issues post clean install

Hello all

Please move this if it's in the wrong place. My macbook pro (mid 2010 base 15") was running slow and sluggish so I decided to wipe the hard drive and do a clean install. The process went as should until the download/install was complete and it was booting back up for me to re-enter my settings. It would not go past the screen with the apple logo and spinning gear. After about 30 minutes or so, I thought there was an error in the download/install. So I attempted to restore from a back up and the same thing happened. It out so past the screen with the logo and spinning gear. What is the cause of this and how is it fixed? Thanks for any help and suggestions.

Just so we know...what OS version was it running...and what OS version did you try to install?

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

Just so we know...what OS version was it running...and what OS version did you try to install?

- Nick

Click to expand...

10.9.2 for both

mentaljohn said:

10.9.2 for both

Click to expand...

Thanks for the fast reply. One more question...what was the procedure you used to do the reinstall? Did you reinstall via the recovery partition, use a bootable USB stick, etc.?

Let me add. the symptoms that you were experiencing (slow & sluggish)...and now having problems reinstalling the OS. Both of these situations could indicate a dead or dying hard drive. And it's very possible that a replacement HD may be needed.

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

Thanks for the fast reply. One more question...what was the procedure you used to do the reinstall? Did you reinstall via the recovery partition, use a bootable USB stick, etc.?

Let me add. the symptoms that you were experiencing (slow & sluggish)...and now having problems reinstalling the OS. Both of these situations could indicate a dead or dying hard drive. And it's very possible that a replacement HD may be needed.

- Nick

Click to expand...

I used the recovery partition and downloaded osx via an ethetent connection.

mentaljohn said:

I used the recovery partition and downloaded osx via an ethetent connection.

Click to expand...

Ok great. Normally this is a very straightforward process. That's why I mentioned that the HD "could" be going bad.

Only thing I can suggest is:

- boot into the recovery partition
- launch Disk Utility
- reformat the disk
- run Disk Utility's "Repair Disk"
- then retry the OS install

If this doesn't work...I'm feeling the HD may be going/gone bad.

* Nick

pigoo3 said:

Ok great. Normally this is a very straightforward process. That's why I mentioned that the HD "could" be going bad.

Only thing I can suggest is:

- boot into the recovery partition
- launch Disk Utility
- reformat the disk
- run Disk Utility's "Repair Disk"
- then retry the OS install

If this doesn't work...I'm feeling the HD may be going/gone bad.

* Nick

Click to expand...

Well I did what you said
Re formatted the disk again
Ran both verify and repair disk (both came back as ok)
Tried the install (from my back up) again.
Ended up at the same place. Apple logo with the spinning gear and the fans running full fore.

Looks like I need a hard drive

EDIT-I should add my password prompt didn't appear on start up after any of my attempts where it did before.

mentaljohn said:

Tried the install (from my back up) again.

Click to expand...

This is the part I'm not clear on. If there is something wrong with this "backup"…then this could be the problem. How about trying to do the OS install from a fresh download of Mavericks?

If the OS install doesn't go well from the fresh Mavericks download…then maybe we conclude (more definitely)…that the HD may be a goner.

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

This is the part I'm not clear on. If there is something wrong with this "backup"…then this could be the problem. How about trying to do the OS install from a fresh download of Mavericks?

If the OS install doesn't go well from the fresh Mavericks download…then maybe we conclude (more definitely)…that the HD may be a goner.

- Nick

Click to expand...

Sadly my results were the same. Successful download and install but won't boot

mentaljohn said:

Sadly my results were the same. Successful download and install but won't boot

Click to expand...

The last thing you could try is…booting the computer from an external hard drive with an OS installed on it (if you have one). If this is done…and the computer boots successfully from the external HD…then this would further indicate a problem with the internal HD.

The internal HD probably is bad…this is just one more way to help confirm it. But if you don't have an external HD to do this with…probably still a high probability the internal HD is bad (so probably just get one & replace it..

- Nick