About three years ago I replaced my original hard disk on my 2010 MacBook Pro with SSD drive to make the system run faster. It did work fine until now.
Regrettably I'm in this position now as my system kept booting and when it turned on eventually it always started with a pop-up that report needs to be sent to Apple. It happened number of times and eventually it stopped booting altogether.
I took the SSD hard disk out and started investigation and looking for answers in online forums. Sadly in my case the partition drive is/was my main macOS drive and has lots of family pictures and data. Unfortunately I haven't got any back-up of all family pictures and data since I replaced it with original drive.
My SSD main partition drive is showing as 'FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF'. I’ve put the old original hard disk back and booted my macbook from it and connected SSD via USB and the main partition now showing as ' FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF'.
As I've been looking for a solution on how to fix and come across number of posts and I've read Klanomath’s solution posts resolving this issue.
When you advise to run add gpt command there is usually a long string after that in your solutions, e.g.
sudo gpt add -i 2 -b 409640 -s 820115416 -t 7C3457EF-0000-11AA-AA11-0033…
How do you determine that?
I’ve posted some pictures below. Can you advise me the exact command string I’ll need to run?
EDIT 1
Please see below as suggested
daniel-baswals-MacBook-Pro:~ danielbaswal$ sudo dd if=/dev/disk2s2 count=3 2>/dev/null | hexdump -Cv
Password:
daniel-baswals-MacBook-Pro:~ danielbaswal$
daniel-baswals-MacBook-Pro:~ danielbaswal$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *250.1 GB disk0
1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1
2: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 224.5 GB disk0s2
3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s3
4: Microsoft Basic Data BOOTCAMP 24.7 GB disk0s4
/dev/disk1
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *480.1 GB disk1
1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk1s1
2: FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF 400.1 GB disk1s2
3: Microsoft Basic Data BOOTCP 79.8 GB disk1s3
daniel-baswals-MacBook-Pro:~ danielbaswal$ sudo dd if=/dev/disk2s2 count=3 2>/dev/null | hexdump -Cv
daniel-baswals-MacBook-Pro:~ danielbaswal$ sudo dd if=/dev/disk1s2 count=3 2>/dev/null | hexdump -Cv
00000000 dd c8 ca e0 a8 4b c9 69 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |.....K.i........|
00000010 15 9a 0b 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 80 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000020 4e 58 53 42 00 10 00 00 fb 9d d2 05 00 00 00 00 |NXSB............|
00000030 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000040 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 f0 21 62 59 6d 20 4a ab |.........!bYm J.|
00000050 b6 20 b8 c0 67 77 01 1a 38 5d 13 00 00 00 00 00 |. ..gw..8]......|
00000060 16 9a 0b 00 00 00 00 00 18 01 00 00 2c 6c 00 00 |............,l..|
00000070 44 d4 05 00 00 00 00 00 de 44 05 00 00 00 00 00 |D........D......|
00000080 5b 00 00 00 8a 64 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |[....d..........|
00000090 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e8 65 01 00 00 00 00 00 |.........e......|
000000a0 ed d3 0b 00 00 00 00 00 01 04 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000000b0 00 00 00 00 64 00 00 00 03 04 00 00 00 00 00 00 |....d...........|
000000c0 df 65 01 00 00 00 00 00 e1 65 01 00 00 00 00 00 |.e.......e......|
000000d0 a9 08 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000000e0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000000f0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000100 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000110 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000120 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000130 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000140 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000150 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000160 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000170 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000180 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000190 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000001a0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000001b0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000001c0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000001d0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000001e0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000001f0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000200 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000210 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000220 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000230 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000240 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000250 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000260 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000270 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000280 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000290 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000002a0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000002b0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000002c0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000002d0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000002e0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000002f0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000300 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000310 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000320 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000330 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000340 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000350 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000360 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000370 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000380 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000390 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000003a0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000003b0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000003c0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000003d0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 b2 ef 58 04 00 00 00 00 |..........X.....|
000003e0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000003f0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000400 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000410 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000420 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000430 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000440 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000450 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000460 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000470 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000480 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000490 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000004a0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000004b0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000004c0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000004d0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000004e0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000004f0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 33 5d 22 05 00 00 00 00 |........3]".....|
00000500 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000510 6d 2a 18 04 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |m*..............|
00000520 01 00 04 00 08 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000530 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000540 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000550 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000560 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000570 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000580 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000590 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000005a0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000005b0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000005c0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000005d0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000005e0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000005f0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000600
daniel-baswals-MacBook-Pro:~ danielbaswal$
EDIT 2 –
Many thanks David. As suggested I've run commands in gdisk and the result is as below –
sudo gdisk /dev/disk1
Password:
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 1.0.4
Warning: Devices opened with shared lock will not have their
partition table automatically reloaded!
