iFixit

I've just installed a new seagate 320gb 7200 in macbook pro duo with a brand new mac os 10.6 and disk utility cannot locate the drive. I replaced the hard drive cable as I though I had damaged the pin and still no luck. I really need some pointers on how to proceed next. do I need to format this new hard drive so mac os can see it? or what is this about "master" or cable" setting on the HD? this is not mentioned in the ifixit HD replacement at all? I hate to have to open this machine again. any clues? Thanks, Ian

[quote|japal5]I've just installed a new seagate 320gb 7200 in macbook pro duo with a brand new mac os 10.6 and disk utility cannot locate the drive. I replaced the hard drive cable as I though I had damaged the pin and still no luck. I really need some pointers on how to proceed next. do I need to format this new hard drive so mac os can see it? or what is this about "master" or cable" setting on the HD? this is not mentioned in the ifixit HD replacement at all? I hate to have to open this machine again. any clues? Thanks, Ian[/quote]

Couple of things to check:

1. In Sydney Profile, does the new drive show up under the Serial-ATA setting ?

2. Does Disk Utility "see" the drive ?

I'm assuming you are booting from either an external hard drive OR from the install DVD ?

[quote|moldor]Couple of things to check: 1. In Sydney Profile, does the new drive show up under the Serial-ATA setting ? 2. Does Disk Utility "see" the drive ? I'm assuming you are booting from either an external hard drive OR from the install DVD ?[/quote]

Man, why is it that people that don't know squat try to help others that are apparently somewhat computer literate?

It seems that the people trying to help do not read or understand the situation and do nothing but confuse the person looking for help.

Now, I am not a Mac expert but I am pretty good with PC's and have recently switched to Mac. I have a macboot pro which I bought to repair. The MBP 2.16ghz, boots to a flashing folder with a question mark which usually means hard drive failure or curropt system. I took the thing apart to get to the hard drive and see if it was dead. I put the hard drive into a USB enclusre and all files were intact. I erased and check the the drive for errors but the drive is in perfect condition. I reinstalled the drive and but it is still not recognized by the disk utility. I can boot to the installation of Snow Leopard and boot of an external drive(original drive) but it will not recognize the internal HD.

As of now I am in the same boat as the original poster but all the suggestions are rubbish and we nned someone who knows what the *&^$ they are talking about(there are no jumper pins on the SATA drive so stop suggetsing this). I have also ordered a new ribbon cable to see is this is the isse but I am not to sure, I examined the cable in the unit it looks pretty good but really what do I know?

Anyways, if you have experienced this and fixed it or know somthing we dont please help us, if not please dont ad to the frustration.

Thank you,

[quote|Monofrio]Man, why is it that people that don't know squat try to help others that are apparently somewhat computer literate? It seems that the people trying to help do not read or understand the situation and do nothing but confuse the person looking for help. Now, I am not a Mac expert but I am pretty good with PC's and have recently switched to Mac. I have a macboot pro which I bought to repair. The MBP 2.16ghz, boots to a flashing folder with a question mark which usually means hard drive failure or curropt system. I took the thing apart to get to the hard drive and see if it was dead. I put the hard drive into a USB enclusre and all files were intact. I erased and check the the drive for errors but the drive is in perfect condition. I reinstalled the drive and but it is still not recognized by the disk utility. I can boot to the installation of Snow Leopard and boot of an external drive(original drive) but it will not recognize the internal HD. As of now I am in the same boat as the original poster but all the suggestions are rubbish and we nned someone who knows what the *&^$ they are talking about(there are no jumper pins on the SATA drive so stop suggetsing this). I have also ordered a new ribbon cable to see is this is the isse but I am not to sure, I examined the cable in the unit it looks pretty good but really what do I know? Anyways, if you have experienced this and fixed it or know somthing we dont please help us, if not please dont ad to the frustration. Thank you,[/quote]

Wow… As for your comments about all of us being idiots, I think you need to apologize. For one thing, you can't even spell, so why not correct your own mistakes first! Talk about confusing. Since you can't spell AND haven't solved your own issue, could it be that YOU don't know squat? FYI, the flashing folder with the question mark indicates your MacBook (not macboot) cannot find an operating system. And on this subject, my own apology to Moldor… yes, the Mac should "see" the hard disk whether or not the disk is formatted, but I have run across at least two that did not; but after installing a formatted drive, all worked. Why, I'm not sure. That was the basis my suggestion. Sometimes things just work that way.

