New SSD (internally only) won't complete boot into OS X El Capitan

I had the same problem with an update to El Capitan. My internal SSD went missing. Tried many restarts but it never appeared. I was about to open up my 27 imac to remove it and just prior to doing so I updated the latest version 10.11.6 and bingo the internal ssd appeared and all is good.

Hope this works for others.

HI guys,

Same here with Corsair Force SSD boots from USB won't boot internal.... looking for a solution or i will try to go before 10.11 please someone help?

Also would other SSD work fine cause i am reading deferent opinions and don't won't to buy another with won't work again....

Cheers

Hi mate,

I’m having the exact same issue. Have you been able to resolve it?

Slightly dumb suggestion but did you Clone the old HD to the SSD using SuperDuper?

I believe that maintains all of the drive pointers to be the Internal SATA rather than the USB, After the clone you can swap the disks and it should work.

DD and Clone should also work but are of course somewhat more, er, challenging in their use of the command shell.

Just a thought.

2012 Macbook Pro 13" Unibody. SAME Issue! I was playing a game on it then randomly got the grey "must restart" B(G?)SOD. Rebooted and got the grey prohibitory sign. Tried everything to get it to boot to the internal drive. (Samsung 500 GB 850 Evo). No dice.

It will boot to external usb. I'm actually writing this post booted to the same exact drive just with a usb 3.0 to Sata adapter. Tried resetting nvram and smc, fresh install. None of it seems to work for the when the drive is installed internally.

I'm thinking maybe the cable on the inside? but how does that just "go bad"? I hadn't touched it since i installed the SSD over a year ago.

I'm thinking maybe the cable on the inside? but how does that just "go bad"? I hadn't touched it since i installed the SSD over a year ago.

It 'goes bad' probably because it is jammed in between the HDD (hot, vibrating) and the solid chassis. Eventually it loses the ability to handle the bandwidth of an SSD (which is very much more than an HDD)

Most likely the sata cable or connector is damaged.

You can use your mac while having the SSD outside. It is not as fast maybe as inside but you can use it.

I don't where you are but it may be possible to buy the correct sata cable there.

For example, Macsales (OWC) has a european store also. And since you can just use your mac with the disk outside why the hurry...

Install the ssd and boot to safe boot. Hold down the shift key while booting. Does that help at all?

Stab in the dark, and it has been a number of months since I fought this issue, but try reinstalling the new SSD, perform a reset NVRAM, reset SMC, go into the recovery mode, and using Disk Utility, see if you can see the SSD in question in the utility. If visible, select it as your startup volume. If that fails, try to reinstall the OS from the internet.

Hi everyone, I have the exact same problem on a macbook white late 2009 model.

I am using a patriot torch Le Ssd that boots on external USB, but won't boot when installed internally. My old hard drive however, works when installed internally.

After having this same issue installing a SSD on an iMac I know the issue isn't the cable (or cloning). After some searching you will find apple changed security features starting in 10.10 forward. What this does is stop the ability of a 'ktext hack' that was allowing trim support. It seems your SSD must now have a better controller. I verified this by doing an internet install of 10.8 which worked fine, rebooted and all. Then once I tried to update it would report errors and no longer boot, only showing the "prohibited sign". My guess is some people do a restore right after the installation which results in them never getting to see a desktop. Which is what I did the first time.

Welcome to Apple! Happy Hard Drive Hunting!

Replace the connecting cable (the SATA cable) internally

humanOS wrote:

After having this same issue installing a SSD on an iMac I know the issue isn't the cable (or cloning). After some searching you will find apple changed security features starting in 10.10 forward. What this does is stop the ability of a 'ktext hack' that was allowing trim support. It seems your SSD must now have a better controller. I verified this by doing an internet install of 10.8 which worked fine, rebooted and all. Then once I tried to update it would report errors and no longer boot, only showing the "prohibited sign". My guess is some people do a restore right after the installation which results in them never getting to see a desktop. Which is what I did the first time.

Welcome to Apple! Happy Hard Drive Hunting!

Nonsense

I'm having this same exact issue. OP - did you end up figuring it out and if so - how?

I've gone so far as to send back the SSD to Samsung (I have same model as you) and got a "new" one, and it's the same deal. I can install 10.8 but when I get to 10.10, it sends me to disk utility have way through boot up on the SSD.