Flashing folder with a question mark + (Unable to erase SSD Disk)

[Sarro92]

Hello guy,

I have a MacBook Pro-2017 that I was using perfectly fine since last year.

All of a sudden, it got stuck and when I restarted, I see this weird flashing folder with a question mark.

Went to the recovery mode in hopes of Doing "First Aid" and fix it but it failed it (Weird observation, when I check the original disk, it passes with green tick, when I check Macintosh it always fails.

I decided I want to erase it and just install a new one.


1. I Installed a copy on an external HDD so I can access the drive and backup my files and it worked (This made me think, so the drive is not damage since I can take things from it normally)
2. Then went back to Recovery mode, tried to erase it SDD, it didn't work. I also tried to install a new version of the OS on it, it asks for my password then tells me permission denied.

I also get this error whenever I try to erase:
Error: -69877: Couldn't open device

3. Tried to erase it using the Terminal, same error.

I searched the whole internet in hope to find a solution but I didn't find. Most people talk about bootcamp and if you have two different OSs in your Macbook or iMac

Thoughts I am having and I am not sure I am right:
- It is either something has to do with APFS or security that is not allowing me to perform what I want.
- For some reason when I am about to install the OS on it, my drive appears to be full but when I accessed from the external drive OS it shows it has 71 GB.
- I have upgraded to Mojave around maybe 4 days before this problem happen.


Would love to know if anyone has a solution for this.

Thank you

 

[MacInWin]

Welcome to the forum.

The problem seems to be that your boot files on the drive are missing or damaged. That's why it won't boot.

Weird observation, when I check the original disk, it passes with green tick, when I check Macintosh it always fails.

Sorry, but I'm not sure what that means. Do you have a screen shot of Disk Utility so you can be more specific? In upgrading to Mojave, your drive was reformatted to APFS instead of HFS+ format. You can read a bit about that here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208496 The article is about formatting a drive in APFS, but shows how the new Container/Volume approach is managed.

I Installed a copy on an external HDD

Copy of what? Mojave?

Then went back to Recovery mode, tried to erase it SDD, it didn't work.

If you tried to erase the entire SSD, you can't if you are booted from the Recovery partition as it includes the boot drive. You should be able to erase/format a volume in the container, as described in the article I linked, when booted from Recovery, but not the Recovery volume.

So read that article and see if there is something there for you. Also this one about reinstalling the OS from the Internet: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314

 

[ferrarr]

If you can get into the Recovery partition, select Reinsrtall macOS.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314

This will reinstall the OS, without deleting your files.

 

[Sarro92]

Welcome to the forum.

The problem seems to be that your boot files on the drive are missing or damaged. That's why it won't boot.

Sorry, but I'm not sure what that means. Do you have a screen shot of Disk Utility so you can be more specific? In upgrading to Mojave, your drive was reformatted to APFS instead of HFS+ format. You can read a bit about that here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208496 The article is about formatting a drive in APFS, but shows how the new Container/Volume approach is managed.

Copy of what? Mojave?
If you tried to erase the entire SSD, you can't if you are booted from the Recovery partition as it includes the boot drive. You should be able to erase/format a volume in the container, as described in the article I linked, when booted from Recovery, but not the Recovery volume.

So read that article and see if there is something there for you. Also this one about reinstalling the OS from the Internet: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314

Hello MicInWin,
Thank you for your prompt response. I apologize if I didn't explain my problem well.

Weird observation, when I check the original disk, it passes with green tick, when I check Macintosh it always fails.


Here is what I mean:










I Installed a copy on an external HDD


Yes Mojave, so I can access my files and back them up and I did. Went to startup disks and unlocked the small lock on bottom left then pressed unlock button to unlock Macintosh HD (The one on my internal drive) it asked for my password then it worked and I can access it from inside.


Then went back to Recovery mode, tried to erase it SDD, it didn't work.


I tried Internet Recovery Mode and Recovery Partition. It wouldn't allow me to perform any kind of operation on my disks.

I have also performed Hardware diagnosis and the results showed "No Issue found".

Hope this answers your questions, sorry for getting back to your reply late.

Kind Regards

 

[ferrarr]

If you boot from the external drive, have you run DU First Aid, on the internal drive? I believe the internal drive is dead and needs to be replaced.

 

[Sarro92]

Hello Ferrarr

I did boot from the external drive. same exact errors I am facing when trying from recovery. I've also thought the internal drive is dead, but what is bugging me that I have accessed my files perfectly inside "Macintosh HD" when I booted from the external drive.

But neither First Aid nor Erasing works for the volumes or disks.

 

[MacInWin]

In the image of the First Aid on the hardware itself, it says, "Problems were found with the partition map which might prevent booting." That's the SSD itself. And it also says it is Unititialized, that is, not formatted. Hence the issues you are having. You might try running fsck in Single User mode: How to Repair a Mac Disk with fsck from Single User Mode

 

[Sarro92]

In the image of the First Aid on the hardware itself, it says, "Problems were found with the partition map which might prevent booting." That's the SSD itself. And it also says it is Unititialized, that is, not formatted. Hence the issues you are having. You might try running fsck in Single User mode: How to Repair a Mac Disk with fsck from Single User Mode

Hello MicInWin

For some reason I am unable to access the Single user mode where I can run fsck.

Is there another way aside than "Command + S"?

 

[gsahli]

Startup commands like Command S require that you hold down both keys until you see that the Mac has started into that mode.
Try it again.

 

[Sarro92]

Startup commands like Command S require that you hold down both keys until you see that the Mac has started into that mode.
Try it again.

For it to work, I had to put my External drive that has a mac OS X Mojave installed in it.
Tried performing fsck -fy for the internal SSD but I get this message that : Permission Denied.

So this is where I'm stuck

 

[ferrarr]

Since you're not booted from the internal drive, I would consider it dead. Get whatever you can off of it, then replace it, or the PC.

 

[MacInWin]

+1 for what Bob said. From all the symptoms, it appears the the SSD is dead. You will have to get a new one and replace it. If you are near an Apple store, you can take it to them to have them run more diagnostics on it for you to verify that the SSD has, in fact, failed. I don't know exactly what model you have but replacing it yourself may or may be possible.