For japal5, as someone touched on before, the jumpers you may see on a SATA drive are normally for setting how many Gb per second you want your drive to access data at. Older setups could not access at the newer 3Gb per second and had to be set at the 1.5Gb setting instead. With newer Macs, this shouldn't be an issue. Either way, that setting is in reference to a small set of "pins" on the disk near the pins where you plug in your SATA cables. There, you will see a small "jumper" A visual guide as to where the jumper should be located for different settings is normally on the label on top of the hard disk on a Seagate.

BUT… here's something you can try to solve the issue of your disc not being recognized… Try formatting your hard disc from your OS INSTALL DISC. That's the CD that came with your Mac. This is one of Apple's own solutions to the issue. If all fails, you might just TRY setting the jumper on your hard disc to 1.5 Gb access if it is set to 3.0 Gb per second or vice versa. Good luck.

[quote|customerservice]Wow… As for your comments about all of us being idiots, I think you need to apologize. For one thing, you can't even spell, so why not correct your own mistakes first! Talk about confusing. Since you can't spell AND haven't solved your own issue, could it be that YOU don't know squat? FYI, the flashing folder with the question mark indicates your MacBook (not macboot) cannot find an operating system. And on this subject, my own apology to Moldor… yes, the Mac should "see" the hard disk whether or not the disk is formatted, but I have run across at least two that did not; but after installing a formatted drive, all worked. Why, I'm not sure. That was the basis my suggestion. Sometimes things just work that way. For japal5, as someone touched on before, the jumpers you may see on a SATA drive are normally for setting how many Gb per second you want your drive to access data at. Older setups could not access at the newer 3Gb per second and had to be set at the 1.5Gb setting instead. With newer Macs, this shouldn't be an issue. Either way, that setting is in reference to a small set of "pins" on the disk near the pins where you plug in your SATA cables. There, you will see a small "jumper" A visual guide as to where the jumper should be located for different settings is normally on the label on top of the hard disk on a Seagate. BUT… here's something you can try to solve the issue of your disc not being recognized… Try formatting your hard disc from your OS INSTALL DISC. That's the CD that came with your Mac. This is one of Apple's own solutions to the issue. If all fails, you might just TRY setting the jumper on your hard disc to 1.5 Gb access if it is set to 3.0 Gb per second or vice versa. Good luck.[/quote]

I found the source of my problem, while removing the hard drive cable from the logic board, I inadvertently knocked a small inductor coil off the board...its tiny, and soldered in right by the cable connection...must have caught it with the edge of my spudger.

i amazingly found the piece in the machine...and a friend who does this sort of thing is looking for a replacement and he is going to hot air solder it on.

if i hadn't found it, and had a friend with unique micro soldering abilities, I would be in need of a new logic board...right now we are sourcing the correct coil.

I will report back when operation is finished.

he has traced the part and is sure that if it is gone , no data transfer would occur...and since that is my problem...hd is working, formatted etc...We are pretty sure we found the solution...

Monofrio...if you are looking down at the HD connector on your board, the piece I am missing is just off the lower right corner of the rectangle where the cable snaps in.

[quote|jreuben65]I found the source of my problem, while removing the hard drive cable from the logic board, I inadvertently knocked a small inductor coil off the board...its tiny, and soldered in right by the cable connection...must have caught it with the edge of my spudger. i amazingly found the piece in the machine...and a friend who does this sort of thing is looking for a replacement and he is going to hot air solder it on. if i hadn't found it, and had a friend with unique micro soldering abilities, I would be in need of a new logic board...right now we are sourcing the correct coil. I will report back when operation is finished. he has traced the part and is sure that if it is gone , no data transfer would occur...and since that is my problem...hd is working, formatted etc...We are pretty sure we found the solution... Monofrio...if you are looking down at the HD connector on your board, the piece I am missing is just off the lower right corner of the rectangle where the cable snaps in.[/quote]

listen, first off I never called anyone an idiot, so please do not try and contort my words. As for my spelling yes, I type a bit fast sometimes and don't catch it but I am not illiterate and can make out what someone is trying to say even if it is a bit misspelled. You understood what I meant by macbook not "macboot".

As far as these macbooks are concerned you should not have to implement a jumper setting and the disk utility should recognize the hard drive no matter what partition, but this is besides the point anymore since he probably already found the likely culprit.

