KaladinS
Level 1 (5 points)
Notebooks

Q: Using HDD cable for SSD in Macbook Pro Mid-2012

I have recently upgraded to SSD (Samsung Evo 850) from HDD on my Macbook pro Mid-2012. However, the installation of SSD has been very painful. I tried to use Disk Utility in recover mode many times but it would fail either to erase or mount the SSD. I thought it was the faulty SSD. Then I hooked up the SSD using USB and proceeded to install OS X on it (using my HDD). The SSD functioned very well using the USB, so I put it in, and hooked up using the flex cable that was previously used for my HDD. However, it doesn't function, the OS sees that there is a drive hooked up, sees the name, size and etc, but won't load, gives me the question mark folder sign, meaning, there is no drive hooked up. So I think it is something with the HDD, SATA cable. But the cable functions perfectly when used with the HDD. So I was wondering if the HDD cable that comes with Macbook Pro Mid-2012 is compatible with SSD. I have watched several videos of people upgrade from HDD to SSD, but they all seem to be using the same cable. Any ideas what might be the issue or if I need a different kind of cable? Thanks.

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Aug 1, 2016 12:10 PM

by OGELTHORPE,Solvedanswer
OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE
Level 9 (52,040 points)
Mac OS X
A:

The cable may be fatigued and not have sufficient bandwidth for the SSD.

 

Just change the cable. 

 

Ciao.

Posted on Aug 1, 2016 1:02 PM

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KaladinS

Q: Using HDD cable for SSD in Macbook Pro Mid-2012

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  • Helpful answers

  • by alex7375,

    alex7375 alex7375 Aug 1, 2016 12:50 PM in response to KaladinS
    Level 2 (200 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 1, 2016 12:50 PM in response to KaladinS

    Try this it worked for another user that had the same problems.

    Your MacBook is looking for the original boot drive however can not find it.

    Power on the Mac and hold down the "option" key at the same time then select to manually boot from the drive of choice.

     

    Also try this first:

    SMC and PRAM Reset

     

    I have a MBP mid-2012 13-inch and I did an SSD upgrade with a Samsung Evo 850-series ( 500gb. ) . However I had no problems.

    I used Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the original drive to the SSD via a USB-to-Sata adapter.

     

    My first boot up was slow because I did not do the SMC / PRAM reset so my MBP was looking for the boot drive.

    However after that my MBP boots up very quickly. I have had no problems with Samsung Evo SSD's. They work fine with Macs.

     

    Just remember to enable "trim" support for your non-owc SSD.

    Open "terminal app" and enter this command "sudo trimforce enable" select YES, YES...and reboot when complete

     

    http://www.macworld.com/article/2881177/how-to-reset-your-macs-nvram-pram-and-sm c.html

  • by KaladinS,

    KaladinS KaladinS Aug 1, 2016 12:51 PM in response to alex7375
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 1, 2016 12:51 PM in response to alex7375

    @alex7375

    Thank you for your advice. I have tried resetting SMC and PRAM but with no success. I have also tried loading with Opt key. I think the issue is on the cable side, as it loads without any problems when it is connected with USB. But the issue with the cable is also weird, as it recognizes the attached drive, but doesn't want to load it.

  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Aug 1, 2016 12:54 PM in response to KaladinS
    Level 9 (52,040 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 1, 2016 12:54 PM in response to KaladinS

    This is a fairly common problem and the replacement of the Internal SATA cable usually will be the solution.

     

    Ciao.

  • by KaladinS,

    KaladinS KaladinS Aug 1, 2016 12:56 PM in response to OGELTHORPE
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 1, 2016 12:56 PM in response to OGELTHORPE

    Thanks. That is what I heard, but I do not understand how the cable functions normally with HDD but not with SSD

  • by OGELTHORPE,Solvedanswer

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Aug 1, 2016 1:02 PM in response to KaladinS
    Level 9 (52,040 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 1, 2016 1:02 PM in response to KaladinS

    The cable may be fatigued and not have sufficient bandwidth for the SSD.

     

    Just change the cable. 

     

    Ciao.

  • by KaladinS,

    KaladinS KaladinS Aug 5, 2016 1:16 AM in response to KaladinS
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 5, 2016 1:16 AM in response to KaladinS

    The issue has been resolved. I bought a new cable, same model as came originally with the Macbook, 821-1480-A and it works fine with SSD. Thanks everyone for help.