Incredibly slow MacBook, Internal Hard Drive issues...

Good morning everybody! I'm apologize if this post is extremely wordy...
I am extremely baffled by a particular issue with a MacBook 2.0GHz C2D which belongs to a friend of mine. The warranty is expired.
_Brief history:_
Several months ago, this MacBook could not find a bootable volume. The drive would not mount when booting from an external FireWire hard drive. It would not mount when the MacBook was put in Target Disk Mode and connected to another Mac. When booting from an external USB hard drive or with my MacBook Pro connected to the MacBook via Target Disk Mode, the MacBook booted up quickly. I came to the conclusion that the internal hard drive must have failed and needed to be replaced. Ultimately, the data was not recoverable from this drive.
I then proceeded to swap out the defective Apple OEM Seagate hard drive with a known working Apple OEM Fujitsu hard drive. When booting from the Leopard Install DVD, the MacBook would boot incredibly slow, but would finally reach the Installer Language screen. When proceeding to install Leopard, the drive would take a very long time to have data written to it, and ultimately the install failed. I removed the new hard drive from the MacBook and placed it in an external USB enclosure, attached it to the MacBook and booted from the Leopard Install DVD. Leopard would install successfully. I removed the hard drive from the enclosure and reinstalled it the MacBook. When booting from the freshly installed OS, the MacBook would take a very long time to boot. The MacBook is extremely slow!!!
I checked the Activity Monitor to ensure CPU & System Memory Usage was not going crazy. All Processes where normal with adequate CPU & Memory headroom.
I took the MacBook apart thinking that the SATA Controller Cable might be loose. No, it was firmly in place. I reassembled the MacBook and booted it up again. Still incredibly slow!
Finally, after several reboot attempts, the MacBook would book up quickly and operation was perfect. I applied all updates and continued testing the MacBook with great success. Gave my friend his MacBook back and he was grateful.
_Now for the kicker..._
My friend brought me his MacBook a week ago complaining that the MacBook was operating extremely slow (much like when I was initially testing it before). I verified the MacBook was slow when I tried using it. I tried several reboots and then it would get stuck on the gray Apple with spinning gear.
I tried booting into Single User Mode, but it gets stuck on "Waiting for root device"
I put the MacBook in Target Disk Mode and connected it to my G5 2.0GHz Dual Core. The hard drive would mount quickly on the G5 and I used Disk Utility to create a Restore Image. The disk operation would perform normally and the image would be created successfully.
I then partitioned the MacBook's hard drive when connected to the G5, ejected and proceeded to attempt OS reinstall. No dice! The hard drive is not even detected by the Disk Utility on the Leopard Install DVD.
Finally after several reattempts, the hard drive is recognized, but is extremely slow when trying to reinstall...and again, ultimately install fails. Using Disk Utility from Leopard Install DVD, the hard drive fails to unmount when I try formatting.
I don't have Apple Hardware Test disc for the MacBook or Apple Service Diagnostics disc for this model. Running TechTool Pro shows hardware to be okay, disk controller onboard the Fujitsu drive is okay, but running SMART & Surface Scan takes a long, long time (which I'm certain will ultimately error out). Running Drive Genius takes a long, long time as well.
Conclusion:
I think the SATA Controller Cable is defective. I can't think of anything else that would cause disk errors or performance issues like this. Your input is truly appreciated!

Even though no one responded to my post, I thought I'd share the resolution with the entire Apple community. I hope this information will be helpful to some of you with MacBooks or MacBook Pros that may be running painfully slow or may be exhibiting hard drive issues because your machine won't recognize the boot drive or fails to properly boot on a perfectly healthy S.M.A.R.T. verified hard drive. It just might be the hard drive connector/cable. Here it goes...
I visited my local Apple Retail Store and asked a "Genius" at the Genius Bar about this issue and told him my thoughts about a possible failed hard drive connector/cable. First, he didn't even know what a hard drive connector was! Then, he arrogantly stated that he never heard of such a thing and that these cables never fail. Finally, he blatantly dispelled this as a possibility.
On the contrary with my experience, I have had many failed PATA controller cables that required replacement when supporting the desktop PC's at work. I have personally owned and supported many Apple manufactured laptops and desktops and have never encountered this issue on a Mac...until this MacBook!
So, after looking at the Service Manual for the MacBook, I went over to my local Apple Authorized Service Provider and purchased the Hard Drive Connector Apple Part #922-7579. I replaced the original cable, reassembled and proceeded to boot the MacBook with the Leopard DVD installer. The Fujitsu drive was immediately recognized and was able to be formatted and Leopard installed without incident. The MacBook boots off the internal hard drive as normal again and works nice and fast again.
Thank you all for your time!
:D

Similar Messages

Slow Mavericks - internal hard drive failure?

