Hi Neil and Ronni, I have run the test below to attempt the AHT and as I suspected the MBP wont even entertain it. Screen remains black and the cooling fan starts after about 15-20 seconds and slowly ramps up to full speed. It just remains with the fan running flat out and nothing else to suggest any activity going on in there.
I am confident it is not a screen fault as across the weekend before it went completely black all the time, the screen was displaying quite normally. I accept that is not definitive, but my thinking is it is unlikely a screen fail when whilst it was showing HDD anomalies, the screen still displayed ok. Still without the AHT running, I don’t yet know what the fault is. I also tried the NVRAM/PRAM reset “Option/Command/P/R” concurrent with attempted start. Same response - black screen and slow fan ramp up. I don’t actually have a disc that it came with for the external start up test. I do however have my CCC drive for my MBP Retina (High Sierra) and wonder if that could serve as a test for external boot. But even still, the instructions for external drive boot requires that I get a Start up chime, which I don’t get and hence I don’t think it will even enter into this mode. I’ll give it a shot. No good there with that test. I’ve had a thought, I have the removed disc that was in James’ MBP (same model 2011 MBP) with a fully functioning drive in it when it was removed. I will swap it into Tims MBP and see what that does to try eleminiate the hardware of the laptop as being suspect or otherwise. Regards Pete > On 21 May 2018, at 11:54 am, Neil Houghton <[email protected]> wrote: > > 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 - > -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- > Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> > Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> > Settings & Unsubscribe - > <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug>
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