Alright, I am by no means a computer genius so I need some help!
I was updating my Mac Book Pro's firmware last night and came back to the screen twitching and the bar up top disappearing and reappearing. After attempting to click the bar in the few seconds it appeared to shut the computer down for about 10 minutes, I decided to manually turn it off.

Upon turning it back on, I got the Mac Grey "screen of death."


It tells me to restart the computer... EVERY SINGLE TIME.

I checked Mac Support Online and didn't get much, I called their hot line and they say my 90 free days of phone assistance are over and it will cost $350 to buy technical support and insurance on my MacBook.

Using OSX 10.4.1.

Can anyone please help???

-Steven

 

re do the firmware update? I dont think it went well.

 

maybe contact the genius bar at an apple store?

 

he can't redo the firmware if he can't turn on the computer.

Find your installation CD and stick that in the CD drive, then turn the computer off and turn it back on and press "D" (I think its "D" but it should tell you on the CD anyways) and then try booting up the machine from the CD

 

How is the firmware update done? you don't need to boot into the os do you????

Can't you get the firmware update on something and load it off there?

Not like you should need a working os to change firmware.

 

i 2nd the genius bar... those guys are usually cool.

 

You're computer is kernel panicking. Put in your OS X disc and see if you can somehow do a restore or run a diagnostic without losing your current data. If all else fails, bring it to an apple store and let a genius take a look.

 

Oh, and apple technical support is rated better than every other computer company's support .

 

if you pay for it
ill try the disc, then the mac store for now. thanks guys.

 

it's free for the first year.

 

I'm pretty sure the phone support is only for 90 days, for the rest of the first year you have to send it in and they'll fix it under warranty. I had a display problem and called apple support after it was repaired twice and they said to offer any advice to fix it they'd have to charge me...so I just sent it in instead (I was going to try to talk them into replacing the computer since it had happened twice already)

 

You need to make sure your ram is connected. I had two 512's in my powerbook and one was loose. I connected it and bam, got working again. That might be only if you have two sticks of ram. If all else fails, +1 on the mac genius.

 

btw, have you check the apple forums to see if other people have the same problem?

 

Hold C to startup from CD or DVD.

(PRAM/NVRAM)

Finally, you can perform two system adjustments that help some mysterious problems:

Try to reset your PRAM:

1. Shut down the computer.
2. Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
3. Press the power button to turn the computer on. You will hear the computer’s startup sound.
4. Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
5. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
6. Release the keys.

Also reset the NVRAM (Will not work with an Intel Mac):

First, shut down your computer. Then boot up, and press and hold the Command-Option-O-F keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.

Then, do the following

1. At the Open Firmware prompt, type: reset-nvram
2. Press Return.
3. At the Open Firmware prompt, type: set-defaults
4. Press Return.
5. At the Open Firmware prompt, type: reset-all
6. Press Return.
7. If your computer does not automatically restart, then type: mac-boot

 

Don't worry about it. This is all part of the iLife package

Seriously though, hope your Macbook gets up and running again.