I've killed my Macbook

[allen-uk]

I've buggered up an old Macbook, and wondered whether you can point me in the direction (no, not of the dumpster) to fix it.

It was a 2008 Macbook Pro. I bought a new (refurbished) 2016 one, transferred all the data etc to the new machine, no trouble, works like a dream.

And then I went about wiping the old one. Which I must have done wrong, because it ends up with a circle with a line through it. Boots up on DiscWarrior flash drive, rebuilds perfectly, but still the same.

Took the SATA drive out, plugged it in to my Mac Mini, downloaded and installed a High Sierra onto it. Fine, boots from that (on the Mini), but once back in the Macbook, back to the circle with the line.

Tried booting with Command R, no good.

I only want to make it whole so I can give it to the charity shop!

But as I can't even boot the thing up, should I give up and give it to the dustman instead?

Thanks.

Allen.

 

[MacInWin]

Well, as you know the circle and line indicates no bootable drive detected. You didn't say exactly which model it is, but the 2008 MBPs don't support High Sierra. The highest version, according to Mactracker, on those machines is El Capitan. If you give me the exact model I can verify that again, or you can do it for yourself with Mactracker, but I think that is the problem. See if you can get El Cap from Apple. I think it's still available for download. You can start here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904 Read down toward the bottom where you will see "Other macOS installation options."

 

[allen-uk]

Thanks Jake.

MacBook Pro 15 inch late 2008
2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 duo
Memory 6Gb
Serial W89063QH1G0
Drive 1tb SATA

is what it is/was.

From what you write, you seem to be saying that if I did again what I did before (but did it with El Capitan, not High Sierra), it might work.


Trouble is, app store disagrees, and when I try to download El Capitan to a spare hard drive, says "This copy of the Install OS X application is too old to be opened on this version of OS X."

Is there any other way of getting El Capitan installed without going through App Store?

A

 

[ferrarr]

You can also make a bootable USB installer, which you can boot from. Once booted from the USB, use Disk Utility to format the disk/drive causing the issue.

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

Use an external drive or secondary volume as a startup disk from which to install macOS.

support.apple.com

 

[MacInWin]

Frankly I would try the Internet Recovery first to see if it works. Theoretically, it will install the newest OS that machine can run. I don't know if Internet Recovery works on a system that old, but it's worth a try.

As for other sources for the OS, I would not trust anywhere but Apple.

 

[allen-uk]

Creating a bootable drive is easy.

CHOOSING it as a start-up drive is not possible.

How do I get past the ’No entry’ (circle and line)?

I will try redoing an internal hard drive but I can’t find a way of loading an acceptable OS.

A

 

[Slydude]

Have you tried holding down the Option key as soon as you hear the boot chime. Make sure the bootable USB is inserted before you turn the machine on.

It may take a few attempts to make the procedure work.

 

[harryb2448]

No Internet Recovery for the MacBook Pro alas as it is too old.

You might try this method to download El Capitan OS X.11, burn to an +8GB thumb drive using DiskMakerX which will be made bootable and install from that. Scroll down to El Capitan. You will need a Mac to do the download and making the thumb drive bootable. I do not think the 2016 model is capable of this as it came with OS X.12.

Next option is to buy a Lion or Snow Leopard version on an install CD from Apple Online fore $20.00.

Macworld

Macworld is your ultimate guide to Apple's product universe, explaining what's new, what's best and how to make the most out of the products you love.

www.macworld.co.uk

 

[chscag]

But as I can't even boot the thing up, should I give up and give it to the dustman instead?

Not yet. Try replacing the SATA cable which goes from the hard drive to the logic board. Easy to replace and not expensive. Try www.ifixit.com or www.macsales.com for the cable. The ifixit site has instructions.

On an older machine such as yours, replacing that cable is recommended. If that cable is defective, the machine will not "see" or boot from the hard drive.

 

[MacInWin]

And on the Option key boot, the important word is HOLD DOWN. Hold down Option until the boot options appear. Yes, it could be a while. But keep holding until either the option appears or the circle and line appears.

 

[neil.gtis]

Creating a bootable drive is easy.

CHOOSING it as a start-up drive is not possible.

How do I get past the ’No entry’ (circle and line)?

I will try redoing an internal hard drive but I can’t find a way of loading an acceptable OS.

A

Hi
I assume you are from the UK with your user name
Why not buy a 2.5 drive of eBay with a Mac OS already installed on the drive
I got a 500 go drive with Mojave on for £25 that’s what I did when I was having problems with my drive and trying to download the os
Neil

 

[allen-uk]

Thanks to all.

I've got to occupy myself with other matters (I have a plastic leg which hurts like **** and I want to try and get 'them' to sort it out!), but in a couple of days I shall return to my Macbook and put your suggestions into practice, and report back.

Many thanks for your input.

Allen.