MBP Late-2011 hard drive not recognized

Okay, so last November 2012, not even a year after I bought my MBP, it just froze and wouldn't respond to anything. All it showed was the rainbow loading circle and the computer crashed. I brought it to the Apple store and the person behind the Genius bar said that it was a hard drive problem and he replaced it. However, ever since then, I noticed that my mac has been running very slow and programs would take a lot longer to load.
5 months later, my computer is having problems again and one time when I turned it on, it just showed a blinking folder with a question mark. I know this means it can't find the system software. I brought it to a friend and he tried to fix it first by using the OS X system software disc but that didn't work. Then he thought the problem was the hard drive cable so I bought a new one and when he replaced it, my hard drive still isn't recognized. At this point he thinks it's something with the logic board or something since nothing seems to be working. Right now, all I'm doing is connecting my hard drive to the USB and using booting from there. Everything else is working fine. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do? (btw, I don't have AppleCare)
Thanks.

The good news is that it is not the logic board, other wise the MBP would not function at all. The symptoms that you describe are a strong indication that the internal HDD connection is faulty.
As mentioned before, have the technicians at the genius bar look at it and if I am correct, they should be able to install a new cable and allow you to use the MBP with the HDD inside the MBP. This is not an expensive repair.
It is also possible that the replacement cable that was installed earlier was not done correctly.
Ciao.

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Hard Drive Not Recognized/Not Accessible

Hello,
i have a MBP late 2011, and the hard drive it initially came with, i'm using it as a 2nd drive, with the data doubler set up. My primary drive now is a Samsung SSD.
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@cmcleary ,
I have brought your issue to the attention of an appropriate team within HP. They will likely request information from you in order to look up your case details or product serial number. Please look for a private message from an identified HP contact. Additionally, keep in mind not to publicly post personal information (serial numbers and case details).
If you are unfamiliar with how the Forum's private message capability works, you can learn about that here.
Thank you for visiting the HP Support Forum.
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External USB Hard Drive not recognized on iMac HELP!!

I am currently using a i5 iMac running Lion 10.7.5
I have recently partitioned a Verbatim USB external hard drive and uploaded all my footage from a wedding. This was done with no problems and the QT videos could be opened from the hard drive.
A few weeks later, the hard drive does not show up in my finder. BUT it is recognized in disk utility. Here is a screen shot;
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Name : Hitachi HTS545032B9A300 Media
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          Partition Map Scheme :           Master Boot Record
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          Media Name :           Hitachi HTS545032B9A300 Media
          Media Type :           Generic
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          USB Serial Number :           091004B3066D
          Device Tree :           IODeviceTree:/PCI0@0/EHC2@1A,7
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          Ejectable :           Yes
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          Disk Number :           1
          Partition Number :           0
          S.M.A.R.T. Status :           Not Supported
Can someone give me a step by step on how to get the hard drive working again? It would mean the world to me as this footage is priceless and irreplaceable.
OR can you refer me to someone (Geek Squad? Apple Store?) that might be able to help me out?
Thanks in advance!

The error message invalid b-tree node size indicates that the directory on the disk is corrupt. The way that it can be repaired is to reformat as disk utiltiy says.
It is recommended that the data be backed up first before either of this solution are done.
Since it is not be recognized by the sytem at all it does sound like you can back it up now.
Do you have a backup?
If you don't there is every chance you may lose all your data.
You can check to see if a data recovery service can recover any data for you. If you go that route you are looking at spending $$$$
Allan

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Hi @jasmine00
Welcome to the HP Support Forums.
I certainly understand your issue with the drive upgrade. Unfortunately it is a bit of the nature of notebooks, the sacrifice of a large amount of upgradeability, in exchange for compactness and portability. Whenever a new technology comes out, older notebooks are never really going to be easy to upgrade, it at all. Normally the unit as a whole is tested with a set list of hardware, and only those items are supported.
That being said there is this document that could be helpful with your problem.
Preparing Advanced Format hard drives for Microsoft Windows installations on HP Business Notebook PC...
And for your reference:
HP Pavilion dv6000 Notebook PC Maintenance and Service Guide
Malygris1
I work on behalf of HP
Please click Accept as Solution if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
Click Kudos Thumbs Up on the right to say “Thanks” for helping!

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Hey guys,
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Your response is not 100% clear to me.
Have you actually installed the WD and Seagate HDDs in the MBP or just connected them while in an external enclosure?
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Have you tried to put in the original Installation disk and has the original HHD been recognized and/or one of the other HDDs in an enclosure been recognized?
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Hard drive not recognized after a brand new replacement put in 2 weeks ago!

