Apple Mac has just given up the ghost - help!

[sphil]

DS2 left it on - when I went to switch it off it was frozen. I eventually managed to switch it off by holding the power button down for ages. When I switched it on again I got a sort of camera shaped thing in the middle of the screen with a question mark blinking in it. I switched it off and on again (please don't tell me this is what's buggered it) and now can only get a blank screen. It's also makin a weird kind of ticking/clicking noise.

This computer is DS2's absolute obsession (he's autistic). There will be major trauma tomorrow when I tell him it's broken. He has hundreds of Youtube clips bookmarked which he watches lovingly every day. And I've got all the sites that people on MN have mentioned over the years, all my SN stuff,...it can't be broken, it just bloody can't.

[DrZeus]

Hi
Which model apple mac have you got? I could do a search on the apple site if that would help.
I called customer support last week as my new macbook was switching off intermittently. They got me to do a couple of resets on it which seem to have fixed the issue. Really helpful guy on the phone.
Might be worth a call - Apple (0800 039515 - option 3 then option 3).

[retiredgoth2]

...when you switch it on, does it 'chime' (the 'bong' noise that Wall:E makes!)?

[onager]

I don't have a MAC, but I'd let it cool off in case overheated. See if there is a CD in the drive because if not I'm inclined to think it might be the hard drive making that noise which 'might' mean it's damaged. Some drives are noisy normally though.

[DrZeus]

I just found this on the apple support site from the macbook pro user manual:

If your MacBook Pro freezes during startup, or you see a flashing question mark, or the display is dark and the sleep indicator light is glowing steadily (not in sleep)

The flashing question mark usually means that the computer can?t find the system
software on the hard disk or any disks attached to the computer.

Wait a few seconds. If the computer doesn?t soon start up, shut it down by pressing and holding the power (®) button for about 8 to 10 seconds. Disconnect all external
peripherals and try restarting by pressing the power (®) button while holding down the Option key. When your computer starts up, click the hard disk icon, and then click the right arrow. After the computer starts up, open System Preferences and click Startup Disk. Select a local Mac OS X System folder.

If that doesn?t work, try using Disk Utility to repair the disk:

Insert the Mac OS X Install DVD into your computer.
Restart your computer and hold down the C key as it starts up.
Choose Installer from the menu bar, and then choose Open Disk Utility. When Disk Utility opens, follow the instructions in the First Aid pane to see if Disk Utility can
repair the disk.

If using Disk Utility doesn?t help, you might need to reinstall your computer?s system software. See ?Reinstalling the Software That Came with Your MacBook Pro? on page 62.

HTH

[DrZeus]

Also this:

If your MacBook Pro doesn?t turn on or start up
Try the following suggestions in order until your computer turns on:

Make sure the power adapter is plugged into the computer and into a functioning
power outlet. Be sure to use the 85W MagSafe Power Adapter that came with your
MacBook Pro. If the power adapter stops charging and you don?t see the indicator light on the MagSafe connector turn on when you plug in the power cord, try
unplugging and replugging the power cord to reseat it, or try another power outlet.

Check whether the battery needs to be recharged. Press the small button on the left side of your computer. You should see one to eight lights indicating the battery?s
level of charge. If a single indicator light is on, connect your power adapter to recharge. For more information about battery indicator lights, see page 56.

If the problem persists, reset the MacBook Pro power manager by disconnecting the power adapter, removing the battery, and holding down the power (®) button for at least 5 seconds.

If you recently installed additional memory, make sure that it is correctly installed and is compatible with your computer. See whether removing and reinstalling the old
memory allows the computer to start up (see page 42).

Press the power (®) button and immediately hold down the Command (x), Option, P, and R keys simultaneously until you hear the startup sound a second time to reset
the parameter RAM (PRAM).

If you still can?t start up your MacBook Pro, see ?Learning More, Service, and Support? on page 63 for information about contacting Apple for service.

[spiker]

ohhh dear...hard disk has gone. won't be anything you did (unless it was dropped?) go to apple site for list of people who can (hopefully) fix it.

is it under warranty?

and er, did you have HD backed up? [ducks down in case sphil throws something]

[retiredgoth2]

...to reassure.

Even if HD is broken, then content can almost always be recovered. This happened to one of ours, and all content (including Feral Urchin's precious 'Pimp My Ride' episodes) were recovered....

[spiker]

about recovering data - they will give you a quote to try to restore, but no guarantee. we've always had to restore from b/u.

maybe we have been unlucky but the macbook HDs round here seem to drop like the proverbial.

[sphil]

Thanks everyone. It does chime when you start it up. I tried restarting by pressing the start button and the option key (is that P?) simultaneously and it made a fearsome long beeping noise - but nothing else happened.

I think its probably the HD. It's reassuring to know that we may be able to recover the content - I don't fancy trawling through Youtube to recover every single one of DS2's clips - although it would mean I could avoid rude Fireman Sam .

[sphil]

Dh has just discovered that it's still under extended warranty - yay!

[spiker]

good - hope you get it all back. We are getting a lot of us out of the extended warranties round here!