Listen, I am all for people trying to help all I wanted to get across is that people should not try to help if they don't know what they are talking about, it just makes the person needing the help more confused. I try to read many post as possible to not have to post anywhere but this is pretty much my exact situation and I am trying to get some people who have had this happen before or know exactly how to fix it.

Jreuben65, I will give it a look and report back to see if indeed I might have the same issue.

Hopefully my spelling is up to par this go around and you guys understand.

[quote|Monofrio]listen, first off I never called anyone an idiot, so please do not try and contort my words. As for my spelling yes, I type a bit fast sometimes and don't catch it but I am not illiterate and can make out what someone is trying to say even if it is a bit misspelled. You understood what I meant by macbook not "macboot". As far as these macbooks are concerned you should not have to implement a jumper setting and the disk utility should recognize the hard drive no matter what partition, but this is besides the point anymore since he probably already found the likely culprit. Listen, I am all for people trying to help all I wanted to get across is that people should not try to help if they don't know what they are talking about, it just makes the person needing the help more confused. I try to read many post as possible to not have to post anywhere but this is pretty much my exact situation and I am trying to get some people who have had this happen before or know exactly how to fix it. Jreuben65, I will give it a look and report back to see if indeed I might have the same issue. Hopefully my spelling is up to par this go around and you guys understand.[/quote]

Jreuben, could you please take a picture of what you are referring to? I cant seem to locate the coil.

Thank you,

[quote|Monofrio]Jreuben, could you please take a picture of what you are referring to? I cant seem to locate the coil. Thank you,[/quote]

@monofrio

I don't have the greatest pic, but if this link works it is about 1/3 of the way from the bottom right corner of the HD connector cable, if you draw a line from the that long connector to the square HD connector

you will see a little white arrow on the board...it should be pointing to a tiny black rectangle soldered on the board...that is the coil that i damaged...

h ttps://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=ba...

[quote|jreuben65]@monofrio I don't have the greatest pic, but if this link works it is about 1/3 of the way from the bottom right corner of the HD connector cable, if you draw a line from the that long connector to the square HD connector you will see a little white arrow on the board...it should be pointing to a tiny black rectangle soldered on the board...that is the coil that i damaged... https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=bab69df8d0&view=att&th=124c7eb7518b04c0&attid=0.1&disp=inline&zw[/quote]

that link probably didn't work...go here instead

http://picasaweb.google.com/canislatrans...

[quote|jreuben65]that link probably didn't work...go here instead http://picasaweb.google.com/canislatrans65/MacbookPro?feat=directlink[/quote]

Thanks for the reply J, it appears that mine is intact so I just have to be patient for a few days while I get a new cable. If the cable does not work I will be truly stumped and what I thought would have ben an easy fix would probably be a logic board issue. I just don't get it though, everything on the board looks perfect and the cable for the hard drive looks good.

If anyone else knows what the problem could be please shed some light.

Thank you,

[quote|Monofrio]Thanks for the reply J, it appears that mine is intact so I just have to be patient for a few days while I get a new cable. If the cable does not work I will be truly stumped and what I thought would have ben an easy fix would probably be a logic board issue. I just don't get it though, everything on the board looks perfect and the cable for the hard drive looks good. If anyone else knows what the problem could be please shed some light. Thank you,[/quote]

Quote from Monofrio:

Man, why is it that people that don't know squat try to help others that are apparently somewhat computer literate?

It seems that the people trying to help do not read or understand the situation and do nothing but confuse the person looking for help.

Now, I am not a Mac expert but I am pretty good with PC's and have recently switched to Mac. I have a macboot pro which I bought to repair. The MBP 2.16ghz, boots to a flashing folder with a question mark which usually means hard drive failure or curropt system. I took the thing apart to get to the hard drive and see if it was dead. I put the hard drive into a USB enclusre and all files were intact. I erased and check the the drive for errors but the drive is in perfect condition. I reinstalled the drive and but it is still not recognized by the disk utility. I can boot to the installation of Snow Leopard and boot of an external drive(original drive) but it will not recognize the internal HD.

As of now I am in the same boat as the original poster but all the suggestions are rubbish and we nned someone who knows what the *&^$ they are talking about(there are no jumper pins on the SATA drive so stop suggetsing this). I have also ordered a new ribbon cable to see is this is the isse but I am not to sure, I examined the cable in the unit it looks pretty good but really what do I know?

Anyways, if you have experienced this and fixed it or know somthing we dont please help us, if not please dont ad to the frustration.

