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mattdkrypt

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 20, 2020
9
0
I think the dreaded has happened. I was working on Ableton on Monday night and all of a sudden the computer just froze. When I restarted I got the flashing folder icon and couldn't boot to drive. When I go through internet recovery, disk utility sees the drive but says it's unformatted etc. Pics attached. I've tried placing the SSD in an enclosure but 2 other laptops won't pick it up.

 
It sure helps when you tell us:
WHICH Mac you have.
WHAT YEAR it was made.
WHAT VERSION of the OS is running on it.
 
You said that the other two laptops didn't recognize the ssd in the enclosure--what OSes are the laptops running? Depending on what format your SSD is, laptops not running macOS may not be able to recognize macOS formatted drives.

Is this the original SSD?
 
OP wrote:
"It's a mid 2012 macbook Pro running 10.15"

OK, well that reveals a lot.
More IMPORTANT questions:
Is it a "unibody" MacBook Pro?
The one that has the DVD drive on the right side?

If that's the case, then I sense that your problem may be the internal drive ribbon cable, which has a very high rate of flakiness and failure on the 2012 Unibody MacBook Pro.

When the ribbon cable goes bad, it cuts off communication between the drive and the motherboard. To the user, it looks like "a failed drive", but it's really just the cable.

The cable is easily changed out in a few minutes.
Go to ifixit.com to see what's involved.
You can get the part number for the replacement cable from ifixit, and perhaps even order it from them.
Or... order it elsewhere online.

You'll also need a Phillips #00 driver to take the screws off the bottom of the MacBook.
Pay attention to the repair guide at ifixit.

DO NOT use anything metallic to disconnect the ribbon connector from the motherboard. Use plastic, but NO METAL. You don't want to short it out.

Chances are, when you replace the cable, it will boot right up as if nothing were wrong earlier.

Good luck.
 
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You said that the other two laptops didn't recognize the ssd in the enclosure--what OSes are the laptops running? Depending on what format your SSD is, laptops not running macOS may not be able to recognize macOS formatted drives.

Is this the original SSD?


Thanks for the reply. They're both running OS - one mojave and one 10.14

Drive isn't recognised on either but weirdly does show in disc utility. The fact that DU shows that it's not formatted is worrying though.
OP wrote:
"It's a mid 2012 macbook Pro running 10.15"

OK, well that reveals a lot.
More IMPORTANT questions:
Is it a "unibody" MacBook Pro?
The one that has the DVD drive on the right side?

If that's the case, then I sense that your problem may be the internal drive ribbon cable, which has a very high rate of flakiness and failure on the 2012 Unibody MacBook Pro.

When the ribbon cable goes bad, it cuts off communication between the drive and the motherboard. To the user, it looks like "a failed drive", but it's really just the cable.

The cable is easily changed out in a few minutes.
Go to ifixit.com to see what's involved.
You can get the part number for the replacement cable from ifixit, and perhaps even order it from them.
Or... order it elsewhere online.

You'll also need a Phillips #00 driver to take the screws off the bottom of the MacBook.
Pay attention to the repair guide at ifixit.

DO NOT use anything metallic to disconnect the ribbon connector from the motherboard. Use plastic, but NO METAL. You don't want to short it out.

Chances are, when you replace the cable, it will boot right up as if nothing were wrong earlier.

Good luck.
That's the
OP wrote:
"It's a mid 2012 macbook Pro running 10.15"

OK, well that reveals a lot.
More IMPORTANT questions:
Is it a "unibody" MacBook Pro?
The one that has the DVD drive on the right side?

If that's the case, then I sense that your problem may be the internal drive ribbon cable, which has a very high rate of flakiness and failure on the 2012 Unibody MacBook Pro.

When the ribbon cable goes bad, it cuts off communication between the drive and the motherboard. To the user, it looks like "a failed drive", but it's really just the cable.

The cable is easily changed out in a few minutes.
Go to ifixit.com to see what's involved.
You can get the part number for the replacement cable from ifixit, and perhaps even order it from them.
Or... order it elsewhere online.

