White circle w/ line through on MBP

[brainwave89]

I have a MacBook Pro Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013 that boots to my logon screen. After entering in the password I get a white circle with a slash through it. I can't access Safe Mode. When I access Recovery Mode the local hard drive cannot be seen either from Disk Utility nor attempting to re-install the OS.
I was able to get it into Target Disk Mode. From there I was able to grab data that was needed. PRAM and SMC resets. Still no love.

Any suggestions on what might be causing the white logo is appreciated.

 

[chscag]

Very likely a failing hard drive. The fact that the drive can not be seen from Recovery is a good indication. You're lucky that Target Disk Mode was able to get data off the drive. Do you have a Time Machine or cloned backup?

 

[brainwave89]

Thank you chscag. Yes, I do have a good backup. I will look for a replacement hard drive at macsales.com.

Thanks again!

 

[Audit13]

The late 2013 uses an ssd, not a hard drive.

I recommend doing a complete reinstallation from internet recovery (CMD+option+R) rather than local recovery (CMD+R) before buying a replacement SSD.

I don't recommend getting a drive from owc. Their drives are nvme drives with an apple connector. Get a nvme drive, Sintech adapter, save yourself some money, and have the ability to repurpose the nvme drive down the road in a PC or MacBook.

Upgrading 2013/2014 Macbook Pro SSD to M.2 NVMe

This thread is about upgrading MacBook Airs & Macbook Pros (2013-2015) with new high speed and/or high capacity NVMe SSDs. This thread was one of the first to talk about MacBook Pro NVMe SSD upgrades on Macrumors, and was started by user "maxthackray", which we can thank and give tribute for...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[brainwave89]

Thank you, Audit13. Still no SSD found when attempting internet recovery.

 

[Audit13]

Thank you, Audit13. Still no SSD found when attempting internet recovery.

Can the MacBook not from an external drive?

The fact the drive was seen in target mode tells me it's not completely done.

Do you have a Catalina usb installer?

What happens when you run Apple diagnostics by holding down option+d after pressing the power button or just the d key?

 

[brainwave89]

Thanks again Audit13. I don't understand the first question.
Yes, I do. When I attempted to install Catalina from my USB the local hard drive was not found.
Holding down option+d gets me to Internet Recovery which ends not changing from the "Starting Internet Recovery. This may take a while." screen....ever. Holding down d upon startup doesn't complete a hardware test due to a sub-powered ac adapter. I will try to find an appropriate one.

 

[Audit13]

Thanks again Audit13. I don't understand the first question.
Yes, I do. When I attempted to install Catalina from my USB the local hard drive was not found.
Holding down option+d gets me to Internet Recovery which ends not changing from the "Starting Internet Recovery. This may take a while." screen....ever. Holding down d upon startup doesn't complete a hardware test due to a sub-powered ac adapter. I will try to find an appropriate one.

Sorry, it should have read "Can the MacBook boot from an external drive."

 

[Analias]

The late 2013 uses an ssd, not a hard drive.

I recommend doing a complete reinstallation from internet recovery (CMD+option+R) rather than local recovery (CMD+R) before buying a replacement SSD.

I don't recommend getting a drive from owc. Their drives are nvme drives with an apple connector. Get a nvme drive, Sintech adapter, save yourself some money, and have the ability to repurpose the nvme drive down the road in a PC or MacBook.

Upgrading 2013/2014 Macbook Pro SSD to M.2 NVMe

This thread is about upgrading MacBook Airs & Macbook Pros (2013-2015) with new high speed and/or high capacity NVMe SSDs. This thread was one of the first to talk about MacBook Pro NVMe SSD upgrades on Macrumors, and was started by user "maxthackray", which we can thank and give tribute for...

forums.macrumors.com

If you put an nvme drive in a 2013 you will have to add an nvme driver to the boot rom else it won't wake from hibernation. Another option is to disable hibernation, but that will affect battery life during sleep. Also it won't boot from an nvme drive unless it has received the High Sierra boot rom update.
This is all documented in the macroumers thread you linked to.

 

[Audit13]

If you put an nvme drive in a 2013 you will have to add an nvme driver to the boot rom else it won't wake from hibernation. Another option is to disable hibernation, but that will affect battery life during sleep. Also it won't boot from an nvme drive unless it has received the High Sierra boot rom update.
This is all documented in the macroumers thread you linked to.

The nvme driver is included with the High Sierra bootrom. If the MacBook is already running High Sierra or newer, the nvme driver is already present.

All non-Apple nvme drives used on a non-2015 MacBook Air/Pro will be affected by the hibernation issue unless a modified bootrom is flashed to the MacBook.

The only other option is to get a used Apple SSD. All SSDs from a mid-2013 to 2017 Air and late 2013 to 2015 Pro will work in the OP's MacBook.

I recommended the nvme option since the OP was considering a drive from OWC.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

If you were able to "get to" the drive using Target Disk mode, that would indicate that the drive is properly connected and IS STILL GOOD.
If it wasn't good, the data would have been inaccessible.

Can you do this:
1. Boot to INTERNET recovery (command-OPTION-R)
2. When you get to the utilities, open Disk Utility
3. Go to the "view" menu and choose "show ALL devices" (choice may or may not be there)
4. What do you see now in Disk Utility's window (take a picture and post it)?

The fact that target disk mode worked means that the drive is still working.
I'm wondering if it could be a loose connection (to its slot) inside...?

 

[brainwave89]

Thank you, Fishrrman.
I will post a photo. The hardware test does not detect a problem.
After First Aid completed the Macintosh HD disappeared.

 

[chscag]

Thank you, Fishrrman.
I will post a photo. The hardware test does not detect a problem.
After First Aid completed the Macintosh HD disappeared.View attachment 900976View attachment 900977

According to your screen shot photo, First Aid failed. The fact that Target Mode allowed you to copy data from the drive does not necessarily mean the drive or file
system is okay. You can readily see that it's warning you to backup your data. As I stated in post # 2, that drive is likely failing. You can re-format or do whatever, but personally I would not trust that drive with my data.

 

[brainwave89]

Thank you, chscag. I agree, I don't trust the drive either.

 

[Fishrrman]

Referring to the posted pics above...

That doesn't appear to be the internal drive at all.
Notice that the name is "Apple disk image Media".
It IS NOT indicative that it represents the physical drive inside the Mac.

OP:
Did you do the CRITICALLY important step above:
Go to the view menu and choose "show ALL devices" ???

If you did, and no internal drive shows up, then yes... I would guess the drive is mis-connected, or "connected but dead".

 

[brainwave89]

Referring to the posted pics above...

That doesn't appear to be the internal drive at all.
Notice that the name is "Apple disk image Media".
It IS NOT indicative that it represents the physical drive inside the Mac.

OP:
Did you do the CRITICALLY important step above:
Go to the view menu and choose "show ALL devices" ???

If you did, and no internal drive shows up, then yes... I would guess the drive is mis-connected, or "connected but dead".

[automerge]1585326289[/automerge]
Thank you Fishrrman. I did all the steps above. I did go to the view menu and choose show all devices.
I did order a new drive. Once installed, I will offer an update.