Thank you,

The Flashing ? Folder doesn't always mean that the file system is corrupt, it can also mean that there is no operating system on the disc, try putting a mac os install disc and see if the drive is reconized, or, try booting while holding the option key, this will show a list of available boot drives

[quote|Chris Green]The Flashing ? Folder doesn't always mean that the file system is corrupt, it can also mean that there is no operating system on the disc, try putting a mac os install disc and see if the drive is reconized, or, try booting while holding the option key, this will show a list of available boot drives[/quote]

Quote from Chris Green:

The Flashing ? Folder doesn't always mean that the file system is corrupt, it can also mean that there is no operating system on the disc, try putting a mac os install disc and see if the drive is reconized, or, try booting while holding the option key, this will show a list of available boot drives

I have already tried these suggestions but the drive is not recognized. I wish it were something that simple but it's not. The machine will recognize an external USB drive and boot of of that fine. I have taken out the drive, put in the USB case, install the system on to it, and still it is not recognized when placed back in the machine.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[quote|Monofrio]I have already tried these suggestions but the drive is not recognized. I wish it were something that simple but it's not. The machine will recognize an external USB drive and boot of of that fine. I have taken out the drive, put in the USB case, install the system on to it, and still it is not recognized when placed back in the machine. Thanks for the suggestions.[/quote]

So I installed the new cable and still no dice. Wish someone could give me some hope but it looks like its turning out to be a logic board issue. Just one question: If I use the macbook with a USB enclosure will it be terribly slow when accessing data? Or, if I decided to rig the unit with a USB to SATA connection inside the unit would that be a waste of time.

[quote|Monofrio]So I installed the new cable and still no dice. Wish someone could give me some hope but it looks like its turning out to be a logic board issue. Just one question: If I use the macbook with a USB enclosure will it be terribly slow when accessing data? Or, if I decided to rig the unit with a USB to SATA connection inside the unit would that be a waste of time.[/quote]

Quote from Monofrio:

So I installed the new cable and still no dice. Wish someone could give me some hope but it looks like its turning out to be a logic board issue. Just one question: If I use the macbook with a USB enclosure will it be terribly slow when accessing data? Or, if I decided to rig the unit with a USB to SATA connection inside the unit would that be a waste of time.

A Firewire 800 Enclosure will be faster, than USB, but i'm not sure whether your macbook pro has firewire 800 or not, but if it does, get a firewire 800 enclosure, that's the fastest evternal interface port next to eSATA, which mac's don't have

[quote|Chris Green]A Firewire 800 Enclosure will be faster, than USB, but i'm not sure whether your macbook pro has firewire 800 or not, but if it does, get a firewire 800 enclosure, that's the fastest evternal interface port next to eSATA, which mac's don't have[/quote]

As the OP of this thread I just wanted you all to know that my prayers have been answered.

The tiny component I found in my machine was the source of my problem...I had accidentally dislodged the tiny coil that cancels the noise in the datastream to allow the disk to read and write as normal...I cannot emphasize how tiny this coil was...miniscule

I bought a broken board for $29 on Ebay from a core 2 duo mbp and brought it to my genius friend Keith, who had originally looked at the piece i found in the machine and determined what it was, and that it was broken and I would need a new one. With a little trial and error he was able to find a similar coil on the broken board and remove it in one piece and solder it back on to my board. At first it still didn't work, but he traced it to a short in the coil...he cleaned up the solder some and re-attached...

Then BAM! it booted up to my new 320gb drive like they were old pals.

I am so relieved that I didn't have to buy a brand new board.

For a total of just over $100 bucks I was able to bring it back to life.

I am so relieved

@monofrio I hope you can find a similar solution.

as to running off a usb cable, that is what I have been doing for the last two weeks while i sorted this all out. The main thing I noticed was the much longer boot up time, but after that it ran very smoothly...firewire 800 may be faster, but I didn't feel hampered at all besides the really slow initial boot up.

Thanks everybody for your suggestions...I am overjoyed to have a happy ending.

