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Late 2008 unibody Hard Drive Cable

Hi!

I have a late 2008 macbook 5,1, 13inch, 2.0 GhZ.

I made the HDD to SSD upgrade last year, worked fine.

Now, the folder+question mark is popping up when turning it on, and when going with option-key, no discs can be seen. Replaced hard-drives, nothing happened. So I´m betting on hard drive cable fail.

It has been pretty complicated to stumble upon such said cable for this model. From 2009 on there are plenty of offers….

So, will the hard drive cable for any other model do the deed? diff. year? diff. size?

I appreciate your comments on the matter, thanks for your time!

Update (10/24/2019)

So, @arbaman & @danj I have 4 external disks. Tried all with Option-Key at startup. This happened:

N1 the original, now external, nothing happens. (dead)

N2 is new, unformatted, SATA III, 2,5”, nothing happens (because it has no format?)

N3 is a Windows-formatted disk. Nothing happens.

N4 is an old, faulty mac-formatted disk. Gets recognized. Unfortunately it has no OSX bootable file.

Probably the reason is not the internal disk cable, but only the original disc (N1) being faulty.

N2 is supposed to be the replacement disk I bought but since it´s not recognised I supposed it should be the cable. Also, now I notice that it's a SATA III and not a SATA II (compatible?).

N3 I thought could appear if the mac was running ok internally?

I'll download OSX.dmg files on N4 and try to run it from there. If it works, I could run Disk Utility, format disk N2 if it's compatible and keep that as internal SSD unit.

Please comment your opinion. I feel like I'm trying to hit a pinata in a dark room here! Thanks again!

Answer this question I have this problem too

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Who's SSD did you use? Make & Model.

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Hi Dan! I used a Mercury Electra 3G SSD by OWC. It worked perfectly for a year or so. The funny thing is that I get the same response (none at all) when starting and pression Option-Key as when I extract the hard-drive and run it externally. In both cases, Opt-key pressed I see nothing, just the mouse pointer. I´m not sure if it is the hard drive cable... any thoughts?

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@jar7050 Sounds like the SSD is faulty if it doesn't get recognised both ways. Don't you have around your older drive for testing by any chance ?

Update (10/24/2019)

From your update, I'd say that as already pointed out, probably your N1 is faulty. N2 and N3 can't be recognized as unformatted or not compatible file system. N4 doesn't have an OS installed. You'll need your original install Dvd or a Usb pendrive with any Mac Os you wish to install up to 10.11 to format and install any of your drives except N1

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Well, the SSD is the correct one for your system as its a SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) like your system.

I think you need to find a another drive which is bootable or if you still have the grey CD/DVD’s that came with your system you should be able to boot up under them as well.

Update (10/24/2019)

@jar7050 - Your series does not offer Internet Recovery so thats out, Your only hope here is to find someone who has a Mac that you can attach your drive to format it and install a proper OS (OS-X El Capitan 10.11.x). Forget the SATA III (6.0 Gb/s) drive as your system won’t support it internally.

Here’s the guide to make a bootable OS installer drive How to make a bootable OS X 10.11 El Capitan installer drive.

Now the Rub! You’ll need to alter your systems Data & Time settings. You need to set it to manual and then, back date the system to let’s say January 2016. That way the certificate check will work correctly.

Don’t forget to reformat your drive to GUID Journaled from the OS installers menu under Disk Utility before you install the OS its self.

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jack kerou will be eternally grateful.
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