How to Fix My SSD Partition with "Unknown Format"

• Yes, it was encrypted from the very beginning probably because i had a password on the startup.
• Do you mean this command: " fsck_apfs -s -o -y /dev/rdisk3 " without -s like this "fsck_apfs -o -y /dev/rdisk3" ? If so below is the output. It gives me some paths to take.

Last login: Sun May  3 22:57:30 on ttys001
Murats-MacBook-Pro:~ muratsenocak$ fsck_apfs -o -y /dev/rdisk3
fsck_apfs: invalid option -- o
usage: fsck_apfs [-q | -n | -y] [-l] device
       -l            live fsck (lock down for verify-only)
       -q            quick check if the superblock and checkpoint superblock are valid.
       -y            always repair (answer "yes" to questions)
       -n            verify only (answer "no" to questions)
Murats-MacBook-Pro:~ muratsenocak$ 

Thanks Loner T. I hope I won't need their assistance because there is none in my area. Here is how my ssd looks in Terminal. The name of the disk is some fff-fffff-ffffff.

I really need disk1s2. Is there a way to reformat it, if somehow format has been changed or corrupted, or fix it without losing data?

It was the primary SSD in which the system was installed. Then I tried a couple of ways to reinstall the OS after the system crashed, but every time it failed for some reason. Then I bought a new SSD, and replaced the older one with it. I managed to install the OS on the new one after a few attempts. Then I connected the older SSD with sata cable to check if I was able to get my files back, but no luck. Next, I connected the old SSD instead of the optical drive that I detached years ago. The outcome is the same as the data cable. Here is the output of the command:

Unfortunately I got this error, sir.

Last login: Sun May  3 17:41:43 on ttys002
Murats-MacBook-Pro:~ muratsenocak$ sudo gdisk /dev/disk0
Password:
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 1.0.5

Problem opening /dev/disk0 for reading! Error is 1.
Murats-MacBook-Pro:~ muratsenocak$ 

Edit: The disk I should have tried was disk1 instead of disk 0. So it is my fault. I realized when i did "diskutil list". So below is the output. I'll reboot and come back.

Hi Loner. I rebooted. Macintosh SSD is back. But I cannot mount it. I get an error, below is the Terminal output of the error. By the way, given the fact that we are on the right track, may I ask if I can use this Macintosh SSD to boot the system and the one I am using right now as the storage disk? The operating system is now installed in this one that i am writing to here now, but i want to use the other.

I did it and here is the output:

Last login: Sun May  3 19:57:06 on ttys000
Murats-MacBook-Pro:~ muratsenocak$ diskutil repairDisk disk1
Repairing the partition map might erase disk1s1, proceed? (y/N) y
Started partition map repair on disk1
Checking prerequisites
Checking the partition list
Adjusting partition map to fit whole disk as required
Checking for an EFI system partition
Checking the EFI system partition's size
Checking the EFI system partition's file system
Checking the EFI system partition's folder content
Checking all HFS data partition loader spaces
Checking booter partitions
Reviewing boot support loaders
Checking Core Storage Physical Volume partitions
The partition map appears to be OK
Finished partition map repair on disk1
Murats-MacBook-Pro:~ muratsenocak$ 

Edit: I restarted and still cannot mount the disk. It looks like that in the disk utility.

This mac software detects all of my files as in the screenshot below, and claims to recover my files for $100. What is very good about this software is that my files are in order. The one you recommend is $50.

Just asking Loner, is it possible to upgrade my mac, although unsupported, to Mojave. People use some sort of patcher to do it. Then my mac would both run Mojave, and solve the problem of the SSD at the same time. Do you recommend it?

No, it is not mounted and I can't mount it.

Here is first aid output:

Running First Aid on “Macintosh SSD” (disk3s1)

Repairing file system.
Volume is already unmounted.
Performing fsck_apfs -y -x /dev/rdisk3s1
Checking the container superblock.
Checking the EFI jumpstart record.
Checking the space manager.
error: (oid 0x1a599) cib: invalid o_cksum (0x0)
error: failed to read spaceman cib 0x1a599
Space manager is invalid.
The volume /dev/rdisk3s1 could not be verified completely.
File system check exit code is 0.
Restoring the original state found as unmounted.

Operation successful.

I think the USB stick that I have is 2.0. I am not sure about that, but it is very slow. I used this one to install Mojave, though. When i boot with install disk and go to disk utility, macintosh ssd is not mounted. I am not able to mount it.

This is the result of first aid. Following the first aid, I attempted to mount the disk. Still no chance.

