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My MacBook Pro 2009 (A1278) is having an issue. When I power it up it shows a blinking folder with a question mark. I have tried most of the options that I've seen, none of them showing any signs of doing anything:

  • Command and R just shows the missing folder
  • Command Option and R shows missing folder
  • NVRAM Reset doesn't do anything

The only thing that shows any sign of progress is holding down the option key after powering up. It shows a blank screen with a mouse cursor that I can move.

Very rarely, it shows a glowing globe with a sort of hard drive underneath it, but it just fades away into the mouse cursor again within a few seconds.

I have even tried putting an external hard drive that's formatted for Mac, but my MacBook doesn't recognize it at all.

Is it a problem with the cable that is plugged into another SSD while I have an external SSD? I have no clue.

I have another MacBook with me that has helped me reformat the external hard drive for Mac use.

How do I proceed to troubleshoot this?

Monomeeth
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SDNR
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  • The flashing question mark at startup is an indication that the Mac can't find any a volume (/disk) to start up from. Does that external HD have macOS installed on it, or is it just Mac-formatted but empty? Anyway, my first guess is that you have a hardware problem, like a dead HD, or maybe a bad HD cable. – Gordon Davisson Sep 11 '19 at 02:59
  • In addition to what @GordonDavisson said, when you see the globe what do you do? Do you wait a while to see if you get anything else on the screen, or do you just switch your MBP off? Also, what model is the other MacBook and what version of macOS is on it? – Monomeeth Sep 11 '19 at 03:12
  • @Gordon Davisson The external HD is just Mac-formatted but empty. I have recently just bought that new HD and the external HD adapter to put it on. – SDNR Sep 11 '19 at 03:44
  • @Monomeeth When I wait a while, it just disappears and goes back into a mouse cursor, so I switch the MacBook off. The other MacBook is a 2017 ntb running on Mojave. – SDNR Sep 11 '19 at 03:46
  • Okay, so what version of macOS was on the original drive you had internally - before you replaced it with the one you bought? And do you have any Time Machine (or other) backups? – Monomeeth Sep 11 '19 at 04:44
  • @Monomeeth I do not know. I'm terribly sorry that I didn't clarify this on my post, but I actually bought this off of somebody, so I don't know what version of MacOS it originally had. Upon using the option key method on the other (working) MacBook Pro, it seems like it also couldn't find the external hard drive that I have formatted into Mac. I also do not have any Time Machine backups. I'm just trying to get a fresh install - would putting El Captain on the external hard drive help the Mac detect the hard drive? Thank you. – SDNR Sep 11 '19 at 04:48
  • Your Mac can’t find a bootable partition and it appears that the recovery partition is hosed as well. The 2009 MBP is too old for internet recovery, however in the linked dupe the are instructions on creating bootable USB drives for recovery. – Allan Sep 11 '19 at 06:08
  • In addition to what @Allan just said, your MBP won't run a version of Mac OS X beyond El Capitan, so that's probably your best bet for creating a bootable USB drive. – Monomeeth Sep 11 '19 at 06:13
  • Thank you @Monomeeth, @Allan! The answer was to make a bootable usb drive with El Capitan. Many thanks once again and cheers! – SDNR Sep 12 '19 at 00:52
  • You too @Gordon Davisson! – SDNR Sep 12 '19 at 00:52

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