How would battery replacement kill a hard drive?

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NeedMo Author

Level 1

11 points

How would battery replacement kill a hard drive?

Edited earlier post - for clarity, brevity, I hope :

Re: MBA 11", mid 2011

After installing a third party battery, I restarted, only to get "? Folder," indicating no system found.

I got to Disk Utility through online recovery and found that my former HD is not showing, i.e. there is

no startup disk available on which to have a system.

After getting the same results when resetting the SMC I put the original battery back in and the same problem

immediately repeated - no system, ... then, no hard drive.

Is it possible I somehow killed the HD [an upgraded OWC flash disk (with good memory); or is there some way

to detect if it's still there? Apple's hardware detector (option D) does not see a hard drive - it loops to recovery option.

(If indeed it's gone, what happened and is the physical hard drive not reusable?)

Thank in advance.

FWIW, I was about to update aging batteries in 2 other MBA's (13") and an MBP (13"), both of similar vintage).

However, before I have them all inoperable this Mac old timer (hobbyist+) sure would appreciate some direction.

(I'm okay with some technical diy, but not coding.)

Message was edited by: NeedMo

MacBook Air (11-inch Mid 2011), OS X Yosemite (10.10.3), OWC Flash Drive

Posted on May 24, 2015 3:12 PM

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Answer 1

a brody

Level 10

82,941 points

May 24, 2015 5:37 PM in response to NeedMo

It is possible that in reconnecting the machine you forgot a cable. The hard drive typically has not only a SATA cable, but often a temperature sensor cable.

A surge could have gone through the drive in the process of putting the machine back together. You may be better off trying to put the flash disc in an external drive reader and trying to see if it is readable from there or from another computer.

The Mac being mid-2011 may have a PRAM battery or capacitor getting old, causing problem with connectivity of peripherals and drives. 4 years is right about the time the PRAM gets old.

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Answer 2

NeedMo Author

Level 1

11 points

May 27, 2015 9:19 PM in response to a brody

Thanks a Brody,

I did as you suggested and put in external drive. Sure enough, there's nothing there - a surge must have been the culprit. I'm usually very

cautious about grounding. I still wonder if the then new battery brought the charge?

I ordered another SSD (low storage) and will install at the same time I put in another new battery (different vendor).

I did not see a second wire; only the SATA connect. Anything else you suggest to be aware of/prep for other than static mat and wrist band?

BTW, I was mistaken in stating it's age. It's actually 2012 model (June-June), i.e. a year later, v.5.2

Kind regards.

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