Hi all,
Just bought a used MacBook a couple of weeks ago (roughly 3-4 years old, runs OS X Tiger) and have come across a boot issue. I was using it the other day to watch a video on YouTube - it was working fine until I tried opening a new tab on Safari. The computer froze completely, and I restarted it using the power button. Since then, I am only able to get to the password prompt on OSX...after it's entered, I get a blank blue screen with a cursor (sometimes if I leave it on long enough it'll revert back to the password prompt).
I've tried quite a few things to get it working - dumped the PRAM, ran "fsck" (it concluded that there were no issues), etc. I've even tried installing Linux Ubuntu 9.10 - the boot screen loads off the disk, and I can begin the installation process and "try Ubuntu without installing" option, but neither gets very far into the process and eventually the CD is ejected automatically.
I also tried re-installing Tiger off my roommate's installation disc, but my MacBook automatically rejects the disc after reading it for a few seconds.
I'm at a total loss for ideas -- does this sound like a hardware problem? I haven't gotten any of the hardware problem prompts. The only issue this computer had when I bought it was the screen flickered when the backlight was turned down or left idle; I don't know if that would have any bearing on my problem. If it's not a hardware issue, what else can I do? Thanks for any help you can give me.
(p.s. I'm brand new to Macs).
Just bought a used MacBook a couple of weeks ago (roughly 3-4 years old, runs OS X Tiger) and have come across a boot issue. I was using it the other day to watch a video on YouTube - it was working fine until I tried opening a new tab on Safari. The computer froze completely, and I restarted it using the power button. Since then, I am only able to get to the password prompt on OSX...after it's entered, I get a blank blue screen with a cursor (sometimes if I leave it on long enough it'll revert back to the password prompt).
I've tried quite a few things to get it working - dumped the PRAM, ran "fsck" (it concluded that there were no issues), etc. I've even tried installing Linux Ubuntu 9.10 - the boot screen loads off the disk, and I can begin the installation process and "try Ubuntu without installing" option, but neither gets very far into the process and eventually the CD is ejected automatically.
I also tried re-installing Tiger off my roommate's installation disc, but my MacBook automatically rejects the disc after reading it for a few seconds.
I'm at a total loss for ideas -- does this sound like a hardware problem? I haven't gotten any of the hardware problem prompts. The only issue this computer had when I bought it was the screen flickered when the backlight was turned down or left idle; I don't know if that would have any bearing on my problem. If it's not a hardware issue, what else can I do? Thanks for any help you can give me.
(p.s. I'm brand new to Macs).
