Did my MacBook die?

[Gintoki-kun]

Hello

So basically yesterday my max turned off due to 0% battery. Ok, fair. Charged jt furring the night and turned it on today. When I turned it on, it was completely frozen on the desktop. So I forced turned it off…

After that, black screen of the death. Managed to get it to recovery after some tries. To my surprise, disk utility only recognise disk0-> OS X Base System. Which is a 1.28gb disk.

Doesn’t recognise my SSD. does this mean my MacBook died?

I just got a new battery like 3 months ago. Omg.

I also tried to install it again , but no disk recognised so nothing I could do.

If anyone can recommend anything please do. I’m freaking out.

Thanks

 

[usagora]

Did you have a backup of your data on that SSD?

 

[Gintoki-kun]

Did you have a backup of your data on that SSD?

I don’t. But if I can find a Way to format it I don’t mind. I’m up for anything at this point

 

[usagora]

I don’t. But if I can find a Way to format it I don’t mind. I’m up for anything at this point

Well at least it sounds like you didn't have any (or much) important data on it, so at least that's good. I wasn't sure if that's what you were "freaking out" about or losing the MacBook itself (or both). I wonder if it would let you install macOS on an external SSD (and then once you boot up from that you might be able to access the internal SSD through Disk Utility or some other means)? I'm not super experienced in OS recovery, so I'll defer to others' wisdom on that.

 

[Gintoki-kun]

Well at least it sounds like you didn't have any (or much) important data on it, so at least that's good. I wasn't sure if that's what you were "freaking out" about or losing the MacBook itself (or both). I wonder if it would let you install macOS on an external SSD (and then once you boot up from that you might be able to access the internal SSD through Disk Utility or some other means)? I'm not super experienced in OS recovery, so I'll defer to others' wisdom on that.

My freaking out is because it’s not detecting my SSD. Data loss is a bum, but if I can “save” the Mac I’m all up for anything.

Does the disk have to be empty? If not, if I install the OS on a disk with files already there , will they be lost ?

Thanks

 

[usagora]

Does the disk have to be empty? If not, if I install the OS on a disk with files already there , will they be lost ?

I'm not 100% sure, but if it were I, I'd transfer those files somewhere else temporarily to be safe. Like I said, I'll defer to others on this, as I don't have much experience with Mac recovery. Hopefully others who do will chime in soon.

 

[Gintoki-kun]

I'm not 100% sure, but if it were I, I'd transfer those files somewhere else temporarily to be safe. Like I said, I'll defer to others on this, as I don't have much experience with Mac recovery. Hopefully others who do will chime in soon.

Yeah thanks. I’ll keep waiting

 

[Gintoki-kun]

I also tried this , see if it recognised the disk. But no

 

[Fishrrman]

How about telling us
- Which Mac you have
- WHAT YEAR it was made
- WHAT KIND of SSD is inside (did you install it yourself)

Can you boot to INTERNET recovery?
Command-OPTION-R
at boot?

If you can, do so.
Then, open disk utility.
VERY IMPORTANT -- if disk utility has a "view" menu, choose "show all devices".

From the list in reply 8 above, it looks like we ARE seeing the internal drive...

 

[Gintoki-kun]

How about telling us
- Which Mac you have
- WHAT YEAR it was made
- WHAT KIND of SSD is inside (did you install it yourself)

Can you boot to INTERNET recovery?
Command-OPTION-R
at boot?

If you can, do so.
Then, open disk utility.
VERY IMPORTANT -- if disk utility has a "view" menu, choose "show all devices".

From the list in reply 8 above, it looks like we ARE seeing the internal drive...

MacBook Pro 13” Retina late 2013
Original SSD 252Gb

I can boot the internet recovery. It performed twice , but no success. Sends me back to the disk utility/safe mode option.

I never tried it, so I can try and see if view all works.

Also, what makes you say the disk is there? If the disk was there, wouldn’t the 252gb(or somewhere close) disk show?

Thanks

 

[darngooddesign]

If it boots to internet recovery then the computer is probably fine. Try boot to an external drive. Or get a replacement SSD.