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Hi MBPrunner;
It appears you have the misfortune of infant mortality whereby a bring new part fails in a short period of time. This does happen. I have seen it numerous time in my years of server support at IBM. My suggestion is take it back it back to Apple with all of your paperwork. They should make good on it.
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External Hard Drive not recognized.

Hello everyone,
I have a probem where my external hard drive is not being recognized by my late 2009 iMac.
The hard drive is an OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro connected to the firewire port.
It was working fine till this happenend:
I keep all of my iTuned music on the external hard drive.
I was using a meta tag fixer type program.
I dragged the files from itunes into this program (Tune Up) to fix the meta tags.
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Thanks!

I had the exact same problem! I had to force shut down my iMac (24in, Mid 2007) due to a system freeze. After restarting, everything was working fine, except for my external 1GB G-Drive, which was connected through FW800 port.
The drive connected fine to my MacBook Pro, but it would not be recognized by my iMac. I tried restarting, but neither Disk Utility, nor System profiler would see the drive.
What worked though, was Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC):
1.          Shut down the computer.
2.          Unplug the computer's power cord.
3.          Wait fifteen seconds.
4.          Attach the computer's power cord.
5.          Wait five seconds, then press the power button to turn on the computer.
The drive mounts fine now. I am surprised this is not mentioned by Apple in their support documents! It has happened twice to me and it was the only thing worked both times. The link for the resetting the SMC is here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
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HELP!
guys, i badly need your help. i've been searching all over the internet and reading so many user groups already to search for answers to no avail.
I bought a new Western Digital 160GB Scorpio SATA hard drive. I wanted to upgrade my Macbook which only has 80GB as of now.
I cannot seem to install Mac OS X on it. Here's the problem:
1. it is recognized as "Media" with 0 bytes capacity which I am really surprised why it's like that
2. PARTITION: partition fails and i receive an error message saying that the "Device is not configured"
3. ERASING: i also tried erasing it but it also fails; the message reads "The selected disk does not have enough capacity"
i really don't know what seems to be the problem. i can't use it, can't even format it, not partition it.
so now it's just sitting on my desk, useless. i want to use it badly though.
can someone help me please? thanks.

Hi Paoj
You don't say if you have found that the new HD is Fat32 or not, so I will proceed assuming that it is FAT32. I will also proceed on the basis that there was nothing on the new drive already that you needed to keep or can't download.
1) Open Disk Utility.
2) Select your External Drive from the list presented
3) Select the 'ERASE' tab then the "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" option in the 'Volume Format:' box. In the box below, give the drive a name if you want to.
No need to bother with the 'Options' button etc.
4) Select "ERASE'
This should rewrite your new drive in HFS+ (Journaled) format.
Assuming the above has worked for you -
The next step is optional, but careful consideration is recommended at this point in time because one can't change one's mind, say, months later.
1) Still in Disk Utility, select the 'PARTITION' tab.
2) Under 'Volume Scheme:" choose however many partitions (extra hard drives) you consider appropriate.
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MBP Late 2008 Hard Drive Questions

Hi,
I have used PC most of my life and have used Mac OS when related to graphics and video, i find both to have their own benefits. I finally bought my first mac, it got delivered yesterday, the macbook pro late 2008, i got it on a good sale which however limited me to get the 320GB 5400rpm model, and i actually was aiming to get 320GB 7200rpm model. Now that i have this laptop, i wanted to install a new 320GB 7200 rpm hard drive since this laptop model allows you to do that yourself without voiding the warranty. In order to do so, i got this and plan to use my current 5400 rpm drive as a USB:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Hitachi/DIY0A57547F8/
first of all, as someone new to mac, and even though i have been super impressed by the quality of this product, my first disappointment is the fact that apple offers you to easily replace the hard disk in the mbp but does not sell the hard disk at the apple store or on phone, or allow you to bring the laptop in for HD replacement, and expects you to fill this nice beautiful laptop with third party products, (i wanted a hard disk with the an apple sticker on it just like my current one has - i know its a Hitachi... but apple has the thick black apple sticker on it!! ), i was on phone with apple for 30 mins and they eventually couldn't sell it to me after being confused about it, all they could offer me was a replacement laptop with a 10% restocking fee charge (approx $250). i contacted a mac authorized service center and they quoted me "$332" for that hard disk from apple (Hitachi 7k320), its at $95 (and a -$20 rebate) at buy.com - without the apple sticker, same model.
now that disappointment aside, i am still optimistic with my choice and have the following questions, please correct me if any of my understanding anywhere in this post is incorrect:
1. when i install my new hard disk, what type of disk formatting should i use? - i want to be able to boot from windows xp x64 professional, i will be using it almost as much as i will use mac osx (for graphics n video), since i want to be able to run some particular PC applications on full speed that i constantly use and also play some PC games (i know many people here may argue that i dont need windows at all, however i assure you i have some good necessity for it ). Will the Mac OS Extended (Journaled) formatting allow me to boot from xp later? any tips related to this area?
2. There are 2 ways to install my new hard disk.
Route 1: http://eshop.macsales.com/techcenter/techtips/sparedrive.cfm
Route 2 (considering since my mbp is new and fresh out of the box 1 day ago): http://eshop.macsales.com/techcenter/index.cfm?page=/manuals/mac/clondata.html
which one would you recommend?
3. Once i have the hitachi 7k320 installed, and the 5400rpm that came with the product removed, should i expect any different or limited service/warranty from apple care? if anything ever goes wrong in the mbp (except the hard disk), i can send it to apple with the replaced hard disk in it and it will all be acceptable and OK, right?
4. Has anyone here installed a Hitachi 7k320 drive in a MBP Late 2008? if yes, were there any sort of noise/vibration issues after installation?
5. What brand would you prefer for an internal drive for the MBP Late 2008? it originally comes with a Hitachi.