Hi
I recently updated my iMac 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 4GB RAM to Mavericks. Before I was working on OS X Lion 10.7.5. Until the day I updated I never had any problems with my computer being slow, unless when I was using heavier applications or heavy files like in Adobe PS for example.
Since I've updated however, it often happens that the icons in my launchpad load slowly, my computer shows the spinning circle more often, and especially Microsoft applications (Word and Excel) take much longer before they are launched. I don't think I have to explain how this is bugging me, since we all like a fast computer. So I kind of regret updating.
I wanted to downgrade to 10.7.5 again, but this doesn't seem that easy even though I know my way around reformatting Apple computers…
So this is kind of a last option. Now I went to the Apple store in Belgium, and they told me that it could be a bug and that I should wait for the next version (yeah right…) or that it could be my internal hard drive was failing. Now I tried to find some information on how to recognize a failing hard drive, but I mostly bumped in to extreme errors. So I was wondering how to know your internal drive is failing? Second of all could it be failing all of a sudden? Since I hadn't had those problems before I updated. Thirdly is it possible that the next update would solve these problems, as they mentioned? Could a clean install help?
Anyway, I find it pretty weird, and there's a lot of different opinions and options, so I would like a more expert view on the problem, so get to a solution and an answer whether or not my disk could be failing, cause then I would like to get it replaced.
Thanks in advance for your advice!
Grts
Matthias
In a previous topic, I was asked to deliver some information in order to get a diagnosis, but there has been no more answer. This is why Now I would like to ask if anyone can interpret this info below… Cause I have no idea what it means…
When I entered the following query in Terminal this is what happened:
syslog -k Sender kernel -k Message CReq 'GPU |hfs: Ru|I/O e|find tok|n Cause: -|NVDA\(|pagin|timed? ?o' | tail | awk '/:/{$4=""; print}' | open -ef
It produced a text editor window without any content. It didn't take long either, just one or two seconds. (Is this normal?) Does this mean my hard drive is intact?
Disconnect all non-essential wired peripherals and remove aftermarket expansion cards, if any. - there are none
Reset the System Management Controller. - does this simply imply that I have to hold the power button for 10 seconds?
Run Software Update. If there's a firmware update, install it. - done
If you're booting from an aftermarket SSD, see whether there's a firmware update for it. - not the case
If you have a portable computer, check the cycle count of the battery. It may be due for replacement.
- not the case
If you have many image or video files on the Desktop with preview icons, move them to another folder.
- not the case
If applicable, uncheck all boxes in the iCloud preference pane. See whether there's any change. - not an icloud user
Check your keychains in Keychain Access for excessively duplicated items.
- not the case either
Boot into Recovery mode, launch Disk Utility, and run Repair Disk. - is this necesary if the former step didn't bring up any text in the text editor window?
If you have a MacBook Pro with dual graphics, disable automatic graphics switching in the Energy Saverpreference pane for better performance at the cost of shorter battery life.
- not the case
Since I am doing jack right now and am solely typing this topic, the highest %CPU is about 2-3 percent and is "Safari web material". In the second place there is Safari with about 1-1.5%.
System is about 0.76, user 0.89 and inactive is the leftover. 98,"something".
In the memory tab:
In the disk tab… It varies a lot:
After launching the Console application, I copied the 50 or so most recent entries in the log All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left. This is the result:
27/01/14 18:13:56,000 kernel[0]: IOThunderboltSwitch<0xffffff80356b5200>(0x0)::listenerCallback - Thunderbolt HPD packet for route = 0x0 port = 1 unplug = 0
27/01/14 18:13:59,000 kernel[0]: [ PCI configuration begin ]
27/01/14 18:13:59,000 kernel[0]: [ PCI configuration end, bridges 14, devices 18 ]
27/01/14 18:14:10,094 fseventsd[49]: could not open <</Volumes/"name"/.fseventsd/fseventsd-uuid>> (No such file or directory)
27/01/14 18:14:10,095 fseventsd[49]: log dir: /Volumes/"name"/.fseventsd getting new uuid: "…"
27/01/14 18:14:10,000 kernel[0]: hfs: mounted "name" on device disk1s3
27/01/14 18:14:19,385 mds[39]: (Warning) DiskStore: Server returned -1 setting attributes
27/01/14 18:14:37,139 sandboxd[330]: ([1116]) mdworker(1116) deny file-read-xattr /Volumes/"name" 3TB/Backup Januari 17:01:2014/Mailboxes (pre-plugin fstype:hfs fsflag:"…" diag:0 isXCode:0 uti:com.apple.mail.mbox plugin:internalPlainTextImporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 71392)
27/01/14 18:14:37,164 sandboxd[330]: ([1122]) mdworker(1122) deny file-read-xattr /Volumes/"name"/Backup Januari 17:01:2014/Mailboxes (pre-plugin fstype:hfs fsflag:4A09018 flags:250000005E diag:0 isXCode:0 uti:com.apple.mail.mbox plugin:internalPlainTextImporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 71387)
27/01/14 18:15:29,970 WindowServer[87]: disable_update_timeout: UI updates were forcibly disabled by application "Safari" for over 1.00 seconds. Server has re-enabled them.
27/01/14 18:15:32,310 WindowServer[87]: common_reenable_update: UI updates were finally reenabled by application "Safari" after 3.34 seconds (server forcibly re-enabled them after 1.00 seconds)
27/01/14 18:17:35,918 ntpd[113]: ntpd: time set -0.367612 s
27/01/14 18:17:35,943 com.apple.time[150]: Interval maximum value is 946100000 seconds (specified value: 9223372036854775807).
27/01/14 18:17:35,946 com.apple.time[150]: Interval maximum value is 946100000 seconds (specified value: 9223372036854775807).
27/01/14 18:17:48,846 com.apple.SecurityServer[14]: Killing auth hosts
