MacBook Pro early 2011 not booting

Hi everyone,
The grey startup screen, with Apple Logo and spinning wheel, has red horizontal lines. MacBook then shuts off by itself, or sometimes Apple Logo and spinning wheel disappear, grey screen with horizontal red lines persist. I did a AHT (apple hardware test) last night, I did both the standard and the extended test, but no problems could be found! System Board bad? Why didn't it give me a fault code by running the AHT?
I also tried to boot from Mavericks USB stick, or Install-CD, no go!
here the specs:
MacBook Pro 15" early 2011
i7 Quadcore 2.3ghz
8gb 1333mhz
AMD Radeon 6750 1gb
Intel HD Graphics 3000

any suggestions?
best regards

Tlynyrd




Sent from my iPhone using Mac Forums

Initially I would have said a bad hard drive…but if you also cannot boot from a bootable USB stick…or an install CD…sounds like something worse.

By the way…if you cannot boot the computer from any thing (USB stick, internal HD, CD Drive)…how did you run the AHT (Apple Hardware Test)?

Also…assuming you're running OS 10.7, 10.8, or 10.9…have you tried booting into the "Recovery Partition" (command + r)?

Finally…you could try an SMC Reset:

Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)

HTH,

- Nick

Hi Pigoo,
I was able to run the AHT by holding the command & D-keys during boot up, as well as having the Ethernet cable hooked up to my router, since for some strange reason wifi did not work.
I haven't tried the recovery or the SMC reset yet, need to try tonight.
BTW I have Mavericks 10.9... and it should be the latest update.

thanks for your reply!

Tlynyrd


Sent from my iPhone using Mac Forums

Hi Pigoo,
First off, to run the Apple Hardware Test, I pressed the D-key during boot up, not the Command & D key!
Sorry, but all the different key combos are getting to me!
As you suggested I tried the recovery option, but after the status bar was done, MacBook just turned off again. I then did the SMC reset and I wasn't sure what was supposed to happen so inserted my original Lion boot disk in the drive and powered up with the C-key to my surprise I received this screen....

Not a good sign I guess!
I also tried the NVRAM/PRAM reset, no good!
I did some more research, and found that this particular model has a problem with the GPU overheating.
https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/142544/My+MBP+won't+boot,+with+horizontal+line+at+apple+logo

I also found this:
has anyone heard of this internet site, or has anyone had a logic board repaired from them?
http://www.powerbookmedic.com/xcart1/pages.php?pageid=67&gclid=CKWXp53DmL8CFUcV7AodPBQAnw

a very unhappy MacBook Pro user
(

Tlynyrd



Sent from my iPhone using Mac Forums

tlynyrd said:

I did some more research, and found that this particular model has a problem with the GPU overheating.

Click to expand...

Sorry to hear that everything you have tried so far has not been successful.

As far as the overheating problem. There have been some Apple laptop models with some widespread issues (but very few compared to the MANY models Apple has released in the last 8 years). But…I have not heard of too many Early 2011 MacBook Pro models with this issue.

Remember…if you search the internet hard enough…you can always find someone who has a similar problem (if it's diagnosed correctly…which it isn't always). So just because you find 1 or 2 other folks with a similar problem…that doesn't mean that it is widespread.

I cannot remember another thread here on Mac-Forums where an Early 2011 MacBook Pro had an over-heating issue. And if there were…they are very few.

I happen to have an Early 2011 17" MacBook Pro…and knock on wood…it's running great (and I do a lot of gaming on it).

As far as the logic board repair. Not many places can actually repair logic boards. Many times the solution is a logic board replacement. And in many cases…the cost of a logic board replacement is too much…compared to the current value of the computer.

