MacBook Pro A1502 - HDD issues

DJR_24_ wrote:

I think the only option is to replace the drive. I’ll buy an external enclosure and see if the old drive can be read at a later stage. I saw the link you sent for replacements but is there anything special about these drives in terms of compatibility or can I just get any m2 ssd locally?

Yes, the OWC Aura SSD utilizes the Apple proprietary SSD connector so it is a drop in replacement. Plus OWC provides support for their SSD. Utilizing a standard M.2 SSD requires the use of an SSD adapter to convert the Apple proprietary SSD connector to an M.2 connector. From reading these forums for years, it seems the best & most compatible SSD adapter is from Sintech.

Using a standard M.2 SSD with an adapter means you are responsible for everything. The M.2 SSD manufacturer will not help you unless you are able to reproduce the same SSD issue with a standard non-Apple computer or possibly external enclosure. The M.2 SSDs were are not made or supported in an Apple laptop although they can work, but remember not all SSDs are compatible with all devices.

Is there anything I should be aware of when replacing the drive and starting off fresh?

When using a third party NVMe SSD, you can only use macOS 10.13+ since older versions of macOS don't have the NVMe driver needed to work with a third party NVMe SSD.

Also, a third party NVMe SSD won't work in this laptop unless the laptop's system firmware has already been updated to at least firmware used by macOS 10.13+. This means if the laptop never had macOS 10.13+ installed, then it won't be possible to use a third party NVMe SSD internally since the older system firmware doesn't support NVMe SSDs. The only way to update the system firmware is by installing macOS 10.13+ while the original Apple SSD is installed internally......plus the internal Apple SSD must be properly partitioned & formatted since the macOS 10.13+ installer uses the internal SSD to update the system firmware.

And if this laptop is the 2015 model....it supports macOS 12.x Monterey. However, the Monterey installer will refuse to install the first time as it needs to update the system firmware since it also adds another requirement of only using the original Apple OEM SSD internally. Once the Monterey installer has updated the system firmware, then Monterey can be reinstalled at anytime even with a third party SSD installed internally.

* In terminal, ‘diskutil list’ showed;

disk0 (disk image) - GUID_partition_scheme +2.1GB disk0

Apple_HFS OS X Base System 2.0GB disk0s1

disk1 (internal_physical)

GUID_partition_scheme *251.0GB disk1

EFI EFI 209.7MB disk1s1

7C3457EF-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC 250.8GB disk1s2

The 251 GB disk1 would appear to be the physical internal SSD, so the internal SSD may be just fine. If you booted into an older macOS installer (10.8 to 10.11), then it won't be able to recognize the new drive layout and APFS file system used by macOS 10.13+.

Try booting into Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R to see if you can access the later online macOS installer (10.15+). Unfortunately some Macs will still only boot to the older online installer which originally shipped with the Mac from the factory regardless of the keys used for booting.

If you boot into macOS 10.13+, then you should try running Disk Utility First Aid on the hidden Container as that will also run First Aid on all volumes within that Container as well (plus the Container itself). Within Disk Utility you may need to click "View" and select "Show All Devices" before the hidden Container appears on the left pane of Disk Utility.

** disk1 isn’t always shown. Sometimes it lists disk0 then goes to disk2.

The drive identifier is assigned as new disks are discovered. Usually internal drives will be "disk0" even when booted into Internet Recovery Mode or from a macOS USB installer. Hard to say if this is indicating a problem with the internal SSD or Logic Board.

It also lists up to disk14 and the majority of these are 524.3KB. I’m not sure if these show a problem with the drive or not but thought I’d mention it anyway.

Those are the virtual volumes used by the macOS installer. With newer versions of macOS you can actually add the "internal" filter option to the end of the "diskutil list" command so it will only list the internal drives & volumes making it much easier to work. Unfortunately, the "internal" option is not available with the older versions of macOS....I'm not sure when it was included, but I think it was around 10.11 or 10.12.

Continued.....

Unfortunately, this HDD hasn’t been backed up and ideally my friend wanted access to certain files but this doesn’t seem like it’s going to be possible. I can buy an external M2 enclosure and try but I only have a windows based computer at home so I don’t know if it will be possible, even if it did see the HDD when in an external enclosure. Does anyone have any input on this?

You can install macOS onto an external USB3 drive (hard drive will work, but it will slow compared to using an SSD). If you can only access the older macOS online installers, then you will need to upgrade the OS on the external drive to the latest version of macOS supported by that laptop.

Once you have a bootable external macOS drive (full OS), then you will have more options for examining the internal SSD & volumes to attempt to recover data if possible. You would then also have access to data recovery software such as Stellar Data Recovery (I've never used it...several people on this forum reported success with it though) to attempt to retrieve data.

If you are installing an older version of macOS (10.8 to 10.10), then you will need to properly partition & format the destination drive. Here is an article with intstrutions:

https://eshop.macsales.com/tech_center/formatting/Mac_Formatting_6-10_R3.pdf

If you are installing macOS 10.11 to 10.14, then you can use Disk Utility to erase the whole physical destination drive as GUID partition and MacOS Extended (Journaled).....may even be able to do this with macOS 10.15 as well.

If you are installing macOS 10.15+, then erase the whole physical drive as GUID partition and APFS (top option). Within Disk Utility you will need to click "View" and select "Show All Devices" before the physical drive appears on the left pane of Disk Utility.

