Mac OS High Sierra Update has made my MacBook do this...

[Greg T]

I'm new to all this so bear with me.
Tried to install update but now my MacBook cycles through these two screenshots (when I press enter) until eventually showing a grey no entry sign. Can't log in

Has anyone got a solution from viewing the screen shots?
My son has an iMac with original Mavericks usb boot stick, however I don't. My MacBook is 2012 I think, but as a light user I do not want to give up on it.

 

[honestone]

Need to know the following:

1. What exact MacBook model do you have? You can find out by turning your MacBook over, and near the hinge for the screen, you'll see some small writing. Contained on the first line, it will say Model. For example, on my mid 2013 13" MacBook Air, when I do that, it says "Model Aq466 EMC 2632". That is the information needed.

2. What Mac OS were you running before you upgraded? Also, did you just upgrade "in place", ie, have High Sierra basically overwrite what was on your machine already?

3. Are you making backups to an external device?

4. How are you making posts here? Is it with another Mac? If so, what exact model?

There is something you can try, but before that, need answers to those questions first.

 

[Greg T]

Thank you, answers in green below...


Need to know the following:

1. What exact MacBook model do you have? You can find out by turning your MacBook over, and near the hinge for the screen, you'll see some small writing. Contained on the first line, it will say Model. For example, on my mid 2013 13" MacBook Air, when I do that, it says "Model Aq466 EMC 2632". That is the information needed.

Model No. A1278

2. What Mac OS were you running before you upgraded? Also, did you just upgrade "in place", ie, have High Sierra basically overwrite what was on your machine already?

Was running Mac OS Sierra and then clicked the upgrade to High OS in the applications updates section.

3. Are you making backups to an external device?

Recent backup using time machine to an external hard drive.

4. How are you making posts here? Is it with another Mac? If so, what exact model?

Using my sons, will just dump info from about mac blurb:
iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011)
AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512 MB
16 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
2.8 GHz Intel Core i7

There is something you can try, but before that, need answers to those questions first.

 

[honestone]

Unfortunately, the A1278 designation is not enough. There should be an "entry" entitled "EMC" right next to that A1278 one. Will need that also.

The reason for this is that just having the A1278 shows all these different MacBook models:

https://everymac.com/ultimate-mac-lookup/?search_keywords=a1278

However, only the first two models on that list say "MacBook". The others say MacBook Pro. If your machine is a MacBook, then we are "out of luck" in terms of the possible solution, as those two MacBook models do not have Firewire 800 ports, which is needed for a "Target Disk Mode" process.

 

[Greg T]

Unfortunately, the A1278 designation is not enough. There should be an "entry" entitled "EMC" right next to that A1278 one. Will need that also.

The reason for this is that just having the A1278 shows all these different MacBook models:

https://everymac.com/ultimate-mac-lookup/?search_keywords=a1278

However, only the first two models on that list say "MacBook". The others say MacBook Pro. If your machine is a MacBook, then we are "out of luck" in terms of the possible solution, as those two MacBook models do not have Firewire 800 ports, which is needed for a "Target Disk Mode" process.

Unfortunately it does not have an EMC number near the hinge. So is the mac completely dead? Could a repair shop fix it? Thanks for replies.

 

[honestone]

No, it's not dead. There are a couple of more possibilities:

1. Try and boot your Mac to the (hidden) Recovery HD partition. This link explains how to do that:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314

If you can do that, you would select the 4th option on the screen that appears, ie, Disk Utility, to verify and repair your internal drive. However, if you have no backup to an external device, this could be risky.

2. Can your soon boot his iMac from the Mavericks USB Flash Drive? If yes, then you should be able to boot your machine from it. What you would need to do is first, while your machine is off, plug in the Flash Drive into one of your USB ports. Then start up your MacBook while holding down the Option key. You will then see a "horizontal" list of bootable devices, and the USB Flash Drive should show up. Select it, and your MacBook will start up from that USB drive, ie, Mavericks.

 

[Greg T]

No, it's not dead. There are a couple of more possibilities:

1. Try and boot your Mac to the (hidden) Recovery HD partition. This link explains how to do that:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314

If you can do that, you would select the 4th option on the screen that appears, ie, Disk Utility, to verify and repair your internal drive. However, if you have no backup to an external device, this could be risky.

2. Can your soon boot his iMac from the Mavericks USB Flash Drive? If yes, then you should be able to boot your machine from it. What you would need to do is first, while your machine is off, plug in the Flash Drive into one of your USB ports. Then start up your MacBook while holding down the Option key. You will then see a "horizontal" list of bootable devices, and the USB Flash Drive should show up. Select it, and your MacBook will start up from that USB drive, ie, Mavericks.

Thank you, will try...

 

[honestone]

Thank you, will try...

Good luck! And let us know how it goes.