 

[Gintoki-kun]

If it boots to internet recovery then the computer is probably fine. Try boot to an external drive. Or get a replacement SSD.

I just installed an OS on a 32gv usb drive. And it opened up. I’m back at the disk utility but the sss drive simply isn’t there

Any ideas ?
Thanks

 

[darngooddesign]

I just installed an OS on a 32gv usb drive. And it opened up. I’m back at the disk utility but the sss drive simply isn’t there

Any ideas ?
Thanks

You could try send your old SSD to a data recovery shop.

Buy a new SSD; even if you get it to mount, I certainly wouldn't trust the drive not to tank again.

 

[Gintoki-kun]

You could try send your old SSD to a data recovery shop.

Buy a new SSD; even if you get it to mount, I certainly wouldn't trust the drive not to tank again.

What do you mean by “wouldn’t trust the drive not to tank again”?

 

[darngooddesign]

What do you mean by “wouldn’t trust the drive not to tank again”?

I wouldn't trust the SSD not to do again, at the most inconvenient time, the same thing it's doing now.

Just get another SSD.

 

[chown33]

The problem might be the cable to the internal drive, if it has one.

You said you replaced the battery, so maybe a cable got slightly damaged or out of place during that procedure, and it's slowly gotten worse since then, until it finally failed.

You could try reseating the cable to see if that fixes it. If not, try swapping it with a replacement. Swap-out is the only way I know of to check the cable.

Here's Apple's specs for that Mac:

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013) - Technical Specifications - Apple Support

support.apple.com

It doesn't say what technology the SSD uses, so there may not be a cable.


The specs do show an SDXC slot, so you could buy a 256GB SD card and boot from that. If you buy a microSD card, you can also buy adapters that don't extend more than 2-3mm from the side of the case. The search terms short sd card adapter show promising results.

 

[Gintoki-kun]

I wouldn't trust the SSD not to do again, at the most inconvenient time, the same thing it's doing now.

Just get another SSD.

I see…

How easy/hard is it to install the SSD on these Macs? Damn what an unfortunate timing and thing to happen

 

[darngooddesign]

I see…

How easy/hard is it to install the SSD on these Macs? Damn what an unfortunate timing and thing to happen

MacBook Air 13" Mid 2013 Solid-State Drive Replacement

Use this guide to upgrade or replace the solid-state drive in a MacBook Air 13” Mid 2013. This MacBook Air uses a proprietary storage drive...

www.ifixit.com

Shouldn't be too hard.

In my experience, drives never fail when it's convenient. 🤣

 

[Gintoki-kun]

The problem might be the cable to the internal drive, if it has one.

You said you replaced the battery, so maybe a cable got slightly damaged or out of place during that procedure, and it's slowly gotten worse since then, until it finally failed.

You could try reseating the cable to see if that fixes it. If not, try swapping it with a replacement. Swap-out is the only way I know of to check the cable.

Here's Apple's specs for that Mac:

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013) - Technical Specifications - Apple Support

support.apple.com

It doesn't say what technology the SSD uses, so there may not be a cable.


The specs do show an SDXC slot, so you could buy a 256GB SD card and boot from that. If you buy a microSD card, you can also buy adapters that don't extend more than 2-3mm from the side of the case. The search terms short sd card adapter show promising results.

Is it easy to notice that cable? (If it has one)

It was an iStore that replaced my battery. I was trying to avoid to mess things up (it was last year).

Are those cards fast enough to run a system + Xcode?

Thanks

 

[Gintoki-kun]

MacBook Air 13" Mid 2013 Solid-State Drive Replacement

Use this guide to upgrade or replace the solid-state drive in a MacBook Air 13” Mid 2013. This MacBook Air uses a proprietary storage drive...

www.ifixit.com

Shouldn't be too hard.

In my experience, drives never fail when it's convenient. 🤣

Thing is this time it was super inconvenient. Bought a house so money is super scarce. Apple products in Europe sky rocketed in prices. 1.6k for a base model

On top of that I have an interview for an iOS job position and no Mac

 

[DeltaMac]

Your OP shows that Internet Recovery booted to Mavericks (OS X 10.9) Your Late 2013 MBPro may have been using Big Sur (macOS 11.7 is latest version), and would have been formatted as APFS. The old Mavericks system/Disk Utility won't see the APFS volume at all. and might simply be ignoring the internal SSD. I suggest that you should find a way to boot to a system with Sierra or newer. That will give you a chance to do something with the existing drive -- assuming it is still good.

