Finder unresponsive (rMBP 2014)

[elcc]

Hello,

I use a MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014) and have never encountered any issues before. (macOS 10.15.7)

But last night, right after startup Finder became unresponsive and continued to remain unresponsive after each forced reboot. Laptop would work for like 15 seconds before the spinning wheel showed up, and then the screen froze with all the files/folders gone on my desktop. The apps on my dock remained there, although I could only hover over them, clicking it didn't work.

I have already tried resetting SMC, PRAM, relaunch Finder and nothing worked. I even went to macOS Recovery and tried erasing Macintosh HD in disk utility but the drive wasn't in the list (even after clicking 'show all decides). Reinstalling MacOS wasn't possible either as there no disk to choose from.
Strange thing was that my internal drive was visible in About this Mac > Storage.

Today I used an external hard disk to have macOS installed via macOS Recovery and currently the laptop works. No spinning wheel or empty desktop, so Finder seems to work.

I don't have much/extensive Mac knowledge as a female user but through research, I think it might be a failed internal hard drive (SSD)? I also did see people mention something about the SATA cable (which is the hard drive cable I think) being broken?

If anyone knows what the issue may be, I'll be forever grateful!

 

[barbu]

Definitely sounds like a pooched SSD. The guide for replacing the SSD blade is here. It’s a pretty easy DIY fix *if* you have a little courage - and the right screwdriver bits (pentalobe).
OWC should have the correct SSD, I’d start there.
Or spend more and pay someone to do it

 

[Audit13]

If you are replacing the SSD, use an NVMe drive.

Good information here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/upgrading-2013-2014-macbook-pro-ssd-to-m-2-nvme.2034976/

 

[elcc]

Definitely sounds like a pooched SSD. The guide for replacing the SSD blade is here. It’s a pretty easy DIY fix *if* you have a little courage - and the right screwdriver bits (pentalobe).
OWC should have the correct SSD, I’d start there.
Or spend more and pay someone to do it

Thank you for your help! Would you mind explaining what a pooched SSD means? Another word for broken? (Sorry if this sounds dumb haha)

 

[elcc]

If you are replacing the SSD, use an NVMe drive.

Good information here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/upgrading-2013-2014-macbook-pro-ssd-to-m-2-nvme.2034976/

Thanks for the tip! I was thinking of buying ones like the Transcend Jetdrive or OWC as they look easier but I’ll definitely look into the link you provided 😊

 

[Audit13]

Thanks for the tip! I was thinking of buying ones like the Transcend Jetdrive or OWC as they look easier but I’ll definitely look into the link you provided 😊

Personally, I would not use either of those for the following reasons:

1) you can easily re-purpose the NVMe drive in an external enclosure or Windows computer;

2) performance of an NVMe drive will be as good or superior to the Transcend or OWC;

3) Transcend and OWC are overpriced for the performance they provide; and

4) OWC and Transcend drives are simply NVMe drives with a proprietary Apple connecter that is permanently attached.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Do you have a USB3 external drive around?
It can be a platter-based hard drive, or it can be an SSD.
Doesn't matter.

If so, you could create an EXTERNAL boot drive, and get the MBP booting again.

More thoughts.
If you boot to "the recovery partition" you CANNOT erase the internal drive.

To do this, you must boot to INTERNET RECOVERY.
This is completely different from "the recovery partition".

Try this:
a. power down all the way off
b. press the power on button and hold down:
Command-OPTION-R
c. you'll need your wifi password and the utilities will take a while to load, so be patient

When you get to the internet utilities, NOW open disk utility and choose "show all devices" from the view menu.
Can you see the internal drive now?

If so, you can erase it to APFS and try an OS install again.

WARNING WARNING WARNING
If you aren't backed up, you'll LOSE all data when you do this.

In that case, it might be worth trying to create an EXTERNAL boot volume (as I mentioned above).
If you can boot externally, you may be able to mount the internal drive and "get stuff OFF OF it".
Then you can erase it and start over.

 

[barbu]

Thank you for your help! Would you mind explaining what a pooched SSD means? Another word for broken? (Sorry if this sounds dumb haha)

You got it, pooched, broken, failed, released the magic smoke, fried, etc.
That’s my assumption based on your description.

 

[elcc]

OP:

Do you have a USB3 external drive around?
It can be a platter-based hard drive, or it can be an SSD.
Doesn't matter.

If so, you could create an EXTERNAL boot drive, and get the MBP booting again.

More thoughts.
If you boot to "the recovery partition" you CANNOT erase the internal drive.

To do this, you must boot to INTERNET RECOVERY.
This is completely different from "the recovery partition".

Try this:
a. power down all the way off
b. press the power on button and hold down:
Command-OPTION-R
c. you'll need your wifi password and the utilities will take a while to load, so be patient

When you get to the internet utilities, NOW open disk utility and choose "show all devices" from the view menu.
Can you see the internal drive now?

If so, you can erase it to APFS and try an OS install again.

WARNING WARNING WARNING
If you aren't backed up, you'll LOSE all data when you do this.

In that case, it might be worth trying to create an EXTERNAL boot volume (as I mentioned above).
If you can boot externally, you may be able to mount the internal drive and "get stuff OFF OF it".
Then you can erase it and start over.

I followed your explanation and again, my internal drive was nowhere to be seen, it's as if the drive completely disappeared from my laptop even though it's still physically inside.
The only thing that seemed to work and made my laptop run was to reinstall macOS on a connected external hard drive. So for the meantime my laptop runs and is useable at least (until I found a solution), but thank you so much for helping me!

 

[elcc]

You got it, pooched, broken, failed, released the magic smoke, fried, etc.
That’s my assumption based on your description.

Ohh got it, thanks!
And yeah, I think that's the issue, or else I don't know how to explain why the laptop works while being connected on a external hard disk but not on the internal one. I'll look into which SSD or NVMe drive to get.
Thank you, once again.

 

[barbu]

Ohh got it, thanks!
And yeah, I think that's the issue, or else I don't know how to explain why the laptop works while being connected on a external hard disk but not on the internal one. I'll look into which SSD or NVMe drive to get.
Thank you, once again.

It is really rare that the ssd should break… you might want to try the apple hardware test, or take it to the apple store if that possible for you.

 

[elcc]

It is really rare that the ssd should break… you might want to try the apple hardware test, or take it to the apple store if that possible for you.

I did a diagnostic test and the results came with ‘no issues found’, but from google research, these tests don’t really check the hard drive’s health, the only way is with disk utility. But as my disk can’t be located there, I think the drive is sort of damaged

My laptop never had to be sent in for any repair and seeing how old it already is, a hardware failure is likely bound to happen 😅

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Do you have a brick n mortar Apple Store anywhere near?
If so, make an appt at the genius bar and let them have a look at it.

They should be able to tell you whether the drive is working, or not...