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Internal Hard Drive Not Detected after El Capitan Update

I updated to El Capitan: It was working fine (i guess?) was using Safari, it lagged and the rainbow wheel showed up (its stucked) thus i restarted my laptop. then next thing i saw is a flashing "?" folder and it ended up unbootable.


Things i tried:

1. Restarting and holding Option/Alt Key - DIDN'T WORK

2. Resetting the NVRAM (Holding Command (⌘), Option, P, and R) - DIDN'T WORK

3. Target Disk Mode (Holding T) - DIDN'T WORK (bought a new thunderbolt cable and tried connecting to 3 different MacBooks, all 3 MacBooks were unable to detect my macbook)

4. OS X Recovery Mode (Holding the Command (⌘) and R): DIDN'T WORK

4.1. Disk Utility > My Startup disk doesn't show thus i can't do a FIRST AID nor a RESTORE or even an ERASE.

4.2. Reinstalling OS X > No Startup disk so there's no way to proceed.

5. Booting OS X Yosemite from an external Hard Disk: DIDN'T WORK

5.1. Using the Command Line/Terminal - diskutil list (doesn't show my internal hard drive)

6. Using TestDisk to recover and fix it but: DIDN'T WORK

6.1. Again the Command Line/Terminal can't detect the original startup disk (internal HD) - diskutil list (doesn't show my internal hard drive) thus nothing to repair/recover.


Is there any other way I can fix this? I went to an authorize Apple Service provider this morning but they told me it will take minimum 20days for them to be able to fix my laptop as there is a queue (don't want to bring it to other place as it is still under warranty - my laptop is 6mos old and i still got 6mos remaining on my warranty plus repairs are quite costly here). I think 20days is too long as I'll be traveling soon.


Thanks for your help! 😀

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11), 13 inch, Mid 2014

Posted on Oct 5, 2015 5:00 PM

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7 replies

Oct 5, 2015 7:11 PM in response to Jiafey

You may be able to get a faster repair if you call AppleCare directly. Be sure to explain your situation and get a case number to followup on them.


Mind you, it is never wise to install anything new just prior to traveling, especially without a backup plan.


The hard drive in my estimation is dead. Although data may be able to be recovered by the right tools:


http://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-1689


Dead hard drives while within 6 months being unusual aren't impossible. Even Dells have been dead on arrival.

Oct 7, 2015 2:26 AM in response to a brody

my hard drive is probably dead. Called Applecare a number of times but nothing worked so far. I'll just leave my laptop at the authorize service center. I'm just trying to figure out if there's a way to fix it without and bringing/leaving it there as it would take time for me to even bring it to a service center (i work on shifts by the time i finish work the service center is close because it's midnight and they're close on weekends! anyway i'll figure it out. Thanks!). Just my luck when it comes to upgrading😁

Oct 23, 2015 3:20 PM in response to cbass408

User uploaded file

So i tried running the Apple Hardware Test (pressing D once you hear the chime when you switch your macbook ON). And this showed up on the screen.

Ended up leaving my laptop for repair. They told me my SSD is dead and they replaced it (Was free coz my macbook is just 6mos old). oh yeah they returned the laptop to me with a huge scratch on the back lid. Told the guy there wasn't any scratch on my macbook when i left it with them (it's on a hard case since Day 1). Anyway the guy kept on saying it wasn't from their side (plus he doesnt seem to understand english) so i ended up bringing home my laptop with his "battle scar" lol.

Internal Hard Drive Not Detected after El Capitan Update

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