MacBook hard disk upgrade - any concern?

After installing Leopard, I found that my 2GHz Core Duo MacBook original 80G hard disk is really not enough for the OS plus my usual apps (Final Cut Studio, Photoshop, iWork, iPhoto), they took up more than half of my HD space. So I decided to get a 250G hd for my MacBook. Then my friend @ the computer store told me the early MacBook can't use anything larger than 160G! Is that true? I just don't wanna spend those extra $ for GB that I can't use.
Thanks!

It can use the 205 GB with no problem. Some people get confused because at the time your MacBook was made the 160 GB drive was the biggest one you could get installed by Apple. Thats because it was the biggest one available at the time. It was not a limit of the MacBook but a limit of what apple sold. You might have your friend that works at the computer store to hang out here on the forums he might learn something about Macs:->

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I disabled my Macbook Hard Disk and lock the settings, after i try to reboot, the system wouldn't come up. It refuses to read instructions from the hard disk. How can i enable the hard disk when the system wouldn't come up?

I disabled my Macbook Hard Disk and lock the settings, after i try to reboot, the system wouldn't come up. It refuses to read instructions from the hard disk. How can i enable the hard disk when the system wouldn't come up?

How do you disabled it if running the same?

90DATK-6G96PE-MFGKOK-6OX103. i got this error on hard disk 1. any advice?

90DATK-6G96PE-MFGKOK-6OX103. i got this error on hard disk 1. any advice?
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View Solution.

Hi,
This is from DST test with Failure id message. This message simply means the HDD is dead. One option: replace the HDD.
Sorry.
BH
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Make it easier for other people to find solutions by marking a Reply 'Accept as Solution' if it solves your problem.

MacBook Pro hard disk upgrade shows question mark folder

I recently bought a 1TB hard disk for my teenaged daughter's MacBook Pro.
I formatted it, used Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the existing drive. I even made sure to create the recovery partition.
I restarted while holding the option key and chose the new drive. It booted fine so I checked in System Preferences to make sure it was selected as the boot device.
I opened the case and swapped the drives. Put it back together and restarted only to see the question mark folder!
I tried booting while holding the option key and now I get the choose a network prompt.
I am desperate and hate the thought of disappointing my daughter. It used to be that I was her hero who could fix anything now I'm the guy who asks too many questions and doesn't put enough money on her debit card. Granted she busts her butt getting awesome grades and I was upgrading her drive so she could continue her video yearbook for her school. So I shouldn't complain but it would be great to be her hero again.
BTW, I am not a newbie to the tech world but I don't do nearly as much in the Apple arena as I do in the PC world. Then again I've been a senior tech in the industry sine before IBM had a PC. In fact, my first real work was on a 6502 processor that used the same machine code as the Rage of the day, the Apple ][. All that to say I usually can find my way around a problem but this one has me stumped.
I appreciate any assistance offered.
Thanks,
Thom

I tried to reboot with the option, command P. And R keys pressed. I heard the ding several times it still showed the question mark! I also tried the shift option and it only displayed the network selection. Also I tried to press C so I could boot from USB and it didn't work either.
If I cannot get this to work I fear my only other choice is to use a FireWire enclosure. This isn't a good option as my daughter does mostly movie work and iMovie has this terrible "feature" that forces all movies to be stored in one place. It sure would be handy if it allowed movie projects to set the storage location individually. I suppose I could simply move all the movies to the drive and try to find a way to point all iMovie projects to the external drive.
Unfortunately, my daughter is one of those Mac users who isn't savvy enough to use anything but the default settings. Heck I've tried to explain to her that she ought to get rid of the big files once she has done her work. That's why her drive is always full.

Recommended Hard Disk Upgrade for 4,1 (Early 2008) Macbook?

