Seagate Momentus XT Disaster

I'm planning on installing a 1TB Momentus (model # ST1000LM014, listed here) in a mid-2009 15" MBP, and I figure I might as well replace the SATA cable at the same time since the stock one seems to cause problems. Does anybody happen to know if this is the correct replacement (and, if not, where I could find one)? Thanks in advance!

Just noticed that a couple pages back someone recommended using a mid-2010 cable (I'm guessing this one?) instead of a 2009 one, since they have SATA II enabled by default. Does anyone know if that's a good idea/if a 2010 cable is even compatible with a 2009 MBP?

(Sorry for the double post!)

It was a while ago know, When I found the cable I contacted the seller to verify that it was a Sata2. When I got it an put it in everything installed a smooth as silk.

I concluded that this issue just wasn't worth my time. The time involved to find the right cable/solutions, visit the forums, call Seagate, etc, etc, etc was just ridiculous. Sure, I might have been able to get it to work, but at some point the law of diminishing returns applies to a situation. I had reached that point. Even if I eventually got it to work, what other problems might then crop up? Some hardware is just incompatible. So, I installed a Crucial SSD (about $100) which has worked flawlessly from the get go, and makes the Macbook Pro feel almost as fast as my Macbook Air. I can honestly recommend this as a known, working solution. I highly recommend this as prices have really dropped. I removed the DVD drive, which I never use anymore, and I added a 2nd hard disk, a 500GB mechanical drive (about $50). Everything is now very fast and also lots of storage. I installed the Momentus in another Mac and it has been working fine for over a year. No more worries.

Mid 2009 Macbook Pro. I had all of these issues when I tried to upgrade my 320GB Seagate Momentus 7200 RPM drive with a 750GB of the same model and brand. I pulled my hair out for almost three weeks. Install failed from OS disks, etc. I read this thread, spent $30 a new cable from Powerbookmedic.com (suggested in this thread) and crossed my fingers. There was nothing on the site to indicate this this was the updated version of the cable, but I chose new over used and took a chance. It took all of 5 minutes to replace the cable, and I was very skeptical, as the cables looked almost identicle. I put the 750 drive in and proceeded to install the OS. FIXED! Installed on the first try. So far, no glitches. Now, I'm restoring the 320 onto the 750. Half-way through so far and no issues. Fingers still crossed.

Thank you so much whomever posted the info about this cable repair!

I did need to use the 750 as the external to restore, but now it's all done and back in the Macbook with no problems. I verified and repaired any permissions just to be safe, and both had no issues. Such a relief.

Yep, they had a cheeper grade cable in to begin with! Not all sata cables are Equal!! and no doube if you put everything back the way it was with the original Hard drive and Cable - those components would work just fine.

Sorry to beat a dead horse, but I am having a similar problem with a slightly different macbook than the 2009 model often described here.

I have been trying to upgrade the HD in my late 2008 MacBook (not a Pro but in a silver unibody) - model A1278. The stock 160gb HD has long been out of space and it was time to upgrade.

I selected this SATA II model which I believed would be compatable with my computer (http://www.amazon.com/Travelstar-500GB-Cache-Internal-0S02858/dp/B003SX0ORA/ref= sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1388789555&sr=8-5&keywords=2.5%22+sata+hard+drive) and cloned my HD using Super Duper via a USB connection.

I started by erasing the new HD in Mac OS Extended (Journaled) if that matters and partitioned in 1 section in GUID. After that I let Super Duper run it's magic with a complete file transfer. After which I was able to dismount and remount my new HD and it appeared in the Startup Disk Preferences and I was able to reboot to the New HD without any problems. I repeated this several times and everything was working wonderfully while connected to the new HD via USB.

However, when I tried to remove the old HD and replace it with the new my computer boots to the dreaded blue screen with a flashing "? file". When I boot holding options, it boots to an empty blue screen with a cursor.

I've taken the new HD back out, reconfirmed that it works via usb and reinserted many times without change.

After reading this forum I purchased and installed a new SATA cable and was assured it was a 2.0 model by the seller. It's installed and works fine with my old HD but continues to give me the blue "? file" screen with the new HD. I'm exasperated and out of ideas.

Any thoughts, suggestions or words of advice are BEYOND appreciated!

Thanks!

Apple have their own backup, I don't know why people use third party apps to restore or transfer hard drives. If you still have all the data on your old drive, use time machine to back it up, then follow the time machine posts to restore your computer to the new drive, I have now done this on 4 different laptops to upgrade to the 750 and 1tb drives with no cable change and no problems.

I suggest this will work better than third party app, and because time machine is 'built in' to OSX you need not pay. My other suggestion is to use a free app called 'Onyx' first ie: before backing up, just to ensure all is well with the old drive.

