Why is my Seagate Momentus 7200.4 500GB not working with my Macbook?

Question

Why is my Seagate Momentus 7200.4 500GB not working with my Macbook?

Hey,

So I bought a Seagate Momentus 2.5" 7200.4 500GB internal hard drive (without Gforce protection) and tried installing it on my 2nd generation black macbook. First, it doesn't even feel as though it connects to my macbook, unlike my current drive, I don't feel when it is pushed into the proper place and is connected. And when I turned my computer on, there was just a grey screen with an icon of a folder and a question mark. Is this drive not compatible with my computer? Am I simply ******** and did not push it in hard enough?

I appreciate your help. I need more space on my computer!

Macbook 2nd Gen, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Oct 16, 2009 12:40 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Lyssa

Level 8

41,405 points

Oct 16, 2009 1:10 PM in response to timothydollard

The folder with the question mark means the computer can't find a valid OS to boot from.

Have you installed an operating system yet? If not, you need to insert Install Disc 1 and boot the computer with the C key held down. The installation should proceed with no issues if the drive is installed properly. If the installation won't proceed, open *Disk Utility* from the Installer menu (it may be in the Utilities menu) and see if the hard drive is recognized.

~Lyssa

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Answer 2

Lyssa

Level 8

41,405 points

Oct 16, 2009 1:22 PM in response to timothydollard

Hmm.

I would place the drive back into that external enclosure, then try booting from the drive while it's in the enclosure. If this is successful, then it does sound like you'll be needing that jumper.

~Lyssa

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Answer 3

Lyssa

Level 8

41,405 points

Oct 16, 2009 1:34 PM in response to timothydollard

You probably would have to contact Seagate and see if they can help with that. I have no idea other!

Personally, I would return the hard drive and get a different one.

~Lyssa

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Answer 4

Oct 16, 2009 1:13 PM in response to timothydollard

I just read this in a review of the drive from legitreviews.com, could this jumper be why my computer is not recognizing the drive? If so, could someone link me to the two-pin jumper product I need, and instructions on how to use it on my drive? Thanks.

"There is a jumper just to the left of the SATA data connection that enables the drive's 3GB/s speeds. With the jumper in place the speed is limited at 1.5GB/s, and with it removed the full potential of the drive is unlocked. Since there is no labeling about this jumper on the drive and information about the jumper is hard to find it can be frustrating if you are having issues setting one of these drives up in your notebook and find that you encounter issues. Some older 1.5Gbits/sec SATA cards do not support auto negotiation with newer 3.0Gbits/sec drives. Systems using older SATA host adapters may stop responding during boot or may respond with a “drive not detected” error. If this happens on your notebook while trying to upgrade to one of these drives just place a two-pin jumper (not included with the drive) onto the two left pins of the jumper block and the errors should go away."

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Answer 5

Oct 16, 2009 1:21 PM in response to timothydollard

To add to that, after I had completed the transfer of everything on my computer onto the new drive using an external enclosure, I restarted my computer, using the usb connected new drive, and it worked fine. It just doesnt work when I take it out of the external enclosure and insert it in my computer.

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Answer 6

Oct 16, 2009 12:42 PM in response to timothydollard

I did not know the word I used, beginning with an R and ending with a etarded would be blocked out. Weird.

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Answer 7

Oct 16, 2009 1:15 PM in response to Lyssa

Lyssa,

Thanks for your help. I did install an operating system, I used an external enclosure to transfer everything on my computer onto the new internal.

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Answer 8

Oct 16, 2009 1:24 PM in response to Lyssa

hmm ok. Well then I have the problem of having no idea how to use the jumper, nor any idea where to buy the right one. Do you?

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