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Mid 2010 Model A1278 / 2.4 or 2.66 GHz Core 2 Duo processor

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No boot from internal HD nor SSD, but via USB.

Hello there!

My MBP stopped booting out of nowhere. I thought it might be the hard drive, and I wanted to change the internal HDD to SSD anyway, so I bought a new SSD and put it inside, but still no chance.

I put the old HDD into a case and connected it to another mac: Seemed okay, I could read all my data and made another backup.

I changed the drives again in order to format the old HDD and clean-install MacOS. Installation seemed to work for ~2h but then just stopped without any message (tried several times).

Then I tried to boot from the new SSD externally, connected via USB. This worked, I installed El Capitan and I am still using it right now.

The crazy thing is: While running on the external SSD I can read my data on the old HDD (internal), so it can't be Logic Board nor SATA cable, can it?

Any ideas what the problem might be & how to solve it?

Thanks a lot in advance!

Simon

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

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With just the original drive installed are you seeing a blinking question mark in a folder icon when you start up the system?

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No, it's the regular booting screen, but the bar gets stuck at 2/3.

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Most likely your HD SATA cable is failing. You'll likely need to replace it and its possible the drive will need a fresh format and OS install afterwards.

But! Before you do this see if you have an Apple Store near you and pay them a visit (with the original Apple drive back in place). Apple has been replacing the drive cables for free for some. See if you can persuade them to do you as well.

If they won't do it, here's the IFIXIT guide you'll need to follow: MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2010 Hard Drive Cable Replacement

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5 Comments:

I read several threads where this was suggested. But, as I said: I can still read data on the internal disk via SATA. Just can't boot. That makes it kind of improbable, doesn't it?

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Not really, the stress of the boot up process is much more than reading the drives directory listing (seeing whats on the drive).

Think of it this way driving up a hill is more stressful than driving on a flat road.

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Wow, I didn't know this actually made a difference. Thanks a lot!

Here I read about fixing the SATA connector with tape - do you think it's worth a try?

Internal hard drive disk not recognized

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I don't think the tape trick will help you here. The problem here is the ribbon cable its self has failed not the connectors interface.

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It worked! Thanks a lot!

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Simon will be eternally grateful.
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