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Andrew Stephens · Jan 13, 2008, 01:31 PM

Was acting a bit strange, booting to windows via bootcamp and windows kept just crashing.

Now the Mac chimes on startup but the screen is just blue. No "no system" icon, no flashing folder while it checks, just a blue screen.

Won't fire into target disc mode either, just get the blue screen no firewire logo.

Any ideas?

ta

Andrew

Simon · Jan 13, 2008, 01:47 PM

Boot in single user mode (cmd-s) and see where it hangs.

Andrew Stephens · Jan 13, 2008, 02:04 PM

gah!

There's a CD stuck in the drive too!

So far

Start in single user mode - nothing jsut the blue/grey screen

Start with c key held down - the same

Start in open firmware mode - the same

the cd/dvd spins up on start but after about 30 seconds spins down again. Still blank screen.

?

seanc · Jan 13, 2008, 02:10 PM

Was the CD in the drive when the hanging problems started?
Start up the system and immediately hold down the trackpad button, it should eject the disk.

Andrew Stephens · Jan 13, 2008, 02:31 PM

Originally Posted by seanc

Was the CD in the drive when the hanging problems started?
Start up the system and immediately hold down the trackpad button, it should eject the disk.

tried that but no good. Drive spins up then spins down again.

This is getting annoying!!

Simon · Jan 13, 2008, 02:35 PM

What does verbose mode (boot holding cmd-v) say?

And what happens when you hold option when you boot?

Andrew Stephens · Jan 13, 2008, 03:29 PM

Originally Posted by Simon

What does verbose mode (boot holding cmd-v) say?

And what happens when you hold option when you boot?

ditto

not sure why bootingnto open firmware won't work as this is below the system

seanc · Jan 13, 2008, 03:54 PM

Open firmware shouldn't exist on an Intel based Mac..... unless they implemented the same features for EFI.

Andrew Stephens · Jan 13, 2008, 04:26 PM

Originally Posted by seanc

Open firmware shouldn't exist on an Intel based Mac..... unless they implemented the same features for EFI.

oops. No wonder. So the main order of business is to gt the DVD out of the drive. I thought that the Intel MBP's still had the paperclip doodad but feeling around in the slot with one, I can't find it.

seanc · Jan 13, 2008, 04:43 PM

Try different variations of holding the trackpad down, before turning the computer on, after the chime etc. It should pop out...

Andrew Stephens · Jan 13, 2008, 04:50 PM

nope. Stubborn critter isn't it! I'm not looking forward to opening the case up just to get at the optical drive.

Simon · Jan 14, 2008, 01:45 AM

When you hold the mouse button down during boot time, the system WILL try to eject the disk. But sometimes the disk can't be ejected because it's somehow stuck (I've had this happen myself before). In such a case you can still here the drive's trying to eject it and actually it will try several times. Can you here a sound like it's trying to eject the disk? If not, I'm wondering if your optical is toast (which might also explain why the boot selector isn't coming up).

JKT · Jan 14, 2008, 05:51 AM

Is it possible that your hard drive is dead? Do you hear any hard drive activity (might be difficult if the CD is grinding away)?

Fwiw, my parents had this problem on their Powerbook last year - exact same symptoms - and after I had replaced the hard drive and ejected the disc from their Superdrive (by swapping it with mine in my Powerbook to be able to do so) with no success, it turned out to be their Airport bluetooth card (how or why? I have no idea). Might be worth a shot - try taking out the wireless card and see if that helps before you start taking the machine apart.

bishopazrael · Jan 14, 2008, 12:28 PM

From a paid computer tech's PoV... I'd say first order of business is to get that disc out of the dvd drive. My gut tells me that it's hanging there for a reason. Get that disc out and then lets see what's what.

tinkered · Jan 15, 2008, 01:47 AM

Try flipping the computer upside down while booting with trackpad button down. Sometimes a new orientation helps unstuck a CD.

Andrew Stephens · Jan 15, 2008, 03:17 PM

Hiya
A few steps forward!! I dismantled the MBP and removed the superdrive but it was no good. The unit is pretty well sealed and I didn't want to wreck the delicate eject mechanism. Then I discovered this tip so I reassembled the Mac:
Insert credit card into slot and press down on disc when it spins up. I did this and held the disc still. released the card and repeated this a few times at which point the Mac noticed that something was in the drive and ejected it! Horay!
So, still no boot, but now it will boot into target disc mode. I've connected it to my 15" MBP but the drive isn't showing on the desktop or in disk utilities.
Any ideas on next step. Does anyone think something like DiskWarrior migh be more aggressive in mounting the missing drive?

seanc · Jan 15, 2008, 03:32 PM

If you put your ear on the notebook (plug in some headphones to silence the startup sound) and turn it on (try to ignore the optical drive), can you hear the hard drive spin up? Do you hear any abnormal clicking sounds?

I would suggest trying to boot from the OS cd, but it might get stuck again. Are you sure the cable is hooked up to the HDD and logic board properly?

Andrew Stephens · Jan 15, 2008, 04:18 PM

I had a good listen but couldn't really hear anything so I opened it up again and pressed the connector to the motherboard down firmly and tried again and it's mounted now. Sounds like a loose connection combined with the optical drive getting stuck.

Ran disc utility to check that intermittent drive connection hadn't resulted in any damage to the directory structure, seems fine

The drive has windows partition too, I guess disc utility is happy to look at this too?

Andrew Stephens · Jan 16, 2008, 04:28 AM

update

Seems there's some problem on the Windows partition. Booting to windows via bootcamp and windows starts up but them instantly quits out leaving a black screen. Rebooting hoding alt key down gets OS X back.

Windows partition was more of an experiment than a need so will probably clone OS X, wipe and reinstall on single partition again.

Waragainstsleep · Jan 18, 2008, 02:26 PM

For future reference, If you are comfortable removing a superdrive, you should have no fear about removing the disc. Some have brackets screwed to their sides which get in the way and need to be removed, but once they are, there are 3 or 4 small phillips screws at the edges of the top plate. Undo them, unhook the lid and simply remove the disc. Easy. This is true of all notebook optical drives in Macs.