Late 2008 MBP 15 inch 2.4 Ghz SSD troubles!

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Level 1

4 points

Late 2008 MBP 15 inch 2.4 Ghz SSD troubles!

I've really hit a wall with this and am wondering if its even worth more of my money & time or if i should return the SSD i bought & just save up for a Mac Mini. I've used a Sandisk 960gb SSD (which i've since exchanged for a PNY 960gb because the Sandisk only displayed 120Gb after formatting MULTIPLE times). Problem is now the PNY will not boot to the OS when plugged into my computers sata port. I can do it on an external enclosure but when it comes to it working in the MBPs SATA cable it's either dead in the water or constantly reboots. I got it to boot ONCE but programs wouldn't stay open. (mind you my 1TB Samsung Spinpoint drive boots JUST FINE even though its a 5400 RPM platter HDD thats where all my files etc are but I also have the important stuff copied to a Seagate external 1TB drive). I did some research & I have a strong hunch it might be that my Sata Cable is bad (though i did run AHT and everything came up working in both quick & extended testing), found a website online that sells used cables for cheap but at this point I'm wondering if its even worth it to go this far into it. (I'm also under a 14 day return policy from BestBuy where the SSD exchange was done) Any ideas on what I should do?

thanks so much

Dennis Z

Macbook Pro (Late 2008), Mac OS X (10.5.5)

Posted on May 16, 2016 12:02 AM

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Answer 1

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,329 points

May 16, 2016 7:43 AM in response to Dennis Z

Replace the SATA cable. The symptoms that you describe are a common occurrence where the HDD will work internally and the SSD will not.

I would try to get a NEW cable. Used ones may have the same problem that your current one has.

Ciao.

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Answer 2

Dennis Z Author

Level 1

4 points

May 16, 2016 7:44 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

Thank you so much! Now I just gotta hunt down (via Google) where to find a cable that isn't used or refurbished! 😕

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Answer 3

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,329 points

May 16, 2016 8:11 AM in response to Dennis Z

Try iFixit.com and Powerbookmedic.com. I believe that they have return privileges if the part is not satisfactory, but check first.

Ciao.

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Answer 4

May 18, 2016 11:00 PM in response to OGELTHORPE

I'm in exactly the same situation. MBP 15" Late 2008 2.53GHz with 960GB PNY SSD. Can't boot. If I boot to another drive, I can see my 960GB PNY SSD. When I use the Startup Disk in System Preferences, I get some error like "the bless tool can't boot from this drive". I can also boot from a 1 TB WesternDigital 5400 similar to the original poster.

I've done a restore using the disk utility 3 times so far. I'm cloning a smaller PNY SSD drive that has 2 partitions; one with osx 10.6.8 and another with 10.8.5. The smaller (500GB) boots SOLID 3 ways - USB enclosure, the main SATA HD bay, and in a Superdrive HD enclosure internally. I highly doubt my issue is the cable unless the stock ones were just poor quality to begin with. I also tried using DriveGenius duplicate function with same results (black and white screen of death, panic...can't perform kext scan...).

I've actually removed the cable, and reinstalled it. Mine seems to look quite different than the ones I'm seeing for sale.

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Answer 5

Dennis Z Author

Level 1

4 points

May 18, 2016 11:06 PM in response to D---ies-el__

I called around to a few Aplle authorized service providers in my area (since my unit is vintage) and they all said signs pointed to a faulty HD cable. Ordered one from a Texas company new & it should be here tomorrow. Will post an update once installed!

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Answer 6

Dennis Z Author

Level 1

4 points

May 19, 2016 7:10 PM in response to OGELTHORPE

Got my cable from http://www.texasmacrepair.com/ (only place I could find a new cable in stock) arrived today & swapped it out... Still having the same issues with rebooting kernel panics! Called someone at http://www.texasmacrepair.com/ and they suggested I use Carbon Copy Cloner to see if that'll help remedy the issue. If this doesn't work I'll just return everything & start saving for a Mac Mini .

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Answer 7

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,329 points

May 20, 2016 7:08 AM in response to Dennis Z

That is disappointing to hear. I do not see where cloning your HDD is going to help, be it Carbon Copy Cloner or any other such application.

Run an Apple Hardware Test and see if that offers a clue:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201257

Note that an error free AHT is not conclusive.

Ciao.

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Answer 8

May 22, 2016 9:07 PM in response to D---ies-el__

Returned the PNY 960GB CS1311 and exchanged for a Samsung EVO 1TB. It was a bit more expensive but it worked on the first shot. I restored both partitions from from my internal SSD drive to the new Samsung EVO in an enclosure using Apple disk utility. I then physically moved it to the optical bay adapter (only because it physically fits better there). Reset the PRAM. Started up OSX 10.8.5. Link speed is at 3 Gigabit which is the max for a late 2008 Macbook Pro logic board. Very happy. Not all SSDs are created equally it seems.

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Answer 9

Dennis Z Author

Level 1

4 points

May 24, 2016 7:29 PM in response to D---ies-el__

Got my PNY 960GB CS1311 from BestBuy & just returned it was too frustrated (I also got shafted on the HD cable i bought as I'd have to pay a 20% restocking fee & pay for return shipping on a $60 cable its easier to just keep it in my machine). I need a new battery on this bad boy as well 😢😢😢. Had my eye on a few on Amazon.com I saw for ~$50 (everywhere else online they're charging upwards of $100 +). Might revisit this SSD endeavor with a Samsung EVO SSD if i can save up for it in the next few months.

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