Hard drive fails again

Question

Level 1

1 points

Hard drive fails again

I have had 2 new hard drives put into my MacBook Pro ( mid 2012 ) since July this year but the third one has just failed again.

I collected my MacBook on Saturday ( 7th September ) and I didn't have it 24 hours before I saw the same problem happening again.

The machine will constantly beachball on me and then freeze up completely, I end up getting the folder with a question mark in it.

I'd tried to reinstall the OS but it cannot find a disk to install it onto.

Does anyone know what's causing this constant problem?

I'm getting really annoyed at having to bring it into compub for them to say they will replace the hard drive only for the same problem to napping again when I get it back.

Could it be something else in the MacBook that's causing this problem?

My mac has been out of it's 1 year warranty since the end of july but the new hard drive has a 90 warranty and under the European law I know that the machine has a 2 year warranty on it excluding certain parts ( hard drive, charger etc. )

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012), Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Sep 9, 2013 12:50 AM

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Answer 1

Oct 26, 2017 7:37 AM in response to Dean_D

Hi!

I'm not quite sure if we have the same problem, but my Sata Cable died about 1 year ago, and I'm in Venezuela so we don't have here a customer support where to repair it. So, I talked to an online engineer through the web page and I asked him if I could use my MBP'13 mid12 through usb. He said yes, so that's how I'm using it since...

However, the same problem happened again, and now my SSD only last 2-3 days fully functional, then I have to reformatted it again and reinstall the MacOs over again. It's so SO annoying. I supposed it is the same problem you're having. I practically don't have a computer anymore, because I'm using it as always y suddenly it frozes and stop working, then I shut it down and when turn it on again, doesn't work.

If you can help me to know what's happening, thank you.

Remember, my Sata cable doesn't work and I'm using my HDD through USB.

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Answer 2

Sep 9, 2013 12:58 AM in response to Dean_D

Since you're having so many hard drive failures, your problem may be with the SATA cable used to connect the hard drive to the logic board.

If your last repair is still under warranty, I would return the machine to the Apple Store/AASP that completed the repair and ask them to check the SATA cable. While it may be that you're simply having 'bad luck' with drives, I suspect the cable with so many drive failures.

Clinton

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Answer 3

LowLuster

Level 6

12,105 points

Sep 9, 2013 3:00 AM in response to Dean_D

Agree with above it is not the hard drive, it is the cable. Take it back and have Apple fix it or replace the system with a new one that works correctly.

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Answer 4

Dean_D Author

Level 1

1 points

Sep 9, 2013 3:25 AM in response to Dean_D

Thanks for the help, I'm on my way into compub now with my mac,

Apple won't replace anything for me as the declined the issue compub raised with them and I can't talk to anyone in their customer support without paying €50 first because I'm past the 1 year free support you get with a new machine

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Answer 5

Sep 9, 2013 4:15 AM in response to Dean_D

Replacing the SATA cable shouldn't be too expensive - if that's the problem then you won't need another new hard drive (probably a 70/30 chance that it is the problem).

Clinton

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Answer 6

Dean_D Author

Level 1

1 points

Sep 9, 2013 4:21 AM in response to Dean_D

They have taken the machine to look at it and repair it again for the 4th time.

Thanks for all the help on this matter, if this repair doesn't fix the problem I'm going to have to go through small claims court to get a replacement one because apple are refusing to deal in anyway shape or form with the problem and I can't keep bringing the machine in to be repaired every week.

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Answer 7

CaptH

Level 1

59 points

Sep 9, 2013 11:27 AM in response to Dean_D

I just finished posting a comment about the cable problem on another thread here:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5172609?start=0&tstart=0

It would seem to me that there's something "to" emerging SATA cable problems.

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Answer 8

Jan 5, 2016 6:18 PM in response to Dean_D

I have a mid 2012 MBP which has lost connection to the HDD. It turns out that these models are starting to have SATA controller failures.

The engineer advised that the older models had cable issues, but not these. While I was in the shop another guy came in with the same problem.

Anyway, we swapped the cable to no avail. The drive is fine, the SATA controller is faulty :-(

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Answer 9

ikarelm

Level 1

4 points

Apr 12, 2016 7:57 PM in response to Scottish Tim

I'm going to get my second SATA cable replaced tomorrow. $1200 for a computer that dies every year. 😟

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