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

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Can't run setup after factory reset

I've inherited my uncles MacBook Pro model a1278 after he died. I had no way of guessing his password so reset it factory settings. I went through the setup process and put in my existing Apple ID and password, it went to the spinning pinwheel at this point and then nothing. After an hour I assumed it had crashed or something so force closed and went through the process again although now it gets as far as "select your keyboard" then gets stuck every time. What do I do now? I'm not a mac user only use iPhone so am a bit stuck. I don't have any recovery disks or anything but the laptop itself. It's a shame to abandon it as it's hardly been used so is in great condition. Cheers in advance!

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In my experience, this is indicative of either a failed hard drive and/or a failed hard drive I/R cable. If @xcesv4c Matts solution allows you to boot but you still have issues, replace the cable first. Use one from the 2012 13" machine even if some mods need to be made. The 2012 is a more substantial cable. If the cable fails it will cause issues with the hard drive and sometimes kill it. After the cable is replace, reformat it and select the "write zeros" option to map out any bad blocks. If the drive still fails, replace with a Seagate SSHD for a speed increase.

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You need an external drive with a version of OS X on it that can be restored to the existing internal drive through internet recovery. Essentially do some browsing around online for a downloadable version of 10.11 OS X or 10.12 macOS.. install it onto a flash drive and from internet recovery, restore that flash drive's data onto the internal laptop drive.

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Cheers I'll give that a go

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Peter barker will be eternally grateful.
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