Unusual boot | '?' Folder | NOT HDD & NOT HDD CABLE!!!

[createurf8]

Okay so I've looked and looked over countless forums to not find a similar issue.

I have a mid-2012 MBP a1278 i7 as well as a mid 2012 MBP a1278 i5

Last week the i7 Model froze while I was working on it (though it was common to get hot) and so I had to force reboot it to attempt to refresh the spinning wheel of death.

However upon reboot, well I could not reboot. I know longer could see my HDD in Disk Utility ...only Base OS x that is 2gb storage size?

Now many support staff have suggested its a faulty drive, and when I replaced that they then said it was a faulty hdd cable, but when I replaced that as well...nothing changed.

It was then that I decided I would diagnose with my i5 model a1278 and to my suprise...the HDD booted...a little slower but just fine.

So clearly the hard drive and hard drive cable are not the issues. So then, what happened? The unit wasn't dropped so I don't have any clue on what to diagnose now. It's really frustrating. Any and all help would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

If you have replaced the HDD and the HDD cable, then that would suggest it may be an issue with logic board, especially if the drive works in your other MBP.

If that is the case, it may not be worth it to repair. Without being able to be hands-on with the MBA, it would be tough to diagnose further than the steps you have already taken.

You could try the working i5 drive and cable in the i7 if they are the same, but procedd at your own risk. We would hate for you to damage any additional parts or render the i5 non-working as well. As always, make sure you have a current Time Machine or other backup of your data.

C