When I hit ”install macOS“ Macintosh SSD is the only option fortunately, with zero KB available on it. When I click on Macintosh SSD, “unlock“ button appears as the proceed option. When I go for it and enter a wrong password it rejects to do anything. Luckily, the password matches with the one starting with 9EF... I choose it and enter the password and hit “unlock”. The box showing me the partition unlock option disappears when the password matches, otherwise it shows me vibrating password stars, in which case I know that password is wrong. I am elaborating because I am sure that the password is correct.

This time the Macintish SSD is still there with unlock option but when I hit that button nothing happens. I cannot go further.

[Murats-MacBook-Pro:~ muratsenocak$ sudo dd if=/dev/rdisk1s2 count=5 2>/dev/null | hexdump -C
Password:
00000000  1e da 62 67 be c3 62 0d  01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |..bg..b.........|
00000010  5d 27 1c 00 00 00 00 00  01 00 00 80 00 00 00 00  |]'..............|
00000020  4e 58 53 42 00 10 00 00  0f ff 32 03 00 00 00 00  |NXSB......2.....|
00000030  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000040  02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  4d af 2e 16 23 c1 40 8d  |........M...#.@.|
00000050  97 d4 e1 43 d7 30 b2 d8  e7 8b 0a 00 00 00 00 00  |...C.0..........|
00000060  5e 27 1c 00 00 00 00 00  18 01 00 00 20 6c 00 00  |^'.......... l..|
00000070  d6 b8 01 00 00 00 00 00  5d 39 01 00 00 00 00 00  |........]9......|
00000080  04 01 00 00 42 3b 00 00  02 01 00 00 02 00 00 00  |....B;..........|
00000090  27 3b 00 00 1b 00 00 00  fb 8f 04 00 00 00 00 00  |';..............|
000000a0  12 4a 09 00 00 00 00 00  01 04 00 00 00 00 00 00  |.J..............|
000000b0  00 00 00 00 64 00 00 00  03 04 00 00 00 00 00 00  |....d...........|
000000c0  d8 a2 01 00 00 00 00 00  da a2 01 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000000d0  20 41 02 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  | A..............|
000000e0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
*
000003d0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  8a f7 04 04 00 00 00 00  |................|
000003e0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
*
000004f0  04 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  ab 89 e4 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000500  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000510  bf e7 68 00 00 00 00 00  01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |..h.............|
00000520  01 00 04 00 08 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000530  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
*
00000a00
Murats-MacBook-Pro:~ muratsenocak$ 



Hey, Loner. Here is the terminal output you asked for. I hope this helps you to help me fix it.

By the way, I witnessed a hopeful progress about my SSD. Among many others, only the iBoysoft Data Recovery software has been able to scan for lost apfs volumes and found approximately 200 gigabytes of data, which is organized the way i did. I mean not an ordinary recovery like pictures renamed as pic1, pic2; and documents renamed like doc1, doc2, etc, but everything stays as it was before the system crash. This means that we can also access the system. I use another ssd now to boot the system. Can i also boot from the other SSD if it is fixed?

Here is the output, Loner.

Last login: Sun May  3 04:29:02 on ttys000

Murats-MacBook-Pro:~ muratsenocak$ sudo gdisk -l /dev/disk1

Password:

GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 1.0.5



Warning: Devices opened with shared lock will not have their

partition table automatically reloaded!

Partition table scan:

  MBR: protective

  BSD: not present

  APM: not present

  GPT: present



Found valid GPT with protective MBR; using GPT.

Disk /dev/disk1: 468862128 sectors, 223.6 GiB

Sector size (logical): 512 bytes

Disk identifier (GUID): EAA5B986-5782-4B85-9CDA-1A69F053D3EE

Partition table holds up to 128 entries

Main partition table begins at sector 2 and ends at sector 33

First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 468862092

Partitions will be aligned on 8-sector boundaries

Total free space is 526187 sectors (256.9 MiB)



Number  Start (sector)    End (sector)  Size       Code  Name

   1              40          409639   200.0 MiB   EF00  EFI System Partition

   2          409640       429799583   204.7 GiB   FFFF  Macintosh SSD

   3       429801472       460652543   14.7 GiB    8300  

   4       460914688       468599943   3.7 GiB     AF00  Untitled 3

Murats-MacBook-Pro:~ muratsenocak$ 

Yes, you're right. I checked and the SSD is on disk3s1

Here is the result:

Last login: Sun May  3 17:58:53 on ttys001
Murats-MacBook-Pro:~ muratsenocak$ diskutil verifyDisk disk3
Unable to verify this whole disk: A GUID Partition Table (GPT) partitioning scheme 
is required (-69773)
Murats-MacBook-Pro:~ muratsenocak$