Macbook 2012 not booting from internal drive but booting from external usb drive

hi everyone!!
here is what happened:
i have worked all day on my macbook pro, normally. when i got home and turned it on (i always power it off for rolling with it) it just didn't load the OS.
i run mavericks on a i7 mid 2012 macbook pro 13". it had an accident on last december and fell on the ground, but i've changed the hdd and it worked normally until last week when this happened.
i have a copy of my system on a usb drive and tried to start up from it and it worked.
i took my hdd from inside the lap top and started from it (yes, the same hard disk that was inside the machine) and it worked.
i took the macbook to an apple store and the "apple genius" that was there started up my machine from inside with another hdd running yosemite that they have in the store for testing.
today i bought a new hdd and put it in. but i can't format it or install the system. i had these 2 errors on disk utility
"partition failed with the error: wiping volume data to prevent future accidental probing failed"
and
"restore failure an error (32) occurred while copying. (broken pipe)
so:
it loads from my internal drive, but only when its connected via usb
it loaded the apple store drive internally
it does not format my new drive nor install the system on it
ANY suggestions, please??? it's really difficult to me to solve this problem...
thanks a lot!!!

Must be a bad SATA cable undetected by Apple Techs. A result of the drop but they are also quite fragile.
Disturbing the cable can cause it to work for a while. Cheap repair at iFixIt.

Similar Messages

P67A-GD65 (B3) will not boot with external USB DVD connected.

Damnedest thing... just put the build together last night and this was the biggest issue. If I connect my external Samsung USB DVD RW the system stops booting and only displays (B3) in the bottom right corner of my display. If I remove the USB plug the system boots and operates normally. If I connect it to the USB port after boot the system recognizes it and it works fine. The same issue occurs no matter which USB2/3 port I plug it into. I've banged around the BIOS and cannot see any issues in the boot sequence that would indicate an issue. Anyone else in das same boot?

Quote from: cadhopper on 24-March-11, 07:19:08
I just came to the forum for the same reason. I'm glad you had a thread already going. Mine is a Seagate 1.5T USB 2.0 hard drive and the screen reads 98 in the lower right corner. Hopefully MSI will get this fixed soon. Other than that the new system is running great.
They are working on it. They sent me a BETA BIOS to try out. The BIOS v1.10B3 was dated 3-17-2011 and it nearly bricked my system though. Here is the response I sent to them the other night after a few hours with a massive headache trying to bring my system back up:
Quote
Tried the new BIOS. While it did indeed fix the USB DVD boot issue and let me boot into windows it created a few new issues. After flashing the new BIOS would not recognize my old overclocking profiles from the v1.8 BIOS.. "hole" error. So I manually adjusted all the settings and saved the new settings. I copied them EXACTLY from my previous settings.. I had screenshots which I had printed out as a fool-proof guide. After rebooting I could no longer get into windows. BSOD. If I tried entering the BIOS by tapping the DEL button while booting the system would freeze at the "entering setup...." screen and never progress into the actual BIOS. I unplugged the power, waited a few minutes and held the clear CMOS button on the back panel down for a few seconds. After rebooting I no longer had video output. After much trial and error I ended up having to also unplug my LCD and cycle power on it as well to get video back. But could still bot get into the BIOS by tapping the DEL key during boot. Luckily I have a laptop with all the files on it and I was able to finally re-flash back to the v1.8 BIOS from a USB drive. I'm not sure what exactly you changed.. but I don't think this new BIOS version should leave BETA status.
To their credit they promptly responded the next AM:
Quote
There were some changes to the CPU voltage, so your overclock settings may not work properly. We are still working on a 1.A release version. It will be updated to our website soon. http://www.msi.com/product/mb/P67A-GD65--B3-.html#/?div=BIOS
I only wish they had informed me of the changes to the CPU voltage up front or included a change log so I could have made an informed decision as to whether or not I wanted to try the BETA BIOS. I was under the impression (mistakenly) that it simply addressed the USB DVD issue. I'll wait for the new release BIOS. I can live without the external USB DVD being plugged in at boot. Bricking my MOBO and having to RMA would be a far less desirable outcome. :p That said.. I'd still recommend this MOBO. It has relatively few issues and MSI support is responsive so far.