You'll also need a Phillips #00 driver to take the screws off the bottom of the MacBook.
Pay attention to the repair guide at ifixit.

DO NOT use anything metallic to disconnect the ribbon connector from the motherboard. Use plastic, but NO METAL. You don't want to short it out.

Chances are, when you replace the cable, it will boot right up as if nothing were wrong earlier.

Good luck.
That's the very one mate. Thank you so much for replying. Would the fact that two other macbook can't detect it when its an external enclosure not mean anything?
 
"Would the fact that two other macbook can't detect it when its an external enclosure not mean anything?"

Well, that's not a good sign.

You've already taken the drive out of the MacBook Pro?
Or... was it in an external enclosure all the time?
 
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"Would the fact that two other macbook can't detect it when its an external enclosure not mean anything?"

Well, that's not a good sign.

You've already taken the drive out of the MacBook Pro?
Or... was it in an external enclosure all the time?
It was the internal boot drive for the mbp so I've since removed it and used it in N external enclosure to see if other mbps could read it.
 
It's possible as they do have a finite amount of writes they can handle and flash sometimes does die early. It looks like the 850 Evo in that size was warrantied for 150 TB of writes, so it isn't a small amount, but it also isn't impossible to exceed that (I've got an 860 Pro that isn't far away from having 1 PB worth of writes on it.) That said, independent DIY tests do seem to suggest these drives tend to last a lot longer than what they are warrantied for.

I would say you might want to pull the drive's health. On a Windows computer, you can do this with Samsung's own Magician software. On Mac, you can do it with this program. It's not free, but there is a free trial.
 
It's possible as they do have a finite amount of writes they can handle and flash sometimes does die early. It looks like the 850 Evo in that size was warrantied for 150 TB of writes, so it isn't a small amount, but it also isn't impossible to exceed that (I've got an 860 Pro that isn't far away from having 1 PB worth of writes on it.) That said, independent DIY tests do seem to suggest these drives tend to last a lot longer than what they are warrantied for.

I would say you might want to pull the drive's health. On a Windows computer, you can do this with Samsung's own Magician software. On Mac, you can do it with this program. It's not free, but there is a free trial.
Hi there!

So I've received a new Mbp identical to the last one setup wise but I still get the same flashing question mark. I've also tried it in drivedx through an external enclosure and that doesn't pick it up.

Strangely the only thing that can pick it up is disk utility in recovery mode.
 
Hi there!

So I've received a new Mbp identical to the last one setup wise but I still get the same flashing question mark. I've also tried it in drivedx through an external enclosure and that doesn't pick it up.

Strangely the only thing that can pick it up is disk utility in recovery mode.

If neither DriveDX nor Magician can detect it (from a functional Mac or Win system installed on another hard drive, where you then put the problem hard drive into an external, plug it into the computer, and try to read it with one of those two apps), that's not a good sign. It may be under warranty depending on when you got it as they do have a long warranty period.
 
OP:

Is there anything on this SSD that you can't live without?

I'm asking because what I'd try next is to erase it using disk utility.

If it won't erase, then I'd say "it's dead".

Either return it for warranty or toss it.
I doubt there's any way a failed SSD (by "failed" I mean bad wiring or chips inside) can be "revived".

I've had SSDs that just suddenly "go dark". Plug them in, and.... nothing.
Nothing else to do but toss them.
 
OP:

Is there anything on this SSD that you can't live without?

I'm asking because what I'd try next is to erase it using disk utility.

If it won't erase, then I'd say "it's dead".

Either return it for warranty or toss it.
I doubt there's any way a failed SSD (by "failed" I mean bad wiring or chips inside) can be "revived".

I've had SSDs that just suddenly "go dark". Plug them in, and.... nothing.
Nothing else to do but toss them.
Unfortunately yes - there are studio files that aren't backed up and my secret PGP key for 2fa on crypto wallet in 4 figures. Idiotic on behalf really.

I might just have to send it to a UK based SSD recovery specialist as I've seemingly exhausted all other options.
 
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