Chosen Solution
I received an early 2011 MacBook Pro 15" from a guy who wasn’t using it any more. It was pretty slow and seemed to have issues, but I can’t remember exactly what the problem was. My dad and I replaced the hdd to a ssd and upgraded the RAM. We got the parts off of OWC (other world computing), because we had had good experiences with them in the past. I did notice some sticky residue on back panel when we removed it. I cleaned that up as much as I could. Once we put a fresh installation of the highest supported macOS on it, it booted up pretty well and worked fine. Then I tried to run some Minecraft Server software on it. It ran for a while, and then crashed. I have’t been able to boot it on all the way since. I have reset pRAM and something else too I think, but it didn’t work. What should I try next? FYI I am open to trying any repair/teardown of the computer because I have nothing to lose. I have tools from all of my iPhone repairs, but I lack lots of experience in the computer hardware department. Thank you for reading. Feel free to ask questions. The Model # is A1286.
Are you able to boot up in Safe Mode? Restart the system and press Shift (⇧) key, did the system fully boot up? Reference: Mac startup key combinations Let us know!
Here are some methods to try to resolve the problem. Try a different power source. Check your monitor connection. Disconnect your devices. Listen for beeps. Start your PC in safe mode. Restore your computer to previous settings. Check for unresponsive apps. Unplug USB devices. Regards, Will
Also try booting in target disk mode, even if it’s a dGPU issue it should still work, since target disk mode only uses the iGPU
