MBP 2017 typical hard drive failure reasons?

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MBP 2017 typical hard drive failure reasons?

I have a MacBook Pro 2017 (13", no touchbar, two thunderbolt 3 ports, model name "MacBookPro14,1") with a 512 GB internal SSD. I have started to get the flashing drive icon with a question mark every few days. Last two times the computer has failed to restart, coming back to the flashing drive icon, but if I boot once from an external drive in between, the internal drive boots fine again. Disk Utility shows no errors. Another notable point is that it has never failed during active use. If it fails, it fails after hibernation.

There is a service program, but it is for 128GB and 256GB SSD:s, so my MBP is not eligible. Still it would be nice to know, what was that SSD firmware update and how has it been determined that 512GB drives are not impacted? Can I get the update and install it on a 512GB drive?

Is there another typical reason other than SSD or motherboard failure for this kind of symptoms? This vividly reminds me of my late-2009 MBP, where I've had to replace the hard drive cable several times.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Oct 13, 2020 12:02 AM

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Answer 1

Oct 13, 2020 8:31 PM in response to MJRinne

There is nothing you can do about SSD firmware updates. macOS will provide firmware updates when they are necessary or they will have a special free repair program so that a service provider can update the firmware for you.

Run Disk Utility First Aid on the SSD. Select the Container and the physical SSD when running First Aid (you need to run First Aid on each one separately). You will need to click on "View" within Disk Utility and select "Show All Devices" before the Container or physical drive will be appear on the left pane of Disk Utility. Even if First Aid shows everything is "Ok" you should click on "Details" and see if there are any unfixed errors. If there are any unfixed errors, then you will need to backup the SSD before erasing the whole physical SSD in order to create a new APFS file system. Yes First Aid can have unfixed errors even if everything appears "Ok". This is Apple being stupid.

Try an SMC reset and a PRAM reset (try holding the PRAM reset for a full minute if possible although some 2017 laptops won't let you hold it that long). You can also clear the NVRAM by using the Terminal app and the following command:

sudo  nvram  -c

Make sure to have frequent and regular backups since it is impossible to recover accidentally deleted data from an SSD plus an SSD can fail at any time without any warning signs.

FYI, here is the current list of publicly acknowledged free repair programs for various Apple products (some products have multiple programs):

https://support.apple.com/service-programs

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Answer 2

Oct 17, 2020 11:13 AM in response to MJRinne

Yes the 2017 non-Touchbar model has a separate SSD. Most likely the problem will be with the SSD, but it could still be a Logic Board/power issue. From what you are describing it sounds like the SSD is taking a long time to go ready so I suspect the SSD is bad.

The only thing left that can be tried would be to use a Linux utility & boot disk to access the SSD's built-in hardware secure erase feature which can also reset the SSD to factory defaults which can sometimes fix an SSD. I've had mixed results with performing this hardware reset on the SSD since the majority of our organization's SSDs on 2016 & 2017 laptops don't seem to support this feature. Unless you are familiar with Linux the best option would be to use the paid copy of Parted Magic since it has a customized utility that should be easy to use. Here is a Parted Magic article showing the procedure:

https://partedmagic.com/nvme-secure-erase/

Unfortunately there are no third party SSD replacements for this model laptop as it is a completely unique connector. You will need to have Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider provide you with a repair estimate.

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Answer 3

MJRinne Author

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8 points

Oct 18, 2020 8:20 AM in response to HWTech

Thanks again! Unfortunately no luck with the NVME erase either with this unit - it fails systematically.

I guess my next step will be detaching and reattaching the current drive (with some cleaning and possibly a touch of contact spray for the connector) to see if it is simply a connection issue. If that doesn't help, I'll replace the drive.

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Answer 4

MJRinne Author

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8 points

Oct 16, 2020 10:34 PM in response to MJRinne

Nope, the problem is back. And this time no help from either SMC or PRAM reset. Looks like I was just lucky last time.

Booting from an external hard drive works as before, but didn't immediately solve the issue: When I just booted from external, shutdown and restarted, the folder with the question mark was still there. But once I logged into the session on the external hard drive, let it run for a while, and then rebooted, the internal SSD worked fine. Gives the impression that the temperature would have something to do with it; like a broken connection which works when the solderings are warm enough.

It looks increasingly like a HW replacement is needed. But is it the SSD, the motherboard, or both, and how can I tell? I haven't opened this one so far, but I took the non-touchbar model on purpose, as the SSD is supposed to still have a connector in this one.

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Answer 5

Oct 18, 2020 8:40 AM in response to MJRinne

I don't think you will be cleaning any contacts on any connector for the boot drive.

After about 2016, the components for the boot drive are soldered to the mainbnoard, and there is no connector.

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Answer 6

MJRinne Author

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8 points

Oct 18, 2020 8:56 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Only the touchbar ones, as already pointed out above, which is exactly why I got mine without the touchbar. At 1:58 in this video you can see Erica detaching the SSD from an A1708, same as mine.

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Answer 7

Oct 18, 2020 8:59 AM in response to MJRinne

Ah, thanks for adding that.

I stand corrected.

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Answer 8

MJRinne Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 14, 2020 2:09 PM in response to HWTech

Thanks a lot! Still too early to give a final conclusion, but in the meantime:

1) The internal SSD vanished again today (blinking folder and question mark). This time so badly that it wasn't visible even after booting from an external drive.

2) I just did an SMC Reset and everything got back to normal. Thanks a lot for suggesting that! I've done numerous SMC and PRAM resets over the years, but looks like I tend to forget that they can apparently solve anything.

3) Ran Disk Utility First Aid on All Devices linked with the internal SSD and checked all the details. No problems of any kind indicated anywhere.

I'll post another comment if the problem comes back and / or there's anything more to learn from it. And I'll click the "solved"-button, if the issue stays away. Meanwhile I'm running continuous Time Machine backups on an external RAID...

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MBP 2017 typical hard drive failure reasons?

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