MacBook Pro 8.2 (later, 2011): Login > start-up status bar (10% only) > GRAY SCREEN

[treehouse555]

Hello Mac Forum Needing some help again...

I have a 15" MacBook Pro 8.2, mid-2011. It was running Yosemite OS. Hard drive replaced in June 2016, 2 partitions.

I logged in as usual, and the start-up status bar got up to about 10%, then the screen went gray. Tried multiple times, but same result.

Some Google results suggestions: (Yesss, I regret not posting for help on MacForums!!)
First, tried holding down Shift+Control+Option then starting up. Nothing changed. The next suggestion said to hold down Command+R, but no login option this time. Just straight to a gray screen.

And...fatal error: I didn't back up files to my external hard drive for a long time. Sooooo many projects, fonts, important docs, that I need )-; If I could just boot-up and back-up EVERYTHING, I'd be one happy camper!! I needed a new laptop anyway, but man, I messed up.

Any help is appreciated! Thanks in advance

Kelly

 

[chscag]

Sounds like the hard drive crashed or a SATA cable failure. Or, it could be some other hardware problem.

Do you have access to another Mac or a bootable flash drive that you can boot the machine with? If you have another Mac you can try Target Disk mode to gain access to your data if the hard drive is salvageable. The other method would be to use a bootable flash drive or external hard drive to boot the MacBook Pro with. It may then be possible to access your data.

There is no guarantee that you will be able to access your data but it's worth a try. If all else fails and the data is valuable, you might think about using a data recovery service. Data recovery services vary in price but most are expensive.

 

[pm-r]

Any help is appreciated! Thanks in advance

If you need any of your data, it may still be accessible on the hard drive, and I would strongly suggest you contact and use the services of a good Mac tech.

They should be able to recover your data with the equipment they would normally have.

By "Mac tech", I mean an independent Apple Service place or business, and not an Apple Store. They wouldn't even look up that machine anyway!!!


EDIT:
If the hard drive is dead and not mountable, then "Recovery" as chscag mentioned above may be you only other option.

I guess after all your years as a member here you didn't notice the multiple posts emphasizing having a current backup.
Too bad, and as our housebuilder would always say: **** happens
Unfortunate but true.

Addenda:
I see auto-spellcheck and autocensor for replacing **** works well here!!!


- Patrick
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[ferrarr]

The 15” 2011 model, had a well know graphics card issue. The drive still may work.

 

[techiesteve]

The 15” 2011 model, had a well know graphics card issue. The drive still may work.

Agreed, this is one of the symptoms of the logic board GPU failure. It's certainly worth removing the HD and attaching to another Mac, you could be lucky.

 

[Rod]

Yep I agree with the above. Find a decent Mac Repair shop or Tech who can mount your disk in an external hub and you may well find it is intact. That just requires a Time Machine or clone backup and you will be able to restore all your data to your new device.
Alternatively you could pull the HD yourself, buy an external HD hub and a new computer and transfer your data by drag an drop.