I've read so many disaster stories out there (primarily from Amazon.com reviews) about upgrading mac Hard Disks, I wanted to get a real recommendation.
I was hoping to get a 750GB or 1TB internal HD replacement, and probably stick with 5400RPM to save battery life.
Any recommendations?
The "disaster stories" I heard were issues of performance degradation, stalling (due to waiting for the disk to spin up every couple of minutes) and disk failure, all in relation to the fact that they were going into macs rather than PCs.
Any suggestions? What has worked well for you?
Thanks!

With a 7200rpm drive you might notice a slight decrease in battery time. I've put one in a Early 2006 Model 1,1 for my niece and she's had no problems with it.
To buy a hard drive try Newegg.com http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007605%2060000334 0&IsNodeId=1&name=7200%20RPM or OWC http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/2.5-Notebook/

MacBook Pro 5,1 RAM & Hard Disk Upgrade

Hi Guys
I have a MacBook Pro 15" with Core 2 Duo 2,53 GHz Cpu, 4Gb Ram, hard disk 320 Gb 7200rpm with Snow Leopard and I'd like to upgrade RAM and Hard Disk.
The model is MacBook Pro 5,1 and I have installed the latest firmware, so I have the EFI Boot Rom version = MBP51.007E.B06 (EFI 2.8) and the SMC version = 1.33f8 (SMC 1.2).
Can I install 8 Gb of Ram? If yes, I also need an advice for the brand and the model I can use without worry. What is the brand used by Apple?
The hard disk is become small and I need more space. What is the maximum capacity I can Install in my MacBook Pro and, again, which model and brand. Now I have the original Seagate model, I think I can use one model of the same brand. Is It true?
I thank anyone who can and will help me :-)

Thanks Bimmer
This is a good news and I like so much my MacBook Pro!!!
I'm seriuosly thinking to upgrade my hard disk with a Momentus XT 750 (ST750LX003), I've read a thread about it and I know is a different drive than the 500 gb version.
In the thread about the 500gb version of the Momentus XT (an infinite thread of 16 pages that I had the patience to read from the start to finish) users tell about incompatibility, noise and vibration problems.
Fixed I need a drive free of incompatibility issue, I know my hard disk is very silent and I like to work with a silent laptop.
Do you know if the recent Momentus XT 750 Gb is nearly silent like mine or, alternatively do you know a silent drive model with 750 Gb capacity and 7200 rpm (i know a 1 Tb 7200 rpm version doesn't exist).
P.S.: Like you, I like very much BMW!!!
Message was edited by: Gtgroove

Problems on MacBook Hard Disk

I have a problem of my MacBook. My Mac's hard disk free space is getting smaller and smaller, but i haven't saved new things, download stuffs nor upgrading any of my software. It seems that every time i switch it on and surf the net with safari or just switch it on and do nothing, the capacity of my hard disk will decrease. I have been seeking for help almost two weeks, it is really difficult to know what is going on to my MacBook. Help please.

Hey,
Did you manage to get an answer? Are you deleting internet temp files? Some time ago I had the same issue when I started using Veoh Web player.
It seems that software saved the downloaded video information and, of course, the free space began decreasing.
Not sure whether this answer may help you but, who knows? :-))
Kind regards

Options for hard disk upgrade on my MBP 15" (late 2007 - Santa Rosa)

I suspect this is a common question here in the discussions forum, judging by the similar questions posed by other members.
I am however, half-way into my research on hard disk options for that matter and would like to ask some specific questions in order to ensure that my upgrade is not problematic (I have been quite happy with my MBP so far :-))
The model I have is the A1226 (Intel Core Duo, 2.2Ghz, 4GBs. This currently has the 111.79GB Fujitsu MHW2120BH hard disk, which is almost full now; hence, the need for an upgrade.
I quite fancy the WD Scorpio Blacks, particularly the 500GB ones, even though the 320GB ones will also do to a lesser extent. My questions on this brand/type are:
(1) Will it have an impact on the heat generated inside the Macbook (vs. my current situation)?
(2) Will it have an impact in the battery consumption (vs. my current situation)?
(3) Will there be an issue with the SATA speed? My MBP supports 1.5GB/s while this drive operates at 3GB/s.
(4) If I opt for the respective model with the free fall sensor, will this function work with my MB? (NB: Not sure if relevant, but the System Profiler reports: Suddem Motion Sensor: State = Enabled)
My aim is to clean up my current disc, upgrade it to the new bigger one and then re-install Mac OS X Leopard, upgrade to Snow Leopard and then re-install all apps. All files are backed up anyway with TimeMachine, so no issue there. If you can think of any potential issue with the upgrade and what I intend to do further after, please share it.
The machine is out of warranty - but that doesn't mean that I want to cause damage here...
Thanks.

