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    New odd problem.

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by KCETech1, Apr 16, 2012.

  1. KCETech1

    KCETech1 Notebook Prophet

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    hoping someone has a clue.

    my second MBP 17" ( MD311LL/A ) i7 2.4/8/750 has developed an odd issue, and our closest Apple store is about as helpful as a hemorrhoid. ( dont really want to send this unit off for 4-6 weeks either )

    here goes, I had a KP on friday and had to do a hard shutdown, ( not unusual some days ) but when I restarted all was well until OSX was up and looking for password, I had no keyboard, if I waited 60-90 seconds i heard the error chime and some of my password dots would appear if you enter password VERY slow as in one key press every 10 seconds I can get in to the OS and use it for 20-30 minutes with depreciated performamce before it hardlocks again.

    what ive tried
    1: reset PRAM and SMC
    2: reset permissions ( boot from a USB installer works )
    4: check RAM with memtest
    5: swap ram with other MBP 17
    6: nuke and pave ( wipe, format and reinstall )
    8: change HDD/ nuke and pave
    9: install SSD/nuke and pave

    now the bloody wierd part, I mentioned that the installer booted/worked fine... I can boot, install AND use Ubuntu 11 and windows 7 on it???

    so what I have is a MBP 17" that runs everything BUT OSX! :mad:

    Apple store 2 hours away started off with oh, just fix permissions etc, once i gave them my troubleshoot list the idiot mgr informed me I must have tampered with the machine trying to mod it or overclock it. Then sent me off with the usual we cant honor your warranty BS on a replacement

    Apple Canada wants me to send it in for possible repair and informed me of a 4-6 week turnaround. :mad:

    and the OTHER Apple store is 2.75hrs away and im wasting too much time, money and fuel already. Any ideas or should I just shoot it for my sanity?
     
    KCETech1, Apr 16, 2012
    #1
  2. masterchef341

    masterchef341 The guy from The Notebook

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    component damage (malfunction)
     
    masterchef341, Apr 16, 2012
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  3. shriek11

    shriek11 Notebook Deity

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    You have multiple machines, so why can't you send it off to apple as a last resort?
     
    shriek11, Apr 16, 2012
    #3
  4. H.A.L. 9000

    H.A.L. 9000 Occam's Chainsaw

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    Apple with a 4-6 week turnaround?! What? Never have I...

    Mine all come back within one business week. What's up with Apple Canada?!
     
    H.A.L. 9000, Apr 16, 2012
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  5. KCETech1

    KCETech1 Notebook Prophet

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    agreed, another tech suspects the firmware portion in EFI that lets OSX see the computer as Apple mfgr'd is corrupt or damaged



    I tend to setup dedicated machines for certain projects, and for me its a pain. for now ive hackintoshed the 8740w as im certain it has to go back.

    not sure, 3 weeks if their in a hurry, 10 if their not or waiting for parts.
     
    KCETech1, Apr 16, 2012
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  6. H.A.L. 9000

    H.A.L. 9000 Occam's Chainsaw

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    H.A.L. 9000, Apr 17, 2012
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  7. shriek11

    shriek11 Notebook Deity

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    i think she already did that. It could be some component or a software related issue. My computer would freeze after startup and it turned out to be a bad hard drive.
     
    shriek11, Apr 17, 2012
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  8. KCETech1

    KCETech1 Notebook Prophet

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    KCETech1, Apr 17, 2012
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  9. H.A.L. 9000

    H.A.L. 9000 Occam's Chainsaw

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    Ah. Well, in that case... I hope it's not the 4-6 weeks you said. They really should have better turn around time in Canada!
     
    H.A.L. 9000, Apr 17, 2012
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  10. LinkRS

    LinkRS Notebook Consultant

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    When you say "nuke and pave" are you restoring from a backup, or doing a fresh install of Max OS X? Since you say it runs fine with Linux and Windows 7, that indicates it most likely isn't a hardware issue. Apple has pushed out bad drivers via Apple Update before, and if you happend to get a bad driver that you keep restoring from your backup, it would continue to not work. I would suggest that if you are restoring from a backup, do a fresh install and do not restore your backup and see if that sorts it. A couple of years ago Apple pushed out a wireless driver that caused my MacBook (white polycarbonate) to freeze when turning it off and then on. They pulled the driver a day after they initiallly published it, and later pushed out a fixed version. However, the Apple Geniuses solution was to restore to an early time-machien backup, and NOT do the update again until the fixed it. Good luck!

    Rich S.
     
    LinkRS, Apr 17, 2012
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  11. KCETech1

    KCETech1 Notebook Prophet

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    by nuke and pave I mean a clean load of OSX from both an Apple supplied media and a Lion USB drive I created from app store download. both installers are confirmed good.

    I am rather aware of the occasional bad driver over the last 20 years ;) that wifi one attacked me too
     
    KCETech1, Apr 17, 2012
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  12. KCETech1

    KCETech1 Notebook Prophet

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    Update.

    just got it back today, ( just over 7 weeks gone )
    was a " corrupted EFI security feature " requiring mainboard replacement.
     
    KCETech1, Jun 13, 2012
    #12