Is it possible to boot windows solely from an external hard drive so that it does not affect the internal drive

Is it possible to boot windows solely from an external hard drive so that it does not affect the internal drive. I already know that you can partition the internal hard drive to do the very same. Idon't want to use any of the internal space to run windows so I'm asking if it is possible to use a flash drive or external drive through USB to run windows when it is plugged in.

Read https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5043762?start=0&tstart=0 to discover you can't do it.
Allan

Macbook does not boot. stuck at grey screen. have tried single user mode, but text stops at AppleIntelCPUPPowerManagement: initialization complete, without anymore prompts. no

macbook does not boot. stuck at grey screen. have tried single user mode, but text stops at AppleIntelCPUPPowerManagement: initialization complete, without anymore prompts. no hash key appears that will allow me to type in: fsck -fy
have my trials for IB in one week and my history notes are all on my hard drive, that has not been backed up. help please =(

macbook does not boot. stuck at grey screen. have tried single user mode, but text stops at AppleIntelCPUPPowerManagement: initialization complete, without anymore prompts. no hash key appears that will allow me to type in: fsck -fy
have my trials for IB in one week and my history notes are all on my hard drive, that has not been backed up. help please =(

My Macbook will not boot the operating system. It just goes to a blue screen after the apple logo and the spinning wheel goes off. I took the battery out and held the on/off button for five seconds and reset the PRAM. I have the old mac os disk.

My macbook will not boot. It goes to a blue screen after the logo and wheel goes off. I have taken the battery out and held the on/off button for five seconds and reset the PRAM. I have the the original os disk but have not put it in for fear of losing un backed op data.
Thanks
Rich

You won't lose any data unless you erase your hard drive.
Put your install DVD into the optical drive and reboot. As soon as you hear the boot chime, hold down the "c"key on your keyboard (or the Option key until the Install Disk shows up). That will force your MacBook to boot from the install DVD in the optical drive.
When it does start up, you'll see a panel asking you to choose your language. Choose your language and press the Return key on your keyboard once. It will then present you with an Installation window. Completely ignore this window and click on Utilities in the top menu and scroll down to Disk Utility and click it.When it comes up is your Hard Drive in the list on the left?
If it is then click on the Mac OS partition of your hard drive in the left hand list. Then select the First Aid Tab and run Repair Disk. The Repair Disk button won't be available until you've selected the Mac OS partition on your hard drive. If that repairs any problems run it again until the green OK appears and then run Repair Permissions.

After updating Airport software, Macbook will not boot

I see others have updated with the new Airport software without incident, but not me.
I just ran software update to install the Airport update (hoping it would cure the problem I've had -- and other users as well -- with the connection dropping every 5 minutes with Linksys routers [check the Airport discussion board for much discussion of this]).
After installing, upon restart my Macbook will not boot fully. I get the Apple symbol, then the spinning gear symbol, then a light blue screen and that's it. After a while the fan comes on.
Call it the light blue screen of death.
All was working fine until the update.
I have boot camp and I can boot into Windows.
I have tried removing the battery and resetting the PRAM. No help.
Sigh... Applecare is closed so I cannot call until Friday morning. Anyone have any suggestions of what I can try?
I have my Mac hard disk backed up from a few days ago using Super Duper on a USB drive but I am reluctant to try booting from it as I fear corrupting the drive. Unfortunately I don't have my Mac system CDs with me as I am away from home at the moment.
I just switched to the Mac 6 weeks ago after 3.5 years with a Dell laptop. Never had a single problem like this in all that time. But I still like my Mac.
PD

Well, I spoke too soon. Last night I was able to start up as described above, but this morning when I tried to start it did not even get to the Mac symbol. It just hung at a dark blue screen for several minutes.
Tried restarting with the shift key held down but it would not go into safe mode. Just the dark blue screen.
Resetting PRAM made it startup.
But I'm pretty nervous about this.
So, is there a way in Mac OS X to roll back to the system before the update? In Windows XP this is very simple under System Restore. I have the impression OS X doesn't have this feature and won't until next year with Time Machine.
And I see now I'm not the only user with this problem.
PD