27/01/14 18:17:48,846 com.apple.SecurityServer[14]: Session 100029 destroyed
27/01/14 18:18:45,357 mdworker32[1162]: CGSConnectionByID: 0 is not a valid connection ID.
27/01/14 18:18:45,357 mdworker32[1162]: CGSGetSpaceManagementMode: No connection with id 0x 0
27/01/14 18:23:57,000 kernel[0]: CODE SIGNING: cs_invalid_page(0x1000): p=1219[GoogleSoftwareUp] final status 0x0, allow (remove VALID)ing page
27/01/14 18:24:32,979 VDCAssistant[1221]: AVF encoder error: fail to create accelerator instance
27/01/14 18:25:15,338 com.apple.SecurityServer[14]: Killing auth hosts
27/01/14 18:25:15,338 com.apple.SecurityServer[14]: Session 100038 destroyed
27/01/14 18:25:15,342 com.apple.SecurityServer[14]: Session 100040 created
27/01/14 18:25:15,345 com.apple.security.XPCKeychainSandboxCheck[1229]: Can't get sandbox fs extension for /Users/Home/Library/Application Support/Adobe/AIR/ELS/com.adobe.amp.4875E02D9FB21EE389F73B8D1702B320485DF8CE.1/ PrivateEncryptedDatak, status=-1 errno=No such file or directory ext=(null)
27/01/14 18:25:15,346 com.apple.security.XPCKeychainSandboxCheck[1229]: Can't get sandbox fs extension for /Users/Home/Library/Application Support/Adobe/AIR/ELS/com.adobe.amp.4875E02D9FB21EE389F73B8D1702B320485DF8CE.1/ lck~PrivateEncryptedDatak, status=-1 errno=No such file or directory ext=(null)
27/01/14 18:25:15,346 com.apple.security.XPCKeychainSandboxCheck[1229]: Can't get sandbox fs extension for /Users/Home/Library/Application Support/Adobe/AIR/ELS/com.adobe.WidgetBrowser.E7BED6E5DDA59983786DD72EBFA46B159 8278E07.1/PrivateEncryptedDatak, status=-1 errno=No such file or directory ext=(null)
27/01/14 18:25:15,346 com.apple.security.XPCKeychainSandboxCheck[1229]: Can't get sandbox fs extension for /Users/Home/Library/Application Support/Adobe/AIR/ELS/com.adobe.amp.4875E02D9FB21EE389F73B8D1702B320485DF8CE.1/ .fl89CB8354, status=-1 errno=No such file or directory ext=(null)
27/01/14 18:25:15,346 com.apple.security.XPCKeychainSandboxCheck[1229]: Can't get sandbox fs extension for /Users/Home/Library/Application Support/Adobe/AIR/ELS/com.adobe.WidgetBrowser.E7BED6E5DDA59983786DD72EBFA46B159 8278E07.1/lck~PrivateEncryptedDatak, status=-1 errno=No such file or directory ext=(null)
27/01/14 18:25:15,346 com.apple.security.XPCKeychainSandboxCheck[1229]: Can't get sandbox fs extension for /Users/Home/Library/Application Support/Adobe/AIR/ELS/com.adobe.WidgetBrowser.E7BED6E5DDA59983786DD72EBFA46B159 8278E07.1/.fl89CB8354, status=-1 errno=No such file or directory ext=(null)
27/01/14 18:25:16,750 Mail[1227]: Could not create query for expression ((null)) && (kMDItemContentType == 'com.apple.mail.emlx')
27/01/14 18:25:17,116 WindowServer[87]: disable_update_timeout: UI updates were forcibly disabled by application "Mail" for over 1.00 seconds. Server has re-enabled them.
27/01/14 18:25:18,209 WindowServer[87]: common_reenable_update: UI updates were finally reenabled by application "Mail" after 2.09 seconds (server forcibly re-enabled them after 1.00 seconds)
27/01/14 18:26:58,258 WindowServer[87]: CoreAnimation: context hosting changed while locked!
27/01/14 18:29:03,058 com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.WebKit.WebContent.4A179DCB-D12E-433B-B053-89B6CA18DF91[1233]) Exited with code: 1
27/01/14 18:30:53,000 kernel[0]: hfs: unmount initiated on "name" on device disk1s3
27/01/14 18:31:01,000 kernel[0]: IOThunderboltSwitch<0xffffff80356b5200>(0x0)::listenerCallback - Thunderbolt HPD packet for route = 0x0 port = 1 unplug = 1
27/01/14 18:31:01,000 kernel[0]: [ PCI configuration begin ]
27/01/14 18:31:01,000 kernel[0]: [ PCI configuration end, bridges 12, devices 18 ]
27/01/14 18:31:01,000 kernel[0]: Fixing incorrect zfree from zone kalloc.16 to zone kalloc.32
27/01/14 18:31:40,520 login[1261]: USER_PROCESS: 1261 ttys000
27/01/14 18:34:18,863 mDNSResponder[40]: 48: Could not write data to clientPID[1131](com.apple.WebKi) because of error - aborting connection
27/01/14 18:34:18,863 mDNSResponder[40]: 48: DNSServiceGetAddrInfo v4v6 e4233.b.akamaiedge.net. PID[1131](com.apple.WebKi)
27/01/14 18:46:49,368 com.apple.IconServicesAgent[225]: Icon filename entry missing from bundle info dictionary for bundle at URL: file:///System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/ShareKit.framework/Versions/A/XPCServi ces/com.apple.ShareKitHelper.xpc/
27/01/14 18:46:49,450 com.apple.IconServicesAgent[225]: Icon filename entry missing from bundle info dictionary for bundle at URL: file:///System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/WebKit2.framework/Versions/A/XPCServic es/com.apple.WebKit.WebContent.xpc/
27/01/14 18:46:49,701 com.apple.IconServicesAgent[225]: Icon filename entry missing from bundle info dictionary for bundle at URL: file:///System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MailService.framework/Versions/A/XPCSe rvices/com.apple.MailServiceAgent.xpc/
27/01/14 18:46:49,834 com.apple.IconServicesAgent[225]: Icon filename entry missing from bundle info dictionary for bundle at URL: file:///System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/XPCServices/com.apple.doc k.extra.xpc/
27/01/14 18:46:49,988 com.apple.IconServicesAgent[225]: Icon filename entry missing from bundle info dictionary for bundle at URL: file:///System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/WebKit2.framework/Versions/A/XPCServic es/com.apple.WebKit.Networking.xpc/
27/01/14 18:50:27,143 com.apple.IconServicesAgent[225]: Icon filename entry missing from bundle info dictionary for bundle at URL: file:///System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/InternetAccounts.framework/Versions/A/ XPCServices/com.apple.internetaccounts.xpc/
27/01/14 18:53:26,913 WindowServer[87]: _CGXSetWindowBackgroundBlurRadius: Invalid window 0xffffffff
27/01/14 18:53:26,942 WindowServer[87]: _CGXSetWindowBackgroundBlurRadius: Invalid window 0xffffffff
27/01/14 18:55:40,974 login[1261]: DEAD_PROCESS: 1261 ttys000
27/01/14 18:55:55,199 Console[1343]: setPresentationOptions called with NSApplicationPresentationFullScreen when there is no visible fullscreen window; this call will be ignored.

