SSD Failure? Late 2013 MBP 13" Retina

[Trouble1]

I have a long post, but for the sake of time I'll try and summarize the problem(s).

Original drive, no partition, no windows

Started with period freezing up, turned into continuous beach balling to frozen curser. The only solution was power down and restart. Happened surfing the net, watching movies.

Then a blur of what I actually did in any particular order...

Bought another external HD, backed everything up on TM. Copied some Time Machine files from one ExHD to another going through Finder.

At some point it froze up and on starting back up I got the file folder with ?.

Tried the CMD-R and some other steps, it would load halfway and then just hang or the while apple logo would disappear. Admittedly I was not patient enough and powered down and started over. One time I let it go for about 5 minutes and it started up.

Tried to restore with TM... going through the process about 1/2 way it froze up.

Tried to reload EL Capitan... could not find drive when it came time to select. Not sure if it was because I erased it or not???

I ended up putting El Cap on external drive and using the computer for a while. Eventually got to Disk Utility on the MBP, did first aid and then I did the CMD on start up.. Came to an older looking Disk Utility and I just moved El Cap from the Ex HD to the MBP Disk... it was a wipe and clean install. this is what I'm using now.

At first it ran perfectly fine for a while, I connected an Ex HD and tried to do another TM back up… 20% into it froze and back to freezing and restarting and to Safe Mode, then first aid disk…. back to regular log in… as long as I don’t ask for any heavy work it seems to limp along. I can listen to iTunes.

SO… how can I either confirm or rule out SSD failure?

What else could it be?

Did I mess it up doing the TM back up file transfers?

Did I mess it up doing the El Cap install from the external drive?

What things can I check? Test?

If you suggest I do something, just pretend I am completely stupid about computer language and how to do it. Be some what descriptive.

I can follow good directions.

I’ve used this daily and put a lot of files through it, lots of movies and photos. I have not been easy on the drive.

In the 3 years having Apple Care, top case, bottom case, logic board, battery and think keyboard and screen 2 times have been replaced. Lots of failures on this thing. A real lemon. But I know and accept SSD don’t last forever and willing to buy a new one and replace it. Just want to make sure that’s the problem. I’m in Thailand so not sure about getting the parts shipped. Should be ok.

Thanks to all in advance and look forward to some thoughts and ideas.

 

[saladino]

I have a long post, but for the sake of time I'll try and summarize the problem(s).

Original drive, no partition, no windows

Started with period freezing up, turned into continuous beach balling to frozen curser. The only solution was power down and restart. Happened surfing the net, watching movies.

Then a blur of what I actually did in any particular order...

Bought another external HD, backed everything up on TM. Copied some Time Machine files from one ExHD to another going through Finder.

At some point it froze up and on starting back up I got the file folder with ?.

Tried the CMD-R and some other steps, it would load halfway and then just hang or the while apple logo would disappear. Admittedly I was not patient enough and powered down and started over. One time I let it go for about 5 minutes and it started up.

Tried to restore with TM... going through the process about 1/2 way it froze up.

Tried to reload EL Capitan... could not find drive when it came time to select. Not sure if it was because I erased it or not???

I ended up putting El Cap on external drive and using the computer for a while. Eventually got to Disk Utility on the MBP, did first aid and then I did the CMD on start up.. Came to an older looking Disk Utility and I just moved El Cap from the Ex HD to the MBP Disk... it was a wipe and clean install. this is what I'm using now.

At first it ran perfectly fine for a while, I connected an Ex HD and tried to do another TM back up… 20% into it froze and back to freezing and restarting and to Safe Mode, then first aid disk…. back to regular log in… as long as I don’t ask for any heavy work it seems to limp along. I can listen to iTunes.

SO… how can I either confirm or rule out SSD failure?

What else could it be?

Did I mess it up doing the TM back up file transfers?

Did I mess it up doing the El Cap install from the external drive?

What things can I check? Test?

If you suggest I do something, just pretend I am completely stupid about computer language and how to do it. Be some what descriptive.

