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Problem Apple Hardware Test

I have a problem, every now and then this macbook pro 13 "2012, does not see the hard disk and the folder screen appears with question mark, I tried to replace the hard disk and also tried the flex hdd, every now and then it works and sometimes not , so I would like to do a hardware test but,

I have a problem try to use press D on boot for access to Apple Hardware Test, after insert my wifi password i read an error 2105D, i also tried to create usb boot for hardware test but from error and mac starts.

ideas or advice?

Posted on Jan 31, 2020 3:33 AM

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Jan 31, 2020 8:46 PM in response to acidburn87

Create a Knoppix Linux USB boot disk using Etcher (Mac/Windows/Linux). Use Knoppix version 8.2 since the latest version 8.6 is a bit glitchy with the video. Option Boot the Knoppix USB drive and select the orange icon labeled "EFI". It may appear the computer is frozen on the Apple boot picker menu while Knoppix boots so give Knoppix lots of time to finish booting.


At the Knoppix desktop click on the "Start" menu in the lower left of the Taskbar and navigate to "System Tools --> GSmartControl". Within the GSmartControl app double-click on the laptop's drive icon to open up the drive's health report. Post the complete report here.


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Feb 1, 2020 7:43 AM in response to acidburn87

acidburn87 wrote:

I have a problem, every now and then this macbook pro 13 "2012, does not see the hard disk and the folder screen appears with question mark, I tried to replace the hard disk and also tried the flex hdd, every now and then it works and sometimes not ,




Did you replace the SATA cable? This is a known issue with the 2012


https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Apple/8211480/%20%2013%22%20MacBook%20Pro%20SATA



Booting from an external clone will bypass both the internal HDD/SSD and SATA cable as a test.

Boot clone https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-10081



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Feb 1, 2020 3:06 AM in response to HWTech

Hi and thanks for reply, i try to use knoppix and GSmartControl, but i don't see any laptop's drive icon, why this mac not always see hdd even though i have already tried to change the sata flex with that of another mac which i assure it works perfectly.

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Feb 1, 2020 8:13 AM in response to leroydouglas

I have no data problem, the first hard disk is damaged and does not read anything, but this is not a problem, from external USB it works but obviously it is slower and ugly to use, with 20 € I found a caddy to put it in instead of the DVD that I don't use, could it be a valid solution? the dvd is always recognized well by the mac

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Feb 1, 2020 8:22 AM in response to acidburn87

acidburn87 wrote:

I have no data problem, the first hard disk is damaged and does not read anything, but this is not a problem, from external USB it works but obviously it is slower and ugly to use,

with 20 € I found a caddy to put it in instead of the DVD that I don't use, could it be a valid solution?



I don't quite grok the problem, replace the bad drive; if you want a second drive put one in the DVD caddy.



You say " I tried to replace the hard disk and also tried the flex hdd, every now and then it works and sometimes not "


It is quite possible you do have a bad SATA cable even new out of the box—


Internal SATA cables are actually not cables but flexible circuit boards, usually mylar, with printed circuit traces taking the place of wires. This type of cable can experience cracks in traces due to aging, heat, vibration,  impact or  abrasion. They can be damaged quite easily if the unit is mishandled during assembly or re-assembly.


In the case of an intermittent generic failure, the electrical continuity of a cracked trace on both sides of the crack is very often a function of the temperature of the unit at the point where the crack exists. As a unit heats up, it expands, and as it expands, the crack widens, eventually forcing a complete electrical separation to exist on both sides of the crack, hence a failure. As it cools down, electrical contact may once again be restored.

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Feb 1, 2020 8:32 AM in response to leroydouglas

yes yes I know what flexes are, but I assure you that it is not the first time that I disassemble mac or other PCs, but I assure you that the flex cable that I have mounted there is now disassembled from my mac which is fully functional is in hot and cold, I will try to keep this cable for a few days to see how the problem evolves, but in case my solution of the HDD caddy by removing the DVD drive that I don't use and is always recognized by the Mac the DVD then the flex surely it has no problems, could it be a good solution or could performance drop?

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Feb 1, 2020 9:06 AM in response to leroydouglas

HDD

link speed 6gigabit negotiated 3gb

DVD

link speed 6gigabit negotiated 1.5gb

certainly faster than using it with external usb box, now with the flex of my mac it is working, but I assure you that sometimes even so he did not see hdd instead on my mac never had any problem, thank you very much for your help.



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Feb 1, 2020 4:09 PM in response to acidburn87

At least one (or perhaps both) of your internal hard drive cables is defective as evidenced by the iCRC and UDMA CRC errors. In addition the hard drive does not have much more life left in it since the Load Cycle Count is getting dangerously near its maximum lifetime count and should be replaced very soon. It is likely the source of the problem.


Just because you installed another used SATA cable does not mean that cable is any good either. Keep in mind that Apple would replace these SATA cables pro-actively even if the laptop did not show any symptoms which is the only time I can ever recall that Apple proactively replaced anything that was failing.


You really should replace both the SATA Cable and replace the worn out hard drive with an SSD since SSDs are inexpensive and the performance improvement will be significant. A Crucial MX500 250GB SSD is at most $50 (a 500GB is about $65), but stay away from the BX500 series as they are a budget economy model that can be as slow as a hard drive under certain conditions.


Edit: I should add that not all of the SATA cable failures show up as iCRC or UDMA CRC errors and the symptoms of a bad cable vary greatly.

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Feb 3, 2020 2:50 AM in response to HWTech

hello and thank you very much also for the answer, I was slow to answer because I wanted to do some cross-test, I can tell you that as far as the sata cable used is fully functional, otherwise even the donor mac would have had problems instead it just seems out from the factory, I checked again with knoppix with the new hard disk that I mounted and in fact on error log it does not signal me anymore error of iCRC and UDMA CRC, strange that this hard disk with crystal disk info is reported as good and actually has not never given problems to the mac that had previously mounted it, now I have purchased a new sata flex cable and with this hard disk if used it seems to go perfectly for days, of course an ssd would be the best, I always mount ssd to work well but here you want to save money, I buy samsung as ssd even if it costs a little more because crucial I don't like it very much, thank you very much who was helpful to me in this ta discussion

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