- Nick

2011 MacBook Pro (GPU Problem)

Hi Nick,
I was able to boot up by trying the single user mode, not sure why this worked. Maybe because it was sitting for about 24 hrs. and had enough time to cool down. On boot up it told me that the Macbook had a severe error. I made a copy of the error and saved it to my external HD, also sent it to Apple, which was a option. I was able to make another backup with time machine, and i was just about to export some of my 8000 photos when all of a sudden the screen shifted, with again, red stripes everywhere. It locked up so bad nothing would work, so I had no other choice then to do a "hard" shut down.
I did some more research and found this, I know you mentioned earlier that you haven't heard of any problems with 2011 MacBooks, but there is an actual website about the problem.
check it out: mbp2011: Take Action! 2011 MacBook Pro, GPU Failure, Image Distortion unless this is just a scam, not sure....
Sorry I didn't want to bug you with this, but I spent a lot of money on this Mac $2700.00 back in 2011. It was my second Macbook, right now I'm actually using my 13", which is a MacBook late 2008, that still runs strong. I upgraded it just recently, so my daughter can use it for school. I installed 256gig SSD doubled the memory to 4gb and it runs so much faster now. Never had a problem with it...

Thanks for your help!
I hope your MacBook Pro will last!
Tlynyrd

I've heard of the problem as we have had a few other members who also had the same thing happen to them. I suggest contacting Apple and make an appointment for them to run diagnostics on your machine. The diagnostics are free as long as you have Apple do it. If Apple determines that the GPU is at fault and it falls under their replacement program, they will replace the logic board at no cost to you even if your Apple Care has expired.

tlynyrd said:

I did some more research and found this, I know you mentioned earlier that you haven't heard of any problems with 2011 MacBooks, but there is an actual website about the problem.
check it out: mbp2011: Take Action! 2011 MacBook Pro, GPU Failure, Image Distortion unless this is just a scam, not sure....

Click to expand...

I didn't really say that I never heard of any problems with Early 2011 MacBook Pros (we are talking MacBooks Pros not MacBooks). What I was saying is if there were problems…they were not widespread.

That website. Looks like an over-zealous person who had a problem…and is trying to "stir the pot" more than the average person with a problem (we see folks like this occasionally). They have a problem…maybe Apple wouldn't resolve it to their satisfaction…and so they want to hire 100 lawyers…and take the case to the Supreme Court!

Looking at things in the big picture. No computer model ever made is going to be 100% free from issues. There will ALWAYS be individual units that will have issues. Either user induced issues…or manufacturing related issues.

Back in the 2008 timeframe…there were a couple MacBook Pro models that did have a "wide-spread" issue…and Apple created a special repair program for it. This is what happens when there is a true wide-spread issue. Apple has done this with other things as well when it occurred.

So with Early 2011 MacBook Pro's (if this was a truly widespread issue)…we would hear more about it here at Mac-Forums (lots of threads on it)…and there might even possibly be an Apple special repair program for it. We here at Mac-Forums have probably had a few threads on it…but really not that many in the approx. 3+ years that this MacBook Pro model has been around. Thus not really a widespread issue.

Now for you as an individual user I realize that this doesn't really help…I'm just stating that this is not really a widespread issue.

Anyway…if you suspect that your issue could be temp. related. What I would suggest is…verifying that the fans are working…and open up the MacBook Pro (remove the bottom panel)…and blow it out with some compressed air (in case it is clogged up with dirt, fuzz, gunk, etc.).

If the problem continues after this (fans working & cleaned out)…then you may have an unfortunate hardware failure of some sort.

HTH,

- Nick

p.s. In my experience…trying to move/export 8000 of anything…can cause "computer confusion". I wouldn't do that many all at once. Do it in smaller batches.

Thanks Nick & chscag for you replies, I definitely try the Apple diagnostic option. I had no idea that it was free. Thanks!

MacBook Pro early 2011 graphics card issue

Hi Nick & Chsag,
It seems, that this is a widespread issue with the 2011 MacBook Pro's. see article: Apple remains mum as complaints mount over 2011 MacBook Pro GPU failures
I also joined several other forums, and the problems are nearly identical, red lines, distorted screens, gray log-on screen freezes, etc. The problem is definitely the AMD Radeon grahpics card, (I have the 9750 1gb Version). Some users were able to switch to the Intel HD 3000 card and could at least for some time use their MacBooks, but as soon as the auto-graphic switching happens the problem comes right back. I'm still trying to figure out how to manually switch to the discrete gpu in single user mode and somehow disable the AMD card. There are some gfx drivers that people have tried, but not a real fix yet. Problem seems to come back...
Nick mentioned that he had a MacBook Pro 17", I would suggest that you re-paste your GPU and CPU, I did mine a few days ago, hasn't really worked on any of the issues, since I guess the damage has already been done. But I was reading through a lot of forums, and a lot of the MacBook users re-paste their GPU's every 1 1/2 to 2 years because of the heat issue. If I would have know this earlier....

thanks guys!

