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Internal HD

I have an old Macbook Pro 15" CoreDuo. I went to start it up and got the flashing folder icon. Tried to start it with the disks that came with it and got "MacOSX can't be installed on this computer" ?????? Started it with a SnowLeopard Install disk and ran disk utiity. I then got "POSIX reports: The operation couldn't be completed. Cannot allocate memory" Searched the forums and found that just about all of them pointed to the SATA cable. I ordered one and replaced the cable, I have 25+ years as a lab technician/Apple Certified System Engineer/etc., etc. so working with hardware doesn't scare me and I have all the tools including Torx and anti-static mats. Same error. ARG!!!!

Is there anything else I can do short of taking this to an Apple repair shop? I am retired and just don't have the free cash for their rates. Is this MBP a new paperweight now?


Thanks,


Joe B

MacBookPro,iMac,G4,G3,Mac 512kE,iPod, iPad, DellP4, Other OS

Posted on Jul 4, 2012 11:23 AM

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11 replies

Jul 5, 2012 6:28 AM in response to sig

sig,


I appreciate the response but did you not see where I said:


"Started it with a SnowLeopard Install disk and ran disk utiity. I then got "POSIX reports: The operation couldn't be completed. Cannot allocate memory""


I also tried partition first. Got the same error message. Before and after the cable replacement. The disks that came with the MBP wouldn't let me past the languages selection screen. All the Utilities selections were grayed out and couldn't be selected which is why I tried the Snow Leopard full install disks which DID allow selection of Disk Utility

Jul 5, 2012 6:55 AM in response to Shootist007

Currently waiting for an external SATA enclosure which allows me to pop the drive from the MBP in and see if it runs at all. Darn annoying to keep throwing money at solutions which aren't. I do know the drive spins up but I don't hear any activity (read head moving around). And I have done the Cmd-Opt-P-R PRAM reset a couple of times to see if there were settings causing the issue. No dice.

Thanks for the response!


Joe B


PS, just an FYI to anyone following this thread. Although my Level shows as One I've been doing this for quite a while. Since I've had so few issues with my Macs (note the 512Ke which still works) and have the ability/equipment to do diagnostics I've done a lot of the basics and one or 2 of the difficult ones. What fun replacing the internal SATA cable, running fdisk and eraseVolume from the Terminal app which also can be started from the Snow Leopard DVD. The last really simple procedure will be to look at the drive itself. Hoping that's it because failing it being a bad drive I would have to say I'm left with some motherboard failure regarding disks and I have seen a ton of threads about issues using externals USB drives. YUK......

But thanks for all the suggestions, they are appreciated!!


joeb

Jul 5, 2012 7:02 AM in response to Joe Banko

sig,


I can't erase/reformat the drive. That's how I get the POSIX errors. You can't go any deeper than fdisk and eraseVolume at the UNIX level of the Mac OS which I've already tried. When I get the SATA enclosure I mentioned I've got a ton of disk utilities (including DiskWarrior) I can throw at the drive. And yes I have a 5TB partitioned hard drive which I plug-in to my Macs to do backups with TimeMachine

Sep 11, 2012 4:34 PM in response to Shootist007

Anything I try won't let me access the drive. At this point I think it's hardware but I hate like heck buying a new drive and finding out I can't access that either. What I'm looking for is a way to get to the drive and see if there is a problem with the drive or the Mac hardware. Strange to see a Mac on the stack of unusable laptops in the closet.


Joe B

Internal HD

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