Can't install Lion - After restart, only spinning gear

Joined
Sep 3, 2011
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Okay, here we go. Apple Support has given up on me and I'm almost going nuts on this one.

MacBook Pro 4,1 - Intel Core 2 Duo - 2.5 GHz - 4GB RAM - SL 10.6.8

Bought Lion in App Store, downloaded and first attempt at installing straight after download gave me a reboot and just the spinning gear. A gear I've seen a lot of for the last three weeks. :-(

No chance to get back into 10.6.8, so a brand new install was done. Downloaded Lion again and followed an advice from somewhere else and burned a DVD of the installer ESD. My plan was to do a clean install, and Startup Disk found the DVD and restarted. Booted into spinning gear for almost 36 hours.

Back to 10.6.8 once again.

Letting 10.6.8 start up, inserting DVD, downloading additional components and restarting. Anyone with a guess? Yeah, spinning gear.

Reading threads from all over the world about Mac and that annoying gear. All advices has been followed with PRAM reset and all the other things I can barely remember.

Took out (and swapped) some RAM blocks. Tried booting from a USB stick. Same story. Tried booting via FireWire from another Mac, same ......

Finally I called Apple Support. They had NO idea of what could have caused that behaviour, so they sent me the Recovery USB to boot from. Same stupid gear.

I'm NOT willing to be stuck with 10.6.8 - and more the less am I a quitter. BUT, I'm desperately seeking help.

I'm getting to the point where I'm willing to try more than can normally be done with a screw driver, but I'm out of ideas. Anyone?

PS! If the above doesn't make sense, then bare over with me. I'm Danish. ;-)
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2007
Messages
7,163
Reaction score
275
Points
83
Location
UK
Your Mac's Specs
Mac Mini i5 (2014 High Sierra), iPhone X, Apple Watch, iPad Pro 12.9, AppleTV (4)
This has come from 'googling' around for this problem.

The only instance of this I can find that impacts this model of Mac is a faulty graphics card, it's a known issue and Apple Stores and authorised repairers have a hardware diagnostic test to check for it.

I've linked to one of the sources for this I've found this here:
My MBP won't boot, spinning gear stops, screen blurrs? - CNET Mac laptops Forums
 
OP
E
Joined
Sep 3, 2011
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Amazing. Thanks, mrplow! I've been googling for weeks as well, without finding that one.

What surprises me, is that the Apple Care representative didn't come up with this suggestion. And we're talking being patched through to a pretty high ranked employee with their support department.

Monday morning will be the day when they get a call from me - again. And I promise to keep you guys posted with an update. Thanks again. ;-)
 
Joined
Mar 9, 2011
Messages
751
Reaction score
4
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
mbp 15 2009, mbp 13 2010
try to reload sl from your osx install disk that comes with your mbp. Run the software updates
to bring up to the latest sl. Then download from app store again, see how it works , I know it is frustrating.
 
OP
E
Joined
Sep 3, 2011
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Thanks, ycl. I actually already tried that a few times. Unfortunately with the same annoying result. And yes, it really is frustrating. It seems though, that I'm having the exact same issues as mentioned on the other forum, with the same type of MBP. Mine is a non-unibody as well and it acts just the same way.
 
Joined
Mar 9, 2011
Messages
751
Reaction score
4
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
mbp 15 2009, mbp 13 2010
will upgrading memory to 8gb or hard drive expansion help ? I am just guessing.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top