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Dekema2

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 27, 2012
856
437
WNY or Utica
Okay, I finished watching a football game and got out of control. I threw my laptop against the bed and tried opening it and it froze. Tried restarting and got flashing question mark folder!!! What do I do?!?!?!?!?
 
Last edited:

Dekema2

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 27, 2012
856
437
WNY or Utica
Okay, I finished watching a football game and got out of control. I threw my laptop against the bed and tried opening it and it froze. Tried restarting and got flashing question mark folder!!! What do I do?!?!?!?!?

Please, I'm in dire straits, it was a stupid decision but I really need help.

Right now I booted off of my external hard drive, so unfortunately it seems the SSD is the problem. It isn't showing up in the recovery boot menu, nor is there a Recovery Disk in that menu. I'm getting scared, because as far as I know it seems like I'm in for a world of pain considering I just got this computer. There has to be a way this can be solved.
 

calvol

macrumors 6502a
Feb 3, 2011
995
4
Try all the resets, and see what happens.

Also, it could be the SSD was jarred from its socket, so you may try opening it up, and reseat it, if indeed this happened.
 

Dekema2

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 27, 2012
856
437
WNY or Utica
Try all the resets, and see what happens.

Also, it could be the SSD was jarred from its socket, so you may try opening it up, and reseat it, if indeed this happened.

This is the 2014 rMBP, so isn't it impossible?

I will do everything possible as this would be a tremendous issue, but for now this looks grave!!!!!!!
 

Bending Pixels

macrumors 65816
Jul 22, 2010
1,307
365
If it's a 2014, then make an appointment for the Genius Bar. Simply state the problem (flashing question mark) and see if they can help at no cost.

If they can - great. Then place your rMBP in a safe place when you watch football....
 

Dekema2

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 27, 2012
856
437
WNY or Utica
If it's a 2014, then make an appointment for the Genius Bar. Simply state the problem (flashing question mark) and see if they can help at no cost.

If they can - great. Then place your rMBP in a safe place when you watch football....

As bad as that doesn't sound, could my drive be dead, considering I can't find it? I thought there was no such thing as physical damage to an SSD. I thought it was all from read/write.

Also, as you can see from the attachment, it appears the drive isn't showing up in the startup disk menu which scares me.

So the Genius Bar can check for no cost, only if it's a 2014 right?
 

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blesscheese

macrumors 6502a
Apr 3, 2010
698
178
Central CA
The blinking question mark means it can't find the startup drive, as you have figured out.

The fact you can boot from your backup (a good thing you have a backup!) means your computer itself is ok.

Have you gone to Applications -> Utilities -> Disk Utility, and seen if it recognizes the startup drive?
 

Dekema2

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 27, 2012
856
437
WNY or Utica
The blinking question mark means it can't find the startup drive, as you have figured out.

The fact you can boot from your backup (a good thing you have a backup!) means your computer itself is ok.

Have you gone to Applications -> Utilities -> Disk Utility, and seen if it recognizes the startup drive?

I did, and, unfortunately it didn't show up.

This leads me to 1 of 2 things:

1) The SSD is dead
2) It's disconnected

I hope #1 isn't the case.
 

duffyanneal

macrumors 6502a
Feb 5, 2008
681
108
ATL
Take it to the nearest Apple Store and have them poke around. It sounds like the drive may have become partially unseated. Unless you have the tools and skills to remove the bottom panel I would leave that to Apple.
 

Dekema2

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 27, 2012
856
437
WNY or Utica
Take it to the nearest Apple Store and have them poke around. It sounds like the drive may have become partially unseated. Unless you have the tools and skills to remove the bottom panel I would leave that to Apple.

I'll have to do that on Thanksgiving break. The people I don't want to find out about this is my parents because, surely, they'll rip my head off if I tell them my $1299 computer has an SSD hardware issue.

Fortunately I have this temporary solution going though.
 

Dekema2

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 27, 2012
856
437
WNY or Utica
With how much force did you throw it against your bed? :eek:

I don't think it's possible to unseat the SSD because it's held in with a screw.

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Retina+Display+Mid+2014+SSD+Replacement/27849

ps. Was it the Bills game? I see WNY in your sig.

Man I was waiting for that last question, yes, and I'm also an active member on the Bills forum where people ware p***** off too. Everyone thought this is it but since I'm in the newer generation of Bills fans I got too excited. My thread got 60 replies. It happens but I overreacted.

Okay so as far as force is concerned I threw it against the bed as if it were a trampoline. It's about 4 feet high unfortunately, and it fell into a slit between my desk and the bed edge. I didn't think much about it since it's taken a weird fall before, but when I opened it and it froze that was a red flag. Key word is freeze because that just seems bad to me.
 

MacInTO

macrumors 65816
Apr 25, 2005
1,212
229
Canada, eh!
Man I was waiting for that last question, yes, and I'm also an active member on the Bills forum where people ware p***** off too. Everyone thought this is it but since I'm in the newer generation of Bills fans I got too excited. My thread got 60 replies. It happens but I overreacted.

Okay so as far as force is concerned I threw it against the bed as if it were a trampoline. It's about 4 feet high unfortunately, and it fell into a slit between my desk and the bed edge. I didn't think much about it since it's taken a weird fall before, but when I opened it and it froze that was a red flag. Key word is freeze because that just seems bad to me.
That's tough, 14 points in the fourth quarter.

It's not the fall that hurts, it's the impact. ;)
 

Bending Pixels

macrumors 65816
Jul 22, 2010
1,307
365
So you're aware, Apple changed the types of screws they use to secure the bottom cover of the rMBP, mostly because there's very little that's upgradable on the rMBP.

There's a chance the SSD may have become disconnected. Or it could be something worse (something's broken and Apple may charge for the repair).

Keep in mind that if you wait until the Thanksgiving break, the Apple Store may be busy. If you have a store close to you, take it in to get it checked.

Lastly, face the fact you may need to own up to your parents you were a dipstick and threw a temper tantrum over a football game.
 

Freyqq

macrumors 601
Dec 13, 2004
4,038
181
I'd bet the SSD is just loose inside. It is in a slot in the computer, kind of like how DIMMs of ram work. I bet it just came out of the slot a little. Those SSDs are no more delicate than the motherboard, and that seems to be ok.
 

MacInTO

macrumors 65816
Apr 25, 2005
1,212
229
Canada, eh!
Interesting. It still might be unseated though. It has no moving parts, so they should be tough to break.
I'd be willing to bet something inside broke. If you read the OP's reply to me, it hit the bed, but then slid off. It's not the fall, but the impact that hurts. :eek:
 

triptolemus

macrumors 6502a
Apr 17, 2011
857
1,664
When you're done with the Mac, you might want to look into getting that hypermasculinity under control...

Go Chiefs!
 

poiihy

macrumors 68020
Aug 22, 2014
2,301
62
Nope, Retina MBPs don't have a cable. The SSD mounts directly to a socket on the board.

I thought the SSD sat in some caddy that snapped in under the trackpad; connected by a cable to the board? Or is that in some older rMBPs?
 
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