likely means my 1.5 year old Blackbook hard drive is shot, eh? <br><br>i tried starting up with Disk Warrior but after a few minutes of holding down the C it continues to spin the DW disc, but eventually ends up with a flashing ? in the folder again. the good thing is that i don't use the Macbook for much real work so i am not losing anything if the HD is fried. then again, i had some personal stuff (e.g., photos i hadn't transferred to my Mac Pro; music i'd bought from Amazon.com that i hadn't yet transferred, etc.). <br><br>i'll try hooking up my Macbook to my Mac Pro via firewire target disk mode to see if i can salvage the files i want.<br><br>the Macbook's airport had stopped working consistently this past summer. about 1/2 of the time, it won't find a network even though it's strong on my wife's similar Blackbook. the crummy thing is that my university doesn't have Apple Care so i have to take it to them and they don't have Mac people like the Apple Store. so perhaps they won't be able to fix things and will recommend a new machine. not such a bad thing. <br><br>--<br>[color:red] Kansas Jayhawks -- 2008 National Champions </font color=red>

You could try booting from an external volume.<br><br>HD replacement shouldn't be that difficult.<br><br>Have you tried running the Installer CD?<br><br>[image][/image]

Yeah, HD replacement can't get any easier on those models. Remove the battery, take out 2 screws that hold an L bracket in, slide out the HD.<br><br>------>#1 - JD's Trivia game<br><br>------>#2 - MM-MCF Trivia game

i don't have the installer DVD as the university kept it. they handle all support. (oh just tried OS X disk -- no good)<br><br>target disk mode appeared to be working on the Macbook, but it never showed up on my Mac Pro. however, i stuck in the Disk Warrior DVD into the Macbook and IT showed up on my Mac Pro via the firewire cable. unfortunately when i ejected the DW DVD then whole thing went away in Disk Utility (DU running on my Mac Pro). so it saw an external disk through firewire; just not my Macbook. weird that the Target Disk Mode is appearing on the Macbook but the HD doesn't appear on the Mac Pro. i think it must be fried.<br><br>i have DW in now and holding down the C during start up for the past 12 minutes. screen is grey and blank with an occasional folder and ? (not flashing; just solid for about 30 seconds and then goes away to blank again for a while).<br><br>i'll just take it to the university on Monday and hand it over. <br><br><br>--<br>[color:red] Kansas Jayhawks -- 2008 National Champions </font color=red>

i bet it take the university 2 weeks . . . and they probably won't fix my airport not working (unless that was a symptom of a failing HD).<br><br>--<br>[color:red] Kansas Jayhawks -- 2008 National Champions </font color=red>

<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr><p> i have DW in now and holding down the C during start up for the past 12 minutes. screen is grey and blank with an occasional folder and ? (not flashing; just solid for about 30 seconds and then goes away to blank again for a while).<p><hr></blockquote><p>I've seen that many times on pre-Intel models, in their laptops the HD and optical drive are on the same bus, and when the HD goes many times it doesn't want to boot from a CD/DVD either.<br><br>On the Intel laptops though the HD is SATA, and the optical is ATA. Wonder why it won't boot from the optical. I'll be curious to see if it *is* just the HD.<br><br>------>#1 - JD's Trivia game<br><br>------>#2 - MM-MCF Trivia game

My school-owned PB had its HD die on me a couple of weeks ago. I took it in and got it back within a day. Service with a smile. But we've tamed IT around here. It's very strange.<br><br>[color:red]&#63743;</font color=red> [color:orange]&#63743;</font color=orange> [color:yellow]&#63743;</font color=yellow> [color:green]&#63743;</font color=green> [color:blue]&#63743;</font color=blue> [color:purple]&#63743;</font color=purple>

my IT is too big. we used to have a liaison from IT assigned to our dept. and now you just call a # and get help. most of them aren't Mac people. and to make it worse, my office is in the city (the College of Ed., Business, and Engineering are all on this satellite campus) while the IT unit is on the main campus 12 miles away. so they'll have to schedule someone to come meet with me. they'll inevitably not make the appointment while i am sitting in my office waiting with a computer i can't use. i'll finally give up and schedule a new time and wait again. it's a crummy process. <br><br>my dean is the top finalist to be the president of a community college (via the grapevine) and i am on good terms with her. i think i'll send an email to her assistant who is responsible for allotting new equipment and see if i just can't get a new Macbook. i am supposed to get a new machine every 2 years and this one will be 2 in January. of course, if i get this approval it'll take 3 weeks to get it ordered to my specs and to receive it . . . if i am lucky. <br><br>--<br>[color:red] Kansas Jayhawks -- 2008 National Champions </font color=red>

good point. with the airport going out intermittently as well it might be something like the logic board??? but i am just guessing now that you've explained that. heh. <br><br>--<br>[color:red] Kansas Jayhawks -- 2008 National Champions </font color=red>

I was thinking along the same lines since it won't boot from the optical drive either. There's something more going on.<br><br>