S.M.A.R.T hard drive failing error

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S.M.A.R.T hard drive failing error

I was in the process of erasing my hard drive to give my old macbook air to my kid. I got through erasing the hard drive fine from macOS recovery then I went to reinstall a new copy of OS and when it asked me to click on disk to install it on the error came up: “this disk has smart errors this disk has a hardware problem that cannot be repaired.”

I am stuck as I cannot install OS and I can only go to the disk utility screen but when I click on my hard drive I cannot repair or do anything. It is just in red and it just says the drive has a hardware problem that can’t be repaired. The laptop has been working fine, it only happened after I erased it and tried to re-install OS today.

Posted on Mar 19, 2024 9:38 PM

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HWTech

Community+ 2026

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71,658 points

Mar 20, 2024 5:38 PM in response to xXMoonieXx

If this is a 2013-2017 MBAir, then you can install a third party SSD replacement from OWC which is a drop in replacement to fit the proprietary Apple SSD connector. You must have already installed macOS 10.13+ at some point in the past. It is a simple process to replace the SSD in the 2013-2017 MBAirs.

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/macbook-air

If you have a 2015 or 2017 MBAir.....did you already have macOS 12.x Monterey installed at some point? If so, then using a third party OWC will be fine. If not, then the macOS Monterey installer will likely refuse to install since it will not update the system firmware due to using a third party internal SSD....there may be a way to trick it though.

Edit: OWC provides installation videos on the product page so you can see what is involved in the process.

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