Macbook Pro Mid 2012 question mark folder

[ImpatientSpade]

Hi,

I've got the typical question mark folder on startup. When I try to recover using disk utility in recovering mode my internal harddrive doesn't show up. From what I've read the issue could be the harddrive cable. Does that sound correct and are they fairly easy to replace?

Thanks in advance for your help

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Hi,

I've got the typical question mark folder on startup. When I try to recover using disk utility in recovering mode my internal harddrive doesn't show up. From what I've read the issue could be the harddrive cable. Does that sound correct and are they fairly easy to replace?

Thanks in advance for your help

They are easy to replace but it's just as likely to be a dead hard drive in fact probably more likely if you haven't opened up and moved the cable about.

Remove the HDD and put it in an external enclosure (or connect with a SATA to USB cable) and try to boot from there, if that works it's the cable if it doesn't it's your hard drive.

If it's your hard drive then consider replacing with an SSD it will transform your computer so it's better than new.

Ifixit has so by step guides for most simple Mac maintenance.

See here

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Mid+2012+Hard+Drive+Replacement/10378

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

What Samuelsan said.

 

[keysofanxiety]

Yep, just to add -- could just as easily be the HDD rather than the cable. The HDD cable failing on your model is a very common issue, plus I'd look to replace the HDD with an SSD anyway.

 

[Fishrrman]

One more post in agreement with Samuelsan above.

If you're going to replace the hard drive cable, replace the hard drive as well...
... with an SSD.

You won't believe the performance improvement that you get, until you experience it.

 

[ImpatientSpade]

One more post in agreement with Samuelsan above.

If you're going to replace the hard drive cable, replace the hard drive as well...
... with an SSD.

You won't believe the performance improvement that you get, until you experience it.

If my harddrive is dead is there anyway to recover what I have on there?

Also if I install a new SSD how will I get the OS onto it? Do I need an install disk or something?

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"If my harddrive is dead is there anyway to recover what I have on there?"

If the ribbon connecting cable is faulty, the drive may still be ok.

You can verify this by doing the following:
1. Take the internal hard drive OUT OF the MacBook
2. Put the drive into a USB3 enclosure (or a USB3/SATA dock, or a USB3/SATA dongle adapter)
3. Try booting that way.

If the drive now boots and runs ok, then it almost certainly points to the ribbon cable.

Even if the drive is having problems, once you get a new SSD in there, and get the OS onto it, you -might- be able to plug in the OLD drive (again, in an external enclosure) and get it to mount on the desktop. Even if it won't boot, you might still be able to mount it and then access your old files.

You can use "internet recovery" to do a new OS install on a drive, but I've never tried it myself...

 

[ImpatientSpade]

Okay so I ended up buying a samsung 850 EVO 500gb SSD. I had a few hiccups installing the OS from internet recovery as it froze a few times but I eventually managed to get my macbook running off my new SSD (plugged in externally).

Everything seemed okay and my time machine backup worked however once I restarted my macbook I got the crossed out circle icon and my mac wouldn't reboot. I tried doing a disk repair from recovery mode but it still wouldn't boot.

Does anyone know what this issue could be? I have read that some samsung SSD can be the issue?

Thanks!

 

[DeltaMac]

The "prohibited" symbol can appear when one or more of the system boot files are missing, incorrectly installed, or corrupted.
A reinstall may get your MBPro booting again. You can do that from the Recovery system, choose Reinstall OS X. Your files and apps won't be affected. You will just end up with a good reinstall of your system.

 

[ImpatientSpade]

The "prohibited" symbol can appear when one or more of the system boot files are missing, incorrectly installed, or corrupted.
A reinstall may get your MBPro booting again. You can do that from the Recovery system, choose Reinstall OS X. Your files and apps won't be affected. You will just end up with a good reinstall of your system.

Thanks for the quick reply. I reformatted the drive and have started from scratch to see if I can resolve the issue that way. Unfortunately its a very slow process.

 

[maflynn]

If my harddrive is dead is there anyway to recover what I have on there?

There are almost always ways to recover it, but they can get very expensive. I suppose given what you wrote, you don't have a backup. I'd highly recommend you set up a backup strategy once you get your computer up and running.

The easiest way to see if if you can access your data is to replace the drive with a new one (preferably a ssd) and hook up the "bad" drive in an external enclosure. See if you can pull any of your data off at that point

 

[ImpatientSpade]

There are almost always ways to recover it, but they can get very expensive. I suppose given what you wrote, you don't have a backup. I'd highly recommend you set up a backup strategy once you get your computer up and running.

The easiest way to see if if you can access your data is to replace the drive with a new one (preferably a ssd) and hook up the "bad" drive in an external enclosure. See if you can pull any of your data off at that point

I did have a back up but it was 2 months old and was missing some really crucial files. I replaced my HDD with an SSD and tested my old harddrive, thankfully it works when plugged and all my data is still there.

My next question is is there a way to restore my user data such as settings from my old HDD, for example trackpad settings and all that kind of stuff?

 

[DeltaMac]

You can import everything from the old hard drive easily.
If it mounts OK when connected through an external connection, you can run Migration Assistant (in your Applications/Utilities folder.) MA makes the restore task simple.