Tlynyrd

tlynyrd said:

It seems, that this is a widespread issue with the 2011 MacBook Pro's. see article:

Click to expand...

Thanks for linking that article. It is certainly very recent information (May, 2014).

As I mentioned earlier & the article mentions...Apple has had special repair programs in the past for widespread defects. The article mentioned some numbers for the video problem in Early 2011 MBP's (thread replies & # of views).

What we don't know is (from the numbers mentioned in the article) how many units are actually effected of the total sold. Maybe these numbers are still only 1-2% (or less) of all units sold. Maybe the failure rate needs to be more like 5-10% before Apple does anything. Even if the problem effected 5-10% of units sold...this would still mean 90-95% of them are good.

Now I'm still not suggesting that this is any excuse for Apple to ignore things...just offering some theories on how things may look from Apple's perspective. You can just imagine how expensive a special repair program is (from a business standpoint)...and I'm sure Apple would want to be 100% sure that the problem was Apple's responsibility before starting a special repair program.

I don't know how big the defect numbers were in the previous issues Apple created special repair programs for. So it's hard to say how big the numbers have to get before Apple does anything regarding Early 2011 MBP's.

tlynyrd said:

Nick mentioned that he had a MacBook Pro 17"...

Click to expand...

Yes I do. Honestly...we have not heard that much from Mac-Forums members regarding Early 2011 MBP video problems (at least I don't remember that many).

You can be sure (since I own one of these models)...that I would be EXTRA-SUPER sensitive to this issue. And if we were getting all sorts of threads being posted about this problem...I would certainly be one to make special mental-notes of it (since I could be directly effected).

tlynyrd said:

I would suggest that you re-paste your GPU and CPU, I did mine a few days ago, hasn't really worked on any of the issues, since I guess the damage has already been done. But I was reading through a lot of forums, and a lot of the MacBook users re-paste their GPU's every 1 1/2 to 2 years because of the heat issue. If I would have know this earlier....

Click to expand...

Well..I wouldn't rush into something like this. Firstly some folks may not have the skill to do this...and may cause more damage than good on a perfectly working computer. Secondly...the article linked above does not suggest this as a fix (or temp. fix)...or that heat is the main issue (although heat usually does play a part in these things). At best...this would only delay the inevitable (if a defect in the hardware or manufacturing was the actual issue).

I do quite a bit of online gaming on my 17" Early 2011 MBP (which I am doing right now). Fans are at 4100 rpm, cpu temp 171°F, gpu temp 157°F. These numbers aren't super high...but much higher than if I was just internet surfing & email.

I also (almost 100% of the time) have a 30" Apple Cinema Display plugged into my 17" Early 2011 MBP. So almost 100% of the time...I'm running dual displays (and that external display is a 30" model). So this has got to put "extra work" on the video hardware.

Finally. I purchased my 17" Early 2011 MBP as a demo unit from a local college bookstore. You know how these computers (college bookstores or electronics stores) are bascially on all day long...every day. So they get lots & lots of accumulated usage hours on them. So my 17" MBP was in these conditions for (I think) about 12-18 months before I purchased it. And now I've had it for about 2 years.

My 17" Early 2011 MBP currently has 8742 uptime hours on it (hours that it has been running). The computer is approx. 41 months old (approx. 1230 days). If I do the math...that means that my 17" MBP has been running (on average)...7.1 hours/day since February, 2011. That's a lot of uptime & hours/day.

Fingers crossed that my Early 2011 17" MBP continues to operate trouble free! I would be TOTALLY devastated if it crapped out on me...since it is my #1 computer!

- Nick