MBA (mid-2012) SSD failure after 8 weeks Hardware Test

Question

Level 1

62 points

MBA (mid-2012) SSD failure after 8 weeks Hardware Test

Brand new MBA mid-2012 (8GB RAM, 128GB SSD running ML 10.8.0).

Failed to startup - Apple logo on grey screen appeared, then the spinning gear wheel, then a blank screen, then the spinning gear wheel, then a blank screen, repeating ad nauseum...

I reset PRAM and SMC - no change

I opened in Single User Mode to run fsck - no change, then in Verbose mode to see what messages appeared (flashing messages of appleid verification timeouts)

Disk Utility - no problems detected

DiskWarrior - no problems detected

Tech Tool Pro - (1) SMART check picked up 7 SSD failures/errors:

[Wear Levelling Count, Program Fail Count(total), Erase Fail Count (total), Power-off Retract Count, Media Wear Out Indicator, Total LBAs Written and Total LBAs Read all 7 FAILED], remainder of SMART tests passed, and SSD PASSED SMART check.

Then (2) Surface Scan checked all 236+million blocks, NO BAD BLOCKS identified/detected.

Very strange indeed!! - booted into Recovery Drive, verified and all ok, no problems starting from this partition! Problem lies on normal boot partition (of course...!)

Was able to boot from external ML HDD and was able to pull all files off Air (interestingly Carbon Copy Cloner reported one text file sitting on bad block and was unable to copy/clone)

Time to get serious: Spoke with Apple Tech here in Australia late on a Saturday pm (thanks Olin!)

Ran Apple Hardware Test in Extended mode [took me back to System 7 days with very old icon!!] - took around 1hr and reported error "4HDD/11/40000000 SATA(0,0)" so it looks like new MBA is heading back to Apple!

I am thinking about re-installing ML from the Recovery Drive in case I can get the MBA running again to make sure I have all my file backed up, but it looks like an 8 week old MBA is no more...

anyone else seen this in mew MBAs? would hate to think I am the only one! plenty of other discussions around this error on HDD machines, but haven't found anything for this error for a SSD.

MacBook Air, OS X Mountain Lion, (mid-2012) 8GB RAM

Posted on Aug 18, 2012 3:45 PM

Reply

Answer 1

RRFS

Level 5

4,522 points

Aug 18, 2012 5:22 PM in response to EJW Tas

Sometimes it's just bad luck. Nothing that is manufactured in large quantities is bound to have some defective units come to market. 😟

Reply

Answer 2

EJW Tas Author

Level 1

62 points

Aug 18, 2012 5:57 PM in response to EJW Tas

Update on my earlier post...

Figuring I had nothing to lose (except perhaps my sanity) I re-installed ML using the Recovery partition.

There are a couple of posts from others who had done this with a HDD, and I thought it was worth the try.

It took around 90 minutes to d/l ML and install, and the MBA boots into my default user partition.

This will now let me backup/clone my files.

So, assuming the Hardware Test is correct, I have a bad SSD and there was a system file sitting on top of the bad area of the SSD, and hence I was unable to start up. By re-instaling ML, the system files are sitting elsewhere on the SSD and the files can be read and startup is ok.

Apple Aust will be calling me back on Monday, and I will go through all this with them, but I will be looking for a replacement SSD.

Reply

Answer 3

Jan 28, 2013 3:16 AM in response to EJW Tas

I have a 15-inch, retina, 2.7 GHz, 16 GB RAM, 768 GB flash drive MacBook Pro notebook, running 10.8.2

I have noticed that if I run the extended hardware test while connected to the power supply I do not get the error 4HDD/11/40000000:SATA(0,0) but if I run the same test while on battery power I get that error.

Does the same happen to you?

Any idea of what the problem is?

Reply

Answer 4

EJW Tas Author

Level 1

62 points

Mar 15, 2013 9:29 PM in response to Manuel Carvajal

Sorry Manuel, just popped in here to check out the thread. The Extended Hardware Test was run on Mains power, and I never tried to run the test on battery. If the Test shows the SATA error, the HD has problems - take it into Apple Service Agent for replacement.

Reply

Answer 5

MonYeah

Level 1

0 points

Oct 14, 2013 5:43 PM in response to EJW Tas

@EJW Tas ;

the same problems as you
you've managed to solve it?

Reply

Answer 6

cppguru

Level 1

0 points

Sep 3, 2015 2:35 PM in response to EJW Tas

I have the same problem and Apple is unable to fix the issue (2012 Retina MBP) for months. They keep claiming they will, they replace something, the problem is back after a few hours. After their latest repair my computer stopped operating completely. I have spent several 12 hours days making backups, restoring things, redoing stuff I did earlier, altogether I had to bring the computer for repair about 5 times. Now the person "assisting" tells me to call them to discuss what's next (I want them to replace the computer with one that works) but on the number he gives they refuse to connect me to him.

After months and lies from them my patience has run out, so I plan to collect more people who have the same issue and start a class action to get my money back and get reimbursed for the weeks of my life they have wasted. If you have similar SSD errors or never ending repairs and you are unable to use or trust your computer let me know.

Reply