Disk repair problems

19nffc97 · Aug 25, 2014

Hi all,

I have a macbook pro mid 2012 running mavericks with a windows partition via bootcamp. Yesterday my Mac froze forcing me to turn it off by holding down the on/off button. When I turned it back on a flashing folder appeared with a ? on it. On investigating a little I understand that my Mac cannot find the neccessary files needed to boot up and I will need to repair my hard drive.

I have booted the Mac whilst holding cmd and r and eventually got to mac utilities after connecting to the Internet. Here I have 4 options;

-restore from time machine back up
-reinstall Mac osx
-get help online
-disk utility

I select disk utility and the only thing that is displayed in the left hand pane is disk0- Mac osx base system. If I select base system all options under first aid, erase and restore are frayed out so I cant do anything.

If I go back to reinstall Mac osx I follow the instructions until I get to 'select the disk where you want to install Mac osx' there is nothing displayed just an empty box.

Does this mean that my Mac is beyond repair? If is it reasonable to assume that it can be fixed by replacing the hard drive or could the symptoms be indicitive of a different fault? I back up all my important data to an external disk drive so don't need to worry about saving any data.

snaky69 · Aug 25, 2014

19nffc97 said:
Hi all,

I have a macbook pro mid 2012 running mavericks with a windows partition via bootcamp. Yesterday my Mac froze forcing me to turn it off by holding down the on/off button. When I turned it back on a flashing folder appeared with a ? on it. On investigating a little I understand that my Mac cannot find the neccessary files needed to boot up and I will need to repair my hard drive.

I have booted the Mac whilst holding cmd and r and eventually got to mac utilities after connecting to the Internet. Here I have 4 options;

-restore from time machine back up
-reinstall Mac osx
-get help online
-disk utility

I select disk utility and the only thing that is displayed in the left hand pane is disk0- Mac osx base system. If I select base system all options under first aid, erase and restore are frayed out so I cant do anything.

If I go back to reinstall Mac osx I follow the instructions until I get to 'select the disk where you want to install Mac osx' there is nothing displayed just an empty box.

Does this mean that my Mac is beyond repair? If is it reasonable to assume that it can be fixed by replacing the hard drive or could the symptoms be indicitive of a different fault? I back up all my important data to an external disk drive so don't need to worry about saving any data.

I'd try and format the drive in disk utility and reinstalling. Be wary of that hard drive from then on.

Weaselboy · Aug 25, 2014

19nffc97 said:
I select disk utility and the only thing that is displayed in the left hand pane is disk0- Mac osx base system. If I select base system all options under first aid, erase and restore are frayed out so I cant do anything.

That just screams bad hard drive right there. Much less likely, but it could also be a bad drive cable

19nffc97 · Aug 25, 2014

snaky69 said:
I'd try and format the drive in disk utility and reinstalling. Be wary of that hard drive from then on.

That's the problem, there's nothing there to format and if I go on the base system its all grayed out.

----------

Weaselboy said:
That just screams bad hard drive right there. Much less likely, but it could also be a bad drive cable

Thanks for the answer, ill try a new hard drive.

Macman45 · Aug 25, 2014

Sounds very much like a dead HDD. Even if you do manage to format it again, I'd change it for a new one. If you have AppleCare it should still be covered under warranty. If not, it's a pretty easy job. Step by step videos here:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+15-Inch+Unibody+Mid+2012+Hard+Drive+Replacement/10761

19nffc97 · Aug 25, 2014

Thanks very much, I'm happy to install a new hard drive but which one should I be ordering? When I look up my technical specs online it says the hard drive size but no brand or model.

Weaselboy · Aug 25, 2014

19nffc97 said:
Thanks very much, I'm happy to install a new hard drive but which one should I be ordering? When I look up my technical specs online it says the hard drive size but no brand or model.

That uses a standard 2.5" laptop SATA drive like this. Just get whatever size you want.

19nffc97 · Aug 25, 2014

Thanks very much for your help gents

19nffc97 · Aug 29, 2014

I have fitted a new hard drive yo my machine and powered up by pressing cmd r. When I get to disk utility in the left hand pane I can see the drive right at the top above Mac osx base system and superdrive. I highlight it and in the description at the bottom the info is as follows:

Disk description- ST640LMN001 HN-M640MBB media
connection bus- SATA
connection type- internal
Capacity- 640 gb
Write status- read write
SMART Status- verified
Partition map schene- unformatted

So it obviously recognises the drive now. I then go to the RAID tab, name the drive, Mac osx extended (journalled), and choose mirrored/ striped raid set. I drag and drop the new drive into the empty space where it says new member: "disk0" but create remains greyed out.

I'm getting closer but what am I doing wrong now?

MCAsan · Aug 29, 2014

Why going to RAID tab? Setting up a single drive does not use the RAID features. did I miss something?

If you had a bootable OS stick I would suggest booting from it and use it to format and install OS from scratch.

Weaselboy · Aug 29, 2014

19nffc97 said:
I have fitted a new hard drive yo my machine and powered up by pressing cmd r.

Assuming your Time Machine backup was current and was made to a local USB attached disk, here is the easiest way to get back up and running.

