Macbook Pro - Folder w/Question Mark; Internet Recovery

no need to appologise.

I mean you will need to replace the hard disk drive inside your mac, it is faulty. You need to purchase a replacement hard drive (an external one will do):

http://www.macmemory.com/collections/internal-laptop-hard-drives

Then you will need to open your mac, take out the faulty hard drive and replace it with the one you bought.

Once this is done, you run IR again, install osx on the new drive.

Then transfer your data from your old hard drive to the new one. Or use your time machine back up.

LowLuster wrote:

I when starting you are going straight to Internet Recovery then your drive has failed. Youi are still with in the one year warranty so take it and have the Apple store fix it.

That is actaully the best solution. However if you want to replace the hard drive yourself I am happy to help.

No need for the original poster to buy anything. His Mac is still under warranty and fixing it won't cost him anything. That is if he takes it into an Apple store.

DeesBek wrote:

no need to appologise.

I mean you will need to replace the hard disk drive inside your mac, it is faulty. You need to purchase a replacement hard drive (an external one will do):

http://www.macmemory.com/collections/internal-laptop-hard-drives

Then you will need to open your mac, take out the faulty hard drive and replace it with the one you bought.

Once this is done, you run IR again, install osx on the new drive.

Then transfer your data from your old hard drive to the new one. Or use your time machine back up.

Ron497 wrote:

On the left side I have: disk0 and Mac OS X Base System.

disko is your entire boot drive

Mac OS X Base System is your RecoveryHD partition.

There is also a hidden EFI partition, but it won't show unless enabled.

Since there is no MacintoshHD partition it means your GUID partition map is likely borked, along with EFI, which is why Startup Manager didn't work.

Your drive isn't dead, but it could be suffering from bad sectors that occured when you hastily shutdown and it was writing someplace and the sectors got corrupted.

Never move a hard drive while it's opertating, wait for it to completely shutdown or sleep.

Your problem can be fixed yourself most likely.

Next step?

Select disk0.

Select Erase

Move the secure erase slider to the 3x overwrite (2 spaces to the right, no further). If you have a SSD you won't see it.

Check format is GUID, OS X Extended Journaled and give it a name MacintoshHD and click Erase, go watch a movie or come back the next morning if you have boot hard drive as it will take a long time to finish, but will fix drive errors. SSD's format instantly.

Do not skip the secure erase for the hard drive or your problems will return.

Come back, if it's stuck erasing (not finishing) the hard drive is bad and needs to be replaced.

Check the Partition tap and that Option: = GUID and Format = OS X Exteneded Journaled and the name is MacintoshHD

Quit Disk Utility (your EFI and RecoveryHD partitions will be installed automatically later)

Install OS X and reboot, setup a new user and log into AppeStore and upgrade to the later OS X verison form the one installed if need be.

Connect the TimeMachine drive, use Migration Assistant to move Users and Apps from the TM drive, or better yet, install Apps from original sources and just files form the TM drive or other backup.

WARNING!

If you use Setup Assistant (appears when a new OS X is installed) or restore the entire drive from TimeMachine instead (like from IR), the corruption of yor boot drive may return in the form of corrupted backed up data!!

What happens is bad sectors on the drive corrupt data, you backed it up to TM, then fixed the bad sectors and if you restore from TM your restoring the corrupted data and your problems seem to return again.

Return just users files/accounts if possible using Migration Assistant in the Utiliies folder, this way if things screw up you can log into the original account created on the fresh install and start over by deleting the Migrated accounts.

I would recommend buying it.

Personally I would not buy it because I like tinkering with hardware, however the rest of my family has it and it has saved us a lot of money when hardware has failed in the past.

Hope it all gets sorted for you.

Ron497 wrote:

Do you feel like the 3 year Apple warranty (around $255) is worth it? In this case if it had been over a year I'd have been out around $150 for a new HD.

Yes.

I'm very careful with my expensive goodies, but I do ride with it on a bike sometimes, either in a back pack or pannier. I back it up often on an X HD that lives at home.

AppleCare/warranty will not cover user inflicted damage, lost hardware or theft, only factory defects.

In fact once there is any user damage either visible or determined by Apple (water spills etc.,) then your AppleCare is void and $255 in the toilet.

Perhaps you should consider keeping your expensive toys at home in a lockbox and take a cheap PC for portable uses if your using a bicycle.

Cheap PC's can be had for a few hundred dollars and easily replaced if lost. I have a couple myself for that purpose.

If you have a car with a alarm (and a lockbox in some places), then the Mac would be a lot safer.

Had the same issue.

MBP 13" i7, 8GB, 750GB HDD, mid-2012.

Ran perfectly for 1.5 yrs.

Turned out the HDD cable was causing it. Very unpleasant.

Bought it for around $30 and replaced it manually. Just need to be careful with the status indicator light cable when changing the cable.

T8 screwdrivers can do the job.

Meanwhile, I was able to place my HDD in a rack and boot from it.

Hope this helps somebody.

The Blinking Folder with a Question Mark happened to me after formattting my HD &

>>>"Adding a Firmware Password"<<<

• Cannot boot from OS Disk/HD/Recovery

My Fix:

• Restart

• Holding the Option (or Alt) Button

• Entered password when Prompted

= Solved

I hope it is as simple for you

If not...

The "? Folder" Prompt Typically Occurs When

>>There Is No OS avalible to Boot From<<

Possible Causes = Fixes:

• Corrupted Software - OS on HD = (Reformat/ Reinstall)

• Broken Disk or Disk Drive (if Booting from OS Disk or USB Boot) = (Replace)

• Hard Drive is Dead = (Replace - Especially if you hear Click Click... Click... & nothing can read it)

• HD Not Connected Properly = (Check/ Wiggle Ribbon-Cable/ Reconnect)

• HD Gone/Stolen = (Hunt Down and Reclaim)

• Rats have Chewed through the SATA/IDE - HD Ribbon Cable = (Replace Ribbon/ Stop Eating Totino Pizza Rolls at your desk and do some laundry)

Just FYI, my wifes Macbook Air just had this same problem on 5/11/2014, flashing folder and question mark on white screen. Took it to Apple store and they are replacing the SSD for free. Certain models of Toshiba SSD's have a defect, can either be software or hardware, and they are extending the warranty to two years and replacing the SSD's for free. Mine is at the Apple Store getting replaced now.