I can follow good directions.

I’ve used this daily and put a lot of files through it, lots of movies and photos. I have not been easy on the drive.

In the 3 years having Apple Care, top case, bottom case, logic board, battery and think keyboard and screen 2 times have been replaced. Lots of failures on this thing. A real lemon. But I know and accept SSD don’t last forever and willing to buy a new one and replace it. Just want to make sure that’s the problem. I’m in Thailand so not sure about getting the parts shipped. Should be ok.

Thanks to all in advance and look forward to some thoughts and ideas.

Have you booted from the Recovery Partition and used Disk Utility to check the Disk for Errors? It’s not something you can do from disk utility while booted from the disk, you have to use the Recovery Partition (CMD - R while booting, then Utilities menu, then open Disk Utility, select disk, click Repair). I would try that. Alternatively you might want to purchase DriveDX, as it does a great job of alerting you of issues with your connected hard drives (internal and external).

 

[Adam.Kb2Jpd]

I have a long post, but for the sake of time I'll try and summarize the problem(s).

Original drive, no partition, no windows

Started with period freezing up, turned into continuous beach balling to frozen curser. The only solution was power down and restart. Happened surfing the net, watching movies.

Then a blur of what I actually did in any particular order...

Bought another external HD, backed everything up on TM. Copied some Time Machine files from one ExHD to another going through Finder.

At some point it froze up and on starting back up I got the file folder with ?.

Tried the CMD-R and some other steps, it would load halfway and then just hang or the while apple logo would disappear. Admittedly I was not patient enough and powered down and started over. One time I let it go for about 5 minutes and it started up.

Tried to restore with TM... going through the process about 1/2 way it froze up.

Tried to reload EL Capitan... could not find drive when it came time to select. Not sure if it was because I erased it or not???

I ended up putting El Cap on external drive and using the computer for a while. Eventually got to Disk Utility on the MBP, did first aid and then I did the CMD on start up.. Came to an older looking Disk Utility and I just moved El Cap from the Ex HD to the MBP Disk... it was a wipe and clean install. this is what I'm using now.

At first it ran perfectly fine for a while, I connected an Ex HD and tried to do another TM back up… 20% into it froze and back to freezing and restarting and to Safe Mode, then first aid disk…. back to regular log in… as long as I don’t ask for any heavy work it seems to limp along. I can listen to iTunes.

SO… how can I either confirm or rule out SSD failure?

What else could it be?

Did I mess it up doing the TM back up file transfers?

Did I mess it up doing the El Cap install from the external drive?

What things can I check? Test?

If you suggest I do something, just pretend I am completely stupid about computer language and how to do it. Be some what descriptive.

I can follow good directions.

I’ve used this daily and put a lot of files through it, lots of movies and photos. I have not been easy on the drive.

In the 3 years having Apple Care, top case, bottom case, logic board, battery and think keyboard and screen 2 times have been replaced. Lots of failures on this thing. A real lemon. But I know and accept SSD don’t last forever and willing to buy a new one and replace it. Just want to make sure that’s the problem. I’m in Thailand so not sure about getting the parts shipped. Should be ok.

Thanks to all in advance and look forward to some thoughts and ideas.

There are several things, one that you didn't say you had checked was the HDD cable failing.

Try the SSD on another machine to replicate the drive failure. If it's fine then check the cable then finally if all checks out, then you might call the system a total loss.

 

[MSastre]

What is the size of your main drive and how full is it?

 

[saladino]

What is the size of your main drive and how full is it?

On that note, you should check if TRIM is enabled on the drive. It will show under hardware profile I believe.

 

[Audit13]

Try getting into internet recovery and use disk utility from there?

 

[Trouble1]

Have you booted from the Recovery Partition and used Disk Utility to check the Disk for Errors? It’s not something you can do from disk utility while booted from the disk, you have to use the Recovery Partition (CMD - R while booting, then Utilities menu, then open Disk Utility, select disk, click Repair). I would try that. Alternatively you might want to purchase DriveDX, as it does a great job of alerting you of issues with your connected hard drives (internal and external).