I was copying files to my external drive a few minutes ago, and my computer was reaaaally slow at that time. So I figured opening the Activity monitor and I took some screen shots:
The only thing I tried to interpret is the CPU tab. It shows 94.67% was inactive, and still my computer was being terribly slow… Is this normal and is this the right interpretation?

Internal hard drive issue with Mac Pro

I work for two office that share information through a VPN. Each office has one Mac Pro being used as a server for data storage. The Pros have four internal hard drives (1TB each).
Hard drives in the Pro for OFFICE 1 were configured like so:
HD1 - OS/Boot drive
HD2 - Time Machine backup of HD1/DATA1/DATA2
DATA1 - Data storage
DATA2 - Data storage
Three weeks ago: Time Machine could not find HD2 and could not backup. I rebooted the machine and HD2 reappeared. However, after the reboot, DATA1 did not mount. I was unable to find DATA1 in Disk Utility. However, the drive could be accessed by all other Macs on the network. This machine was taken to the local Apple Store and we were told that HD2 was a bad drive and need to be replaced. We opted not to replaced the drive at this time and turned Time Machine backups off. We haven't had any problems with DATA1 since. (NOTE: During the weeks prior, the client machines intermittently lost connection with DATA1 and would have to reconnect)
Last week: OFFICE 2 - Mac Pro hard drives configured the same as OFFICE 1; however, HD2 was not used for TM backups. TM was turned on and set to backup HD1/DATA1/DATA2 to HD2 (exactly like OFFICE 1). The next day, TM could not find HD2 and backups stopped running. I rebooted the machine, HD2 reappeared, but we did not restart the TM backups.
Today: OFFICE 2 client machines have experienced intermittent disconnecting of DATA1.
I wasn't extremely concerned with the situation at OFFICE 1 as these Pros are almost five years old and in constant use. We plan on purchasing an external drive for the TM backups. HOWEVER, with a similar situation now being experienced in OFFICE 2, I am perplexed.
Could both machine be experiencing hard drive failures weeks apart? They were both purchased and installed at the same time.
Is there a known issue with TM and internal drives?
One difference between the two machines: OFFICE 1 is running OS X 10.8.5; OFFICE 2 runs 10.6.8
Any suggestions/help is appreciated. Thanks!

Relying on TimeMachine has some issues, along with only having one, I use at least two swapping TimeMachine so that they rotate AND I clone every drive (volume actually) so I can swap drives if need be, especially useful for t he system but good for any drive.
Power issues in t he buildings?
There are some programs that will scan for and report and./or attempt to reassign a failing sector ("fail" is qualitative, is 10 write failures a fail? then the 9th is not but it is a "weak sector.") Some run in the background.
Mirror can be 2 or 3 ( I prefer 3, that way if one fails I STILL have a mirror array in place) where any failure is not acceptable, AND where the array data is backed up usually - less important when using a three-drive configurations.
How old, when last initialized (zero), and is it showing spare blocks being used? that last is the most indicative of failed drive.
Rare but a bad SATA cable or power (seeing how the cables are tucked away) is only way generally for multiple failures in same drive bay or computer. Note: early on in 2006-7 there were reports of some customers having motherboard and trouble with a drive bay , and t he problems showed up early.
Often though it is NVRAM or SMC related issue trigged by something else, a USB cable or device that is faulty, even a PCIe controller that is the culprit. And replacing cable, keyboard, device, and resetting SMC and NVRAM (often NVRAM needed to be done multiple times, but never keep resetting SMC) - unplugged and when you connect back up, do not install anything other than system, keyboard and mouse and see if that helps.
With a drive, likely the drive in 85% or more, is fine, but the directory is not, or it needs to be erased to rebuild all the system partitions.
1TB is small for TimeMachine. 350% of the amount of data, and always have free space for a full backup set of all the data. T.M. will try and prefers to automatically backup any and everything plugged in and connected, rather than my preference which is ASK FIRST to add a drive to TM backup set, otherwise leave it out. 600GB of data and system would mean 2.5TB drive, maybe 2TB minimum.

2009 MacBook Pro Hard Drive Issues

My MBP has been unusable now for well over 5 months. The problem was that the internal hard drive was simply not being recognized most of the time. Occasionally it would show up but erasing, partitions, and installations all failed. I searched for a while online and found out that it was likely an issue with the hard drive cable. So far I have tried 2 things.
I first ordered a hard drive caddy to replace the dvd drive (since nobody uses those anymore) and try to get the hard drive to be recognized like that. I had no luck and the hard drive never even showed up in disk utility. I figured that I would probably need some sort of software to get this caddy to work (which I would eventually like to use).
The next and most recent thing I have tried is the installation of another hard drive cable. I ordered it on Amazon for about $25 and received it today. It looked exactly the same as the original and had the Foxconn labeling. After installation, the hard drive I have consistently appears in disk utility, but after I try to partition it in disk utility, I recieve the error "File System Formatter Failed" and the hard drive proceeds to disappear from the sidebar.
I am stumped! The hard drive seems to be fine as it boots normally from a USB enclosure. I installed the new cable correctly as far as I am aware. I am using a genuine Mac OS X Snow Leopard install dvd. Can anyone help me? I am open to suggestions and trying anything! I just want a laptop again

I don't believe it has, as it works perfectly fine from a USB enclosure.

