MBP mid 2012 HD failure????

Question

Spice1996 Author

Level 1

8 points

MBP mid 2012 HD failure????

Good evening all.

My MBP (mid 2012) has developed a strange thing which I can’t understand and/or fix.

When I switch it ON the machine doesn’t see the HD and I have the folder with a ? appearing on screen.

When I put the HD in an external caddy and power up through USB connection it works fine…..

It also works fine (for a while) with the HD mounted internally for the first time after the procedure with the external caddy - but not after Shut-down.

So: is this a HD failure (Disc utility doesn’t seem to think so) or something more serious? This current HD is a “Crucial” SSD 1TB and perhaps 2 or 3 years old.

I have ordered a new HD just in case, but any suggestions appreciated, thanx.

SP

MacBook Pro 13", macOS 10.14

Posted on Jan 2, 2020 2:48 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

babowa

Level 9

78,562 points

Jan 2, 2020 3:00 PM in response to Spice1996

I agree with Steve359; the cable holding the drive in tend to fail. When putting in a new drive, it is best to also replace the cable. I'd also only buy my drives from OWC (macsales.com); they are Mac-centric and have a good reputation here.

Reply

Answer 2

macjack

Level 10

111,242 points

Jan 2, 2020 2:59 PM in response to Spice1996

You can run DriveDx to check the health of your drive, it's a much more robust utility than Disk Utility:

https://binaryfruit.com/drivedx

You also can post the results here if you need help interpreting them.

Reply

Answer 3

steve359

Level 6

17,187 points

Jan 2, 2020 2:54 PM in response to Spice1996

Call OWC and ask for the HD cable replacement. The cables have a history of wearing out at the contacts, and often show this behavior when replacing the drive because the well-worn contact-pads have changed.

Reply