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Model A1286. Released February 2011 / 2.0, 2.2, or 2.3 GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7 Processor

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Problem with 2nd HDD Optical Drive

Hi,

I am having a problem with my 2nd hdd, I have an SSD and a 750gb HDD in the optical drive that I use as storage. I have my main folder redirected in my hdd , it used to worked just fine but the last week, I boot on MacOs and a window appeared saying that there was an error formating the HDD, I can read and copy the files on the HDD but I can´t write nothing on it.

I have formatted the HDD and it starts to work fone again, but after 5 days the same problem occurs. I have checked the drive and it seems to just work right.

I hope you can help me.

The HDD is an original Apple HDD 750gb

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The drive may have developed bad blocks. To map them out, reformat the drive and use the "write zeros" option. This will tell the directory where those blocks are and it won't try to write to them.

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I would recommend you connect the drive externally to check it out using a SATA to USB adapter. If it is stable externally and you still encounter problems internally you may need to replace the drive cable here. (thats assuming you don't have the clock issue I've pointed out below) new cable: MacBook Pro 15" Unibody (Mid 2010 to Late 2011) Hard Drive Cable

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After a week that reformated the drive using the "write zeros" option, I haven't had any problems. Thank very much for your help.

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You are likely facing two issues here.

The first dependent on your exact model may be facing a compatibility issue with the Optical drive's SATA port. Review the Red comment at the bottom if you have a 'MacBookPro8,1' (2.3 GHz, 2.4 GHz, 2.7 GHz or 2.8 GHz system: OWC Data Doubler it makes no difference who's unit you used they all face the same problem here. As you can see the drive you have installed in the optical carrier needs to be a fixed SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) drive.

The other issue you maybe encountering here is the issue of HD crash guard. You see only the main drive port has it. So if you switch over the original Apple HD to the optical port you won't have any protection! Apple drives don't have the technology onboard the drive (some replacement HD's from 3rd parties do!) So you need to be careful with the banging around when the system is running (or in sleep mode).

OK, lets say you switch things around or put in a different HD in the optical carrier and you need a SATA II drive. You'll need to be careful as 'Auto SATA Port Sense' drives also won't work very well here. Depending on the manufacture the drive could set its self in SATA I (1.5 Gb/s) mode as it can't determine what the ports speed is or it will pop between SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) and SATA III (6.0 Gb/s) very confused! As sometimes it will work and other times not. Its best to get an older FIXED SATA II drive here.

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