2009 15" MacBook Pro Hard Drive Issues

Hey everyone,
I'm having some trouble with my mid 09' 15" MacBook Pro, 2.53 GHz, 8GB RAM, 250GB Hard Drive running 10.7.2. Recently, my hard drive failed and I have AppleCare so it was replaced for free. The computer came with a 250GB drive which means it had to be replaced with a 250GB drive from Apple.
I work for an Authorized Apple Reseller (privately owned - not corporately owned apple store) and they can complete machine repairs here and they ordered/replaced the apple drive for me.
Here is my issue: I am a film/video production student and as a result I do a lot of video editing/web design. My 250GB hard drive is no match for working with a lot of HD quality video, it's a space hog! I'm very technically savvy and an replace RAM and hard drives in machines myself since I work for an Authorized Apple Reseller. I've purchased internal 500GB drives to replace my 250GB drive so I can have more space to store/work with video.
My machine can't seem to read or work with any 500GB internal drive I purchase and install. I've used 2 different Western Digital 500GB 5400 RPM drives, a Seagate 500GB 7200 RPM drive and even a Hitachi 500GB 7200 RPM drive. I've used Carbon Copy Cloaner to copy my information from current 250GB drive to the new 500GB drives and they will boot but they run like crap! They will work....I attempt to open an application and i get the rainbow spinning wheel of death and the machine will then freeze for 5 minutes. I can use it again for 30 seconds after which it freezes again for another couple minutes and this just goes on and on.
I've also tried installing Snow Leopard fresh onto the drive and manually moving my content over via an external drive or something. Same result! I couldn't even install Snow Leopard completely without the install failing.
None of the service techs at my work can answer my problems, they've never seen it before. AppleCare was no help on the phone. Also, my machine passes all of Apple's service diagnostics.
Can anyone think of anything else I haven't done to help me?! I would really appreciate it!
Thanks guys!!

Have you replaced the SATA cable to the hard drive?
Can I suggest you consider external storage for your video production?
No matter how big a drive you install in your MacBook Pro it will quickly fill up.
There are a number of external drives available specifically built for video editing.

IMac Internal Hard Drive Issues

Here's the story thus far:
I've experienced random system freezes/lock-ups infrequently over the past month or so. I would have to do a hard reset and everything would be back to normal. I didn't really think any major issues were occurring.
Tuesday night my iMac booted to my SuperDuper bootable clone external HD. Upon loading of the desktop, I was greeted with an error message about the disk not loading, and I was presented with options to 'Initialize' 'Ignore' or 'Eject'. I was able to restart and everything was fine.
Yesterday, the same thing occurred again. When I restarted and disconnected my external HD that was being booted from, I was greeted with the ominous flashing question mark folder icon. I shut the computer down for the night, presuming the HD dead or on its way out.
This morning, I was able to boot up the computer normally, but it randomly froze/locked-up, forcing me to restart and the same issues would occur. I performed all of the normal housekeeping chores. I verified/repaired the disk through Disk Utility (when I could boot from it), also through booting into safe mode (which performed successfully), resetting the PRAM, disconnecting all peripherals, and running Disk Utility through the OS X install disk.
I spoke with AppleCare on and off throughout the day. 2 representatives I spoke with seemed to believe it was some sort of directory corruption. So we erased the HD through the OS X install disk and reinstalled Snow Leopard. I restored everything from the latest Time Machine backup, and everything appeared fine.
A few hours ago, upon waking up the computer from sleep, it froze up with the spinning beach ball, forcing me to hard reset. It then booted onto the external HD again. I immediately called AppleCare and the representative said it seems like it's on its way out. I agreed, and we scheduled an appointment at an Apple store. I wanted to know the procedure because, like most people, I absolutely cannot live without the computer for long. I'm a freelance web designer and I need it ASAP. She got me the numbers for a few Authorized Apple Service Providers in my area, and I will be contacting them in the morning because she said that is the quicker path.
Mainly, I'm looking for advice on the best, and quickest, way to ascertain the problem and remedy it. I also want to know if these are signs of a failing hard drive, or just corruption that leads to a need for replacement. Am I taking the correct path to get everything fixed?
Side note: I turned it on about an hour ago while holding the option key, and the main, internal HD did indeed show up. Is this stuff normal (the back and forth mounting/booting and then not)?
Sorry for the rant, and the ambiguous questions (or lack thereof). Let me know if you need more clarification.
Thanks in advance.

Start up from the clone and run Disk Utility.
First, select the internal drive in the sidebar and right (control) click on it. Select Information from the menu. Check the S.M.A.R.T status. It should say Verified.
If you don't mind erasing your internal drive again, you can run a sort of +stress test+ on it. Select the drive in the sidebar (select the drive and not the volume indented under the drive). Go to the Erase tab. Click on +Security Options+. Select to do a +Zero Out Data+ erase. This will write zeros to every sector of the hard drive, and doing so is a good way to test the drive for reliability. If it is having problems related to hardware, it is likely that this procedure will error or stall out. Even when working normally, it does take a long time to complete (even a few hours depending on the drive capacity), but you should see steady progress on the bar.
If it completes successfully, you should try starting up from the installation disc and running another standard installation in it. +Zero Out Data+ will also map out bad sectors, so if the numbers were manageable, it is possible that the drive will now work more reliably. But you may not want to trust it completely (do more backups).
Since it sounds like the iMac runs reliably off your clone, I think the problem is related to the internal drive.

Internal Hard Drive Issue

I'm having an issue that I can't quite understand.
After inserting the install disk and rebooting, I select the language, and I go to select the hard drive to install to. Unfortunately, the only drives that show up are the external drives. I don't have an issue with doing a clean install, I have enough room on the external drives to backup everything, but I don't understand why my current startup disk is not showing up so I can upgrade or do a clean install.
Would this be caused by one of the known software compatibility issues? I've already removed APE, is there anything else I should be looking for?
When I quit the installer, the only startup disks I can choose from are the 10.5 DVD or Network disk. I have to hold D during startup and change the startup disk back to my hard drive after it finally reboots.
Please help? (Also, if there's any other important info missing in this post, let me know and I'll post whatever info that'll help)

I had the same problem. Running Disk Utility did nothing -- the internal HD didn't show there, either.
Here's how I fixed it -- I left it alone for about 10 minutes -- and it magically showed up right next to the external HDs that were showing all along.
So, try it again but when you see the icons for your external drives -- go make a sandwich and then come back and see if it's there. =:)
Jay Jennings

Firmware 1.7 MacBook Pro Hard Drive Issue

I installed the 1.7 firmware update on my new MacBook Pro, got a "successful" install message, however on subsequent boots of the laptop the next day the computer froze up completely and would not recognize the drive.
Luckily, I had a firewire backup (bootable using SuperDuper) and was able to boot from that drive, then erased the main disk, then do a restore from the firewire drive. So, its good that the main disk was responsive to the erase command.
Also, I ran the Apple hardware tests (no errors); ran disk utility repair on the main disk (from external boot); S.M.A.R.T shows no errors, wrote 10 gig to the drive, all seems ok and the speed of the drive is listed as "3" which I think was the purpose of the firmware.
Apple has offered to replace the computer completely, not sure if it is necessary now though.
Thoughts appreciated.

