MacBook Pro 2008 will only boot in Safe Mode and sometimes has Panics

[rip]

So I am stumped with this MacBook I am trying to get working.
It will only seem to boot into safe mode when I wants to boot.
I do not get the chime when first turning it on and it takes a while to load up.
I have had it booted in Mountain Lion and El Capitan and both turn on with Safe Boot only.

I have had it turn on and have a kernel panic which Is pasted below.
Could this be a chip issue? The keyboard seems to have some moister presence but the Logic board seems untouched.

*** Panic Report ***

panic(cpu 1 caller 0xffffff800079a3ee): "Process 1 exec of /sbin/launchd failed, errno 2"@/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/xnu/xnu-3247.10.11/bsd/kern/kern_exec.c:4279

Backtrace (CPU 1), Frame : Return Address

0xffffff8095813de0 : 0xffffff80002e5307

0xffffff8095813e60 : 0xffffff800079a3ee

0xffffff8095813ee0 : 0xffffff8000771f2b

0xffffff8095813f00 : 0xffffff80007b7291

0xffffff8095813f40 : 0xffffff80002dfded

0xffffff8095813f80 : 0xffffff80003d73fe

0xffffff8095813fa0 : 0xffffff80003f42df

 

[lclev]

Moisture on any part of it usually means hardware damage which is very hard to pin down.

Lisa

 

[pm-r]

It will only seem to boot into safe mode when I wants to boot.

If a Mac machine boots using Safe Boot Mode but not normally, it's usually a pretty good guarantee that it's some sort of third-party software causing thee problem.

The hardest part is figuring out what exactly the cause is.

Maybe start with a clean virgin install and check its running, them maybe try Migration Assistant but that's not the best recommended method to get back to normal, but can be done using a different admin username.




- Patrick
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[chscag]

Agree with Lisa. If that 2008 MacBook Pro had any kind of spill on it, you may as well toss it. The fact that you do not get the POST chime (Bong!) upon startup is a good sign of some type of damage. That machine if it was in good working order is only worth at the most around $75 to $100. And you might need major repairs to it that will exceed what it's worth. Sorry for such a gloomy reply but moisture damage especially on machine that old is almost always fatal.

 

[pm-r]

I have had it turn on and have a kernel panic

You could try using Disk Utility in you Recovery HD and try any and all repairs or First Aid on your normal boot volumes.

To access it, boot up and hold the Cmd + R or just the option key and choose the Recovery HD Volume.


PS: Is this problem new, or has the Mac been in storage somewhere???





- Patrick
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[pm-r]

Sorry for such a gloomy reply but moisture damage especially on machine that old is almost always fatal.

Except for the fact that boots fine in Safe Boot Mode,

As I mentioned, that's usually a sign off some conflicting third party software.

One could also test it using its original installer CD/DVD and see if it works using it.

But anyway, I guess the OP has gone to bed for the night.





- Patrick
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[chscag]

Hard to say Patrick. I've seen machines that would boot to safe mode but still had hardware problems. Even if it does turn out to be a software problem and has moisture damage, all bets are off. The no boot chime is also worrisome and usually indicates a hardware problem. If this 2008 MBP is his primary machine then maybe he can try to fix it. If it's just something he's fooling with, it might be a good time to quit.

Also... maybe if he posts the entire KP report we can learn more. What he posted doesn't tell us much if anything.

 

[pigoo3]

Agree with what was already mentioned. If this is a "new to you" computer...or you're trying to fix someone else's computer. Very possible it could have liquid damage.

You could try booting from an external HD with a bootable OS that this 2008 MacBook Pro can boot from. If this doesn't work...then it's not an OS/software issue...and very likely a hardware issue. Which get's us back to possible liquid damage.

- Nick

 

[pm-r]

Agree with what was already mentioned. If this is a "new to you" computer...or you're trying to fix someone else's computer. Very possible it could have liquid damage.

You could try booting from an external HD with a bootable OS that this 2008 MacBook Pro can boot from. If this doesn't work...then it's not an OS/software issue...and very likely a hardware issue. Which get's us back to possible liquid damage.

- Nick

Agreed!! And we have little supplied info on the actual Mac and the situation.

And definitely using a good known boot source would sure help in narrowing down the problem.

And I will admit that if the OP can actually see signs of water or liquid damage, that's pretty serious as even almost invisible signs can bring any Mac to its non-working fully state.




- Patrick
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