No Boot Utility

[JesusLizardJr]

Hi, recently posted about my 2011 Unibody mac not working and booting to a plain white screen (no apple logo, no folder question mark).

My next step was to create a clean install of Sierra onto a USB, however when booting the mac (holding alt) it still boots to a plain white screen, then I created a clean install of Sierra onto an external HD, did the same again and nothing. Keyboard is working fine as I can reset the PRAM and SMC no problem- this works so they keyboard must work.

Can anyone suggest whats up with it? I assume it MUST be hardware related to not even load up the boot utility as that seems to be a given whether the drive is corrupt or not. I've tried everything (aside from target disk mode)- resetting PRAM, SMC, Recovery Mode, Safe Mode, Safe Bios Mode etc nothing is working.

Anyone suggest what the problem could be? If its hardware these 2011 macbooks are pretty easy to change bits on.

 

[Ed7789]

To select your USB drive to start from, you need to power off your computer, and power it on.

Immediately, press and hold the Option key on the keyboard. After a couple of seconds, you should have a startup disk selection menu.
Source: Change your Mac startup disk - Apple Support (CA)

 

[JesusLizardJr]

To select your USB drive to start from, you need to power off your computer, and power it on.

Immediately, press and hold the Option key on the keyboard. After a couple of seconds, you should have a startup disk selection menu.
Source: Change your Mac startup disk - Apple Support (CA)

Thank you- this doesnt work- it just displays a blank white screen- like all other options (inc Safe Mode, Recovery Mode etc)

 

[Ed7789]

At this point, if no one has any other suggestions, I would actually attempt to put the drive in an external enclosure and plug in to another Mac. Before even attempting to start from it, just try browsing the drive

When you take the computer apart, don't forget where each screw goes, because they are not identical.