Question mark folder starting up and no disk in disk utility.

Question

Question mark folder starting up and no disk in disk utility.

Hi.

I was watching a video online, suddenly my macbook left responding so I turned it off manually, I started it again and then instead of the bitten apple appeared a folder with a question mark in it. I rebooted my mac pressing cmd+R and at that moment it asked me to connect to wifi to start something called Internet Recovery, I waited for it to be ready and then it launched me to disk utility but MacintoshHD doesn't appear.

If my HD could be recovered it would be wonderful but what I'm strongly worried about right now is about all the contents of my HD, what can I do to get it out? I was reading an answer to another question like mine and the expert asked the person to reboot and then press "t"... I made that and what appeared were a firewire icon and something like an arrow in a ray form and a battery charge icon... I was reading in that topic that something could be done to get back the contents using another Mac. I have another one which is a 10.9.4, mine, I don't know which is but is newer that this one.

I hope someone could help me because I'm totally in shock.

Thanks in advance.

Regards.

Posted on Jul 11, 2014 3:16 PM

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Answer 1

Niel

Level 10

727,235 points

Jul 11, 2014 3:19 PM in response to miguelmespejo

Your HD appears to have died; if this is correct, the data on it can only be recovered by a professional service, which can charge hundreds or thousands of dollars.

(109331)

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Answer 2

Jul 11, 2014 3:35 PM in response to miguelmespejo

Some people say it could be due to a damaged SATA cable, how possible could it be? My MacBook Pro stopped responding after I held it exactly from the part where HD is located. The monitor cable damaged before in the same Mac but that problem fixed alone. They say those cabled are so fragile, do anyone think it could be my situation?

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Answer 3

Jul 11, 2014 3:36 PM in response to Niel

Some people say it could be due to a damaged SATA cable, how possible could it be? My MacBook Pro stopped responding after I held it exactly from the part where HD is located. The monitor cable damaged before in the same Mac but that problem fixed alone. They say those cabled are so fragile, do anyone think it could be my situation?

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Answer 4

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,305 points

Jul 11, 2014 3:41 PM in response to miguelmespejo

Take out the HDD and install it in an enclosure. Connect the enclosure to the MBP via USB. Boot the MBP with the OPTION key down. If the HDD appears, click on it. If it boots the MBP, the SATA cable is probably the problem. If not, the the HDD will have to be replaced.

Ciao.

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Answer 5

Niel

Level 10

727,235 points

Jul 11, 2014 3:41 PM in response to miguelmespejo

That's possible. If your Mac model has an optical drive, check whether it appears in the Disk Utility; aside from this, it's not possible to tell without opening the computer.

(109332)

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Answer 6

Jul 18, 2014 4:31 PM in response to OGELTHORPE

Had the same problem. Used your trouble shooting procedure and the machine booted from the same disk using the USB cable. I eBay'ed a cable for $7 and presto!

Thanks!!!

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