Nikos Lazaridis wrote:
(5) What other safe options are there for upgrade drives with a 500GB capacity?
For loading/unloading heads, I'm not sure one model/brand has been found to be better than another.
Can I avoid this problem if I get the Scorpio Black 500GB w/o the free fall sensor? (Model: WD5000BEKT on http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=854).
The SMS conflict, yes.
In such a case, will Apple's Sudden Motion Sensor work?
Yes.
Or to paraphrase, can SMS park the heads of a WD hard disk w/o the free fall sensor?
Yes, that is what it was developed for. Since that time, more and more HD manufacturers have incorporated it into the HD itself. There are two schools of thought on this: 1. The "SMS" built in to a HD is more properly "mated" to the HD mechanism itself, so could save a nanosecond or two engaging. 2. In the nanoseconds it takes to engage, a nanosecond here or there is not going to matter. Personally, I believe the latter. There is no need for an "SMS" enabled HD in an SMS enabled Mac. I'm sure some others believe differently.
(NB: Interesting that the issues with SMS and the WD Scorpio have been documented in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SuddenMotionSensor).
Ah, good old wiki. I hadn't seen that before. Thanks for sharing.
No mention there of whether it is applicable to the drives with the free fall sensor or the ones w/o it (or even both).
It actually does state it is in reference to the "aftermarket hard drives already equipped with anti-shock features." That writeup is dated however, as I believe there are more issues reported with Seagate these days.
Message was edited by: tjk

Hard Disk Upgrade on my 27-inch Late 2009 iMac 11,1

Hello Everyone,
I would like to upgrade the harddisk in my iMac from a Seagate 1TB model to a Seagate 2TB model.
I have read in the forums that for this particular model of the iMac, i have to ensure that i buy the same model of the hard disk as what came in my machine originally. So i have figured that part out. I am thinking of getting a 2.0TB Seagate Barracuda XT.
Am i expected to run into any problems post upgrade?
I read somewhere that Apple has done some firmware upgrade which pretty much limits user options for disk upgrades. Result being, your FAN goes mad and runs at rull speed and etc etc..
Any and every feedback is useful.
Thank you.
Regards,

No problem. I am not happy with this situation. This is an easy swap minus the Fan issues and I don't want to mess with the software solution.
I did call Mac Sales and their ACT was to order Part Number 922-8827 and attach it to the outside of the HDD and plug that into the logic board. This was said to be the most consistent method to getting a successful HDD swap without fan issues.
I am looking for that part. I will keep everyone up to date.
Btw, my iMac is the 11,3 2.93 GHz i7 27" (Mid-2010). It shipped with a Seagate HDD 7200.12.

MacBook hard disk failure - nothing retrievable

My MacBook fell off a guitar amp the weekend before last. It carried on working for the rest of the day without any problem, but after I shut it down, I was unable to boot it up again the following morning. It couldn't get beyond the grey screen and spinning wheel.
I took it to a Mac reseller/repairer who, after keeping it four days, reported that the hard disk was dead and because it was a mechanical failure, nothing was retrievable.
I've come home with a new hard disk fitted, but could really have done with retrieving some of my files from the old hard disk.
Does anyone know if this "nothing can be retrieved" diagnosis is correct?