You didnt state that above
1. I then put in the hard drive from another Macbook Pro into my friend's MacBook Pro and it worked.
2. I'm not sure why the new hard drive isn't working? Btw, when I use a SATA cable and plug the new hard drive in via USB it works perfectly.
Now the new information is a DIFFERENT HD works fine internally, but not the ORIGINAL drive, but DOES work by boot thru USB,..correct?

My macbook pro hard drive issue

hi
i have a problem with my macbook pro a1226
cant erase the hard drive also i can't activate the hard drive
and when also repair doesn't work.
when i startup the Macbook pro i get a grey loading bar
after loading it restarts the mbp
do someone know what the issue is?

Hello RoncaGames,
I'm sorry to hear you are having these issues with your MacBook Pro. I also apologize, I'm a bit unclear exactly what you mean when you say you can't erase the hard drive, and/or what exactly you are seeing when you try to do so. Are you attempting to do an Erase and Install from the Recovery partition, as outlined in the following article?
OS X: How to erase and install - Apple Support
If you are still running OS X 10.6 or earlier, you may also be doing the erase from an Install disc:
Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard: How to Erase and Install - Apple Support
Sincerely,
- Brenden

New MacBook Pro, Hard Drive Issue.

Alright. I'll try to provide as much info as possible here.
My old MacBook is a 13 inch Late 2008 MacBook Aluminum (non-pro) Unibody.
I just bought a new MacBook Pro, 13 inch, 2.9GHz, 750GB Hard Drive.
I had upgraded my old MacBook to a 1TB hard drive (Samsung HM100UI). I'd like to keep that old hard drive and use it in my new MacBook. However, every time I put that 1TB hard drive in my new computer, I get the "no entry" sign.
I've tried..
Booting into the partitioned recovery mode.
Booting from a Lion Restore CD.
Reinstalling Lion on my old MacBook with the old hard drive and then putting the old hard drive in the new computer.
Formatting the entire hard drive (one-pass (on the old MacBook)) and putting it in the new computer (Then trying 1 & 2 again)
Resetting the PRAM, NVRAM, and SMC multiple times on both computers.
Every single time, I get the "no entry" sign.
Does anybody know what I can do to make this drive work in the new MacBook?
edit: added #5

You can't just take that drive from the older system and install it in the new system. Even though both run Lion the Lion install on the older system does not have the correct driver set for the new hardware. In fact Apple came out with a newer version of Lion Just For these Newer System.
It may now be on the Apple servers bot it wasn't a few days, 5-12, ago..

MacBook Pro hard drive issue

This is a 15" MacBook Pro circa 2008-2009. It suddenly won't start past the apple logo and all of my efforts to repair, rebuild, reinstall snow leopard, erase, reformat, etc have been brutally rebuffed. I have used everything at my command, disc utility, Disc Warrior, Tech Tool Pro, Drive Genius, etc, to no avail. I believe it to be hardware failure, specifically, the hard drive. Any suggestions, suspicions etc? Any input would be fantastic!
Thanks,
Rob

Thanks. Yes, I have an external hard drive with which you can access the computer. Yes, I can you boot from an OS X installer disc.The information I derive from Disk Utility related to your hard drive is that 1, The volume will not mount, although it reds the drive and that it needs to be repaired. Once I get to repair,it only goes as far as repair, then when it gets to boot volumes, etc. at the end it either gives a memory warning, or says it fails. Other diagnostics point to hardware failure. If it was a RAM failure, nothing would happen, correct?

Please help! Macbook internal hard drive not detectable.

Dear all,
Hope this post finds you well.
I have a very old Macbook and one day the hard drive started making skipping sounds and the system froze. Upon restarting, the machine would not boot and displayed either a white screen or a flashing question mark folder. I used a USB to boot and tried to use disk utility to repair the hard drive. However, the hard drive is not visible in the Finder or Disk Utility. I have also tried inserting the hard drive into another Macbook while booting with a USB, but the result was the same: No HD in Finder or Disk Utility.
Is it possible to recover the files from the HD? Any help would be much appreciated.
Kind regards
Xierong

Well that hard drive is most likely toast. You'd need to place the hard drive in an external enclosure or use a USB "dongle" like here:
http://www.amazon.com/USB-SATA-5-25-Cable-Adapter/dp/B000YJBL78
Plug that into a working MacBook (You'll have to get a new hard drove or use that other one. Run Data Rescue II, or III and there are some others reviewed here::
http://data-recovery-software-review.toptenreviews.com/mac-recovery-software/dat a-rescue-review.html
It used to be you could run II for free to see what it found. Mt only experience is with II. Usually if I can get the drive to spin up I can recover most things. There was one time I jiggled the drive and got it to spin up and had to hold it very still until it finished recovering all my files!

I believe my macbook pro hard drive is bad. I erased the drive and reinstalled the OS and the macbook still runs really slow. I dont know if the hard drive is the issue.

I believe my macbook pro hard drive is bad. I erased the drive and reinstalled the OS and the macbook still runs really slow. I dont know if the hard drive is the issue.

