MBP i7 keeps crashing while reformatting

[bitterspeak]

Hey guys,

I've been lurking for a while learning as much as I can. But now I'm running into an issue.

I'm recently purchased a MBP 15" 2.66 i7. But the MBP had some issues. It kept crashing on me so I brought it back to the Genius Bar. After some diagnosing, they told me I needed a replacement. So I received my replacement and now I'm trying to reformat my first MBP so I can return it (Amazon).

However, while I'm reformatting, it keeps crashing. The screen will get all screwy and and freeze. I have to use the power button to restart. This has happened twice so far and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, or what I can do to fix it.

My first attempt, I tried running the 7-pass and the second time I just did the single pass. And now I'm out of ideas. I attached a picture for convenience.

I need to return it soon so I'm wondering if any of you could assist me. I ran a search and this is the closest thing to my issue: http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/apple-notebooks/100025-cant-partition-drive-keeps-crashing.html

Any help is highly appreciated! Thanks!

edit: I've also tried just reinstalling the OS but it doesn't show a HD... probably it never finished reformatting....

 

[bobtomay]

You could try Firwire target disk mode. This will involve connecting both Macs via firewire so that you can access the disk on the non-functioning machine.

How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode