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Yesterday I encountered serious problem with my Macbook. Morning I've been able to work on him like everyday, then I closed the lid to do some other stuff. When I opened it back, it was turned off.

In this point I have to admit that I encountered that before, but restarting one or couple times always solved thing. Well, now it didn't. Everytime I could see only question mark folder.

So far here's what I did after that:

  • Standard procedure of resetting SMC and PRAM/NVRAM
  • Holding power key for longer time
  • Finally booting up in recovery mode (Command + R)

And to be honest real problem starts now.

I booted up to Mavericks recovery (which is default for my Mid 2014), but I wasn't able to see my disk during reinstallation of MacOS. I went to disk utility then I noticed only "disk0" with description of "Base OS X System".

Well, first thought - SSD is dead BUT... I'm using adapter connected to my Macbook and NVME M.2 SSD attached to adapter. I found on internet that Mavericks disk utility is not able to see this kind of drive, so next thought - let's try newest disk utility via internet recovery.

Instead of hitting Command + R I tried Command + Alt/Option + R. It is important to let you know, that I used internet recovery successfully, when I installed lastest OS on my Macbook (a year ago). However in this point recovery failed to boot (after providing WiFi and waiting couple of minutes) with error -0000F < it's not code of error, but everytime I try to use recovery I receive different numbers. For now it's -2005F with triangle and exclamation mark on globe.

Well, then I hitted another SMC + PRAM/NVRAM clear and tried again. Same error. Things gets spicy, because now I can't even access internal recovery (Command + R).

Summary in current point:

  • I'm not able to access any recovery (always get some error).
  • I'm not able to boot up Macbook (gets black screen or after clearing PRAM/NVRAM - again question mark folder)

What I tried to do after those steps:

  • Connect WiFi from drive menu, where I also didn't noticed any disk (holding Alt/Option after chime sound)
  • Couple of SMC and PRAM/NVRAM clears
  • Holding power button for so long.
  • Trying steps with connected and disconnected MagSafe.
  • Clearing adapter and SSD from dust.

What are possibilities in my opinion:

  • SSD or apdater is dead (or both), but I can't check it - I don't have other suitable device.
  • Everything with hardware is fine, but Mavericks just wasn't able to see my disk (I wish)
  • More deep problem. (Unfortunately most probable)

So... Any ideas? I can try to create bootable USB from Windows machine, but I don't know if it is even worth. Everything looks fine with my Macbook from hardware side (apart from adapter/SSD).

Thank you to everyone who even read this.

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    I would have assumed it has a drive/ adapter issue based on the question mark icon. Have you tried different ports on the MacBook to connect the adapter to? I would try and find a different machine to check it can actually be seen if you can ask a friend or someone before you take more drastic action. Also have you tried using Option-Shift-Command-R to start up? That tries to install the version that came with your machine or the latest supported version available in case what you tried is attempting an unsupported version? support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/mchl338cf9a8/mac
    – Jon
    Oct 7, 2021 at 8:44
  • I don't have another ports in my MacBook. I only have one NGFF socket inside Mac. I will take my SSD to friend and check if it is working properly, then come back :).
    – Donio3d
    Oct 8, 2021 at 13:34
  • Sorry I misunderstood when you said "I'm using adapter connected to my Macbook and NVME M.2 SSD attached to adapter". I thought you meant you had tried connecting an adapter and ssd externally.
    – Jon
    Oct 8, 2021 at 15:49
  • It's something like Sintech NGFF M.2 NVMe, but cheaper one. Tommorow I'll check out, hope it's only adapter, not SSD :) Anyway is there any possibility that it's not problem with either adapter or SSD, but something wrong with motherboard?
    – Donio3d
    Oct 9, 2021 at 17:15
  • The SSD is working just fine, so i guess it's adapter fault.
    – Donio3d
    Oct 11, 2021 at 13:35

1 Answer 1

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Problem was the adapter. Unfortunately I've obtained cheaper one when buying Macbook.

There's photo of it: enter image description here

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    Oct 11, 2021 at 13:58

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