Q: Restore SSD from scratch? Only 32Kb visible

Hello Anton,

Did you get your MBA fixed?

I now have the same problem with my 11' 2012 MBA. I was surfing the net, and it just froze. When I restarted I got the folder icon with a question mark. I then started up from a USB drive. Neither Disk Utility nor TechTool Pro 6 on this USB drive could find the 128 GB SSD.

I then ran System Information, and like Anton I got the same 'odd' info re the SATA:

The MBA is still under warranty, so will phone Apple tomorrow.

Exactly the same problem here, purchased August 2012, failed September 2013.

Very dissapointed in what I thought was a top class piece of hardware.

I have exactly the same problem, with those exact same dates.

I have the same problem!

Mine is also Mid-2012 MBA 13" with 120Gb toshiba ssd. It crashed two months after warranty deadline!

I was at apple store two weeks ago. I still can't believe that the repair cost is about 570 euros. I am schoked and I don't know what to do. I am still exploring other options like OWC ssd, ....

Before buying MBA I always thought that quality of the apple products is sth else. At leastI expected when they see that such thing happens widely to Toshiba ssd, they should act on that positively, not to lose any customer!

I am very disappointed. Well, I am happy it happened before I would go and buy iphone 5S.

MBA mid-2012 also crashed after 1 yr and 1 month. Luckily Apple extended the warranty. But don't know how long it will take to repair due parts are not available.

Hello all! I have macbook air 11 2012. Today its happened. Blink grey folder with question mark. SSD 32kb visible by gparted live usb. "Create partition table" does not working. Now i write from ubuntu live usb.

Apparently, Mid-2012 MBA seems to be affected by this defect. And in most cases, it happens after its first yr. I suggest you visit Apple Service Center to have it checked. If your SSD indeed has crashed, then you cannot retrieve any files anymore and I hope you made a back up. The repair is by replacement of SSD, which is very expensive. I hope yours is still under warranty. If it is just a few months beyond warranty, I advise you to call Apple to request for warranty extension. Goodluck.

I got the same issue today on my 13' MBA Mid-2012 purchased December 2012

Was working when it just freezed and restarted with the question mark folder that appeared and when check with Disk Utility, SSD of 32k only in list.

Fortunately still on warranty but had to left it in store.

I'm experiencing the same problem as everyone else. MBA 13" purchased June 2012, SSD started showing signs of decay last night and by this morning a reinstall failed and booting into Mac OSX from a USB drive shows the 33kb.

It has been two weeks that I am using owc ssd 240GB. It seems to be fine. Let's see how long it survives ... .

Happened to me as well,

1 year 3 months of ownership, thankfully I have Applecare.
I made a video showing my work around as I wait for the replacement part to arrive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6LEykaS7Iw

starting to wonder if it's linked to the pulled firmware upgrade.

Here's an update to my previous message of 11-Sep-2013 04:57, re a dead 11" 2012 MBA.

My MBA was still under warranty so I sent it to Apple to get fixed. Here in Japan the turnaround for getting macs fixed is usually just 3 or 4 days. However, this time it took two weeks because of a lack of parts.

Anyway, the SSD was replaced and thanks to a Time Machine backup I am back to where I was before the MBA died on me.

Your SSD controller failed on your Toshiba SSD, i.e. the SSD processor or "data bus"

The Toshiba SSD used at that time the sandforce controller.

Since processor and SSD is all one single unit,  it is the entire SSD module that has failed and need be replaced.

Macbook Air 2012 SSD, ......storage chips on right, SandForce controller on left

macuserinj  

I then ran System Information, and like Anton I got the same 'odd' info

Its not "odd" 32KB is the size of the SSD Sandforce controller.

its all that your disk utility can read, the capacity of the controller ONLY.

At the Apple store I went to in the UK, they replaced my machine. It was the second time in six months that my computer had gone in for repair and it had taken two weeks to replace the Logic Board last time when they told me it would take five days. The person I talked to didn't know that there wouldn't be any hard drives in stock (I told her there wouldn't be, it was a big problem) and I told her I couldn't wait two weeks again (I run my own business). She vanished to go order one in for me, saying she would order me one in from a nearby store so it would be fixed quickly. She couldn't find anything nearby and it would take more than two weeks to get a new drive in. She vanished for even longer and came back saying there was a load of paperwork to fill out, but I was going to get a new machine. I was so happy with that, I was scared I wasn't going to have my machine for weeks. The reason for the replacement on my form/reciept is 'Constrained Part'. I've just got to call Apple Care tomorrow to get my extended warranty transfered over to my new machine.