Can't get past white screen on startup!

[flufah]

Hello!

So I happened to salvage an old 2009 MacBook Pro 15 inch non-retina. Didnt come with any hard drives and OS, so I threw in an SSD and made a bootable USB drive from MacOS Mountain Lion, in hopes of upgrading the OS later.

The issue is when I hold down control to access the startup options on boot, it comes up with a white screen and cursor, and nothing else!

I've tried loading from Safe Mode and recovery system. For a short time the apple logo showed but now I'm just getting the file with the question mark, regardless of what I do.

I've done the NVRAM and SMC resets, unplugged the SSD and ran just the USB itself, unplug the battery for a bit, and all the other jazz. Still no luck.

This is my first Apple product so I'm new to everything and the forums, but I also made the bootable USB from Windows 10 using TransMac. I don't know if that would make any difference but I'm just throwing out all the possible options.

Any ideas/tips on how to fix this? Like I said I'm new to all this so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[honestone]

A couple of things:

1. What exact model SSD did you "throw" inside the machine (I assume you mean you installed it)?

2. To access and use the bootable USB drive, you would hold down the Option key while booting up the Mac (with the USB Flash Drive (I assume that is what Mountain Lion is on) plugged into one of the USB ports). You should then see USB drive as a choice to pick, for booting up your Mac.

3. How are you making posts here? Do you have another Mac? If so, what exact model is it?

 

[flufah]

@honestone thank you for your reply!

I actually have a 128gb Kingston SSD and a 64gb Crucial SSD is a CD drive caddy, planning on making them RAID 0

The issue is when I hold down option, I get a blank screen with just a mouse and nothing else

I have an ASUS laptop, so I'm making posts off of there

 

[honestone]

Is the Kingston SSD the one you installed inside the machine?

I actually suspected that without an OS already on the SSD, the Option method would not work. Do you have a friend that has a Mac? Maybe he can get a Mac OS onto the Kingston SSD for you.

 

[flufah]

Yeah, both of the drives are in the machines actually. Would I need to purchase an SSD external enclosure then? Is there no possible way to boot from the USB with or without empty drives?

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

-You stated you were holding the Control key at startup, did you mean/try the Option key?
-How did you make the bootable Mountain Lion USB drive? Is it an install of Mountain Lion, or a bootable installer?
-You should be able to startup from the USB flash drive with no OS on the internal drives.
-What brand/model is the optical drive bay HD adapter?
-Is there a specific reason you want to setup a RAID 0? Since the SSDs are mismatched in size, you would only end up with a 64 GB drive.

C

 

[flufah]

Sorry! I meant to say I was holding down options, not control. My bad

Before I made a bootable installer but I ended up partitioning it wrong, but I just got my friends Mac and made a proper bootable USB. Still doesn't show on my MacBook though

Yeah I should because if it doesn't see any OS on the SSDs it would check the bootable USB...maybe a faulty USB port?

It was a cheap drive caddy off eBay. Had to save money so I got one with good reviews. Even so it doesn't even show my main ssd.

I thought raid 0 will combine both storage sizes but make the speed faster. I'm just trying something new but I don't have to use raid 0 if it's not recommended

 

[flufah]

I'll worry about RAID once this thing actually runs

 

[flufah]

I can't enter any startup options except resetting NVRAM and SMC, any else I try always takes me to the file with question mark

 

[Cory Cooper]

OK

I don't recommend using a RAID. RAID 0 is a striped array, which write to both drives at the same time - used for speed. It doesn't combine the two drives to be seen as one large drive.

How are you making the bootable USB?

C

 

[flufah]

Alright, will do!

I made the bootable USB from my friend's Mac, using the installESD file.