Chosen Solution
A day after I installed a new program for work, my laptop froze and shut itself off. When I tried to turn it back on, it showed the flashing question mark folder. I spoke with Apple support and tried holding ⌘+R, option+⌘+R, and shift+option+⌘+R on different occasions. I was able to reach disk utility but my internal drive would not show up. After more restarts, eventually it only showed an error code starting with “-6xxx”. The representative told me I would need to bring it in to be serviced because the hard drive could not be detected. I took my laptop to get diagnosed in person by a third party and was told that it was overcapacity and that the only option was to replace the hard drive. I have files that I would like to save from this laptop but mainly I just need it to work again. What are my options here? Will everything be fixed if I can just replace the hard drive myself? Will this restore my files as well or will they be lost? I have two external hard drives that might be useful. One is empty (but formatted) and one has a backup from a few months ago and other files on a separate partition. Thanks!
The SSD stick can be easily upgraded: [linked product missing or disabled: IF188-104-3] From OWC: OWC Aura Pro 6G SSD for MacBook Air 11" and 13" (Mid 2012) OWC makes an external enclosure for the sticks called the Envoy. https://eshop.macsales.com/upgrades/macb… MacBook Air 13" Mid 2012 Solid-State Drive Replacement
Hi Nicole, I am having the same issue with my 2015 MacBook. I’ll let you know if I find the solution but you in the meantime can use your free external drive as your hard drive. My advice first of all is to repost your original question but give details on every little piece of info because an expert will need it to diagnose and give a solution. what year make model is there yes but, what os? when did you get it? Do you know which File system was used HFS or APFS or? every little piece of info you have— be redundant . You should note any hardware you can .. some of those older books have very specific probs like the hd cable will go bad in certain models and so on But ok to just use your computer you need to boot into recovery mode: opt+cmd+r and you need internet. once there you should download OS (i forget the exact option but you are re downloading the mac OS) make sure your external drive is plugged in and download the new OS to there. If the new external drive is greyed out then you must change the file system in disk util. At least this way you can use the computer till you fix the problem. One thing to note: my mac will load way way easier if I remove the [SSD that won’t show up] once you get ur MacBook going use a small thumb drive and create a bootable installer (easy) Apple provides instructions… use “sierra” OS for this bootable drive unless you know everything you have is in APFS apples new filing system… Hope this helps!