As far as cables go, read this.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA

I used Time Machine, Had many issues listed in previous post! Even Purchased a WD Sata2 drive and tried it in my 2009 Macbook Pro - I could not get 10.6 installed let alone get 10.7 in which was running fine on the OEM drive!! Only when I replaced the Ribbon cable was I able to get the Momentus drive working this has been over a year know and I am currently running 10.9.1 on the same computer with the Momentus drive in it. Am know thinking of removing the optical drive and replacing it with an extra hard drive and getting a case for the Optical drive. I am sure that will be another adventure.

Try to do the install with the new drive installed in the computer!

I have recently replaced original hard drives in (2) Model A1278's and had no problems. I used Sata III SSD drives for the hardware and Carbon Copy Cloner to transfer the data. I did not replcae any cables.

Have you tried to boot the machine externally via the USB port with your new drive....as a troubleshooting measure?

Morkious wrote:

I don't know why people use third party apps to restore or transfer hard drives

I suggest this will work better than third party app, and because time machine is 'built in' to OSX you need not pay.

You simply dont know what you are talking about.

SuperDuper is free, for one, secondly there is nothing more foolproof than a HD clone, this isnt opinion, but a cold hard fact.

outside of hardware failure or cable failure, which have no bearing upon a HD clone, a HD is what the pros use for ultra-fast recovery.

HD clones using either SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner are the #1 bar none safety restore of the prosumers on this board.

You need to investigate the significant differences between a TM backup which is NOT bootable, and a HD clone.

HD clones

Advantages:

1. HD clones are the best, quickest way to get back to 100% full operation in mere seconds.

2. Once a HD clone is created, the creation software (Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper) is no longer needed whatsoever, and unlike TM, which requires complex software for its operational transference of data, a HD clone is its own bootable entity.

3. HD clones are unconnected and isolated from recent corruption.

4. HD clones allow a “portable copy” of your computer that you can likewise connect to another same Mac and have all your APPS and data at hand, which is extremely useful.

5. Rather than, as many users do, thinking of a HD clone as a “complimentary backup” to the use of TM, a HD clone is superior to TM both in ease of returning to 100% quickly, and its autonomous nature; while each has its place, TM can and does fill the gap in, say, a 2 week old clone. As an analogy, the HD clone itself is the brick wall of protection, whereas TM can be thought of as the mortar, which will fill any cracks in data on a week, 2-week, or 1-month old HD clone.

6. Best-idealized 2^nd platform redundancy for data protection, and 1^st level for system restore of your computers internal HD. (Time machine being 2^nd level for system restore of the computer’s internal HD).

7. *Level-2 security of your vital data.

HD cloning software options:

1. SuperDuper HD cloning software APP (free)

2. Carbon Copy Cloner APP (will copy the recovery partition as well)

3. Disk utility HD bootable clone.

Time Machine / Time Capsule

Drawbacks:

1. Time Machine is not bootable, if your internal drive fails, you cannot access files or boot from TM directly from the dead computer.

2. Time machine is controlled by complex software, and while you can delve into the TM backup database for specific file(s) extraction, this is not ideal or desirable.

3. Time machine can and does have the potential for many error codes in which data corruption can occur and your important backup files may not be saved correctly, at all, or even damaged. This extra link of failure in placing software between your data and its recovery is a point of risk and failure. A HD clone is not subject to these errors.

4. Time machine mirrors your internal HD, in which cases of data corruption, this corruption can immediately spread to the backup as the two are linked. TM is perpetually connected (or often) to your computer, and corruption spread to corruption, without isolation, which TM lacks (usually), migrating errors or corruption is either automatic or extremely easy to unwittingly do.

5. Time Machine does not keep endless copies of changed or deleted data, and you are often not notified when it deletes them; likewise you may accidently delete files off your computer and this accident is mirrored on TM.

6. Restoring from TM is quite time intensive.

7. TM is a backup and not a data archive, and therefore by definition a low-level security of vital/important data.

8. TM working premise is a “black box” backup of OS, APPS, settings, and vital data that nearly 100% of users never verify until an emergency hits or their computers internal SSD or HD that is corrupt or dead and this is an extremely bad working premise on vital data.

9. Given that data created and stored is growing exponentially, the fact that TM operates as a “store-it-all” backup nexus makes TM inherently incapable to easily backup massive amounts of data, nor is doing so a good idea.

10. TM working premise is a backup of a users system and active working data, and NOT massive amounts of static data, yet most users never take this into consideration, making TM a high-risk locus of data “bloat”.

11. In the case of Time Capsule, wifi data storage is a less than ideal premise given possible wireless data corruption.

12. TM like all HD-based data is subject to ferromagnetic and mechanical failure.

13. *Level-1 security of your vital data.

I got this 1TB SSHD in December and it worked fine for a few months and then stopped. After I got a replacement, formatted it and cloned it, it would never be recognized inside my 2011 Macbook Pro. In other macbooks, and inside of my external drive enclosure it would boot fine but not in this mac. I knew it wasnt a bad SATA cable because it would still boot other drives, just not this one.

This seagate drive has been a nightmare for me, I really wish it worked inside of my laptop....I even tried a jumper on the drive as some people said and it still wouldn't work for me...