Did you try an SMC reset too? It's easily done and none of those resets to the best of my knowledge hurt anything. When I was fooling with my system, which at one point was a home made Fusion setup, I needed to reset the SMC sometimes to get the drives recognized. Reading the documentation the sudden motion sensor is drive related but that seems to be about it.
Some more specifics may be needed about the drive itself, the model number of your unit, and the OS version you're running.
At present, the problem seems sort of odd to me. FWIW cable problems can be quite intermittent. I used Scannerz to find some of the problems on my original system that I later converted to a new HD and SSD combo. It can find lots of problems if you learn how to use it right (HD problems, logic board system faults, and cable problems) but you need to get a system at least partially up and running to use it, and it doesn't sound to me like your there right now (in other words, don't go out and buy it because at this point I don't know how it could help you)
Another word of advice would be to not go out and start throwing parts at a problem unless you have a good idea what the source of the problem is. If you have a logic board problem, new drives and new cables won't make it go away, you'll just be wasting your money. Logic board problems, cable problems, and drive problems can all have very similar end user symptoms. The article that I linked above named "Hard Drive Problems" has a section on general symptoms of problems and if you read the article it becomes clear there's a lot of overlap associated with different types of problems.
I assume that your unit isn't under warranty. If, by chance it is I wouldn't even fool with it and I'd take it to Apple and let them deal with the problem. You also might want to check with whatever Apple sources you have available to test your system, like an Apple store, and see how much they'll charge (if anything) to evaluate the system.
I certainly hope this helps.

Internal Hard Drive Free Space Issue

Hey,
I recently upgraded my 17" MacBook Pro from Tiger to Snow Leopard but the upgrade seems to have created a number of problems, the most notable being the lack of free space now available on my internal hard drive.
I also had to install a trial version of Aperture 3.0.3 in order to access my aperture library as the older version of Aperture is not compatible with Snow Leopard.
At this point the free space available on my internal hard drive was 36GB and my aperture library was 39GB. I had to uninstall Photoshop Elements 9 in order to create enough free space to open this library.
I bought an external hard drive and after some organising (importing and exporting to and from external hard drive), I eventually moved all photo files/folders, projects and libraries onto this external drive, leaving only one in-progress project (about 3GB) left on the internal volume.
I also exported my iTunes library and any other files to this external drive.
All trashes have been emptied.
The problem is that, despite all this clear-out, I now only have 2GB of free space on the internal hard drive.
I ran Disk Inventory X and it shows that my home folder is using 155GB of space, which seems ridiculous considering there is in effect nothing left on my laptop save for the application programs and the one remaining project.
I have manually checked through this folder and all its subfolders and have found nothing that would accumulate to this amount of space.
I have repaired an issue with the internal volume, but it is now showing a “minor” problem with the volume header.
If someone can provide and explanation/solution to this I would be very grateful as it is severely slowing my workflow at the moment.
Thanks

Baresi:
I suggest that you begin with Repair Disk
Insert Installer disk and Restart, holding down the "C" key until grey Apple appears.
Go to Installer menu (Panther and earlier) or Utilities menu (Tiger) and launch Disk Utility.
Select your HDD (manufacturer ID) in the left panel.
Select First Aid in the Main panel.
(Check S.M.A.R.T Status of HDD at the bottom of right panel, and report if it says anything but Verified)
Click Repair Disk on the bottom right.
If DU reports disk does not need repairs quit DU and restart.
If DU reports errors Repair again and again until DU reports disk is repaired.
If DU reports errors it cannot repair you will need to use a utility like Tech Tool Pro or Disk Warrior
I recommend that you make sure that you make a bootable clone of your entire volume using a utility like SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner.
You should also seriously consider installing a larger capacity drive.
cornelius

