MacBook Pro Won't Boot

Jambo

Jambo

Jambo

Soldato
Joined
4 Aug 2004
Posts
5,205
My MacBook crashed and I restarted it. When it restarted I decided to clean up my desktop as it had loads of files on it and I stuck them in a folder. It seemed to crash again and now it won't boot.

I have ran disk utility from the install disk and there are a couple of errors for invalid volume file count and invalid volume directory count which failed at repairing.

However, I think I might have put the Macintosh HD icon in the 'tidy up' folder by accident. Is this even possible and if so would it affect startup?

Any ideas?
 
Hey Jambo!

Never really came across this before. When you say it is not booting are you getting the Apple splash screen and it just stopping there or is it just in a loop?

It is possible to move hidden files into the trashcan by mistake and this could be effecting your boot. As for the "errors for invalid volume file count and invalid volume directory count which failed at repairing." the most I can take from that with a little bit of research is Spotlight indexing not being done correctly but that is easily fixable after resolving your major booting issue.

The only thing I can suggest is using Target Disk Mode to see if you can repair/move files around that way. Information on how to do this is easily accessible by Google :) If that doesn't work perhaps try installing a version of your current OS over the current installation to try and repair your boot files that way once you can get back into a stable OS environment. This might be your best option but it's not the easiest one as you're not entirely sure if the Macintosh HD icon has been moved into trash...

Best of luck with it!
 
Thanks!

I don't think I've moved HD to trash, I think I've moved it to a folder on the desktop and was wondering if this might mess with the startup path. Can you view contents of a folder via Terminal?

During startup I get to Apple logo and spinning gear. Safe mode doesn't work either.

Target disk mode was my next step but I don't have a Firewire cable yet.

Can you install OS over current OS without losing all the files? I don't have a backup so my plan was to hopefully recover some files via target disk mode and then reinstall the OS.
 
Kappa303 said:
Hey Jambo.

Yes it is possible to view the contents of a folder via Terminal. If you go to this page: http://guides.macrumors.com/Terminal it should provide some help using Terminal to do that.

To my knowledge you can install a current OS over the existing OS similar to an upgrade to recover files and then perhaps do a completely clean install.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Thanks Kappa,

The terminal doesn't seem to work as normal when ran from the install DVD. However, I was able to have a look at the files via some disk image option and I think it looks okay so maybe the problem is unrelated. I also tested putting my HD in a folder on my old Macbook and it just adds a shortcut.

I'm just waiting on the Firewire cable I've ordered and will try and backup some of my files using target disk mode and then have a go at reinstalling the OS. Thanks for the help.
 
Just updating this in case anyone has similar problems.

I got the firewire cable and target disk mode didn't work.

It turns out the problem was with the hard drive cable. Think it's a fairly common problem, especially on older Macbook Pros, mine is 2009. I bought a used spare on eBay for £9.99 and replaced the faulty one. There is a YouTube video with instructions here but it's pretty easy.


Thanks again for the help Kappa.
 
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