MacBook Pro won't boot. Tried many things, but no luck. Ideas?

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MacBook Pro won't boot. Tried many things, but no luck. Ideas?

MacBook Pro mid 2012 won't boot. Getting various grey screens. When try to do straight boot, get flashing folder.

Other things not working: OS X recovery, start up manager, single user mode, verbose mode, safe mode. Will go to Internet recovery, enter password, stall (-2002F- error).

Tried resetting NVRAM and SMC, but nothing.

Tried with new hard drive, but exact same results with old hard drive (I thought old hard drive might be corrupted, so got new one, but getting identical results).

Any ideas? Could go to Apple service centre, but closest to where I am is 3 hours drive.

Should note, that many attempts ago Mac booted fine (by some divine intervention I think), so backed up everything right away, but after using computer as usual for an hour (mostly Internet browsing using both Safari and Chrome), computer slowed down to snail pace, so tried rebooting but again got results as listed above.

Any help or ideas greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Message was edited by: sevensmallwoods: spelling

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012), OS X Yosemite (10.10.5), null

Posted on Feb 6, 2016 6:58 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

KimUserName

Level 4

1,900 points

Feb 6, 2016 8:14 PM in response to sevensmallwoods

Hi Sevensmallwoods:

Replace the drive SATA cable. https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Mac/MacBook-Pro-13-Inch-Unibody-Mid-2012-Hard-Drive -Cable/IF163-041-1

Here is a guide on how to replace it. https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Mid+2012+Hard+Drive+Cab le+Replacement/10379

Here is a video to show you how it fails. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Amg5w0rlwDo

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Answer 2

Feb 6, 2016 8:17 PM in response to KimUserName

Yeah, thought to do this as next logical step. You had this problem before? Is this common problem?

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Answer 3

Feb 6, 2016 11:14 PM in response to sevensmallwoods

sevensmallwoods wrote:

Yeah, thought to do this as next logical step. You had this problem before? Is this common problem?

Cable faults are not uncommon. Apple when installing a new HD will by default put in a new SATA cable.

Some internal cables (SATA) are actually not cables but flexible circuit boards, usually mylar, with printed circuit traces taking the place of wires. This type of cable can experience cracks in traces due to aging, heat, vibration, and impact. They can be damaged quite easily if the unit is mishandled during assembly or re-assembly.

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Answer 4

Feb 6, 2016 11:31 PM in response to KimUserName

Wow. I think this is the problem. I cleaned and dusted the SATA cable a bit and everything booted. There were no noticeable defects with the cable (or so it seems externally). I'll try the electrical tape suggestion in the video and see how that works. If not, I'll order a new SATA cable. Thanks!

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Answer 5

Feb 6, 2016 11:32 PM in response to leroydouglas

Yeah, I think this is the culprit. I'll try some electrical tape on the cable to give it insulation as suggested in the video above. If this doesn't help, I'll order a new SATA cable. Thanks for the suggestion!

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