Disk utility not showing macintosh HD in internet recovery mode

[Greatisgreat]

I just switched on my macbook pro mid 2014 today and i got the folder with the question mark.I did not get such issues in the past and used my macbook pro normally until yesterday without any problems.So i did command + R to enter recovery mode but brought me to internet recovery mode.I opened disk utility in internet recovery mode and got this

I clicked on info and got this

And this is the info of base system

and this is what i get when doing diskutil list

I would like to know what the problem is and how it can be fixed
Thanks

 

[Weaselboy]

Dead internal drive is the problem. It is not even showing up there.

 

[Greatisgreat]

Dead internal drive is the problem. It is not even showing up there.

So can i be pretty sure that changing the ssd will fix it?
And is there anyway i can recover the data?

 

[joevt]

So can i be pretty sure that changing the ssd will fix it?
And is there anyway i can recover the data?

You won't know until you try.

You can try FireWire or Thunderbolt Target Disk Mode to see if the drive is accessible that way. https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/mac-help/mchlp1443/mac

If that doesn't work, then you need to remove the drive. See if it will work in an external enclosure.

Then you have to see if a replacement drive will work in the MacBook Pro.

Go to https://eshop.macsales.com/upgrades/macbook-pro , select your MacBook Pro model, and look for upgrade ideas for the SSD. Some of their upgrade solutions include an external enclosure for the original SSD.

If it turns out that the internal SSD connector no longer works (unlikely), then you always have the option of booting an external drive.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Do you have a spare USB external drive around?
Can be either platter-based hard drive or an SSD?

You could:
- boot back into internet recovery
- install a copy of the OS onto the EXTERNAL drive
- set up a basic account so that you can get to the finder
- get booted and running from the external drive.

Now the MBP is "bootable to the finder" (from the external drive).
Perhaps you can access the internal drive that way, even if you can't boot from it.
(may or may not be possible).
But at least the computer will be running again, and you can go on from there.

 

[Greatisgreat]

You won't know until you try.

You can try FireWire or Thunderbolt Target Disk Mode to see if the drive is accessible that way. https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/mac-help/mchlp1443/mac

If that doesn't work, then you need to remove the drive. See if it will work in an external enclosure.

Then you have to see if a replacement drive will work in the MacBook Pro.

Go to https://eshop.macsales.com/upgrades/macbook-pro , select your MacBook Pro model, and look for upgrade ideas for the SSD. Some of their upgrade solutions include an external enclosure for the original SSD.

If it turns out that the internal SSD connector no longer works (unlikely), then you always have the option of booting an external drive.

I thought i can buy this adapter from amazon for changing the ssd but the seller says

[Please Note] - Require Mac OS 10.13 High Sierra or Later; DO NOT compatible with earlier than Mac OS 10.13 versions. Please use your original SSD to upgrades your Mac OS before installation

So will it work for me if i was running mojave before the ssd died?

I would also like to mention that the internet recovery mode allows me to reinstall only yosemite so does it mean i need to first update it to high sierra or later through external drive

 

[joevt]

So will it work for me if i was running mojave before the ssd died?

Mojave is later than High Sierra so it should work.

I would also like to mention that the internet recovery mode allows me to reinstall only yosemite so does it mean i need to first update it to high sierra or later through external drive

Don't use Recovery then. Make a USB installer of the version of macOS that you want to use.

 

[Greatisgreat]

I have succesfully booted into my macbook through an external drive.
Can i find out if there is a problem with the internal connector before buying ssd adapter?
Do you recommend an internal ssd or an nvme enclosure to thunderbolt 2.
As far as i read mbp mid 2014 has PCIe 2.0 2x lanes which would be around 1 GB/sec and thunderbolt 2 would be 2 GB/sec.
So i believe i would get more speed from an nvme enclosure to thunderbolt 2.

Please correct me if i am wrong

Thanks

 

[joevt]

I have succesfully booted into my macbook through an external drive.
Can i find out if there is a problem with the internal connector before buying ssd adapter?

I don't think there's a way to tell whether the SSD or connector is broken unless you have a replacement for at least one of them. Or they could both be broken. Then you need a replacement for both of them.

Actually, If it's a PCIe SSD (AHCI I guess), then maybe you can see if it shows as a PCI device in ioreg or IORegistryExplorer.app or pciutils (with lspci or pcitree.sh) or FixPCIeLinkrate.efi (with RefindPlus or OpenCore). If it does, then it could mean the connector is ok.

Do you recommend an internal ssd or an nvme enclosure to thunderbolt 2.

Internal SSD is more convenient for a laptop (don't need to carry around external enclosure or cables or power supply).

As far as i read mbp mid 2014 has PCIe 2.0 2x lanes which would be around 1 GB/sec and thunderbolt 2 would be 2 GB/sec.
So i believe i would get more speed from an nvme enclosure to thunderbolt 2.

In that case, I suppose Thunderbolt 2 could be twice as fast (1600 MB/s vs 800 MB/s) but that's for sequential reads and writes. Internal SSD may be better for random reads and writes - lower latency than Thunderbolt. Anyway, I wouldn't leave that SSD inside.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:
"I have succesfully booted into my macbook through an external drive."

Did you use a USB flashdrive boot installer?
or
Did you use an external USB drive that has an OS installed onto it and is "bootable to the finder"?

Hmmm....
Have you opened disk utility, and run the "first aid" feature on the internal drive?
Or is it still... missing...?

 

[Greatisgreat]

OP:
"I have succesfully booted into my macbook through an external drive."

Did you use a USB flashdrive boot installer?
or
Did you use an external USB drive that has an OS installed onto it and is "bootable to the finder"?

Hmmm....
Have you opened disk utility, and run the "first aid" feature on the internal drive?
Or is it still... missing...?

I used an external USB drive that has an OS installed onto it and is "bootable to the finder"
and the drive is missing in disk utility

 

[Greatisgreat]

Actually, If it's a PCIe SSD (AHCI I guess), then maybe you can see if it shows as a PCI device in ioreg or IORegistryExplorer.app or pciutils (with lspci or pcitree.sh) or FixPCIeLinkrate.efi (with RefindPlus or OpenCore). If it does, then it could mean the connector is ok.

Can you guide me to use one of these methods to check if the connector works.
Please suggest the method that takes least space in my external drive and is the easiest.