Not seeing the internal HHD, but will see a firewire HHD

I know there have been some similar topics along this line, but my situation appears a bit different.
History: I recently purchased a used 15" Powerbook Titanium (1.5GHz). It had an OS install issue when I purchased it, but for $200 I figured I'd try it. The problem is that it doesn't see the internal HHD when you try to install the OS. It boots fine (good tone when started), and reads the install DVD just fine also. During the initial portion of the OS installation attempt, I use the Disk Utility to try and reformat the installed HHD, but the HHD isn't seen by the system so I can't proceed. Additionally, just to be sure, I've swapped out the first HHD with a known GOOD one, but the results are the same. It's not seen by the system.
Anyway, after reading a number of posts with similar problems like this, in one of them it was suggested that the user try using a firewire drive. So I did the same and set up a Firewire enclosure. I used the desktop HHD out of my MDD Dual 1.25GHz, just to see if it would work. This drive is already loaded with OS 10.5.6. The Firewire drive "WAS" seen by the system. So before rebooting, I went to the "Utilities", and selected the Firewire drive to be the "BOOT" drive and BINGO, the system booted using this drive without a problem at all.
My questions on are this:
1) What is the probable cause for my system not seeing the internal drive? Damaged cable? Disk controller bad?
2) Could the Motherboard be bad? It seems to work OK, and everything is running from just fine from the firewire drive. Also, the motherboard passes the Apple start up Diagnostics test without any issues.
Any thoughts or ideas about what else to do, or additional checks to make, would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Rudy

It's encouraging that the drive spins up. On the thread with the 12" PB with a faulty ATA bus, it didn't.
To be absolutely clear, you are booting from the installation disc, and then navigating to Disk Utility on the installation disc? And you say that the hard drive cannot be seen at all with the Disk Utility on the installation disc? And that is why you cannot proceed to reformat it?
In case it would be useful, look over Kappy's Extended hard drive preparation:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1885474&tstart=60
You may want to take a careful look at the cable and see if you see any breaks in it or anything like that. You also want to be sure to replace any kapton tape with a fresh piece.
I'm hoping that it is not the ATA bus, as I don't know of a way to fix that.
Good luck!

MacBook Won't Book from External FW Drive

A 2008 MacBook connected to a known good bootable Firewire HDD [Mac OS 10.6.8; 10.7.5] (I have several drives each can boot two other Macs) will not boot the MacBook. I can put the MB into Target Disk mode and boot either of the other Macs from it. When one or the other of the Macs are put into Target Disk mode the MacBook will not boot up from that TD disk (they all have compatible OS,s, BTW). The MB can read and write from/to any FW connected drive I have tried. I have tried several different FW cables, no difference. Resetting PRAM, no difference Any ideas? What else can I do to troubleshoot this issue? Could the fact that the MB at one time belonged to a grammar school system be a reason, like for security maybe, maybe they tinkered with the firmware? Anyway, that's my question. Thanks for your replies.

can not reinstall the operating system because it does not recognized the hard drive ., i booted the same hard drive from an external usb cable and it booted the system fine , i also exchange the internal with another hard drive and again it did not recognized the hard drive, both hard drives booted up fine externally.
i feel as though it is the internal hard drive internal .

Satellite L20-100 can be booted from external USB hard drive?

I recently bought Toshiba Satellite L20-100 and I wonder if:
1. is there any possibility to boot this machine from external usb hard drive?
2. it is possible to attach another internal hard drive?
Supposing that the both answers above are 'no', how can I solve the following problem: I need hdd space, I need to boot 3 separate Wxp Operating Systems onto the same machine (Toshiba Satellite L20-100).

Booting from external USB HD - "No" would be the official, mcrsoft sponsored, answer. However, it is possible. Not easy but it can be done. I've seen it done with my own eyes and there are guides how to do this. Just look for it with search engine. But if you have enough disk space you better do what was suggested here - create 3 partitions and use boot manager.

Macbook will not boot after last 10.5.2 airport update

Installing the latest airport update to 10.5.2 killed my macbook. If I do a opotion+apple key+s, I get the following message
loading system\library\extension.mkext .............error x0000008 or something like that.
Any suggestions on how to fix that? I seen something on the internet about deleting mkext file, but am a little afraid I will make things worse. Is there a way to boot up with this error like a safe mode, or do I have to boot with external USB disk or installlation disk? Any little details would help. I am familiar with Linux and WinXP, but not mac OSX.

This problem has been solved. Booted of USB drive and deleted the file. It started after, although it took awhile.

