12" PB, optical drive dead, flashing ?, FW mode not working

[Pinstripes]

My 12" PB is on the fritz again. The optical drive died a while back and I was able to use FWTDM to reinstall, etc, etc.

I just got the flashing ? again now, but I can't reinstall because FWTDM is not working. When I restart holding down T all I get is a blank screen. How can I get around this? I don't have to go a' cutting, do I?

 

[Mars478]

Try resetting the NVRAM,

+opt+o+f

and type "reset-nvram" No quotes and then type exit and reboot.

Also try resetting PRAM and SMC if it has it.

 

[bizzle]

It's possible the hard drive is bad, or the volume is bad. Depending on what you're connecting the unit to in target disk mode, if the volume has issues it will not mount or show up at all. Leopard has a tendency to ignore volumes with certain issues. If the drive itself is bad, you'll have the same problem no matter what. If you have a firmware hard drive, install OSX to it from another machine, boot the machine in question and run SMART Utility and see your result.

 

[Pinstripes]

Thanks for the advice, but ... reset that and the PRAM but it's still not working. Now it just boots to a gray screen and nothing else. FWTDM still doesn't work. :?:

 

[Pinstripes]

Maybe I'll get my screwdrivers out and perform a little surgery