Hard drive is gone

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My Mac has been giving me issues since installing google chrome. I realize google helper is hogging cup and take care of that problem, but it continues to freeze. Last time it froze, I could not so anything but a hard reset, but when computer came back on, I had the file folder with question mark. After
some research, I was able to start with Internet restore, but my hard drive is gone - not listed at all. (My external hard drive can still be found, if that matters). I tried doing the pram thing, but to no avail.

Basically, I'm wondering where I go from here. I'm good at following directions but I'm by no means tech Savvy when it comes to fixing something like this. I feel confident I could use a tute and replace hard drive, if necessary, but I'm thinking since it's a macbook from late 2012, that's not really gonna be possible? I've read some stuff that suggests it could be a problem with the cable connecting the hard drive or whatever...how likely is that? I run an online business and really can't be out a computer, so I'm tempted to just go buy myself something. Yet, I'm hesitant because my MacBook Pro is not even 3 years old, and if I replace, it won't be with another 1000 MacBook that isn't gonna last me any longer than a cheapie. My last mac is still working, albeit barely, despite being from 2006 and the casing falling apart, so I'm disappointed that it may have a junk computer already.

So, anyone have any suggestions? Is the cord thing a possibility? Should I take the computer in to an apple store (nearest is an hour away, and idk if it's worth it)? Or, should I accept that my macbook is dead?

Thanks in advance!
 

Spawn_Dooley

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If you boot up holding the X key or Option key (try both) as soon as you hear the startup chime & continue to hold the key down for 5 seconds, do you see the Startup Manager screen like in the image below:

Screen Shot 2015-08-26 at 4.02.15 PM.jpg


I wonder if your internal drive may be full ?

The choices as I see it are these:

1. Take it to the Apple Store seeing as you are running a business to get it sorted out immediately.
2. If you have access to another Mac with a FireWire port you could try Target Disk Mode. Connecting your MacBook Pro to another Mac so you can bring up your MacBook Pro as a Disk icon on the other Mac's desktop. Then you could see if you can access your files & check how much free space exists.
 
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Thanks for the advice.

I know I wasn't full, just because I had been having issues with the way the Mac ran since installing chrome a couple months ago. So, I know I was at about 1.3gb of 4 used. Now, I was getting dangerously high in CPU usage, but once I went into activity monitor and deleted the superfluous google chrome helpers, I freed up nearly half of that as well. Honestly, I'm pretty easy on my computers. I do a lot of Internet usage, but since I use google drive, I don't even have a lot of files on my computer. The biggest space higher in my usage is my iPhoto.

No matter how I try to startup the Mac, I either get nothing or Internet recovery. (In this case, holding x got me a blank gray screen, whereas holding option brought up to chose a network and then Internet recovery).
 
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Is there any easy way of testing my hard drive? I figured out I can do it relatively easily as I have a mid-2012 model, and I think I can handle doing so. I just would hate to do it only to find out it's the motherboard (or whatever it's called) or something wrong and I'm still computerless.
 
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To test your hard drive, you either 1) use Target Disk Mode like Spawn_Dooley suggested above, or 2) remove the hard drive, place it inside an external case, attach to another Mac, and test it there.
 
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Ok, so I took my 2007 Mac, which altho the casing is falling apart and you have to move the top back and forth to see display, still works in terms of the hdd and switched hard drives with my 2012 macbook that's giving me the issues. This is what happened:

2007 Mac got same gray screen with question mark file that suggests the drive is bad in some way.

But, the 2012 Mac still didn't work with the 2007's hard drive. I did Internet restore, as I have been doing, and when pulled up disk utility, the drive from the 2007 is not showing, just as was the with the original drive. Is this normal or does it mean there is something more wrong with my macbook beyond the hard drive? Or, would the old 2007 Mac drive not work on the 2012 Mac/is there something else I would have needed to do for it to be recognized.

It's sad, cause I was actually excited to see that drive wasn't being pulled up in old computer because it meant I knew the problem (hdd) and could fix it as soon as I bought a new drive. But, the old drive not working in newer computer made me nervous, and in really hoping someone can verify one way or another before I buy and replace the drive to still not have a working computer.

Thanks in advance for any responses!
 
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First of all, what machine/device are you using to post here? From your description above, it seems like the internal drive inside the 2012 Mac has issues, and when you put the drive that was inside your 2007 Mac inside your 2012 Mac, it has issues. But, it seems like the hard drive that was/is inside your 2007 Mac works.

Secondly, what is on the external drive attached to the 2012 Mac? If you had either a SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner backup there, you could boot your Mac from such a backup.

Third, does the drive that was/inside your 2012 Mac work inside your 2007 Mac? If it does, that would say there is something wrong with your 2012 Mac.

Assuming the 2007 Mac works fine, maybe you could put the drive that was/inside your 2012 inside the external case you have, attach that device to the 2007 Mac, and see if you can see/repair the drive.
 
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I'm on an iPhone.

Anyway, let me try to make it more clear:

2007 Mac hd works inside 2007 Mac, altho the computer isn't exactly "usable", I used it to test the hard drive of 2012 Mac.

2012 Mac cannot locate start up disk and upon Internet recovery, hard drive cannot be found.

When placing 2012 drive in 2007 Mac, same thing happens: computer cannot start up and upon Internet recovery, drive cannot be found.

When placing 2007 drive in 2012 Mac, same thing happens - computer cannot start up and upon Internet recovery, drive cannot be found.

I would assume 2012 drive is gone, but because even the 2007 drive does not work in 2012 casing, I'm not sure that replacing the hard drive will solve the problem?

I do have a time machine back up on an external drive, but I can't do anything with it cause I don't have a drive to install it to. And honestly, at this point I'm over saving the drive, but I do need a working computer ASAP. If replacing hard drive on 2012 Mac will do that, I will buy one right now and install it. If it won't tho, I'm gonna have to buy another system.
 
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Thanks for the explanation.

For future planning, you might want to consider using the freeware version of SuperDuper! to backup/clone your system to another partition on your external hard drive (assuming you have room). As you've discovered, having just a Time Machine backup on the external drive does little, if any good, when your internal drive goes bad. If the internal drive was OK< you could Erase, Format, and Partition it, then install the latest version of the OS on it, then use Migration Assistant to restore all the non-system stuff from the Time Machine backup/backups. With a SuperDuper! backup/clone, it makes a bootable system, so that you can boot your Mac from that external drive, via the SuperDuper! partition.

What is really strange, assuming the drive inside your 2007 Mac is the original, is that the 2007 drive is OK, whereas the newer one, inside the 2012 Mac, seems to be bad.
 

Cory Cooper

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Hello and welcome.

A few clarification questions:

-What are the exact Mac models?
-Is the the 2007 a white or black plastic Macbook?
-Is the 2012 an aluminum unibody MacBook Pro, as there were no 2012 MacBooks?
-Is the 2012 an Early/Mid/Late 2012 model, and which screen size - 13' or 15'?

From your description of the issue above, it sounds like the 2012 hard drive has failed AND the 2012 hard drive cable may be bad.

C
 
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If you see my revision, I actually think hard drive is ok. I was able to get it to read on another computer. However, my 2012 macbook (yes, it's a pro) cannot read any hd of the 3 I've tried.

To answer the questions, my 2007 is a white macbook, operating on 10.4, I believe.

The 2012 is a mid 2012 MacBook Pro. 13".

I was wondering if it might be that cable...it would make sense, as anything I hook up to it can't be read. Is there a way to test this theory or should I just buy another? Is it a chance that it's something worse like the logic board? The drive cable looks fine, but I'm assuming they do?

Thanks for the help!
 

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