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Early 2011 Model: A1278 / 2.3 GHz i5 or 2.7 GHz i7 processor

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Mac boots up to grey screen... and nothing I do makes things better.

So, the bloody grey screen. no Apple logo!

Now I thought it was either the HDD or the infamous cable. Without doing anything, the folder and question mark icon starts flashing after a long pause on the grey screen upon startup, then auto shuts down after awhile.

If I remove the HDD, then I get a forbidden icon… again, it auto shuts down after awhile.

I created a Mojave USB installer without realizing this 13” MacBook Pro (early 2011) isn’t supported and managed to get it to boot a couple times, after holding on the the button for a loooooooog time.

In Disk Utility, it didn’t detect the old HDD, I put in a WD HDD I had lying around, and it showed up! So I was really, really hoping it would be the HDD.

Went to get a Lexor SSD and put it in. Managed to get the USB drive to boot up, and got as far as formatting the SSD in preparation for Mojave install. Then I got some kind of error msg (i forgot what, something like install file is corrupted) just when I clicked to install Mojave to the SSD and from then on, even the USB drive has refused to boot.

Even if its a faulty hdd cable, the USB installer should still be able to boot right? What gives?! I am really really stumped!

Disclaimer; this MBP belongs to my friend; I’m just trying to help fix it. Seems like all I’ve done is make it worse :(

So please, revered Gods of iFixit. Help me to fix this!

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You have a Trifecta of issues here!

  • Trying to run to new a macOS that Apple does not support natively
  • Using an expired OS installer
  • Need a new HD SATA cable

#1 - You should not try running the wrong OS on your system. There are elements within your system that will encounter issues. Stick with either Sierra or High Sierra. Frankly I only recommend Sierra on these older SATA based MacBook Pro’s. High Sierra introduces APFS which has issues on SATA based systems.

#2 - ‘‘‘Apple made a big blunder! And you fell into it!’’’ If you've got an old macOS install image, it will probably stop working today. Here’s the updated image files:

Jump to Step 4 to get to the file link. Create a new OS installer USB Thumb drive following this guide:

#3 - A very common issue in the Unibody series is the cable chaffing rubbing on the rough aluminum uppercase. In addition, mis-handling of it can also damage it! So the first step is to get the better cable MacBook Pro 13" Unibody (Mid 2012) Hard Drive Cable this one is rated for SATA III drives. The next thing is to help protect it by placing a strip of electricians tape on the uppercase where the cable crosses over Your Hard Drive Cable Is A Ticking Time Bomb. The next issue is the bends! Most people crease the cable folding it and rubbing the edge so the cable has a nice crisp edge - Wrong! Wrong! All you’re doing is damaging the thin foil wires inside the sandwich of the cable. What you want is a nice arc! I use a BIC pen ink straw as my form forming the bend around it No sharp bends!

So there is your Trifecta! Each needs to be fixed.

If you really want to run Mojave on your system you need to first get your system working with Sierra first then look at DosDude1 patcher. While its a fun thing to try, I don’t recommend trying to run a business on it! You’ll need to boost the system RAM to no less than 12 GB.

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MacBook Pro 13" Unibody (Mid 2012) Hard Drive Cable

$34.99

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All these time, i had forgotten that Mojave wasnt natively supported, and that the installer i had was Dosdude patched. But becaused it booted into the installer before, there was no reason why it couldnt again right? I assumed it would; it just wouldnt let me install Mojave!

I was beginning to think it was something else. i actually pulled out the SSD and plonked it into an enclosure and tried to install Mojave into it from my Retina MBP. And then putting it into the Unibody. Didnt work obviously.

Then i formatted my USB stick and tried a clean install of Mojave. (i think at this time i havent realized that the older one was Dosdude patched or Mojave isnt supported lol. Both gave me the prohibited sign.

Nothing worked, so i went to bed flummoxed. 1st think i did when i woke up, i made a High Sierra USB installer. Wasn't expecting anything really, but the apple logo popped up, Boy was i elated or what!

BAM. All's good now.

So i guess the next time it fails. It would really be the cable lol

Thank you :)

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I can’t really figure how you managed to go through “installing” Mojave on that Mac, it should just show the forbidden access side at boot..did you try a modified installer ?

First thing I’d suggest is to forget Mojave for the time being and try a Sierra or High Sierra bootable pen drive. Before installing, open up the terminal in the Utilities screen and run the Set Date command to take back the clock to let’s say 2017 and turn Wifi off, that should prevent the corrupted install file.

If you’re planning to put an Ssd you’ll have to change the HD and replace it with that of 2012 model. Avoid formatting the Ssd with APFS, little to gain and potential problems ahead, so stick with Mac Os extended.

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lol U don’t need to figure out how. Coz i didn’t. Yea it must have been a modified installer. As mentioned, i got an error when i tried to install, after formatting the SSD to MacOS Extended/Guid Partition.

After this i cant even boot into the USB installer as well. So strange. Flummoxed, I even tried a clean USB Mojave installer but this time. i keep getting the prohibited sign.

I tired to install an external copy of Mojave still wasnt aware its not supported on the SSD as an external drive and tried booting from there; cant lol.

Ok yea in the end, the clean High Sierra USB installer worked lol.


What i couldnt get was, why wasnt the system able to boot into the clean Mojave installer? I would expect it to boot into the menu and den tells me i can’t install because its not supported…. instead of kee giving me the prohibited sign @ grey screen. i thought it was something else @ play.

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