You could put the bad drive in an external enclosure and then download Data Rescue II and see it it can find files to retrieve. If it can, then buy it for $95 (I think) and maybe you will retrieve everything you need. It worked for me on a drive that was otherwise un touchable.
The way I look at it is this; you will not be out a dime to try this procedure. The reason I say so, even though you have to buy an external enclosure, is that if you had already owned an external enclosure with a drive in it you would not have be in this predicament. You could have used it for an ongoing backup of your regular drive. So, if you were to buy one now, and also buy a good drive to put in it, you won't have this problem again. Otherwise you will likely experience it again some day as most people do experience a HD failure at some point,
Data Rescue II is free to try to see if it is going to work for you.

MacBook hard disk never stops

My MacBook (Late 2008, 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo) running OS X Lion (10.7.5) has a hard disk that will not stop running lately, even during sleep. I have a Time Capsule using Time Machine and have iCloud running with iPhone 5 and 2 iPads in the house. However, this has never been a problem before. When I have the MacBook running on battery in the house, the batteries even run down in less than 2 hours due to the hard disk and fan constantly running. Also, it seems to be affecting the speed of the wifi internet access and of the Time Machine backups. Any ideas please?

Or is Spotlight scaning the data on the disk?
Even it is doing the scaning, it could have been completed and stop. Have you tried to do the Restore for your iPod?

MacBook hard disk just died

Guess what? After suffering from the worst case of RSS, which led to two logic board replacements, after one palm rest, keyboard and trackpad area replacement due to discoloring, after all that suffering and lost time, after suffering from the huge quantities of heat produced by the MacBook which letd to a crack in the 100% wooden desk I put it on, I now, yes me, get a question marked folder when I start my macBook. Aparently the hard disk just died!
I tried everything, there's no way any application from the MacOS Disc 1 becomes aware of the hard disk's existance now, it's just gone forever.
It really makes one think about the quality of the parts used to make the MacBook and recent Apple hardware.
I know I'll go next week to the Apple rep to ask for the disk replacement that will take some time to get here (and surely they will send me the same 60Gb when they do send it) and then reinstall the whole thing.
I just wonder what will come off next??
Best,
Pedro
MacBook (Week 20, Replaced LogicBoard twice), White 1.83Ghz Core Duo, 2Gb Mac OS X (10.4.8) Also: PowerBook G4, Airport Express, iPod Nano

Yeah they will change it, but to my point again, what will come off then? and will it be on warranty when that happens? And what about my lost time, files, work, money, life?? —This is getting to my nerves the guys at the Apple shop are like: Hmm, here comes the MacBook guy again!?!?!
I didn't drop it, I treat it like it's my baby. It just died there sitting on the desk.
What kind of crappy hard drives are they putting in this machines, that last just seven months?
Is this the next RSS, behold the new HDDS (Hard Disk Dying Syndrome!)??
Best,
Pedro

Time Capsule Hard Disk Upgrade - how can I move old backup to new HD

Yesterday I bought a new 3TB hard disk to replace the old, internal time capsule 1TB hard disk. Then I placed the old one in a 3.5" USB case and tried to move the TM back-up from the old HD (now usb connected to the mac) to the new (now)-internal HD of the Time Capsule (connected with ethernet to the mac).
I'm using mavericks, and I followed this guide, but something went wrong and the migration stopped during the night, forcing me today to start a new backup from zero.
I deeply googled, looking for a guide that could explain how to complete the upgrade without a glitch, but there are infinite number of guide on how to change hard disk, while a totality of zero guides on how to complete the migration process after upgrading the internal HD.
Has someone succeeded in doing all the process?
System Information:
          • • OSX Version - 10.9.1          • • Type of Mac - MacMini mid-2011
          • • What's being backed-up - 501,74 GB
          • • Backup Location - Time Capsule - WiFi (usually - but Ethernet during migration process) - 2nd generation, Model A1302 1TB (now 3TB).
P.S. Do you have any suggestion for "Impossible to convert __. Installa newer version of iWork." It happens all the time i try to move Backups.backupdb from a USB HD to a new one (yes, I remove the check mark from "Ignore ownership on this volume").

