[mij9895]

I have a Mid-2009 13" MacBook Pro and when I boot the computer it takes anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour to boot up. So for the last month I only put it in sleep mode to shut it down. Earlier today it locked up on me forcing me to reboot, but now it doesn't want to boot up. I've tested the hard drive and everything is fine. It passes the S.M.A.R.T. check everytime. And I can boot the computer from an external without issue, just the internal wont boot, and yet the permissions are fine and the volume is not corrupted in any way. Help!


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[Just_Me_D]

Assisting you is important to us and there are times when the members of this community who can best provide you with assistance to your particular issue or concern may not be available at the time of your post so please be patient while awaiting a reply. In the meantime, feel free to peruse the various sections of the iMore forum as well as the iMore Blog and check back periodically for a reply to your post. Thank you.

[mij9895]

Assisting you is important to us and there are times when the members of this community who can best provide you with assistance to your particular issue or concern may not be available at the time of your post so please be patient while awaiting a reply. In the meantime, feel free to peruse the various sections of the iMore forum as well as the iMore Blog and check back periodically for a reply to your post. Thank you.

Thanks for the reply. It finally booted tonight after 40 minutes, but this is really strange. But I'm going to still wait for a reply so I can see if someone can help me so I can eliminate this problem.


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[Fausty82]

I have a Mid-2009 13" MacBook Pro and when I boot the computer it takes anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour to boot up. So for the last month I only put it in sleep mode to shut it down. Earlier today it locked up on me forcing me to reboot, but now it doesn't want to boot up. I've tested the hard drive and everything is fine. It passes the S.M.A.R.T. check everytime. And I can boot the computer from an external without issue, just the internal wont boot, and yet the permissions are fine and the volume is not corrupted in any way. Help!

A couple of things come to mind... (1) Failing hard drive and (2) Corrupt file system.

When you boot into "safe mode", it effectively runs the "Repair Disk" of Disk Utility. So maybe it's a filesystem corruption that was causing your slow startup.

To start up into Safe Mode (to Safe Boot), do this:

1. Be sure your Mac is shut down.
2. Press the power button.
3. Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold the Shift key. The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone, but not before the tone.
4. Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple icon and the progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).

During startup in Mac OS X v10.4 through Mac OS X v10.8.x, you will see "Safe Boot" on the login window, which appears even if you normally log in automatically.

To leave Safe Mode, restart the computer normally, without holding any keys during startup.

If that doesnt help, you could be dealing with a failing hard disk. Regardless of what the issue is, its a good time to make sure you have a good backup of your files.

[mij9895]

A couple of things come to mind... (1) Failing hard drive and (2) Corrupt file system.

When you boot into "safe mode", it effectively runs the "Repair Disk" of Disk Utility. So maybe it's a filesystem corruption that was causing your slow startup.

To start up into Safe Mode (to Safe Boot), do this:

1. Be sure your Mac is shut down.
2. Press the power button.
3. Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold the Shift key. The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone, but not before the tone.
4. Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple icon and the progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).

During startup in Mac OS X v10.4 through Mac OS X v10.8.x, you will see "Safe Boot" on the login window, which appears even if you normally log in automatically.

To leave Safe Mode, restart the computer normally, without holding any keys during startup.

If that doesnt help, you could be dealing with a failing hard disk. Regardless of what the issue is, its a good time to make sure you have a good backup of your files.

I know it's not file system corruption, cause I've run every test under the sun to check that, and I just installed this hard drive at the beginning of this year as my seagate 320GB had bad sectors after it was stolen late 2011. I hope I didn't get a bad western digital.


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[warcraftWidow]

I know it's not file system corruption, cause I've run every test under the sun to check that, and I just installed this hard drive at the beginning of this year as my seagate 320GB had bad sectors after it was stolen late 2011. I hope I didn't get a bad western digital.


Sent from Josh's iPhone 5 using Tapatalk 2

It could have to do with the hard drive controller not the hard drive. Do you have an external drive enclosure you can put the internal drive in and then boot off of that? That could eliminate the drive itself as the culprit if it boots up normally.

[mij9895]

It could have to do with the hard drive controller not the hard drive. Do you have an external drive enclosure you can put the internal drive in and then boot off of that? That could eliminate the drive itself as the culprit if it boots up normally.

I could try that. Is the hard drive controller built into the motherboard? Or could it be the hard drive cable?


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[warcraftWidow]

Not entirely sure, but I think the controller is part of the motherboard. I suppose it could be the cable. At least when you open it up, you could verify all the connectors are secure.

OWC has some pretty good guides on opening up various models of MacBook if you need some step by step assistance.

[Dryland]

I have the same exact model. I had a similar issue about a year ago and it turned out to be the hard drive cable. Apple store replaced it for $20.

[Fausty82]

Not entirely sure, but I think the controller is part of the motherboard. I suppose it could be the cable. At least when you open it up, you could verify all the connectors are secure.

OWC has some pretty good guides on opening up various models of MacBook if you need some step by step assistance.

iFixit: The free repair manual also has some great step-by-step guides... as well as parts and tools to get the job done...

[mij9895]

I have the same exact model. I had a similar issue about a year ago and it turned out to be the hard drive cable. Apple store replaced it for $20.

Really? I'll have to try my original hd which also has a Mac OS install on it and see if it does the same thing. If that's all I need to do, then I'll add some life to my computer.

Anyone ever have a problem with plugging in a USB peripheral and the trackpad and keyboard lock up for about a minute?


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[mij9895]

iFixit: The free repair manual also has some great step-by-step guides... as well as parts and tools to get the job done...

I love iFixit. Their repair manuals are great. I used their manual to change out a screen in an iPhone for a friend.


Sent from Josh's iPhone 5 using Tapatalk 2

[mij9895]

Not entirely sure, but I think the controller is part of the motherboard. I suppose it could be the cable. At least when you open it up, you could verify all the connectors are secure.

OWC has some pretty good guides on opening up various models of MacBook if you need some step by step assistance.

I have the same exact model. I had a similar issue about a year ago and it turned out to be the hard drive cable. Apple store replaced it for $20.

I finally had time to swap the hard drive out on my MacBook Pro (still haven't gotten into Apple.) However, when the machine booted up, it went so quickly that it can't be the hard drive cable.

I'm so confused now my head is spinning.