Hello,
I have been getting the gray question mark when I start my MacBook Pro (A1502 with 3.1GHz, i7). I've figured out how to navigate to the OS X utilities page. However, the HD isn't showing up and so there is nothing to try and fix the startup disk on/reinstall my OS on.
From what I've read, this is a HD problem. However, probably about every 20-30 attempts at starting up my laptop, it will start per normal and brings me to the normal login page, and everything runs fine from there.
Just wondering if I should do anything (aside from backing up files) while my Mac is currently up and running that can fix this issue, as i'm confident that once it shuts off, I'll have the same issues again. Also, if anyone has any thoughts on what the long-term prognosis is, those are welcome too.
Thanks!
Sorry you lost your HD (SSD?). I am going to guess the you don't have a clone on an external drive??? I think it might be good to mention which OS you are running. So, while it's on, you need to do this. The only problem is that it may not boot either. The first thing to try is to boot from the recovery by holding down r while booting. I don't generally use the recovery boot as I have multiple clones for each OS I use for each Mac. If I had that problem, I would simply attach a clone on the fastest external interface/disk, and hold alt while booting and choose the external to boot from. It should then boot your clone and allow you to clone that drive back to your internal drive. With SSDs in and out through 3.1 gen2 or TB, it should only take a few minutes. I recommend SuperDuper as your cloner but CCC works great too. The former is a bit more bare bones, but does the basic erase and clone for free. If you use it regularly, you should get all the features for $28, since CCC is $40 last time I checked. CCC does however have a 30 trial, so you could use it to do the cloning initially. Both sites have decent explanations of how to use them. Do Not Interrup the cloning process. You should always have a current and a recent clone for your boot drive, just in case. Then, daily or weekly you should alternate updating the clones. If you buy SD, it comes with many other features, but Smart Copy is the best reason for the $. So, instead of having to erase the entire clone and write the new one back, Smart Copy will just change what's on the recipient to match the original exactly. It usually takes less than 1/4 of the time. CCC works this way automatically. I recommend both, but use SuperDuper for myself. If for some reason the clone will not boot, DO NOT CLONE IT BACK TO YOUR DISK. This is the way you test a clone, boot from it. If it doesn't work, don't make any clones from it, as it can destroy information on your disk.
After thinking about this some more, I would look up your problem on Google, and see what they recommend first. Then you need follow directions to get your ability to boot back. It may all be done with the recovery partition. Generally when it won't boot, it's just a glitch with the boot instructions. The best way to fix it may just be to reinstall the OS, and that will leave all your data intact while fixing any system problems. I haven't used that method since I discovered how to work with clones over a decade ago.
One thing, this is great place to get answers, so see what you get from others before starting. Booting into recovery is really the easiest way to do things with newer MBPs, but I have very little experience using it since I use the clone system, which can do things the recovery partition can't, just don't ask me what. This is an easy problem to fix, since you know everything is there as it boots, if only occasionally. So protect your MBP drive before doing anything destructive. If you need to download a copy of your OS, throw away the one that may be in your Apps Folder, and download a fresh copy. Make sure it's the 14-16GB version, depending on the OS. Make sure to delete it from your trash as well before trying a reinstall if necessary. Good Luck.
