting snow leopard but got a recurring three beeps. (i think the version of SL is to old for my mac)

all this makes it look like there is a hardware fault other than hdd?

has anybody got any suggestions?
thanks in advance!

 

[CoastalOR]

The original OS for the Mid 2009 MBP was 10.5.7 and later it was 10.6 so booting from any version of SL should work. The 3 beeps at startup us an indication of a RAM problem.
Startup tones: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202768

I think you need to try reseating the RAM first. You may even need to replace the RAM.

If you could start the MBP, then I would recommend running the Apple Hardware Test (AHT) that was on the original Cds (2nd disc) that came with your MBP.

 

[hoppy199]

The original OS for the Mid 2009 MBP was 10.5.7 and later it was 10.6 so booting from any version of SL should work. The 3 beeps at startup us an indication of a RAM problem.
Startup tones: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202768

I think you need to try reseating the RAM first. You may even need to replace the RAM.

If you could start the MBP, then I would recommend running the Apple Hardware Test (AHT) that was on the original Cds (2nd disc) that came with your MBP.

thanks for your advice!
I have tried different combinations of the ram that was in there like taking one out and swapping them round but didn't seem to have any affect. I will try and borrow some out of a macbook i know is working.
Cheers