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Thijs Moonen

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 22, 2011
58
2
Hi guys,

Thanks for you help.

I'll keep this factual:


System:

15'' Macbook Pro. Early 2011. 2,0 Ghz.

Issue:

- I did a clean Mavericks install, then installed Yosemite over it
- It worked well for a few weeks, then the screen glitches and freezes all of a sudden

- Try to reboot, hear the chime, click my username, enter password
- The load bar goes to about a quarter to half, then the screen goes grey and does nothing

Things I've tried:


1 Boot with the option key and tried to run the Mavericks installer from an external HD. This makes the screen glitch in different ways before going grey.

2 Boot with command+R . This gives me the load bar, no recovery menu

3 Boot with internet recovery. This gives me the globe, with the load bar going 4..3....2...1... then grey


I'm out of ideas here. I'd like to get this computer to run again. No files to be saved or anything, but I'd just like to get it up, Mavericks or Yosemite.

Can anyone help me crack this nut?

Thanks again.
 
Last edited:

dyrer

macrumors member
Feb 24, 2010
89
8
Greece
I had the same issue with Yosemity two days ago, i returned to Mavericks, i did also reset SMC etc so far no problems
 

dokterdok

macrumors member
May 6, 2010
76
0
I had a similiar grey startup screen issue once with Yosemite, which happened after a system freeze and reboot. Here's how I fixed it.

1. Wait until the screen is completely grey (no progress bar anymore - it can take a couple of minutes)
2. Type in your default account's password, hit enter

For some reason the login screen was hidden behind a grey wall, but input worked. Good luck.
 

Amazing Iceman

macrumors 603
Nov 8, 2008
5,348
4,113
Florida, U.S.A.
As a previous user has recommended, try resetting the SMC and also the PRAM. That usually gets rid of any non-sense errors that may suddenly appear on your Mac, specially those related to hardware.
I doubt Yosemite would damage your MBP, just be aware that some firmware updates may start to appear and may need to be applied to some Macs; if you see any, install these.

Also, a good practice before upgrading OS X is to first run Disk Repair and then Repair Permissions. It will save you many headaches down the road.
 

Thijs Moonen

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 22, 2011
58
2
As a previous user has recommended, try resetting the SMC and also the PRAM

did both, no changes

I had a similiar grey startup screen issue once with Yosemite, which happened after a system freeze and reboot. Here's how I fixed it.

1. Wait until the screen is completely grey (no progress bar anymore - it can take a couple of minutes)
2. Type in your default account's password, hit enter

The load screen goes grey after I've come to the log-in screen and enter my password; entered my password anyway, no change

I also recall that at some point when I tried to re-install Yosemite, the screen went completely blue all of a sudden. Screen-of-death kind of blue.

Any more recommendations?
 

Apple_Robert

Contributor
Sep 21, 2012
34,528
50,123
In the middle of several books.
did both, no changes



The load screen goes grey after I've come to the log-in screen and enter my password; entered my password anyway, no change

I also recall that at some point when I tried to re-install Yosemite, the screen went completely blue all of a sudden. Screen-of-death kind of blue.

Any more recommendations?

It could be that your logic board is going bad. Your particular model is known to have an issue with the logic board. My late 2011 MBP 13" had to have the logic board replaced due to similar problems.

I would make a Genius Bar appointment.
 

kheowkul

macrumors newbie
Sep 4, 2010
26
17
It could be that your logic board is going bad. Your particular model is known to have an issue with the logic board. My late 2011 MBP 13" had to have the logic board replaced due to similar problems.

I would make a Genius Bar appointment.

Yeah probably faulty logic board/GPU, had the same with my 2011 MBP 15 inch. First time after almost 1 year and second time couple of weeks ago after 3.5 years, luckily my employer provided me with a brand new 2014 MBP Retina 13 inch.

Search for radeongate and you soon see we're not the only ones with this problem.

Good luck.
 

dyrer

macrumors member
Feb 24, 2010
89
8
Greece
UPDATE:
I returned to Mavericks and there were no problems but today i decide to gove GM a second chance.
After installed all updates I tried to open Aperture and then the death came again, blank screen. AGAIN and AGAIN
I think my MBP early 2011 hates Yosemite :eek:

mbL4WRP.jpg
 
Last edited:

Thijs Moonen

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 22, 2011
58
2
Just writing this to confirm that it is indeed a faulty logic board which caused my troubles. I've been quoted around 650 Euro to get it replaced.

The only thing that still bothers me is that I don't know if installing Yosemite had anything to do with the hardware going bad. I'll never now.

Thanks for your help y'all.
 

denhamparry

macrumors newbie
Oct 18, 2014
2
0
I've been getting the same issues since upgrading to Yosemite. I've managed to resolve it twice:

1) Left it on over night, still had the grey screen after 6 hours. Turned it off and on, logged in and was able to login.
2) Able to get into the Yosemite installer via USB drive. The setup screen loaded and decided to do a fresh install (I had time machine backups so updated the MBP post Yosemite install).

I've never had any issues with my MBP until this upgrade so I'm fairly certain that this cannot be hardware malfunction, will attempt to fix it and will pass on any findings.
 
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