Macbook Pro 2011 extremely slow wondering if hard drive failure

Hello, I want to start off by saying I'm not a huge computer guru, so that is why I'm coming here first. My Macbook Pro worked very well for a year, and then it has slowed down drastically. I've always been a windows user so mac is kind of foreign to me, but I'm trying to learn.
Some problems I've encountered are 1. Extremely slow running whether internet related, or just an application. I have checked the activity monitor and nothing is hogging up my memory. 2. Spinning wait cursor (rainbow circle) when I try to do ANYTHING. It takes minutes to start computer once it makes it to home screen. The circle just spins for a few minutes. Even just web surfing it's there. 3. Battery drains from 100% to less than 20% in 30 minutes, which again is annoying. 4. When battery drains the fan turns on and seems to drain battery even faster. 5. I get a lot of random errors forcing shut down of programs. I have ignored this problem for two years by not using my laptop or using it very minimally, but I am going to be needing a laptop again for school and not just my iPad and phone so I was planning on taking my macbook to genius bar, but wanted to check here first since Apple is an hour away. Plus I want to be able to use the piece of equipment that I spent a decent chunk of change on. I used time machine to back up everything today. I know its not a space issue as I have 300+ free GB on hard drive. I have tried to read through similar posts, but its overwhelming so I came here to post my own question.
I ran disc utility and there were some errors, which were able to be corrected after a couple tries. Computer still slow though when trying to do anything and running rainbow circle.
In recovery mode I reinstalled OSX
I was finally able to install updates after completing the above that were not able to be installed before.
I ran etre check, this is the report that came up:
Problem description:
Extremely slow computer, possible hard drive failure
EtreCheck version: 2.0.11 (98)
Report generated November 3, 2014 9:25:29 PM EST
Hardware Information: ℹ️
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011) (Verified)
MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,1
1 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2-core
4 GB RAM
BANK 0/DIMM0
2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok
BANK 1/DIMM0
2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok
Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported
Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n
Video Information: ℹ️
Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 384 MB
Color LCD 1280 x 800
System Software: ℹ️
Mac OS X 10.7.5 (11G63) - Uptime: 0:6:50
Disk Information: ℹ️
Hitachi HTS547550A9E384 disk0 : (500.11 GB)
S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified
disk0s1 (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 499.25 GB (357.49 GB free)
Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB
OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5970H
USB Information: ℹ️
Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub
Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️
Apple, Inc. MacBook Pro
Kernel Extensions: ℹ️
/System/Library/Extensions
[not loaded] com.Logitech.Unifying.HID Driver (1.2.0 - SDK 10.0) Support
/Users/[redacted]/Downloads/LCC Installer.app
[not loaded] com.Logitech.Control Center.HID Driver (3.5.1 - SDK 10.0) Support
Startup Items: ℹ️
HP IO: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HP IO
Startup items are obsolete and will not work in future versions of OS X
Problem System Launch Agents: ℹ️
[failed] com.apple.coreservices.appleid.authentication.plist
Launch Agents: ℹ️
[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support
[loaded] com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist Support
[running] com.Logitech.Control Center.Daemon.plist Support
[invalid?] com.luthresearch.savvyconnectmenu.plist Support
[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist Support
Launch Daemons: ℹ️
[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support
[invalid?] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist Support
[invalid?] com.luthresearch.scservice.plist Support
[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist Support
User Launch Agents: ℹ️
[loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support
[failed] com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-[...]@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist
[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist Support
User Login Items: ℹ️
iTunesHelper Application (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)
Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)
SavvyConnect UNKNOWN (missing value)
Google Chrome Application (/Applications/Google Chrome.app)
HP Scheduler Application (/Library/Application Support/Hewlett-Packard/Software Update/HP Scheduler.app)
Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
Silverlight: Version: 5.1.10411.0 - SDK 10.6 Support
FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 15.0.0.152 - SDK 10.6 Support
Flash Player: Version: 15.0.0.152 - SDK 10.6 Mismatch! Adobe recommends 15.0.0.189
QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.1
JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 67 Check version
3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️
Flash Player Support
Growl Support
Java Support
Logitech Control Center Support
Time Machine: ℹ️
Time Machine not configured!
Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️
      11% Safari
      3% WindowServer
      0% fontd
      0% Google Chrome
      0% ps
Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️
245 MB WebProcess
206 MB System Preferences
168 MB Safari
99 MB mds
82 MB Google Chrome
Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️
1.37 GB Free RAM
1.57 GB Active RAM
318 MB Inactive RAM
1.03 GB Wired RAM
436 MB Page-ins
0 B Page-outs
Basically I'm wondering if anything sticks out in this report. I was thinking it could be a possible hard drive failure. I know my computer has been dropped on the floor at least a few times. Thoughts are appreciated. Thank you for your patience.

Eab, I feel your pain! I am replying simply to share my similar ongoing experience with my early 2011 17 inch MacBook Pro, running Mavericks with seeming ample hard drive space, [applications requiring less than 100GB, about 200GB data (total drive space of 500GB)] & 4GB RAM. (Disclaimer: I am not a wise or computer-savvy mac guru - simply a fellow traveler who has had a very similar set of problems - apps taking forever to load, rapid battery depletion & super overheated MacBook. While I am a Genius Bar groupie, getting to the Apple store is, for me, akin to an antarctic polar expedition (i.e. problematic). Having spent endless hours struggling with a similar issue, I offer you a synopsis of my struggle/experience.
STEPS TO DATE:
1.Installed several memory utility programs (Daisy Disk & MacCleanse) system
maintenance program to regularly and thoroughly empty application caches (Adobe apps & internet browsers being tremendous hogs), identify and remove language elements and other redundant space hogs, etc.   Result: Small, but real improvement when I forced myself to perform a "scan and delete" session every second major computer run (typically about 6-8 hours in length). However, this did nothing to help the problems regularly detected when I run the Disk Utility which almost invariably demonstrates disk permissions that need to be repaired and, with increasing frequency, has demonstrated actual disk errors that require restarting and walking through a disk repair protocol. I did bring it to the Genius Bar where they kindly reinstalled Mavericks which they could do in about an hour versus the several hours that doing this at home requires. This did identify that my RAM was, on fact, a limitation on the speed at which I could run certain apps.
2. My next move was to install an additional 4GB of RAM. I bought the new RAM on eBay for about $90 because, with 3 kids equipped with MacBooks & iPhones, I simply couldn't afford the official Apple RAM. I even installed it myself, with the help of a YouTube video. Result: Giant improvement in speed (starting up or switching apps. If I had realized how simple it turned out to be, I would have done it well over a year ago. Some minor improvement in the overheating problem, but persistent problems with disk permissions continually requiring repair and periodic disk repairs (using Disk Utility) required.
PLANNED FINAL INTERVENTION:
3. I am purchasing and installing a solid state drive (ssd) and simply chucking the original hard drive, after considerable discussion with my savvier mac friends. It has become clear to me that, sadly, every hard drive has a finite life affected by a variety of factors. I am, in fact, hard on my equipment - running multiple graphic apps simultaneously, transferring massive GBs of data between my laptop, time capsule and an array of hard drives. I will let you know how it goes, but can share that the decision to get a solid state drive followed many conversations with multiple Mac guru-types (in the hope of saving you similar painful tribulations). The cost varies according to the size of the drive, but $400-$500 would buy a reasonable starting size. I am waiting for Black Friday sales, myself. Amazon (where I will likely purchase the ssd) is already offering a number of pre-Black Friday deals. While I don't really feel like putting out that amount of cash, I reassure myself that a new drive will almost certainly solve the disk errors (with a solid state one offering more durability) & will help me prolong the life of my MacBook Pro by a couple of years hopefully. It beats buying a new Apple MacBook only three and a half years after investing close to $3k for this one!
I am certain that more experienced forum users could point you to software that could help defragment your drive or may be able to offer other solutions. I've simply had enough of struggling with burning thighs and head-banging behavior triggered by slow performance. I hope this is helpful to you in some small way. The war is not yet over, but I'm feeling good about the battle plan!

Incredibly slow MacBook, Internal Hard Drive issues...

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