Partition table scan:
MBR: hybrid
BSD: not present
APM: not present
GPT: present
Found valid GPT with hybrid MBR; using GPT.
Command (? for help): t
Partition number (1-3): 2
Current type is 'Unknown'
Hex code or GUID (L to show codes, Enter = AF00): AF0A
Changed type of partition to 'Apple APFS'
Command (? for help): w
Final checks complete. About to write GPT data. THIS WILL OVERWRITE EXISTING
PARTITIONS!!
Do you want to proceed? (Y/N): y
OK; writing new GUID partition table (GPT) to /dev/disk1.
Warning: Devices opened with shared lock will not have their
partition table automatically reloaded!
Warning: The kernel may continue to use old or deleted partitions.
You should reboot or remove the drive.
The operation has completed successfully.
diskutil list
/dev/disk0
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *250.1 GB disk0
1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1
2: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 224.5 GB disk0s2
3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s3
4: Microsoft Basic Data BOOTCAMP 24.7 GB disk0s4
/dev/disk1
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *480.1 GB disk1
1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk1s1
2: 7C3457EF-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC 400.1 GB disk1s2
3: Microsoft Basic Data BOOTCP 79.8 GB disk1s3
so the partition is not appearing as ffffff-ffff-ffff anymore but I still cant see contents as I think I need Sierra or higher version. I'll now replace original drive with this SSD and hopefully it'll boot. fingers crossed. I'll report back. screenshot below from Disk Utililty
Unfortunately the SSD didn't boot. I tried to install High Sierra on old drive which has Yosemite but that didn't work either. Therefore I've now ordered a new SSD which I'll use first to install High Sierra so I can access files on the old SSD. After that I intend to use it as a Time Machine back up for future. I'll report back progress.
EDIT 4
Many thanks for your help. So I tried my SSD on friends MAC desktop and since he has a later version of MacOS I was able to see my files, what a relief. However If I try to access the same drive from my own laptop I can't as I think there are some hardware issues with my MacBook Pro. Think I'll open a new thread to get help on hardware fix.
Best Answer
If you are able to repair you drive, then you will need to be running at least Sierra in order to mount the macOS partition on the SSD via USB.
Below are two possible solutions.
Using a Third Party Tool
Since you already have the SSD connected as
disk2
in a USB port, a simple solution would be to download and use gdisk.The current
gdisk
installer is namedgdisk-1.0.4.pkg
. I will assume this will download to yourDownloads
folder. Before opening this file to installgdisk
, you may need to remove the quarantine by executing the command given below.Once
gdisk
is installed you would need to enter the following command.The
gdisk
command is interactive. What you need to enter intogdisk
is given below. This input is only valid if you use version 1.0.4 or a newer version ofgdisk
.Below is an example of what you should see.
Without Using Any Third Party Tools
An answer Klanomath might have posted would include entering the commands given below.
Basically you are performing the following steps.
Final Note
Your APFS partition is about 50 MB larger than the APFS container. While this will not present a problem, I mention this fact for other readers who may be more observant.