nmhspooner

Q: Start up disk cannot be located? White screen of DOOM!!

Hi guys, wondering if someone can give me a few pointers...

So yesterday I wanted to do some printing so I plugged in the printer USB to my MacBook (2012) and all of a sudden I got the rainbow wheel come up. I thought "no problem" just having a minor blip, but then the whole thing froze, I left it for a few minutes before deciding to force restart by holding down the power. Then, when i turned it back on all i got was the white screen... I left it 10 minutes but as nothing happened I turned it off and then on again and got the white screen with the grey folder with a question mark in it. I know that this means the macbook can't find or locate the bootable drive as after turning it on and off again it went from a white screen to a black terminal like screen saying so.

 

I opened up os x recovery by using command + r, but the only disk present was the disk0 with "mac os x base" present. when I tried to find "Macintosh HD" I couldn't. I went into the startup disk area to try and boot up from the startup disk manually but nothing appeared.

 

I've tried booting in safe mode and doing the old "shift+control+option+power for 4 seconds" thing and then powering whilst holding r+p command and alt but nothing happened...

 

Any help would be hugely appreciated...

I thought i'd ask before I take the plunge and take it into an apple store.

 

Thanks

 

Nathan

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012)

Posted on Sep 23, 2016 1:00 AM

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Q: Start up disk cannot be located? White screen of DOOM!!

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  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Sep 23, 2016 5:37 AM in response to nmhspooner
    Level 9 (52,531 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 23, 2016 5:37 AM in response to nmhspooner
  • by nmhspooner,

    nmhspooner nmhspooner Sep 23, 2016 5:48 AM in response to OGELTHORPE
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Sep 23, 2016 5:48 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

    Thanks for your quick reply,

    I did the first two options as per my post and they did not have any effect. The SMC reset just brings the same results, white screen with the question mark folder that flashes. The NVRAM does the same.

    when i hold the shift key for safe mode nothing nothing changes, just the white screen.

     

    is it even worth me taking it to a genius or is it pooped?

  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Sep 23, 2016 8:22 AM in response to nmhspooner
    Level 9 (52,531 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 23, 2016 8:22 AM in response to nmhspooner

    Try starting the MBP with the OPTION key down.  You should see the HDD icon and the recovery icon.  By clicking onto the HDD icon you theoretically should be able to boot the MBP assuming it is functional.  If there is no HDD icon, if available, take out the HDD and install it in a known functional enclosure.  Then start the MBP again with the OPTION key down.  If the HDD icon is not displayed, then it suggests the HDD has failed.  If it is available and can boot the MBP, then there is an internal connection problem.  If the HDD will not boot the MBP, then there is a problem with the HDD and you should see if you can repair it via recovery>Disk Utility>First Aid>Repair.

     

    Ciao.