.hk
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Q: Hard disk undetected -- cable or other?

My hard disk went undetected, but working well when connected via USB. From what I read online this is most likely a faulty cable. What are the other possible causes before I go get a new cable?

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)

Posted on Mar 7, 2016 10:32 AM

by dwb,Solvedanswer
dwb dwb
Level 7 (24,102 points)
Notebooks
A:

If the drive you are referring to was an internal drive and you removed it from the computer placing it into an enclosure to test, then it is almost certainly the SATA ribbon. (Especially if you first made sure that it was securely attached to the drive and the logic board. It is rare but on occasion the ribbon does work loose from one or the other.)

Posted on Mar 7, 2016 11:10 AM

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.hk

Q: Hard disk undetected -- cable or other?

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  • by dwb,Solvedanswer

    dwb dwb Mar 7, 2016 11:10 AM in response to .hk
    Level 7 (24,102 points)
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    Mar 7, 2016 11:10 AM in response to .hk

    If the drive you are referring to was an internal drive and you removed it from the computer placing it into an enclosure to test, then it is almost certainly the SATA ribbon. (Especially if you first made sure that it was securely attached to the drive and the logic board. It is rare but on occasion the ribbon does work loose from one or the other.)

  • by .hk,

    .hk .hk Mar 7, 2016 2:39 PM in response to dwb
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    Mar 7, 2016 2:39 PM in response to dwb

    Thanks, yes it is the internal drive. However:

     

     

    UPDATE


    I checked the ribbon cable, took it off and put it back in. Plugged back in the HD and restarted the Mac, went into Disk Utility and now it shows up! Tried verify/repair disk and neither worked. Now I'm still stuck with the white screen and blinking question mark folder.

     

    Now I'm not sure what's the cause of the problem...

  • by dwb,

    dwb dwb Mar 7, 2016 2:49 PM in response to .hk
    Level 7 (24,102 points)
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    Mar 7, 2016 2:49 PM in response to .hk

    TO confirm: with the drive in the computer it initially booted? Or you booted with another drive, the internal appeared, but it won't boot? Or something else?

  • by .hk,

    .hk .hk Mar 7, 2016 3:23 PM in response to dwb
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    Mar 7, 2016 3:23 PM in response to dwb

    OK so the initial problem was when I powered up (HD inside) the Mac froze with that white screen and question mark blinking, no chime. Then I tried several things many times without any hardware manipulation:

    - getting into safe mode (failed, nothing happens)

    - reset PRAM (it chimes)

    - use disk utility (it worked, but the HD was not detected)

    - tried verbose/single user mode (failed, nothing happens)

    - boot with Ubuntu USB (worked, HD not detected)

     

    Then I took out the HD and connected it to USB, tried to boot from there and worked well as if the HD is inside the Mac. So I thought, probably it's the cable and posted the initial post.

     

    In my "update" post, with the HD inside the Mac I powered up and ended up with the same white screen freeze/blink as in the beginning. Exactly the same setup and result. Cannot get into safe mode or single user mode. However when I ran disk utility, the HD is now detected but verify/repair failed.

  • by dwb,

    dwb dwb Mar 7, 2016 3:33 PM in response to .hk
    Level 7 (24,102 points)
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    Mar 7, 2016 3:33 PM in response to .hk

    Probably the SATA cable but I'd consider taking it to an Apple Store.

  • by .hk,

    .hk .hk Mar 9, 2016 7:20 AM in response to dwb
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    Mar 9, 2016 7:20 AM in response to dwb

    Went to an Apple store yesterday, and they won't let me buy the cable. They told me that the only way is to leave my Mac there so they can check it -- this of course comes with a price in time and money. Even only for the checking they will charge me, so I suspect replacing the cable would rip me off.

    Probably I'll just get one from Amazon...

     

    BTW, tried with another (new) HD and it was also not detected. So I'm quite sure it's the cable (or somewhere in the connection between the HD and motherboard).

  • by Macuser@,

    Macuser@ Macuser@ Sep 12, 2016 6:28 AM in response to .hk
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Sep 12, 2016 6:28 AM in response to .hk

    Hi .hk

    I presume you solved the problem??  Was the ribbon cable the issue?  I have exactly the same symptoms.  At the moment I'm booting and running my Powerbook from an external USB drive with the original internal mac drive in the external enclosure.  All going well.  But I would like to put the HDD back inside the powerbook.

    Am attempting to discover if there may be issues other than just the Ribbon Cable.??

    Looking forward to hearing of any solutions?

    Thanks Macuser@