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Mid 2009 Model A1278 / 2.26 or 2.53 GHz Core 2 Duo processor EMC 2326

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Replaced HD, system does not recognize new drive

My Mac was crashing so I bought a new Western Digitial 7200 RPM drive and I wanted to install it clean.

I have a 10.6 Disc and when I boot to it I don't see any option for my hard drive.

I thought it was the cable but I put the old Toshiba drive in and it sees it fine.

Could it be the cable or the drive is not usable. Also I did format the western digital drive on another Mac to OS X Journaled Extended with GUID table.

After that I stil did not see it in the disk utility from the disc or when trying to install the OS.

Also I did use a usb sata cable and connected it to my western digital drive and it did see the drive in the 10.6 cd's disk utility But once I use the internal cable it did not see the western digital drive.

Thanks in advance.

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Can you give us the exact model of WD HD you have.

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Western Digital WD3200BEKX

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Here's the spec sheet for your drive: WD3200BEKX

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New 3.0gb drive is showing. However when I try to install 10.11 from usb drive it starts the install then fails with the error "AN error has occured while preparing the installation. Try running the installation again.'

I already tried and fixed the time and date on the mac through the terminal.

I noticed I can't erase the drive I tried it gives an error.

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Sadly the drive you bought won't work with your system. The drive is too fast for your system.

Your systems HD SATA port is SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) while the drive you bought is a fixed SATA III (6.0 Gb/s) drive.

You'll need to return it and get a different drive one that is SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) or one that has auto SATA speed sense.

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Thanks for the info I'll give it a shot and let you guys know. Thanks again for your help!

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You may want to also check your systems firmware. Follow this Apple T/N: About EFI and SMC firmware updates for Intel-based Mac computers make sure you have whats listed or newer.

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Hey you we're right about the drive! However now when I try to install I see the drive but I get a new error.

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OK what's the error?

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I tried 10.11 From a bootable USB drive.

"AN error has occured while preparing the installation. Try running the installation again.'

I already tried and fixed the time and date on the mac through the terminal.

I noticed I can't erase the drive I tried it gives an error.

If I use 10.6 or 10.7 disc it doesn't detect the drive.

Before I used the drive I plugged it into another Mac running 10.11 and formated the drive to OS X Extended Journaled. It put some small partition on the drive and when I put the 10.6 disc in it didn't see anything. When I tried 10.7 it only saw the small partion that was installed when I reform matted the drive.

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