Macbook will not start up

Hello. If this question has been asked before, I apologize.

My Macbook will not start up. I am able to turn it on. I reach the silver screen with the Apple symbol. I hear the "daaa" chime. And then nothing. The silver screen remains and will not transition to the desktop. Under the Apple symbol are flashing lines arranged in a circle which I believe indicate that it is trying to start up. I have waited as long as 10 minutes and still no transition to the desktop.

I tried what was listed on this website (Troubleshooting a MacBook, MacBook Air or MacBook Pro that won't turn on) to no avail. Does anyone have any ideas as to how I can fix this? I called the Apple support line and apparently I have to pay $50.00 to speak with someone. I have an appointment at the Apple store tomorrow but if I can get this resolved as soon as possible, I would like to.

Please help!

I believe your hard drive has decided to quit. You can check if this is right by holding the option key immediately after you turn the computer on. This will bring up a list of drives which you can boot from. If your hard drive isn't there, then you have a problem on your hands

It may have died, or it just needs to be reformatted. The people at Apple will know for sure.

blackmac11 said:

I believe your hard drive has decided to quit. You can check if this is right by holding the option key immediately after you turn the computer on. This will bring up a list of drives which you can boot from. If your hard drive isn't there, then you have a problem on your hands

It may have died, or it just needs to be reformatted. The people at Apple will know for sure.

Click to expand...

Thank you, blackmac11. I tried turning it on and then pressing the option key. The only thing I saw was an image with "Macintosh HD" printed underneath it. And an arrow button beneath that text. Do you know what that means?

When I clicked the arrow, I just get the Apple symbol with the circle of flashing lines again.

I agree, it does sound like your HDD has possibly failed. What you might want to do (in addition to what the previous post suggested) is break out your original install DVD media and boot your MacBook with it.

Insert the DVD, reboot your MacBook and hold down the C key immediately upon hearing the POST chime. It may take some time to boot up, so be patient.

After it boots, cancel out the install process and select "Utilities", "Disk Utility" from the top menu. Select the First Aid tab and do the verify and repair. Let us know what happens.

Regards.

Well, its good that the computer acknowledged your hard drive's existence...