Sometimes macOS won't show any updated versions of macOS available when checking Software Update (or the App Store), so you may need to access the macOS installers using the instructions & links within the following Apple article (read it carefully for the older installer as there are multiple steps involved for them).

How to download and install macOS - Apple Support

You can get the exact model of the Mac by entering the system serial number on the Check Coverage page in this Apple article:

Check Your Service and Support Coverage - Apple Support

DJR_24_ wrote:

Yeah I was concerned about rewriting OS to the drive but on forums it said by ‘reinstalling’ it won’t wipe any exisiting data as it’s on a seperate partition.

If you install overtop of the existing OS, then that would be correct. However, you must be reinstalling the same or later version of macOS over top of itself. Plus if data needs recovered, then it is best not to do much to the internal drive other than running First Aid.

I just got into internet recovery with command + option + r. In disk utilities I changed to show all devices and it only shows ‘apple disk image media’ and under that is ‘macOS base system’.

Just out of curiosity, post a picture of that. More than likely that is just the virtual volume for the online installer, but if macOS was being reinstalled on the internal SSD, then sometimes it may appear like that although that is rare.

If the internal SSD is not seen under those conditions and you are booted into macOS 10.13+, then it means there is a hardware issue of some sort.....either the SSD has failed or the Logic Board is bad (its SSD support circuitry). Since it seems that the internal SSD is sometimes seen and other times it is not seen, then the SSD failure is intermittent. Most SSD failures I have encountered are like that where the SSD's controller is no longer able to communicate with the computer.....sometimes the SSD may be slow to go ready, but it should have been able to go ready by the time Internet Recovery Mode booted.

Unless you get lucky and the SSD comes back once you can boot into macOS from an external drive, then you won't be able to recover any data unless an expensive professional data recovery service is able to do so.

Most likely the SSD is failing or has failed....all things being equal, the SSD is the weakest link assuming there is no accidental liquid damage involved.

And another thing I noticed: in internet recovery - on the macOS base system, it said version was 12.6. I’m assuming that means this is the latest compatible version of OS for this laptop?

Not entirely sure, maybe. It is usually easier to just see what OS is listed on the main Recovery Mode screen for "Install macOS xxxx" where "xxxx" is name of the OS to be installed.

Does this mean I should try make bootable usb as Monterey or does it not really matter?

If you can access the Monterey online installer, then you can just use that. So I assume you have the 2015 model.

In order to create a bootable macOS USB installer requires access to another Mac that is compatible with the OS installer you want to create.

You're welcome.

FYI, if you are able to see the SSD when connected externally, then make sure that the laptop & SSD does not go to sleep or it will most likely cause the SSD to disappear again. When SSDs have a problem, the sleep & wake can prevent them from coming back.....sometimes they may never come back. Sounds like your SSD may be near to the point of death.

If the physical SSD is seen, then you can try running DriveDx to check the SSD's health. There usually isn't too much health information if it is an Apple OEM SSD, but it never hurts to check. If the issue is with the SSD's controller, then the errors won't show up in the report. Post the complete DriveDx text report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper. FYI, best to run DriveDx from your external macOS drive you were using to work on this laptop since you will need to install a special USB driver to attempt to access the health information on the external SSD.

If you need or want to attempt data recovery and the physical SSD is shown, but macOS cannot read or mount the volume, then you can try using a data recovery app such as Stellar Data Recovery.

Good luck.

DJR_24_ wrote:

So from here, the best way forward is to create a bootable usb and then try the data recovery. Then try reinstalling the operating system and go from there?

Yes, try installing the full macOS onto an external USB3 drive. It is Ok if you are only able to install the older macOS (10.8 to 10.11) to the external drive since you can later upgrade to a later version of macOS on the external drive.

I did read several posts about just reinstalling the operating system but I haven’t been able to do so as it can’t find the SSD when asking where to install it too.

If you want to try data recovery, then you don't want to do anything to the internal SSD except perhaps run Disk Utility First Aid once you can boot into macOS 10.13+ (preferably whatever is the latest version of macOS that is compatible with this Mac).

Also, it doesn’t allow me to boot into internet recovery (Command + Option + R). Sometimes it just hangs then eventually errors out with the apple help url. I have a feeling it may have worked at one attempt but I’ve lost track due to attempting so many different methods to fix this issue. I’ll try it again when I next get back to looking at it.

If you can, boot into Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R since it just makes things a bit easier for you, but if that is not possible, then it is Ok if you can can access the older online macOS installer by using Command + Option + Shift + R (or Command + R if that works, but the latter may try to boot from the local recovery volume which may not work if there is a problem with the file system or OS on the internal drive).

DJR_24_ wrote:

MacBook Pro A1502 - HDD issues

Unfortunately, this HDD hasn’t been backed up and ideally my friend wanted access to certain files but this doesn’t seem like it’s going to be possible. I can buy an external M2 enclosure and try but I only have a windows based computer at home so I don’t know if it will be possible, even if it did see the HDD when in an external enclosure. Does anyone have any input on this?

If replacing the HDD is the only option, is there any compatibility issues that I need to be aware of when finding a replacement HDD?

Is there anything else worth trying that anyone can recommend?

If your Mac starts up to a question mark

If your Mac starts up to a question mark - Apple Support

ref; SSD Upgrades for 2013, 2014, and 2015 MacBook Pro

You can see if it boots externally if you can find a compatible enclosure

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MAU3ENPRPCIO/

you are up against vintage and obsolete:

Obtaining service for your Apple product after an expired warranty - Apple Support

Obtaining service for your Apple product after an expired ...