Macbook Pro 2011 will not book Mavericks from SSD (I have tried E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.)
I have a late 2011 15" i7 MBP with 10GB of RAM (8GB + 2GB) running Mavericks 10.9.1 that I want to install an internal SSD on and run just the OS and all of my apps off of, while keeping my Home folder with all of my media on the orignal HDD. I researched online for OS X compatible and recommended SSDs and baught a Kingston 120GB SSD (http://www.kingston.com/us/ssd/v#sv300s3). I also researched and found the most recomended way to do so was with an MCE Optibay (http://store.mcetech.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=OBSxGB- UNB&Category_Code=STORHDOPTIBAY&Product_Count=3). I baught and installed them with no problem. I took out the super drive and replaced it with the Optibay which I placed the original 500GB HDD in, then I installed the SSD into the main hard drive slot. I manually booted the Macbook (holding "option") from the HDD. Using Disk Utility I then erased the entire (brand new, already empty) SSD in the -Mac OS Extended (Journaled)- format and Partitioned it as a single drive with the -GUID Partition Table- scheme and the -Mac OS Extended (Journaled)- format. I then used the recomended program "Carbon Copy Cloner" and cloned my HDD to my SSD. When it finished with no problems I changed the Startup Disk in System Preferences to the SSD and restarted. When the Macbook booted it made the loud Apple "dunnnnn" as it always does, then instead of the Apple logo appearing a gay circle with a diagonal line through it appeared (like on a "no smoking" sign), I later found this error to backed the "Apple prohibation sign". After showing this error for about 20 seconds, the Apple logo appeared as normal, and after about 30 seconds my log-in screen showed up and I was able to log in. The only thing I can imagine happened is that it couln't read the OS from the SSD so it defaulted over to the HDD and booted from there. After this happened I researched online for suggestions and fixes to this problem and tried EVERY single one that I found.
Below is a list of every trouble shooting option I did (that I can rememember right now) and none of them worked (making sure to wipe the SSD properly between new attempts):
--Use CCC to clone everything on HDD except Home Folder to SSD
--Use CCC to clone entire HDD to SSD
--Use Disk Utility to clone everything on HDD except Home Folder to SSD
--Use Disk Utility to clone entire HDD to SSD
--Clone HDD to SSD with CCC, then remove HDD from Macbook, forcing it to boot only from SSD
--Download a clean copy of Mavericks from the App Store and directly install it to the SSD then manually boot from the SSD
--Download a clean copy of Mavericks from the App Store and install to a USB thumb drive via DiskMaker X app (http://liondiskmaker.com/), boot manually to the USB OS X installer, then install the OS to SSD via startup
--Download a clean copy of Mountain Lion from the App Store and install it to a USB thumb drivevia DiskMaker X app (http://liondiskmaker.com/), boot manually to the USB OS X installer, then install the OS to SSD via startup
--Put the HDD in its original place and put the SSD in the Optibay (this lead to more problems)
///--As I was cloning the HDD to the SSD with CCC it got to my one of my apps, "Audacity", and said that one of the files had a problem and couldn't clone it, so I just deleted the app entirely.
///--I went to reformat and partition the SDD again because CCC cloned about 5GB from the HDD to the SSD, and as I was erasing the SSD it said "failed to umnount disk". Then I tried to just partition it and got the same error. So I placed the SSD back into the main drive slot and put the HDD back into the Optibay. I booted from the HDD, went back into Disk Utility and was able to format and partition the SDD.
Every single time I tried to boot from the SSD after trying every fix and trouble shoot I would get the "Apple Prohibation" sign. Between yesterday and today I have spent upwards of 20 hours reading about solutions to this via blogs, forums, and websites, doing these trouble shooting techniques, and talking on the phone with Apple tech support, Apple store technitians, and Apple registered local computer store employees.
I also read that the SATA cable or SSD is sometimes faulty and turns out to be the cause in this issue, but there is no way of actually checking for that, and I am able to read and write to the SSD and HDD which are both connected via the SATA cable, so I don't think it's the SATA cable or the SSD.
Please if anyone has any other suggestions that I have not mentioned or was able to do an internal SSD install and clone their HDD to it with no problems at all afterwords, tell me how!!!
MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.1)