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Mid 2012 Macbook Pro doesn't progress beyond apple logo and progress bar. Also resolution is low on startup screen. Sometimes screen goes blank.

I have been troubleshooting this Macbook Pro. It looks to be a Macbook Pro 15" Mid 2012. I have the same model. I have upgraded the internal drive with an SSD running Mac OS 10.10 Yosemite. I have purposely gone back to the OS it had on it originally. The only thing it seems to be able to do is show the bootable USB and the internal SSD when the Option key is pressed down. I have done everything humanly possible to this machine except upgrade the battery which is dead and has to be run off the power. It won't boot into recovery mode, or safe mode - gives a Blue screen of death mac style. I have reset the SMC. When I found this laptop it did have mould on it and maybe there was moisture inside. Sometimes the screen goes blank. I know the drive is working because I created it on my Macbook Pro Mid 2012 and it booted from the drive.


Sam

Posted on Feb 11, 2023 2:50 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 12, 2023 11:48 AM

Use your working laptop and install macOS to the new SSD while it is connected externally. Test boot the new SSD externally on your working laptop to verify everything is Ok. You could in theory remove your own drive and connect it externally to the non-working laptop and attempt to boot the non-working laptop with your drive connected externally, but this may pose some risk to your drive if the non-working laptop is damaged which is why I suggested doing this with the new SSD instead.


If the non-working laptop is able to boot a full macOS drive externally, then you can install the drive internally to see what happens. If the drive does not work when installed internally, then maybe the internal hard drive SATA Cable is loose or bad...if using the new SSD, then perhaps the new SSD is not compatible with this laptop when used internally.


You can connect the new SSD externally using a USB to SATA Adapter, drive dock, or enclosure.


You can create and use a macOS USB installer in order to install macOS....if the non-working laptop never had macOS 10.11 or 10.13 installed, then you may instead need to use one these operating systems instead of a later OS until the system firmware of the non-working laptop is updated.

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support


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5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 12, 2023 11:48 AM in response to CyberSam65

Use your working laptop and install macOS to the new SSD while it is connected externally. Test boot the new SSD externally on your working laptop to verify everything is Ok. You could in theory remove your own drive and connect it externally to the non-working laptop and attempt to boot the non-working laptop with your drive connected externally, but this may pose some risk to your drive if the non-working laptop is damaged which is why I suggested doing this with the new SSD instead.


If the non-working laptop is able to boot a full macOS drive externally, then you can install the drive internally to see what happens. If the drive does not work when installed internally, then maybe the internal hard drive SATA Cable is loose or bad...if using the new SSD, then perhaps the new SSD is not compatible with this laptop when used internally.


You can connect the new SSD externally using a USB to SATA Adapter, drive dock, or enclosure.


You can create and use a macOS USB installer in order to install macOS....if the non-working laptop never had macOS 10.11 or 10.13 installed, then you may instead need to use one these operating systems instead of a later OS until the system firmware of the non-working laptop is updated.

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support


Feb 11, 2023 3:05 AM in response to CyberSam65

CyberSam65 wrote:

I have been troubleshooting this Macbook Pro. It looks to be a Macbook Pro 15" Mid 2012. I have the same model. I have upgraded the internal drive with an SSD running Mac OS 10.10 Yosemite.

I have purposely gone back to the OS it had on it originally. The only thing it seems to be able to do is show the bootable USB and the internal SSD when the Option key is pressed down.

I have done everything humanly possible to this machine except upgrade the battery which is dead and has to be run off the power. It won't boot into recovery mode, or safe mode - gives a Blue screen of death mac style. I have reset the SMC.

When I found this laptop it did have mould on it and maybe there was moisture inside. Sometimes the screen goes blank.

I know the drive is working because I created it on my Macbook Pro Mid 2012 and it booted from the drive.

Sam


A found Mac...(?)


Apple Recycling Programs


Apple Free Recycling





If your Mac starts up to an Apple logo or progress bar

If your Mac starts up to an Apple logo or progress bar - Apple Support




If your Mac doesn't start up all the way

If your Mac doesn't start up all the way - Apple Support




Feb 11, 2023 10:24 PM in response to leroydouglas

My friend was throwing it out and I just had to try and fix it. I might use some of the parts that still work on my laptop. My screen has a crack in it and I may use the screen. Also, my trackpad is annoying and isn't that responsive. Then I can recycle the rest of it. Thanks for the tip on recycling, this may turn out to be the best option in the long run.

Feb 12, 2023 12:24 PM in response to HWTech

Thanks I have done most of these. I created the ssd on my laptop. I had to use terminal to create the Yosemite boot disk as I have Catalina working on mine. I also have high sierra in an iMac. I tried that on the drive as well. I bought SATA to

USB cable best investment. I tried my drive on it externally as I didn’t want to put it into the computer in case it did something to the drive. My computer is the same model. The ssd I made did boot externally on my computer but I could try it internally. I initially I thought maybe a bad internal SATA cable could be the issue. That could be the next thing I try. Thanks for the detail. It’s good to know that I was doing all the right things.

Mid 2012 Macbook Pro doesn't progress beyond apple logo and progress bar. Also resolution is low on startup screen. Sometimes screen goes blank.

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