MacBook Pro 2011 Whitescreen After Failed SSD Install

I got a second hand macbook early 2011 (2.0 ghz i7 model) today, and it had a brand new 1TB HDD installed. Everything worked fine up until the point where I decided I wanted to put my SSD from my Windows laptop into the Mac instead because the HDD is just too slow.

I installed the SSD and followed the instructions of this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K82njigCTA&t=35s

Some stage after it download OSX Lion it was loading (sorry i'm not familiar with apple machines, this is my first Mac computer) and it froze on the spinning wheel (not the beachball one).

I tried force shutting the computer down and rebooting, where it white screened. So I opted to try the method of installing from the internet again, like in the video, and it does the same thing. Trying to boot into safe mode, disk recovery, and they both end up at the white screen after the chime. I tried resetting the NVRAM and this did nothing.

I put the original HDD back in and it manages to get to the apple logo with the loading bar loading completely, then it white screens.

If i try to go into internet recovery, it loads to the spinning globe but when I select a network the computer freezes.

I'm extremely concerned now.. any help??

MacBook Pro, null

Posted on Sep 17, 2017 10:10 PM

Top-ranking reply

KimUserName

Level 4

1,900 points

Posted on Sep 18, 2017 4:31 AM

Hi Pensaaa:

It sounds like your problem may be the SATA cable or it could be another hardware issue. The SSD is much more sensitive to a bad SATA cable and sometimes the HDD will work but the SSD will not.

Startup Screens : About the screens you see when your Mac starts up

MacBook Pro 13" Mid 2012 Hard Drive Cable Symptoms: Symptoms

MacBook Pro hard drive SATA cable issue. MacBook Pro Hard Drive Cable Failure-Free fix and preventative maintenance

To test whether the problem is your hard drive or SATA cable:

You can remove your hard drive from Mac and install in an external enclosure OWC external case or using a USB to SATA adapter USB to SATA adapter and connect it to your MBP via USB. And then try to boot from it using Startup Manager. This will help to identify if your hard drive or SATA cable are at fault. If it boots the MBP, most likely the problem will be the drive SATA cable needs to be replaced.

How to boot from the disk using Startup Manager: How to choose a startup disk on your Mac

If your SATA cable is faulty, here is a guide on how to replace it.

MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Early 2011 Hard Drive Cable Replacement: iFixit.com

MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Early/Late 2011 Hard Drive Cable: SATA Cable

Kim

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16 replies

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Sep 18, 2017 4:23 PM in response to Pensaaa

There are significant hardware differences between a standard Windows PC and a Mac to disallow your attempt to put a Windows SSD in a Mac, without any preparatory work (SysPrep).

If you boot the Mac and hold T key, do you see a floating Firewire/USB/TB logo? See Use target disk mode to share files between two Mac computers - Apple Support for reference. Do you have a second Mac?

Also, see How to set up and use an external Mac startup disk - Apple Support on another possible method, if Internet Recovery fully works. If you have tried Internet Recovery without an ethernet cable, connect an ethernet cable, which bypasses the Wireless network connection attempt. The Wireless connection may be failing due bad firmware.

Run a Reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support , before you go any further.

Since you see a CS LV/LVG error, the lower level SATA commands seem to be fine. A disk or a cable failure would disallow it to get this far, in most cases.

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MacBook Pro 2011 Whitescreen After Failed SSD Install