Macbook will not boot, makes clicking sound

When I power up I get a blank screen and I hit clicking but the macbook does not boot up. I think it is not finding the HDD; happened before and there was a combo of keys I hit when I hit the Power button that found the HDD.
Any ideas?
Appreciate any help
Thanks, Ralph

Hi,
To get your mac to boot from the install disc simply insert it then turn on your mac holding the option key(the alt key), then select the disc in the menu.
Dave

Hey ppl,my macbook is not booting and by that i mean u can hear the audio wave when its starting up,the screen goes white and then after a while there's a folder with a question mark in the middle of the screen...anyone,any ideea?!?

Hey ppl,my macbook is not booting and by that i mean u can hear the audio wave when its starting up,the screen goes white and then after a while there's a folder with a question mark in the middle of the screen...anyone,any ideea?!?Regards.

That folder with the question mark icon means that the MacBook can't find the boot directory. That can either mean it can't find the hard drive or the hard drive data is somehow corrupted.
Put your install DVD into the drive and reboot. As soon as you hear the boot chime, hold down the "c" key on your keyboard (or the Option key until the Install Disk shows up). That will force your MacBook to boot from the optical drive.
Once it has finished booting and you are at the Install screen launch Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. Is your Hard Drive in the list on the left?
If it is then select the First Aid Tab run Repair Disk and if that repairs any problems run it again until the green OK appears and then run Repair Permissions.
If your hard drive isn’t recognized in Disk Utility then your hard drive is probably dead.

Macbook will not boot up after running Software Update

My MacBook will not boot up after running Software Update (Security update + Java?) earlier today. I have only the gray start up screen + Apple logo + gear wheel constantly rotating. I have tried restarts several times and tried to start up from my original system DVD - this makes no difference.
I called Apple support, tried resetting the power and PRAM - still no difference. He had no knowledge of other problems reported; although I note recent post may have same issue.
I cannot get an appointment at my Apple Store before Monday.
Any suggestions?

Still no success. When I hold down the option key when powering up I get the hard disk icon plus arrowhead (only). When clicking the arrowhead it goes to the gray screen + apple logo+ rotating gearwheel.
This happens both with DVD in slot and without DVD. the DVD image is not coming up on screen. When I start up without DVD the hard disk icon appears promptly. When I start with DVD in the DVD is spinning for a short period before the hard disk icon appears. On clicking the arrowhead to hard disk icon the DVD spins again for a while then stops. Apart from the DVD spinning, both situations result in gray screen + apple logo+ rotating gearwheel.

HT1366 Macbook does not boot green light flashes for few secends

My MacBook do not boot when I press power button. The green light on the side flashes for few secends.

Dear Apple-Friends! Dear Imola!
Thank you so much for your Memorial Day Super Fast Answer. Nothing has helped though and right now the support line is closed as it is 11:10 p.m. local time. will call them tomorrow morning and see what we can do. But this ***** so much, I waited 2 weeks for the machine to arrive, almost two weeks 'cause I bought it the moment it arrived in the online store.
I called Apple USA but they are closed because of Memorial Day. ;-(
Tough luck, I guess!
Cheers,
Constantin

It rained in my window last night, on my power strip. My macbook adaptor (charger) and iphone adaptor were both plugged into the strip. The power strip is dead. Iphone is fine. Macbook will not boot up and charger light doesn't go on.

It rained in my window last night, on my power strip. My macbook adaptor (charger) and iphone adaptor were both plugged into the strip. The power strip is dead. Iphone is fine. Macbook will not boot up and charger light doesn't go on. I borrowed another charger and still no luck. What should I do? (Charger wasn't plugged into Macbook until I dried it off.)

Spill Cleaning
And, don't think that just because it was two teaspoons and not a glassful that there is a difference.
Some liquid has just spilled into your Mac. What should you do?
Do
Immediately shut down the computer and unplug the power cord.
Remove the computer's battery (if you can)
Disconnect any peripherals (printers, iPods, scanners, cameras, etc.)
Lay the computer upside down on paper towels to get as much liquid as possible to drip out.
Note what was spilled on your Mac.
Bring the computer into an Apple store or AASP as soon as possible.
Don't
Don't try to turn it back on. Liquids can help electrical current move about the components of your Mac in destructive ways.
Don't shake the computer (this will only spread the liquid around).
Don't use a hair dryer on it (even at a low setting a hair dryer will damage sensitive components).
Do not put in a bag of rice in as much as rice will get into the ports and optical drive and do further damage.

Macbook 2012 not booting from internal drive but booting from external usb drive

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for