Shut down the Mac then attach the TM disk and hold the option key as you boot. You will get a boot selection screen. From there pick the TM USB disk as the boot source. That will get you to a screen like this.

Now launch Disk Utility and go to the erase tab then select your disk in the left column. Now pick Mac OS Extended (Journaled) in the drop down list then apply the change. Now quit Disk Utility then click restore and wait while the TM backup puts the OS and all your data and apps back on the new disk.

When it finishes go ahead and restart then go to System Prefs and in the Startup Disk pane select the new drive as your startup disk and you will be all set.

Post up here if you get stuck.

snaky69 · Aug 29, 2014

19nffc97 said:
I have fitted a new hard drive yo my machine and powered up by pressing cmd r. When I get to disk utility in the left hand pane I can see the drive right at the top above Mac osx base system and superdrive. I highlight it and in the description at the bottom the info is as follows:

Disk description- ST640LMN001 HN-M640MBB media
connection bus- SATA
connection type- internal
Capacity- 640 gb
Write status- read write
SMART Status- verified
Partition map schene- unformatted

So it obviously recognises the drive now. I then go to the RAID tab, name the drive, Mac osx extended (journalled), and choose mirrored/ striped raid set. I drag and drop the new drive into the empty space where it says new member: "disk0" but create remains greyed out.

I'm getting closer but what am I doing wrong now?

You cannot RAID a single drive.

You need to go to the "Erase" tab.

19nffc97 · Sep 3, 2014

As you can probably tell I'm no expert with computers. I went to the RAID tab because it was the only one not greyed out apart from the erase option.

I selected erase and managed to reinstall Mavericks and get my laptop back up and running. The problem is now that I got a message that says I have no recovery partition on my HDD. I also tried to create a windows partition via bootcamp but it wouldn't let me do this either.

Have I installed the HDD incorrectly or is this to be expected?

Weaselboy · Sep 3, 2014

19nffc97 said:
As you can probably tell I'm no expert with computers. I went to the RAID tab because it was the only one not greyed out apart from the erase option.

I selected erase and managed to reinstall Mavericks and get my laptop back up and running. The problem is now that I got a message that says I have no recovery partition on my HDD. I also tried to create a windows partition via bootcamp but it wouldn't let me do this either.

Have I installed the HDD incorrectly or is this to be expected?

How did you install Mavericks that you ended up with no recovery partition? A default install will make one.

19nffc97 · Sep 3, 2014

Weaselboy said:
How did you install Mavericks that you ended up with no recovery partition? A default install will make one.

Just to clarify the Mac was preinstalled with Lion not Mavericks, I had to redownload to get my system back as it was.

I think I might of messed it up. If I hold cmd r on startup it goes straight to internet recovery.

Disk utility says that there is a Mac HDD and listed above is a 'RAID slice for Mac HDD'. I'm assuming after what you guys have said that shouldn't be there.

I'm also assuming that's why I can't install windows as the message when I go into bootcamp setup is 'You cannot partition an external disk, a RAID disk or an internal disk on which FileVault encryption is in progress'.

Is a re-install on the cards?

Weaselboy · Sep 3, 2014

19nffc97 said:
Just to clarify the Mac was preinstalled with Lion not Mavericks, I had to redownload to get my system back as it was.

I think I might of messed it up. If I hold cmd r on startup it goes straight to internet recovery.

Disk utility says that there is a Mac HDD and listed above is a 'RAID slice for Mac HDD'. I'm assuming after what you guys have said that shouldn't be there.

I'm also assuming that's why I can't install windows as the message when I go into bootcamp setup is 'You cannot partition an external disk, a RAID disk or an internal disk on which FileVault encryption is in progress'.

Is a re-install on the cards?

Sounds like you got sideways when formatting in Disk Utility.

So you are on Mavericks now? Redownload Mavericks from the App Store then stop the install when it launches and use this free app and a 8GB USB key to make a Mavericks installer.

Then option key boot to the installer. When the recovery screen comes up start Disk Utility then select the disk itself at the very top of the left column. Then go to the erase screen and select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) in the drop down then apple the change.

Now quit Disk Util and click reinstall OS X. This will give you a clean install of nothing but the OS on there. Of course this will erase all your data.

19nffc97 · Sep 3, 2014

Weaselboy said:
Sounds like you got sideways when formatting in Disk Utility.

So you are on Mavericks now? Redownload Mavericks from the App Store then stop the install when it launches and use this free app and a 8GB USB key to make a Mavericks installer.

Then option key boot to the installer. When the recovery screen comes up start Disk Utility then select the disk itself at the very top of the left column. Then go to the erase screen and select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) in the drop down then apple the change.

Now quit Disk Util and click reinstall OS X. This will give you a clean install of nothing but the OS on there. Of course this will erase all your data.

Just followed your instructions and checked in disk utility and it now looks as though my mac is back to its old self. I really appreciate the time you've spent helping me out, your instructions were really easy to follow for a novice like me.

Weaselboy · Sep 3, 2014

19nffc97 said:
Just followed your instructions and checked in disk utility and it now looks as though my mac is back to its old self. I really appreciate the time you've spent helping me out, your instructions were really easy to follow for a novice like me.

Glad it worked out. This can all be very confusing.

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