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Mid 2012 model, A1278 / 2.5 GHz i5 or 2.9 GHz i7 processor.

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The MacBook Pro doesn´t detect the SSD but it detect´s an HDD

Hey,

I have a problem with the MacBook of a friend. It started with the SSD not being recognized. I removed the SSD, formatted it on another Mac and reinstalled it. The SSD is now recognized in the disk utility, but every time you want to install a new system via recovery mode it either hangs or the system is again not recognized when it restarts. Then I installed the original HDD, whereupon the Mac suddenly started again.

Also a reinstallation of the operating system has worked, only it could not load it somehow from a Time Machine backup, there it is also always aborted.

Can anyone help me why the Mac can boot from the HDD and not from the SSD?

I am now really at the end with my ideas.

Thanks for any answer

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

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It was the SATA cable that was broken. My Mac did recognise the SSD but it could not boot over the ssd. I think thats because of the higher SSD speeds, maybe a broken cable doesnt allow such high speeds but works with lower ones, line an HDD has.

I hope this will help other people with the same problem

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for the past 2 days, im struggle with this issue. i have the same problem. my hdd is boot successful, then i tried to clone my hdd to my ssd and try to boot from ssd. didn't work.

i order the sata cable for my A1278. 821-1480-A flexible SATA. I'll update here when it's arrived.

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Ah! Sounds like you’re hitting the HFS+ Vs APFS compatibility issue. I bet your HDD is setup with Sierra or older and the system you used was running High Sierra or newer when you set up the SSD.

If that’s the case you need to upgrade you HDD with a newer macOS. That will do three things; First upgrade the systems firmware so APFS boot volumes work, next the HDD file system is upgraded to APFS, and lastly the OS files are updated.

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But why did the problem happen after the SSD was in use for two years? Everything worked perfectly before the problem happened

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@imnotanexpert - Sure! That makes sense if you had it in a different system. Age is the the factor it’s the version of MacOS the systems are using as the file systems they use are different!

Think of it this way… A container can hold different things like milk and lemon juice, but you can’t mix them without creating a mess.

That’s the issue here mixing file systems that don’t mix together as the OS files sitting within them are not available when the system can’t access them.

Upgrading the file system of your HDD will fix this.

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Im not sure if you did really understand it.

The SSD was installed two-three years ago with a fresh install of Sierra. Then the System ran until one week ago without any problem and without the SSD beeing installed into another system.

I‘ve searched a little bit on the Internet yesterday and I saw that many peopla had problems with the SATA cable of these Macs. Is it possible that a defective Cable may cause this problem? I think that the reading speeds for the SSD are to high because the cable has a problem and only lower speeds work. Today ive tried to install Sierra on the SSD via USB and it worked, i could boot the System and even put all the data with a time machine backup back on the system. I will try to replace the cable and tell you if it worked

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@imnotanexpert - “ I removed the SSD, formatted it on another Mac and reinstalled it. The SSD is now recognized in the disk utility, but every time you want to install a new system via recovery mode it either hangs or the system is again not recognized when it restarts. Then I installed the original HDD, whereupon the Mac suddenly started again.”

This implies a file system mismatch as your issue.

The 2012 systems HD SATA cable is much better than the 2011 systems. So while that still could be an issue the mis match in my mind is your issue. But if you need to pull it out of the equation then replace it.

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I faced the same problem, I upgrade to an SSD a couple of years before and suddenly my Mac didn't recognize the SSD anymore (had to go back to my old HDD), I thought that the SSD was dead so I bought a new one, didn't work.

I formated the SSD with Mac Extended file system and reinstall Catalina on the new SSD, but Mac simply didn't recognize the SSD.

Replacing the SATA cable was the solution for you?

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Hello!

To me, this seems to be an issue with the recovery installer, try seeing if the recovery works on another Mac or try making a usb macOS installer, there is an easy to follow tutorial on apples website.

Im sorry if this answer is completely off, I am having trouble understanding the last part, did it work with the time machine backup, or not?

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I dont think this is the problem, the installer worked properly with the HDD.

I think the Sata cable is the problem, I will replace it and tell if it worked.

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