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Started By
Message
MacBook Pro Flashing folder with ?
Posted on 1/17/18 at 9:56 pm
Posted on 1/17/18 at 9:56 pm
I am getting this screen when I turn on my computer. I have a mid 2011 MacBook Pro.
The computer can not find the hard drive at all. When I do power+command+r to get to the disk utility tool, it doesn’t see the hard drive.
I have researched the issue and watched YouTube videos. I replaced the hard drive cable, as that seemed to fix a lot of people’s problems, but that didn’t work. I’ve reset the PRAM. I have been to the “Genius Bar” at the Apple store. And they were only able to tell me that it can’t see the hard drive, which obviously, I already knew.
At this point I’m assuming it may be a problem with the logic board. But I suppose it’s possible that my hard drive cable along with the replacement cable I bought are both faulty. I can hear the hard drive spinning, and it seems unlikely that it would be a problem with that.
Any other suggestions? Is there a reputable computer repair shop in the BR area you would recommend?
The computer can not find the hard drive at all. When I do power+command+r to get to the disk utility tool, it doesn’t see the hard drive.
I have researched the issue and watched YouTube videos. I replaced the hard drive cable, as that seemed to fix a lot of people’s problems, but that didn’t work. I’ve reset the PRAM. I have been to the “Genius Bar” at the Apple store. And they were only able to tell me that it can’t see the hard drive, which obviously, I already knew.
At this point I’m assuming it may be a problem with the logic board. But I suppose it’s possible that my hard drive cable along with the replacement cable I bought are both faulty. I can hear the hard drive spinning, and it seems unlikely that it would be a problem with that.
Any other suggestions? Is there a reputable computer repair shop in the BR area you would recommend?
3
Posted on 1/17/18 at 11:27 pm to PhiTiger1764
I’d go to Apple store first for a free diagnosis
Posted on 1/18/18 at 12:44 am to PhiTiger1764
Have you tried booting into safe mode. That can remount the HDD, it can take between 20 and 35 Minutes. (It's worked for me before). Also, you can go into CMD+OPTION+R and pull up the terminal and see the bootable drives with "ls -l /dev/disk*" or "diskutil list" to see if the drive is still there.
You can try diagnostics with Apple Hardware Test YMMV
Likely it's the drive.
Source: Worked at the genius bar in college
You can try diagnostics with Apple Hardware Test YMMV
Likely it's the drive.
Source: Worked at the genius bar in college
Posted on 1/18/18 at 12:57 am to PhiTiger1764
I have the exact same MacBook as you (mine is late 2011, roughly same batch of garbage macs) and I have had this exact same problem multiple times. There could be several issues but usually it was the HD bracket cable that I think was getting over heated and malfunctioning.
I had had about $1000 in repairs on it after about 2 years of owning and apple is notorious for replacing parts with refurbished parts like hard drives.
My repairs of:
2-3 HD cables
2 hard drives (refurbished)
Completely replaced motherboard
Still I would get the blinking folder with question mark.
Your MacBook came with the old school hard drives and can't take heat or constant portability very well as it has moving parts.
If you want the computer to last, I suggest upgrading to an ssd and just buying multiple HD bracket cables to have on hand.
Fact is, these were very poorly designed computers, this mid to late 2011 group of MacBook pros. They were the last HDD macs sold. Mac tried to make the design compact but it doesn't recycle heat very well at all and it can cause a host of issues. The ssd should limit heat and even might make your computer run faster. Oh and for about $40 you can upgrade your RAM to 8 GB, that also helps.
Tl;Dr
Buy a HD bracket for $40, should fix your issue assuming no hard drive problems. If you have a SATA cable you can connect it to your HD and run the OS through the USB to see if everything is fine on the HD. If no, then I would bet money it's the HD bracket.
SATA cables are very cheap at most electronics stores.
I had had about $1000 in repairs on it after about 2 years of owning and apple is notorious for replacing parts with refurbished parts like hard drives.
My repairs of:
2-3 HD cables
2 hard drives (refurbished)
Completely replaced motherboard
Still I would get the blinking folder with question mark.
Your MacBook came with the old school hard drives and can't take heat or constant portability very well as it has moving parts.
If you want the computer to last, I suggest upgrading to an ssd and just buying multiple HD bracket cables to have on hand.
Fact is, these were very poorly designed computers, this mid to late 2011 group of MacBook pros. They were the last HDD macs sold. Mac tried to make the design compact but it doesn't recycle heat very well at all and it can cause a host of issues. The ssd should limit heat and even might make your computer run faster. Oh and for about $40 you can upgrade your RAM to 8 GB, that also helps.
Tl;Dr
Buy a HD bracket for $40, should fix your issue assuming no hard drive problems. If you have a SATA cable you can connect it to your HD and run the OS through the USB to see if everything is fine on the HD. If no, then I would bet money it's the HD bracket.
SATA cables are very cheap at most electronics stores.
This post was edited on 1/18/18 at 1:10 am
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