Apple Hardware Diagnostics
Rocki Eibl
I am using a mid 2007, 20" iMac running the most recent software and all my updates are installed. I think I have a video issue and wanted to run apple hardware test, but it won't start up. I have restarted more than a dozen times pressing the "D" key each time, but the test will not start... it just runs through a normal startup leading to the login screen. Any thoughts as to why I can't run it or what I can do to get it going.
ACTUALLY you CAN download it from somewhere and just run it off a USB drive, have a search on github (user upekkha has compiled all the info you need on there) and follow the instructions - make sure you get the right version if AHT for your machine. I ran off a USB drive for a 2008 MBP Unibody no probs (except the extended test took nearly 3 hours!).
AHT resides on the original install discs that shipped with the computer, specifically disc #2. If you don't have yours any longer then contact AppleCare and for a small fee they may be able to replace yours. You will need the serial number and a credit card, oh and no you cannot download it from somewhere.
The way the system launched did change. The progress bar under the apple logo paused and went away (just a gray screen, no logo) about 1/3 of the way through, then it came back on at about the halfway mark on the progress bar and finished loading.
Two Three things come to mind: One, that isn't the right dmg from GitHub. The other is I forgot to tell you that you need to change the permissions on .diagnostics. And the third, and maybe most important, is that it may be that D key booting isn't supported on a 2007. Sorry about all that.
If you don't have the original discs, you can try opening that dmg from GitHub directly. But I don't think that will work, since it needs a few other steps, including a Disk Utility Restore and a sudo bless, which I've never been able to figure out correctly for those dmgs from GitHub.
Just a clarification. Didn't meant that you could run the hardware test directly from the dmg. A dmg isn't bootable. What I meant was that in order to put it on a disc or a flash drive, you need to use Disk Utility Restore and then properly bless it to get to be able to boot. I've never had any luck with those dmgs from GitHub for that. But I am fairly certain that if your computer does D key booting, they can be used for that, in the way I already outlined.
From what I can tell, my computer should support D key booting. However, I never was able to get it to boot on the hard drive. I did finally find a 2007 mac install bundle (it never said whether it was for iMac or not). I checked the files on it and it had several versions of the .diagnostic AHT files.. including the one you sent me the link for. I set my startup disc to the CD drive, restarted holding the D key and AHT booted. I ran it and it gave me an error code (which I suspected there was something wrong). Now to follow up and see what's going on.
I too, tried you suggestion. I did the permission change from the recovery sector using Terminal. I could not get pacifist to install it, so I just dragged it over from the dmg. But alas, it will not work.
I've since installed a new SSD and aftermarket RAM. The computer appears to be functioning normally (I'm typing this post on it), but I'd like to run the full hardware test to verify everything is OK.
But I can't seem to get it to load into the hardware test. I've tried holding down D before pressing the power button on as well as right before the grey screen comes up. I'm confused because I've done this before without any problems.
Same thing here (similar model MBP, same mods). Learned that Option+D does the trick. However, if you get what I see, the AHT fires up and then says that it doesn't support this model of machine. No funny business, it's an Apple MBP (no hackintosh here), but I added a OCZ Vertex 3 and I've tried pre-8GB RAM kit (stock) and post, no difference.
Additional Information
Apple Hardware Test is included on the DVDs that are shipped with some Macintosh computers. If the copy on your hard drive becomes unavailable, use the DVDs to run Apple Hardware Test.
Had the same problem listed here on my iMac Pro, and it turns out that if you have a firmware password set, then the hardware diagnostics system won't work at all, and there is no indication of this, but a nice fellow named Felix from Apple was able to suss that out with me.
To disable firmware password or check its status, you need to restart the system while holding down Cmd+R. Note: If a firmware password is set, a screen will show and ask you to input the password. Once you do that, you're greeted with various options like Disk Utility or Install macOS. Ignore them and follow the instructions below:
The Apple KB article is inaccurate. After many unsuccessful attempts to launch the Apple Hardware Test on my MacBook Pro Early 2011 15",I discovered you need to hold Command + D during startup, not just D.
I ran into similar situation with my mid 2011 mac-mini (with non mac keyboard/mouse & aftermarket updated RAM). After pressing 'D' at startup it searches for internet, eventually asking to select wi-fi connection (no available connections displayed though). There's an option to specify wi-fi access point name & password but for me after putting the credentials the wait icon just kept revolving.Thankfully, I got it working using the ethernet cable.
I've had a similar problem whilst trying to run tests on a second hand Mac mini (Late 2014). I tried holding D, alt-D, cmd-D, cmd-R, alt-cmd-R, and two different wired keyboards, but each time the machine would just boot to the normal login screen.
Perhaps here, the SMC was holding onto network information from the previous owner and getting thrown by the different network environment in my house until it was reset. Disappointing there were no error messages if that is the case.
Mid 2012 MBP here. Just bought it and wanted to run AHT. Tried D, CMD D and OPT D, all bring same thing: "Internet Recovery". I have ethernet cable plugged in but it ignores that and wants wifi password (grr). I enter wifi password, then it connects but bugs out with black screen error:
I just bought a used Macbook Pro from a reputable seller who was very decent, the machine is in good condition and he upgraded the ram for me with Crucial ram (2 x 8GB). Its a mid 2012 MBP 15" i7 with 2TB SSD (Toshiba).
Can I conclude I have TWO sticks of bad RAM?! Seems very unlikely to me, and I know AHT can be a bit flakey at times (so i heard anyway) but I only have a week to return this machine if I want to so I need to decide how best to proceed, hoping someone can give me some ideas to prove one way or the other.
Just because Crucial memory is being used doesn't mean the memory is Mac compatible. Macs are very picky about the memory used and these Crucial sticks could have other timings that are incompatible with the Mac (I've personally seen this many years ago). Years ago Crucial would actually label the Mac compatible memory as "For Macs" on the label on each stick, but they stopped doing this a few years ago. The only way to know whether the memory is compatible with a Mac would be to take pictures of the RAM and contact Crucial tech support to verify compatibility.
I agree with @MrHoffman that you should probably return the laptop and have the seller fix the issue for you. Although will you be able to trust that everything is working Ok even if the issue is straightened out? Sometimes it takes a while for issues to be appear or to be noticed.
Ha, thanks. Good advice I am sure, and I may well do that. But I would like to keep going as I won't get a machine with same spec for a long while and I desperately need to get working. I suspec the machine is actually fine, just need to prove that. If I can't, it goes back. But with a a 2TB SSD, its exactly what I need, and I only want the 2012 model with ethernet port etc. Thanks
I contacted a friend today who rebuilds macs and is pretty good with the hardware side of things. He mentioned that these macs are only designed to support 8GB of RAM, not 16. Whilst they run on 16, he said maybe the AHT is only expecting to see a mac of 2 x 4GB cards, and hence the problems.
I agree that I may have ended them prematurely, but that doesn't explain the short (3 minute) test hanging/taking so long. I left one running for an hour yesterday after the clock stopped (apparently frozen) after just 22 seconds. In fact that happened twice in a row, on the short test. That definitely should not happen, and never has in any other mac i have run it on. In fact the short test is so fast usually that I don't trust it so I always go on to run the extended test!
Memtest has been around for a long time, and there are many different versions posted online. Look a little harder, and you may find information for a free version that can be used to create a stand-alone bootable test for MacOS directly.
... but rather than beat your head against rock, what spec (especially SPEED) are the RAM DIMMs in the machine? If they are faster than the spec for the MacBook Pro, they will be flaky, and fail from twice a day to 10 times a week.
c80f0f1006