I don't see anything you have done wrong.
The fact that it started to copy the file and you left it running is fine.
Where things go wrong from there is anyones guess.. did the computer just decide to go to sleep?? Have you turned off sleep and any auto shut down. That can affect copying of large files.
Did you verify the sparsebundle.. any error or corruption in the old sparsebundle could prevent it copying.
See A5 http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
It could be later firmware which IMHO is just not stable.. I would run no later than 7.6.1 in an old TC.
And of course Mavericks.. it uses an major change of networking protocol.. and so it could just decide in the middle of the night that the TC is no longer there.
forcing me today to start a new backup from zero.
Can I just say.. this is a better idea anyway.
Put the old disk in a draw.. and simply keep it for 6months and if you never need it by then .. you can wipe it and use it for something else. A clean fresh TM backup is far more likely to work properly in case you need to do a recovery especially if you upgrade installed Mavericks.

Hard Disk Upgrade - iMac 17" Flat Panel G4 1.0 GHz with USB 1.2

I’m considering upgrading the internal hard disk with the following:
[Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKB 500GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - OEM|http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136111]
I read that others have successfully installed 500GB IDE disks. I have a two related questions:
1. Do these larger disks cause any heat or power supply issues?
2. I've seen several take-apart instructions. It seems like there are subtle differences with the various Flat Panel models. Does anyone know which instructions apply specifically to my model (iMac 17" Flat Panel G4 1.0 GHz with USB 1.2)?
Any insight and/or experience on this topic would be greatly appreciated.

I have exactly the same question.
Thing is, having did a bit of research I read that USB 1.1 machines can't support anything more than 120GB?
http://www.macupgrades.co.uk/store/machine.php?name=imac-g4#int-hdd
"Compatible with the 1.25GHz model, and 1GHz iMacs with USB 2.0. It is not compatible with 1GHz iMacs without USB 2.0, or any slower models. Professional installation recommended."
http://www.macupgrades.co.uk/store/productinfo.php?productsid=71
"Be aware that many G4 PowerMacs have a 120GB capacity limit on the drives they can use, if you want to use a larger drive on these Macs we recommend adding a SATA controller card such as the Sonnet Tempo SATA PCI Card, and then using a SATA hard drive rather than an IDE one."
It wouldn't have to be this IBM model, in fact I like the sound of the Western Digital machines mentioned here, but I just wondered if anyone knew if the mac CAN support more than 120BG. I notice this company also state that it can't take more than 1GB RAM, but that's been proved wrong in other threads.
Thanks!

Hard Disk Upgrades on Satellite 2410

I know that I can just stick any drive that will fit in, but my question is:
Can I just use the recovery CD that came with my laptop to re-install windows XP onto the new hard disk, or do I have to get a seperate copy of XP?
The model of laptop is a Satellite 2410-something, and has 30Gb and I was thinking of going for a 80-100Gb disk.
Thanks in advance!

Hi James,
Your recovery CDs will work with whichever hard drive you choose to install.
With regard to your choice of drive please be careful with your choice of rotation speed. Your notebook has cooling only for the CPU heatsink so any extra heat generated by your hard drive will need to be able to dissipate naturally. The faster rotation speed on 5400 and 7200 RPM drives naturally generate more heat and this can cause problems for your notebook.
Obviously if you are not using disk intensive applications this can be lessened by allowing the hard drive to power down when not in use.
By the way I use a 5400RPM 80GB drive in my SA30 and the extra heat produced is only in evidence when I run a full virus/malware scan followed by a defrag and full image backup, and believe me the casing gets very hot indeed in the vicinity of the hard drive.
regards,

MacBook hard disk upgrade - any concern?

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