Comment 2 for bug 774089

Revision history for this message
Jonathan Austin (mailforwho) wrote :

I can confirm that I have the same problem. Here's some more information

Macbook Pro 5,5. 8GB RAM. 2.26Ghz

1. Using Ubuntu amd64 11.04 desktop ISO, installing alongside OS X but having chosen to MANUALLY specify partitions.
2. I installed GRUB on to /dev/sda (which was an error, really - had I been concentrating harder then I'd have chosen /dev/sda4 which Ubuntu was on...)
3. On first reboot, the power light flashed fast, multiple times and then there was a long beep. Black screen only
4. On second boot, the power light turned on and stayed lit, but nothing at all happend
5. Eventually, the computer booted properly (!) - I presume this is a low-level apple safeguard?

What makes this serious, in my opinion is that the problem seems NOT to be confined to the disk:

Here are debug notes:

 * Conveniently I had just swapped out an old hard disk. (hours earlier, it wasn't erased). When returning this known-good hard disk to the system the problem described in (3) above was still visible

 * When I went to the Apple Store today they could not launch their diagnostic utility by holding one of N, M or B, I couldn't see... Basically the Mac guy was rather surprised by this

 * PRAM reset, while impossible in the conventional way because the boot firmware doesn't seem to work properly, can be done by unplugging the battery and holding power button (not recommended) DOES NOT fix the problem

 * I completely re-partitioned the disk and rei-installed Mac OS. This did not fix the problem

 * I could not make one of Apple Firmware restore CDs (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2213) work (this COULD be because I could not find one appropriate for Macbook 5,5). I did not persevere as far with this as I might have liked because I had a genius bar appointment and ran out of debugging time and 'the internet' told me Apple Stores could easily restore firmware

 * Apple Store 'Genius' concluded after 35 mins of debug that I needed a new logicboard. Luckily I am under warranty, but had I not been this might have been very expensive. I presume that, while this WILL probably fix the system, it is overkill - that said, if someone whose computer isn't under warranty experiences this they may be told they need to pay for this repair.

This computer previously had 9.04 and 9.10 on it without issue.