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2.2 GHz (Turbo Boost up to 3.4 GHz) or 2.5 GHz (Turbo Boost up to 3.7 GHz) quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with 6MB shared L3 cache.

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SSD NOT BOOTING (Weird Issue)

Hello ,

I bought a 2014 15” MacBook Pro without its SSD. When I boot up with recovery mode it boots up in Maverick OS, and it doesn't recognize my NVMe SSD which is inside the system.

I have tried using an external SSD with Catalina in it, I have later transferred and formatted the NVMe SSD (Internal) and the Mac recognized it but when I boot up it gives me a "question mark" and when I reboot to recovery mode , Maverick OS will not recognize it.

I made a bootable USB and still when I download the OS to the internal NVMe SSD it will start in loops and will never boot up to the OS , and it keeps giving me this annoying 5101F if I tried the other recovery mode method.

I reset the NVRAM and the SMC and still same problem , it doesnt boot up .

The SSD is seen and I can install stuff in it but with an external drive ONLY. The macbook isn’t able to boot up from it and I am really !#^&@@ trying all day with it

Do you have any info to fix this issue ??

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I think you are hitting a few different issues here. Lets start off with the flashing question mark: Thats the reaction you get when the drive is not either a bootable OS as well as not set as the boot drive. So assuming it is properly setup as a bootable drive you then need to set the systems firmware to use it. So restart your system and press the Option (⌥) key to enter into the Startup Manager so you can select the internal drive as your boot drive. Once the system is up and running go into your Preferences > Startup Disk and now set the drive as your boot drive. At that point you should be set!

Reference: Mac startup key combinations

But the drive is not visible in the Startup Manager! That tells us its not properly setup and will need to re-install the OS. Your systems firmware may also not be updated with the newer firmware to support APFS file system so if you setup Catalina on it it won’t work. To add to this the SSD you are using is not a real Apple unit as such the NVMe driver is not present in Mavericks release you need Mojave to gain access to it.

You are using a very old OS here (Mavericks)! Your system can support newer OS’s. I would get to macOS Mojave 10.14.x its the last one which supports 32bit apps. Go to this Apple T/N to gain access to the OS installer files How to get old versions of macOS. Don’t use anything you already have as you likely have an expired installer, here’s more on that If you've got an old macOS install image, it will probably stop working today

Follow this guide to create the needed USB thumb drive installer How to create a bootable macOS Mojave installer drive I still find using the installer drive is better than using the internet recovery or hidden partition recovery. Between taking much longer to run if you have a disruption it may fail the install. The other factor is I like completely wiping the drive down so the recovery partition is rebuilt with the OS I’m installing so you don’t get into future install problems.

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Hello Dan ,

I have installed Catalina and tried High Seirra in a bootable External SSD , when I transferred it into the NVMe which is inside the macbook it keeps looping and looping ( not starting from the NVMe but starting from the external SSD and still keeps giving a question mark even though I have made it a start up disk)

I have later installed Windows in a bootable USB and then install it in the NVMe and same thing , it keeps booting up in a loop without booting up from the NVMe .

Do you have any info about this ?

Thanks

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@salahahmad674 - Did you do as I stated in my first paragraph? You need to boot up using the Option key to gain access to the Startup Manager to then select your internal drive which As I stated needs to be running Mojave as you are clearly using a 3rd party PCIe/NVMe drive which is not accessible without the updated NVMe drivers in the newer macOS and you may not have updated your systems firmware with the needed update for your SSD to boot up under APFS.

So like a combination lock setting one number won't open it and you need to set the numbers in the correct order. Using an external drive to update the systems firmware installing the OS onto an external drive (no internal drive present!) Next install your new SSD setup. Now using the same OS installer install the OS again this time to the Internal SSD. In both cases it MUST be Mojave. Now restarting your system it should have already altered its status setting if not restart your system again and now using the Option''' key to gain access to the Startup Manager to get your system to finish starting up. Now open your preferences and set the startup disk setting. That should do it if not you'll need to get a better drive setup.

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@danj Hello ,

After I have installed a bootable USB with Mojave , I have installed the installer on an external SSD , then it says "macOS could not be installed on your computer" An error occurred while verifying firmware .

Whats should I do next ? It only gives me a restart option

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@salahahmad674 - OK we'll need to step back to a REAL Apple SSD that came with your system and install Sierra from a USB OS installer drive. Hopefully getting to that config and OS will fix your firmware issue. Then ww can try upgrading to Mojave at that point.

To be clear you can't use your 3rd party SSD solution here. You need a real Apple drive. It doesn't need to be overly big 128 GB.

For more info on Apple SSD's review this great guide The Ultimate Guide to Apple’s Proprietary SSDs

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@danj Thank you so much Dan and I am really sorry if I made you busy cause of me

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