djmobley

Q: Macbook Pro 13" (Mid 2012) not recognizing any internal HDD or SSD

Hello, I have this very annoying problem with my Macbook Pro 13" Mid 2012.

Two days ago it suddenly show me the "grey folder with a question mark" screen.By reading online I saw that many have had this problem in the past and that usually to fix it is sufficient doing this things:

- Restart the Mac, press Cmd+R, then from Disk Utility verify and repair the disk.

I tried, but there wasn't any Macintosh HD. There was instead a "disk0" with a "Mac OS X Base System" partition.

 

I tried also all these, without success:

- Remove HDD and by using an "All in 1 HDD Docking Station" try to open the hard drive from another Mac. It said that can't open the disk but I can erase it (didn't do, I still hope to recover some data in future with some software).

- I already wanted to upgrade my Macbook Pro with an SSD so, thinking my HDD was compromised, I bought a Samsung SSD 750 EVO (250Gb) and replaced the HDD.

- I formatted the SSD in the "Mac OS X Extended (journaled)" format and, from another Mac, created a USB boot drive with El Capitan installer.

 

Then with the SSD in place of the HDD I did all these things:

- Start the Mac, press Option, boot from the USB drive. But no "Macintosh SSD" was shown when comes to decide where to install El Capitan.

 

At this point I was very confused and tried the last chance:

- Start the mac with no internal drive but with the SSD in the Docking station. Boot from the USB and try to install El Capitan on the SSD. And it worked!!

 

But stil doesn't work when I put the SSD inside the Macbook. Is possible that it's the Sata Cable that from one day to another stop working?

 

PS:

I tried also SMC Reset  and the extended Apple Hardware Test, which give "No problems found".

I also tried to disconnect the Sata cable connectors and clean the cable with a tissue, then incredibly the Macintosh SSD appeared when booting from USB drive, but the installation failed at some point. And next time I tried the SSD was disappeared again.

 

This problem is driving me crazy and I hope someone can help with any suggestions. Thanks

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012), OS X El Capitan (10.11.5), 500Gb HDD, 8Gb RAM

Posted on Sep 15, 2016 2:39 AM

Close

Q: Macbook Pro 13" (Mid 2012) not recognizing any internal HDD or SSD

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Sep 15, 2016 4:44 AM in response to djmobley
    Level 9 (52,360 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 15, 2016 4:44 AM in response to djmobley

    djmobley wrote:

     

    But stil doesn't work when I put the SSD inside the Macbook. Is possible that it's the Sata Cable that from one day to another stop working?

     

    Yes.

     

    A NEW SATA cable will probably will correct the problem.

     

    Ciao.

  • by dwb,

    dwb dwb Sep 15, 2016 4:54 AM in response to djmobley
    Level 7 (24,187 points)
    Notebooks
    Sep 15, 2016 4:54 AM in response to djmobley

    The SATA cable is very thin and fragile which means that lots of users find that when they replace their HD with an SSD the SSD either isn’t recognized by the system or partitioning/installation fails. So yes, the SATA cable is probably the source of your problem with the SSD and possibly the HD. I’m curious to see if the HD is readable once it is placed into the external enclosure.