Yesterday my Mac Mini declined to boot, with the ? folder flashing. I'd had it in my luggage for a 10-day Wyoming trip, but can't see how that's particularly relevant.

Anyway, back home today, I restarted with Cmd-R, and that went fine. But in Disk Utility, all the options other than Info, New Image, and Convert are grayed out. "disk1" shows (along with a second hard drive where I store big data) in the list, but Mount is grayed out.

It seems obvious that I should immediately buy and install a new SSD (I do, luckily, have an up-to-date Time Machine backup). Any recommendations? But I'm wondering if there's anything else I can try to get back in operation today.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/2020 01:12PM by Mr Downtown.

So the disk shows up, but won't mount? Both disks won't mount?

Was this the first startup after the trip?

The other disk (conventional HD) seems mounted. Repair is available, as is the Unmount command.

This was the first startup after the trip. Actually, I had tried hooking it to a motel room TV (to use as a monitor) Thursday night, but as soon as I saw the ?-folder, I just packed it back up.

Was you luggage scanned at any time during your WY trip? If it was, I'd suspect that said scan somehow affected the SSD. Why the regular HDD wasn't similarly affected I can't explain.

The vibration from the trip may have knocked something loose.

The 1st thing I'd try would be to pull the drive and connect it to another Mac to see whether it's working.

If it seems fine then put it back in the mini and check the drive cables while doing so.

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Did you try reinstalling the OS while in Cmd-R? That will tell you if you need to replace the drive (if it doesn't work).

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Ed (modelamac)

I think I will just put an OUT OF ORDER
sticker on my head and call it a day.

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Sarcany
The vibration from the trip may have knocked something loose.

The 1st thing I'd try would be to pull the drive and connect it to another Mac to see whether it's working.

If it seems fine then put it back in the mini and check the drive cables while doing so.

.this
Desktop computers are not designed for portability!

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39°36'17"N 75°44'43"W

The search engine that doesn't track you.

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modelamac
Did you try reinstalling the OS while in Cmd-R?

Not sure how to do that on a drive I can't Repair, or apparently even Mount.

Where were you in Wyoming?

Essentially the entire perimeter. Denver rent-a-car; Laramie; Jackson; Grand Tetons NP; Yellowstone; Cody; Buffalo; Devils Tower; Black Hills of South Dakota; back to Denver via Cheyenne.

The trip began with six days at my sister's in Texas. I leave a keyboard and monitor there, and just put my Mini in my backpack so I can work essentially as normal when visiting my family.