S.M.A.R.T. error > New hard drive gives flashing question mark
I've read around on the site, and I THINK this is what I need to do. Would love if someone could confirm so I can go ahead and buy the parts without them going to waste!
Situation
- My iMac broke down on me.
- When I start it up, I get a blinking folder with a question mark.
- If I wait about 5 minutes, it loads to recovery mode, and it says my internal Seagate 1TB HDD has a S.M.A.R.T. error (which I now know means the drive is breaking down).
- I bought a new WD HDD, replaced it with instructions from ifixit.com (ignoring the thermal sensor plug because there's no slot for it on the new HDD).
- When I start up the iMac again, I simply get a flashing folder with a question mark on it. I can't get into recovery mode or do anything else.
My Understanding
From reading a lot of the Q&A on this site, it seems like:
- I need to get the OWC thermal sensor cable (https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DIDI...)
- I need to get a HDD that is SATA II compatible, like the ST1000LM014 Seagate SSHD (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B99JUBQ/ref...)
Questions
- Is my main problem simply that my new drive does not support SATA II? Is that why I can't get past the flashing question mark folder nor get into recovery mode?
- Does NOT having the sensor cable affect the iMac from starting up? Or does it only cause the fan to rotate at full speed all the time?
Thank you!
Is this a good question?
1 Comment
Here's your systems specs: iMac 21.5" 3.33 GHz Core 2 Duo (Late 2009)
by Dan