Yes, I did that a several times during this process. It would go through the procedure and give me a green check mark.
Keep in mind this is flash memory in the drive, so it went pretty fast.

There are several things, one that you didn't say you had checked was the HDD cable failing.

Try the SSD on another machine to replicate the drive failure. If it's fine then check the cable then finally if all checks out, then you might call the system a total loss.

I've read the reports on those with standard HD having cable problems. I'm not sure if the flash SSD has this same cable??? Can you confirm?
I just don't have that option, I'd have to give to a shop for them to check it... that would be difficult as I"m in thailand and I don't trust technicians here.

What is the size of your main drive and how full is it?

256 and it's usually not more than 70% full. Even times I have had full and no issues.

saladino: I have no clue where that is or how to check it. give some instructions.
[doublepost=1525584963][/doublepost]Here is a photo of when I was in CMD-R.
The section in the drive you see labeled as Carbon Copy if NOT Carbon Copy application. It was a partition on a large drive that I was going to install CC on, just never got around to it.
Instead I installed El Capitan from internet recovery in that partition and used it externally until I could sort out what to do.
Then, using what you see in the photo I simply transferred from the external drive partition to the MBP SSD internal drive... and it worked for quite a while...then started acting up when I plugged in external drive to use TM.
Strangely now it is working. I am afraid to try anything heavy use as it might freeze up and I have to start all over, but for now I am able to do many functions.
[doublepost=1525585279][/doublepost]Here are a bunch of random photos I took during this process.
[doublepost=1525585524][/doublepost]At the beginning of this, I was trying to install El Capitan on the MBP internal drive and received this screen. The drive was not showing up I think is what was happening. Possibly something I did wrong, not sure.
After doing CMD-R and first aid, at some point it showed back up.

 

[Audit13]

The MBP does not use a cable to connect the SSD to the motherboard. There is a slot in the motherboard into which the SSD fits.

Try using Internet recovery's disk utility to partition and erase the drive: http://www.idownloadblog.com/2016/02/25/how-to-start-up-your-mac-in-internet-recovery-mode/

 

[Trouble1]

The MBP does not use a cable to connect the SSD to the motherboard. There is a slot in the motherboard into which the SSD fits.

Try using Internet recovery's disk utility to partition and erase the drive: http://www.idownloadblog.com/2016/02/25/how-to-start-up-your-mac-in-internet-recovery-mode/

Why do you suggest I do this?

 

[Audit13]

Other methods haven't worked and this is another method to hopefully get the drive recognized. It runs disk utility from the apple website and allows you to reinstall the os.

If there is an apple store near you, they may be able to help you reinstall or run a more detailed set of diagnostics.

 

[Trouble1]

Other methods haven't worked and this is another method to hopefully get the drive recognized. It runs disk utility from the apple website and allows you to reinstall the os.

If there is an apple store near you, they may be able to help you reinstall or run a more detailed set of diagnostics.

I've already gone the route of CMD-R and eventually the disk showed up. I used "first aid" and then did a clean install of El Cap from another external drive. I describe that in one of the posts and with pics.

There are no apple stores or repair places as we know from the west. I could take it to place here, but they are not many places trust worthy and I'd prefer to try know things from here or wait until my next trip back to the states.

I'm baffled as to why it's functioning now and has been for about 2-3 days... It did this last time and then went wacky when I tried to do a TM back up.
IF it goes on the freezing fritz again, I will wipe the hard disk and do a reformat and clean install from the saved install I have since created. I"m not sure the last one or they way I did it is 100% the way to do it.

Anyway, keep the suggestions coming.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"keep the suggestions coming."

My suggestion is that you stop using Time Machine and switch to CarbonCopyCloner (or SuperDuper).

Either one will create a BOOTABLE cloned backup.

This means that if the internal drive gives you problems again, you should be able to connect the backup and BOOT and RUN from it, just as if it were an internally-installed drive.

