Manfred34

Q: Flashing question mark on startup

Spring 2011 MBP with EL Capitan.  So, was using my MBP last night and it started beachballing and I started force quitting apps, but performance did not improve and the beachballing continued.  Was not even able to click on the Apple icon to restart.  So, powered off using the power button to restart as I have done numerous times.  Power back on and get the gray screen with the folder icon and flashing question mark.  Completely baffled, because I have never seen this before.  Restart again trying to reset the PRAM thinking that might have some effect, to no avail. So, do a quick search on the old smartphone and find out how to get into recovery mode.  Go to Disc Utility and look for my HDD, but it is not there.  Only disc 0 and then below it OS X Base System, something like that, can't remember what it says exactly.  Soooo, I come to the realization that my HDD is erased, but I am wondering if it is in fact erased or if some kind of virus or something could have caused this and that somewhere my HDD is still intact.  I know this is probably a long shot and wishful thinking, but I am trying to explore every possibility before I restore from my backup.  I have not backed up in a few months, so I am really hoping this is the case, because I probably have lost some important stuff.... 

 

Any help would be MUCH appreciated....


Thanks!!

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.3), 16gb ram

Posted on Aug 29, 2016 12:10 PM

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Q: Flashing question mark on startup

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  • by CrashBurner,Solvedanswer

    CrashBurner CrashBurner Sep 1, 2016 9:28 AM in response to Manfred34
    Level 1 (140 points)
    Sep 1, 2016 9:28 AM in response to Manfred34

    When the hard drive doesn't appear at all in Disk Utility, it is more likely your hard drive cable than your hard drive. I would say it is a hard drive cable 85% of the time. It's a relatively cheap part. The other benefit - your information would still be on the drive.

  • by Manfred34,

    Manfred34 Manfred34 Aug 31, 2016 7:15 AM in response to keg55
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac App Store
    Aug 31, 2016 7:15 AM in response to keg55

    Well, like I said, it sure sounded like it, but I was pretty sure that was not what you were implying.  In any case, the documentation that it came with talks about Snow Leopard, so I am just assuming that is the version of the original OS.  And like you are saying though, I am not being prompted for any username and password at any point after I select to reinstall Lion so....  I don't know, very weird.

     

    I hope as well that my HDD is ok, because I had not backed it up in a few months due to my backup drive being pretty full and it typically took a whole day at least to back it up due to it being USB.  In any event, I already ordered a comparable SSD from Crucial as well as a much larger backup drive with Firewire so that this will no be a problem again.  I have too many pictures and music as well as documents that I really do not want to lose...


    Thanks again for your help keg55!

  • by Manfred34,

    Manfred34 Manfred34 Aug 31, 2016 7:17 AM in response to CrashBurner
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac App Store
    Aug 31, 2016 7:17 AM in response to CrashBurner

    Thanks crashburner.... I certainly hope that you are right.  I already purchased a SSD and once I have installed that, I'm going to take my HDD and put it in an external HDD case and then check to see if I can still access it and hopefully retrieve anything that I had not backed up to my backup drive....

  • by CrashBurner,

    CrashBurner CrashBurner Aug 31, 2016 8:49 AM in response to Manfred34
    Level 1 (140 points)
    Aug 31, 2016 8:49 AM in response to Manfred34

    Good idea! If your hard drive mounts when you connect it, you will know that it is your cable and not actually your hard drive!

  • by Manfred34,

    Manfred34 Manfred34 Sep 1, 2016 7:51 AM in response to CrashBurner
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac App Store
    Sep 1, 2016 7:51 AM in response to CrashBurner

    So here's an update, CrashBurner was right, so far as I have found out, it is my hard drive cable.  Installed the SSD and it's still not appearing either when I attempt to install Snow Leopard, in Disk Utility or when selecting a Start Up disc.  Sooooo, gonna get a new cable from iFixIt, unless somebody has any reason why I shouldn't get one from them, i.e. I should only be getting it from Apple....

     

    Thanks!

  • by CrashBurner,

    CrashBurner CrashBurner Sep 1, 2016 8:03 AM in response to Manfred34
    Level 1 (140 points)
    Sep 1, 2016 8:03 AM in response to Manfred34

    I'd go ahead and replace that hard drive cable. Whether you go through iFixIt or another site, make certain the cable part number starts with 923 or 922. It will be something like "922-9773".

     

    Cheers!

  • by Manfred34,

    Manfred34 Manfred34 Sep 1, 2016 9:31 AM in response to CrashBurner
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac App Store
    Sep 1, 2016 9:31 AM in response to CrashBurner

    Yup, just ordered it off of Amazon of all places.  iFixit was out of stock....  I did verify the part number though, 922-9771 and the model of my 2011 MBP and it also looked just like mine so, should be good.  Thanks again everyone for all your help!

  • by joaofelipecsilva,

    joaofelipecsilva joaofelipecsilva Sep 6, 2016 8:42 AM in response to Manfred34
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Sep 6, 2016 8:42 AM in response to Manfred34

    Hey, did you solve the problem? I am having the same issue.

  • by Manfred34,

    Manfred34 Manfred34 Sep 6, 2016 6:00 PM in response to joaofelipecsilva
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac App Store
    Sep 6, 2016 6:00 PM in response to joaofelipecsilva

    Joaofellpecsilva, I am EXTREMELY happy to report that yes, I did finally solve the problem.  I ordered a new HDD cable from Amazon of all places, because although iFixit does sell it, they did not have it in stock, and I really did not feel like waiting to see when they would.  I did not do a hard-target search for it elsewhere and as luck would have it, I found it on the almighty Amazon.  Unfortunately, Amazon screwed up my order and instead of getting it on Friday already, since I paid extra for 1 day shipping, I had to wait through the long weekend to finally get it, at almost 8 pm tonight.  (Got an extra month of Prime for free and refunded shipping charges for this from Amazon) 

     

    Taking the cable out was not too bad, the toughest part was disconnecting the IR sensor and cable without breaking anything, which I did.  Then, getting the the IR cable back in the ZIF connector was tricky too, but I prevailed.  Put my HDD back in, as I have already bought a SSD which I plan to keep and use, but my OS X startup disc was still in the superdrive and I was briefly crushed when it still prompted me to reinstall OS X but using Disc Utility, I did see my HDD again in the list of drives available, which was refreshing.  I restarted though, went into recovery mode, ejected the startup disc, rebooted again and lo and behold, my computer started like I left it almost a week ago!  Very, very happy!!  I also bought a 6 TB backup drive with Firewire, so I don't have to wait a whole day to back up my drive, which was my biggest fear in the first place when this all happened, because I hadn't backed up in 4 months so.....was really afraid I had lost some important stuff.  Fortunately, Crashburner (thank you again!) suggested the HDD cable and so glad he was right about that.... 

     

    Anyways, thank you again to all for your input and advice, it was all greatly appreciated!!  Well, except for the first poster....  ;-P  My faith in the Apple Communities has been wholeheartedly restored!!

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