MacBook 2010 starts with a question mark

[Tanja]

Hello, I got an old MacBook Pro from 2010 from my girlfriend. It hasn't worked for several years. It starts up with a question mark. I reset the PRAM or NVRAM and the SMC. With the globe, I couldn't access Disk Utility with a cable or Wi-Fi, there was just a symbol spinning forever.
I removed the SSD and installed a new Crucial BX500. Then I tried to install Linux via a USB stick. No hard drive was displayed during partitioning.
Should I initialize the SSD via the terminal first? Is that even possible if Linux hasn't been properly installed yet?
And how?

Thank you very much for your help!

Greetings Tanja

 

[ibarnett]

Hello, I got an old MacBook Pro from 2010 from my girlfriend. It hasn't worked for several years. It starts up with a question mark. I reset the PRAM or NVRAM and the SMC. With the globe, I couldn't access Disk Utility with a cable or Wi-Fi, there was just a symbol spinning forever.
I removed the SSD and installed a new Crucial BX500. Then I tried to install Linux via a USB stick. No hard drive was displayed during partitioning.
Should I initialize the SSD via the terminal first? Is that even possible if Linux hasn't been properly installed yet?
And how?

Thank you very much for your help!

Greetings Tanja

These MacBooks are renowned for problems with the HDD cable, cheap & easy to replace.

MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2010 Hard Drive Cable Replacement

Use this guide to replace your hard drive cable. A new hard drive cable also provides a new IR sensor.

www.ifixit.com

 

[Fishrrman]

ibarnett has brought up an important point.
Replace the ribbon cable, and the original drive may start working again, just fine.

When the ribbon cable is bad, chances are no drive will be recognized -- resulting in the "?" which is telling you it can't find a drive/OS from which to boot.

You can get the part number for the cable from ifixit.com.
Either get it from them or from other online sources (other sources will probably be cheaper).

If you have an external enclosure that can hold the boot SSD, or perhaps a USB3/SATA docking station, try this:
- connect the dock or enclosure to the MBP
- try to boot that way (hold down the option key at boot)
- if you can boot right up from the external, it's probably the cable.