Hi Peter,
Just some thoughts. The fact that you can mount the HD on another computer does not necessarily mean that there will be no problems with it - or the system installed on it – but it does suggest that the HD is not the cause of the black screen/no life problem of the MBP. I do not think there is any point trying to fit a new HD until you have determined the hardware status of the MBP. Even with no HD inside, if the MBP was OK I would expect to see it attempt to start and then display a flashing “?” to indicate that it cannot find a suitable OS to boot from – that is what happened with my iMac when the internal drive died. If the problem was just with either the HD or a corrupt system installation on it, as a test you should still be able to run the MBP from an external HD – I continued to use my iMac from an external FW drive, containing a previous clone of my system, for around 2 years before I finally got round to repairing the iMac with a SSD and new HD. As Ronni says, you could try and run Apple Hardware Test (AHT) – although the MBP will at least need a working screen. I suppose it is possible that the MBP has a dead screen – although it would be a bit of a coincidence if you were having these other problems and then the screen died when you tried to address them – unlikely but coincidences DO happen. – If you have an external screen and the appropriate lead/adaptor you might be able to narrow the problem down to a failed screen (very long shot). I suppose the residual cruft from the SMC fan controller might give some problems – however that would all reside on the HD so with the HD removed I would have thought the MBP should behave as normal if there are no hardware problems (well normal for a computer with no HD as discussed above). After removing the HD, did you try booting from the install disk that came with the MBP – if there are no hardware problems I think that you should be able to install a bare OSX even on an external usb stick of sufficient size – if you can confirm the actual MBP hardware (less HD) is OK then it is worth persevering to upgrade. As I say, just some thoughts which might help you narrow down the actual problem or problems. HTH Neil -- Neil R. Houghton Albany, Western Australia Tel: +61 8 9841 6063 Email: [email protected] From: <[email protected]> on behalf of Peter Crisp <[email protected]> Reply-To: WAMUG <[email protected]> Date: Sunday, 20 May 2018 at 21:10 To: WAMUG <[email protected]> Subject: Re: GREAT GAME EAGLES! Hi Ronni, I removed the HDD from Tim’s MBP and using the SATA adapter connected it to Joannes MBP. It opened fined, the folder structure as an externally connected drive looked completely as expected. I did locate the SMC app in the Downloads folder and was able to succesfully trash it. Upon refitting to Tim’s MBP I get the same behaviour which makes me think the problem is with the MBP chassis/hardware somewhere and not the HDD. I am puzzled where to now. If I simply replace the HDD, with this information it seems unlikely that that would actually fix the problem. Buying a replacement MBP and restoring from the backup would be plagued by the SMC installation in the backup and there being no apparent way to get his MBP to start up and be able to get into the OSX to disable the SMC fan controller. Buying a replacement SSD for his MBP and copying over also would not seem to be a solution given the fact it looks fine when connected as an external disc. Is there some other sort of way I could assess the HDD to confirm it’s status or even the MBP hardware as well? Regards Pete On 20 May 2018, at 7:17 pm, Peter Crisp <[email protected]> wrote: HI ROnni, thanks for that, but the problem i have is that Tim’s MBP is completely unresponsive so I cannot even get into it to disable the SMC Fan control he installed to then create a backup with that not in place. So I am stuck with the backup I have. I really am unsire of the next step, I will persevere with the current MBP now but I think I am wasting my time. All that happens is the screen remains black and the fan starts up, nothing to show. I think it is rooted. Maybe there is a command I can hold upon hitting the start button but I try “Shift” and “Command R” and nothing really results from it. Regards Pete On 20 May 2018, at 6:52 pm, Ronda Brown <[email protected]> wrote: Hi Peter, I would be careful about restoring from backup until you can completely uninstall the smcFanControl then do a backup & restore from the new backup. Apple and we consultants don’t recommend users to control the fan speed by any 3rd party utility, it’s better to let your Mac set the fan speed as it wants. smcFanControl is not a necessary app for your Mac. It installs many files throughout the system which need to be deleted as well as the app! If you think you just drag smcFanControl to the trash & think removal is complete, then you’re wrong. That won’t remove the supportive files, cache files & other associated items it created during the setup and daily usage. To thoroughly ‘Delete smcFanControl, it is necessary to delete the remaining components scattered around the system. Regards, Ronni Sent from Ronni's iPhone 7 Plus On 20 May 2018, at 5:56 pm, Peter Crisp <[email protected]> wrote: Hi ROnni, yes I have just got back from Gin Gin I had to collect one son from Coolup as well so lots of driving today from Mandurah. I am getting you WAMUG mails from WAMUG and I also do see them at the link you sent too. Not sure what’s going on your end but it all looks ok from the ‘outside’. I’ve just got back home now so James is rerunning the second half for me but I was listening on the radio and I heard Darling was having a cracker. I am looking further into Tims MBP tponoight too, I am not hopeful. I think I will be buying another SSD to replace and then restore from backup. But fingers crossed. He needs it for school so I gotta do it quickly. I think tonight it wont be sorted. Regards Pete On 20 May 2018, at 5:50 pm, Ronda Brown <[email protected]> wrote: Hi Peter, That was a great game to watch the Eagles are flying high! Darling was absolutely brilliant... I thought his kicking leg would fall off in the final quarter! The whole team played together, very slick and accurate passing either by hand or foot. A very good result and well deserved. Cheers, Ronni P.S I don’t know what has happened to WAMUG mailing list as I’m not receiving any messages... even my replies to you regarding ‘MacBook failing or not?. The archives show my messages, so you can check there at this link https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Ronni Brown’s iPad Pro 12.9-inch 256GB -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - Guidelines - Settings & Unsubscribe -
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