MBP 1,1-10,2 Recovering data from MacBook Pro with flashing folder and partition map issues

[InRescueWeTrust]

I believe I am in quite a lot of trouble, and I am in desperate need for some professional advice. It would mean a lot to me if the good people of this forum can share their expertise with me.

My MacBook Pro (Early 2015) started showing me a flashing folder with a question mark. After multiple failed attempts to install a macOS to an external drive through Recovery (tried both command+R and option+command+R; I kept receiving PKDownloadError error8), I finally found a workaround and successfully created a bootable flash drive using my Windows PC. Before using that flash, I tried everything I could in Disk Utility (through Recovery Mode), be it the Restore function or create image function, but nothing worked. I was unable to copy my internal SSD to my external drive, so I looked for recovery solutions that I could use through my bootable flash. I installed Mojave (macOS 10.14) on the flash, so I used the latest compatible versions with that OS. I could've installed a newer OS like Monterey, but thought it would be the smartest to use the same version that was last on my Mac, and that was Mojave.

I tried Disk Drill and SuperDuper!, but neither worked. SD! simply never started the copying process, while DD couldn't complete the whole process. I tried to use the byte-to-byte function, and it would make progress, but eventually the internal SSD would eject and the whole process would break. Interestingly enough, the size of both backups was almost identical (one was 4.64GB, the other 4.63GB). It's worth noting that after the internal SSD ejected, it doesn't show up in Disk Utility.

When all is "well", the Disk Utility tree looks as follows:

Internal
Apple SSD SM0128G Media
↳ Container disk2
↳ Macintosh HD

Disk Images
Apple disk image Media
↳ macOS Base System

I am able to see that Macintosh HD is mostly used up. After multiple failed attempts with recovery software, I finally made the decision to run Disk Utility's First Aid in the booted OS. I ran it on "Apple SSD SM0128G Media", and this is what I got:

"First Aid found corruption that needs to be repaired. To repair the startup volume, run First Aid from Recovery. Click Done to continue."
and
"Problems were found with the partition map which might prevent booting"

I then booted into Internet Recovery (option+command+R), then into Disk Utility, and I ran First Aid on the same Apple SSD SM0128G Media volume. After some 2 hours, this is what I got: "First Aid process has failed. If possible back up the data on this volume. Click Done to continue" and "Problems were found with the partition map which might prevent booting Couldn't mount disk : (69842) Operation failed..."

Now, I am booted in the OS through the flash, and I tried selecting the Macintosh HD in the Folder sidebar, copied it, and tried pasting it on my external HDD. The process took some time, but eventually, the internal SSD ejected itself, and now I have a Finder pop up window that says: You may need to enter the name and password for an administrator on this computer to change the item named "Macintosh HD"

The internal SSD is once again not visible in Disk Utility. Should I click Stop or Continue on the pop up?

With this post, I am seeking advice about what my options are for data recovery. It's looking pretty ugly so far, but then, I am just a casual user. I am capable of following step-by-step instructions, so if there is a complex method to recover data from my SSD, and I can do it myself, please let me know. It's such a horrible situation to be in, and worst of all, the most important files to me are my browser bookmarks and some text files. Besides that, I have my Downloads folder with some images and other file formats.

What is possible and what isn't? From my understanding, the fact that it's an SSD complicates things, and it being in the APFS format makes some things outright impossible. I have no clue what's possible. During my Googling about, some people were talking about manually fixing the partition map, but I also came across what looks to be some wizardry: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250837011?sortBy=rank

Please let me know what my options are. What's safe to do, what isn't, and is that solution from Apple Discussions a viable option.

Huge thanks to everyone who takes the time out of their day to reply =)

 

[Bigwaff]

Based on your efforts so far, it sounds as if your internal SSD is definitely corrupted (and possibly failing).

If you have access to another Mac, you could boot your MBP in Target Disk Mode. Hopefully the partitions will mount on the other Mac and you can copy data off. Then you can erase your internal SSD storage and reinstall macOS from clean.

Transfer files between two Mac computers using target disk mode

You can connect an Intel-based Mac to another Mac using a USB, USB-C, or Thunderbolt cable, then transfer files.

support.apple.com

If this your only Mac, options limited...

Since the internal NVMe SSD in these models is user replaceable, you can purchase replacement SSD bundled with an external enclosure for your current internal SSD. Hopefully, your current internal SSD partitions will mount using the external enclosure

OWC 240GB Aura N2 SSD Complete Upgrade Solution for... at MacSales.com

S4DAB4MB02K 240GB OWC Aura N2 SSD Complete Upgrade Solution for Select 2013 & Later Macs. With tools & OWC Envoy Pro Enclosure for MacBook Air (Mid 2013 - 2017), MacBook Pro (Retina, Late 2013 - Mid 2015)

eshop.macsales.com

caveat... it is not uncommon later macOS versions will not install w/out firmware updates, which are included and installed as part macOS install. Updating to the latest version of macOS using the currently installed Apple OEM NVMe SSD is recommended in order to get necessary firmware updates. Sort of a chicken-n-the-egg when your current internal SSD is failing or corrupted. You may first have to purchase a used Apple OEM NVMe SSD to replace your current internal, especially if you plan to eventually upgrade to latest supported version of macOS your hardware supports.

 

[Wowfunhappy]

^ I'll add that you should probably stop using that Mac immediately, until you're in a position to use Target Disk Mode to try to extract the most important data. Do not put _any_ more stress on the drive than necessary.

 

[f54da]

if byte/block level copy fails, seems like a failing SDD? Maybe boot off of a recovery partition and use DriveDX to check SMART status of drive?

Usually best practice with fs-level corruption is block-level copy to another disk which can then be mounted elsewhere and analyzed, but with failing hardware i'd guess it's better to minimize R/W traffic altogether, so maybe mount (via target disk mode) + selective copy is best? Preferably even copy via terminal to avoid unnecessary r/w from finder trying to load metadata and ds_store

Note that there are drive cloing utils that can skip bad blocks or power-cycle drives as part of the cloning process, that might be another option. I'm not sure about specific tools here, i remember ancient ddrescue but surely there must be something more modern.