 

[Gintoki-kun]

Your OP shows that Internet Recovery booted to Mavericks (OS X 10.9) Your Late 2013 MBPro may have been using Big Sur (macOS 11.7 is latest version), and would have been formatted as APFS. The old Mavericks system/Disk Utility won't see the APFS volume at all. and might simply be ignoring the internal SSD. I suggest that you should find a way to boot to a system with Sierra or newer. That will give you a chance to do something with the existing drive -- assuming it is still good.

My 32GB drive indeed booted me to Mavericks. I was using the latest version of the macOS on my mac.

So what you’re saying is, due to the APFS format, even on Recovery Mode or Disk Utility or may not be able to find it because of the OS compatibility ?

Thanks

 

[DeltaMac]

If you are booted to a Mavericks system (and the installer that is offered shows that), then the utilities mayhave limited compatibility. APFS is a much later addition, and is not recogized by Mac systems older than Sierra. Even Sierra will show an APFS, but won't let you actually do anything with an APFS volume. Olders systems may show an unidentified volume, or may not show anything at all on an internal boot drive that is formatted APFS.
Try this.... Remove the external drive, so there is no drive except for the internal drive.
Press and hold Shift-Option-Command, then press and release the power button. (That's an SMC reset)
Release all keys, then press and release the power button, and immediately press and hold Option-Command-P-R.You should hear a boot chime sound. (and that's an NVRAM reset, also called PRAM reset on older Macs) Keep holding the same 4 keys until you hear the boot chime 2 more times, then release all keys - except continue to hold Option.
You should get the boot-picker screen - and you SHOULD then see your normal boot drive.
If you do see your boot drive, you may be OK from here, just choose your boot drive, then press enter.
(The two resets might work, because your battery had died completely, and one other result might have corrupted some part of your firmware. The resets can possibly fix that -- you won't know if it helps until you try it

 

[Gintoki-kun]

If you are booted to a Mavericks system (and the installer that is offered shows that), then the utilities mayhave limited compatibility. APFS is a much later addition, and is not recogized by Mac systems older than Sierra. Even Sierra will show an APFS, but won't let you actually do anything with an APFS volume. Olders systems may show an unidentified volume, or may not show anything at all on an internal boot drive that is formatted APFS.
Try this.... Remove the external drive, so there is no drive except for the internal drive.
Press and hold Shift-Option-Command, then press and release the power button. (That's an SMC reset)
Release all keys, then press and release the power button, and immediately press and hold Option-Command-P-R.You should hear a boot chime sound. (and that's an NVRAM reset, also called PRAM reset on older Macs) Keep holding the same 4 keys until you hear the boot chime 2 more times, then release all keys - except continue to hold Option.
You should get the boot-picker screen - and you SHOULD then see your normal boot drive.
If you do see your boot drive, you may be OK from here, just choose your boot drive, then press enter.
(The two resets might work, because your battery had died completely, and one other result might have corrupted some part of your firmware. The resets can possibly fix that -- you won't know if it helps until you try it

Thank you for your help. I’ll try that

Just one more question: even using diskutil list, on the terminal and not showing is because of the booted system? Thanks

 

[DeltaMac]

Remember that the Disk Utility is a graphic interface for some of the same commands that you would use in the terminal (the disk utility has to get the info from somewhere). Of course, the terminal gives you more control over those commands. If the system (Mavericks) can't interpret the data (because the format is too new), then you won't get much in Disk Utility, OR in the terminal.

You should boot to a newer system. If you were using Big Sur, then download a Big Sur installer, and make an external bootable drive with that. Boot to that bootable installer. Disk Utility for the Big Sur installer should help you decide if the internal drive is bad/gone, or you will be able to see it. You will then be able to simply reinstall the system, if you need to do that. Or, you will also be able to make sure that the drive is visible while in Big Sur, and you can make sure that it appears in the Startup Disk settings...