PEACE

[quote|jreuben65]As the OP of this thread I just wanted you all to know that my prayers have been answered. The tiny component I found in my machine was the source of my problem...I had accidentally dislodged the tiny coil that cancels the noise in the datastream to allow the disk to read and write as normal...I cannot emphasize how tiny this coil was...miniscule I bought a broken board for $29 on Ebay from a core 2 duo mbp and brought it to my genius friend Keith, who had originally looked at the piece i found in the machine and determined what it was, and that it was broken and I would need a new one. With a little trial and error he was able to find a similar coil on the broken board and remove it in one piece and solder it back on to my board. At first it still didn't work, but he traced it to a short in the coil...he cleaned up the solder some and re-attached... Then BAM! it booted up to my new 320gb drive like they were old pals. I am so relieved that I didn't have to buy a brand new board. For a total of just over $100 bucks I was able to bring it back to life. I am so relieved @monofrio I hope you can find a similar solution. as to running off a usb cable, that is what I have been doing for the last two weeks while i sorted this all out. The main thing I noticed was the much longer boot up time, but after that it ran very smoothly...firewire 800 may be faster, but I didn't feel hampered at all besides the really slow initial boot up. Thanks everybody for your suggestions...I am overjoyed to have a happy ending. PEACE[/quote]

Hello,

I have the same problem (but different...)on a MacBookPro a1226. After replacing the old Fujitsu 120 GB with a Samsung 120 GB drive. The Fujitsu drive has some disk errors that could be repaired in single user mode but after a few boot-ups the error reappears. So I built in the new Samsung-Drive.

When I'm starting from the Leopard-DVD (black one) I get the message: "please restart your computer" / The same message appears using the old Fujitsu drive - when the file system was corrupt

So I put in a Windows-CD (it is an IntelMac) and bingo.. the drive shows up and could be formated with ntfs.

When pressing the alt-key on start-up the drive shows up now - as a Windows drive but MacOsX still rejects do work (same message like before)

Actually I'm trying to clone the old HD to the new drive. But that could take a long time.

After following this discussion I guess formating the new drive with

hfs+ could be the faster solution. Does anyone know, how to get the disk formated without opening the Mbook again. I have no other Mac and the DVD is not working..(hopefully...until hfs+ is on the HD)

May be HFS or HFS+ is supported by some Linux-Live-Distributions...?

Thanks for your help...

[quote|pslc]Hello, I have the same problem (but different...)on a MacBookPro a1226. After replacing the old Fujitsu 120 GB with a Samsung 120 GB drive. The Fujitsu drive has some disk errors that could be repaired in single user mode but after a few boot-ups the error reappears. So I built in the new Samsung-Drive. When I'm starting from the Leopard-DVD (black one) I get the message: "please restart your computer" / The same message appears using the old Fujitsu drive - when the file system was corrupt So I put in a Windows-CD (it is an IntelMac) and bingo.. the drive shows up and could be formated with ntfs. When pressing the alt-key on start-up the drive shows up now - as a Windows drive but MacOsX still rejects do work (same message like before) Actually I'm trying to clone the old HD to the new drive. But that could take a long time. After following this discussion I guess formating the new drive with hfs+ could be the faster solution. Does anyone know, how to get the disk formated without opening the Mbook again. I have no other Mac and the DVD is not working..(hopefully...until hfs+ is on the HD) May be HFS or HFS+ is supported by some Linux-Live-Distributions...? Thanks for your help...[/quote]

Add.

Hello,

after hfs+ formating the drive with geparted from a Ubuntu-Live-CD. the OSX-Install-DVD still didn't recognize the internal HD.

Meanwhile i found out that the new HD is accessable under SIngle-User-Mode with fdisk -hfs disk01. It didn't formate the disk but it gave back it's data like number of sectors etc.

After cloning the old HD with it's bad sectors and repairing that under SingleUserBoot everthing is working fine! The System is booting and the Installer-DVD shows up with all features.

So it can be expected that the OSX-Installer is looking for an exsisting system or may be some mac-like formated partitions.

The big questtion is how to get that without cloning whole system...

[quote|pslc]Add. Hello, after hfs+ formating the drive with geparted from a Ubuntu-Live-CD. the OSX-Install-DVD still didn't recognize the internal HD. Meanwhile i found out that the new HD is accessable under SIngle-User-Mode with fdisk -hfs disk01. It didn't formate the disk but it gave back it's data like number of sectors etc. After cloning the old HD with it's bad sectors and repairing that under SingleUserBoot everthing is working fine! The System is booting and the Installer-DVD shows up with all features. So it can be expected that the OSX-Installer is looking for an exsisting system or may be some mac-like formated partitions. The big questtion is how to get that without cloning whole system...[/quote]

Intels run off GUID partition format, not HFS+ see if that helps.

[quote|machead3]Intels run off '''GUID partition format, '' not HFS+'' ''' see if that helps.[/quote]