This becomes all the more important since you mentioned there are no Apple stores or repair shops where you are.

Even if the internal drive was to fail completely, with a bootable cloned backup you could still use the computer day-to-day as before, until you got the drive replaced (somehow).

 

[Trouble1]

Suggestions about helping me diagnose and/or fix the current situation. Stop using TM is not a suggestion that is for everyone.
I get it you seem to hunt for posts about TM and obviously don't like it and like to promote CC. I know about CC and how to use it, but using only CC might work for you, but it's not the ONLY solution for everyone. TM and CC working together is a good solution.

Any other suggestions?

 

[Fishrrman]

The reason I suggested CCC is that you said that if the internal drive was to fail, you had no Apple Stores or repair shops that might be capable of fixing it.

If that's the case (you said it, right?), then you need to have an alternate way to boot and run the computer, even with a failed internal drive (that won't boot).

If you experience such a failure, a TM backup will be insufficient to "get you going" again. You can't "boot to the finder" from a TM backup.

A bootable cloned backup is an entirely different thing.
You can boot from it -- and do your daily work from it -- just as if it were the internal drive.

This won't "fix the failed internal drive" -- that requires physical repair.
But (again, because a physical repair might be more difficult to get done) you WILL be able to keep using the computer anyway. Do you use it to do important day-to-day work?

Either CCC or SD will create a bootable backup -- I have no financial interest in either of these apps, but both can prove very valuable in a "moment of need".
I've seen many posts here from users who kept only TM backups and -- in a moment of extreme need -- COULD NOT access them.

You can keep using TM -and- make a cloned backup as well.
Then you're protected "two ways".
Since both CCC and SD are free to download and use for 30 days, that first cloned backup will "cost you nothing" more than the time it takes to create it.

That would prove better insurance against a drive failure than what you have now.
And that's why I recommended it.

 

[Trouble1]

The reason I suggested CCC is that you said that if the internal drive was to fail, you had no Apple Stores or repair shops that might be capable of fixing it.

If that's the case (you said it, right?), then you need to have an alternate way to boot and run the computer, even with a failed internal drive (that won't boot).

If you experience such a failure, a TM backup will be insufficient to "get you going" again. You can't "boot to the finder" from a TM backup.

A bootable cloned backup is an entirely different thing.
You can boot from it -- and do your daily work from it -- just as if it were the internal drive.

This won't "fix the failed internal drive" -- that requires physical repair.
But (again, because a physical repair might be more difficult to get done) you WILL be able to keep using the computer anyway. Do you use it to do important day-to-day work?


Either CCC or SD will create a bootable backup -- I have no financial interest in either of these apps, but both can prove very valuable in a "moment of need".
I've seen many posts here from users who kept only TM backups and -- in a moment of extreme need -- COULD NOT access them.

You can keep using TM -and- make a cloned backup as well.
Then you're protected "two ways".
Since both CCC and SD are free to download and use for 30 days, that first cloned backup will "cost you nothing" more than the time it takes to create it.

That would prove better insurance against a drive failure than what you have now.
And that's why I recommended it.

In my OP I said I was using an external HD running El Capt AND in another post I explained the partition called Carbon Copy. Did you happen to read either of those?

I like having some information backed up on TM. TM is not a useless app for some people. It is not my only back up for photos, videos, music and documents.
BUT, I want help to determine if its the HD failing or what else it might be. Do you have anything to contribute regarding this?
Jumping off suggesting what someone should do when it has nothing to do with their current situation or question is not at all helpful. Save your promoting CC for when someone asks for advice on what app to use instead of or in addition to TM.

 

[Fishrrman]

Ok, have it your way.
In your OP, you mentioned having had a lot of repairs on this one already.
You wrote:
"In the 3 years having Apple Care, top case, bottom case, logic board, battery and think keyboard and screen 2 times have been replaced. Lots of failures on this thing. A real lemon. But I know and accept SSD don’t last forever and willing to buy a new one and replace it"

If it's a "lemon", and if local repairs are problematic, why not just replace it?