1. Prep the new drive as follows:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger or Leopard.)
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one (1.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
7. After formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Complete your OS X installation. You can restore other pre-bundled software using the Install Pre-bundled Software installer that is on the OS X Installer Disc One.
In order to install Windows you will need to use Boot Camp Assistant in the Utilities folder to create the Windows partition on your hard drive and assist with the installation. You can install the 32-bit version of XP w/SP2 or SP3 or Vista 32-bit or 64-bit. Windows drivers are included on your OS X Installer Disc One and should be installed after you boot into Windows.
If you must use the 64-bit version of XP you cannot use Boot Camp, but you could use VM software such as Parallels or VM Fusion. See the following:
Windows on Intel Macs
There are presently several alternatives for running Windows on Intel Macs.
1. Install the Apple Boot Camp software. Purchase Windows XP w/Service Pak 2 or Vista. Follow instructions in the Boot Camp documentation on installation of Boot Camp, creating Driver CD, and installing Windows. Boot Camp enables you to boot the computer into OS X or Windows.
2. Parallels Desktop for Mac and Windows XP, Vista Business, or Vista Ultimate. Parallels is software virtualization that enables running Windows concurrently with OS X.
3. VM Fusionand Windows XP, Vista Business, or Vista Ultimate. VM Fusion is software virtualization that enables running Windows concurrently with OS X.
4. CrossOver which enables running many Windows applications without having to install Windows. The Windows applications can run concurrently with OS X.
5. VirtualBox is a new Open Source freeware virtual machine such as VM Fusion and Parallels that was developed by Solaris. It is not yet fully developed for the Mac - some features are not yet implemented - but it does work otherwise.
6. Last is Q. Q is a freeware emulator that is compatible with Intel Macs. It is much slower than the virtualization software, Parallels and VM Fusion.
Note that Parallels and VM Fusion can also run other operating systems such as Linux, Unix, OS/2, Solaris, etc. There are performance differences between dual-boot systems and virtualization. The latter tend to be a little slower (not much) and do not provide the video performance of the dual-boot system.
See MacTech.com's Virtualization Benchmarking for comparisons of Boot Camp, Parallels, and VM Fusion.
Boot Camp is only available with Leopard. The Boot Camp Beta that was used with Tiger has expired and is no longer available for use. So contrary to the other poster's comment, Boot Camp isn't truly "free." You must purchase Leopard to get it.
As for warranty if you read yours you will find the caveat that if you perform a DIY replacement your warranty is not affected unless you cause consequential damage in which case the warranty will not cover that damage.
I have installed several Hitachi drives in my laptops, but not the current model. I've no complaints.

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Attachments:
USB-NotRecognized.jpg ‏28 KB

External hard drive not recognized on new macbook

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The hard drive will not show up on the sidebar or desktop unless Finder preferences are set to do that:
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External Hard Drive Not Recognized In Vista?

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I am new to mac but also have fusion. I have the western digital ext hard drive and a back up genie to back up my fusion pc side and a seperate simpletech 1 tb ext hard drive configured for my mac. I also have a shared drive that i can save from side to side. With all this said i sometimes have the issue of not recognizing the western digital in my fusion pc side. Then all of sudden hours or a day later it will be there. It is not formatted for mac. Help, how do i get it recognized all the time.

Macbook Pro 13" Late 2011 hard drive fails, how to replace hard drive?

Hi!
I have a Macbook Pro 13" Late 2011 (OS X Mountain Lion v 1.3.18 (352.4). I tried to install OS X Mavericks but it showed this error message:
"This disk has S.M.A.R.T. errors. This disk has a hardware problem that can't be repaired. Back up as soon much data as possible and replace the disk."
The laptop was still doing fine so I didn't do anything. Then it started to act funny: iPhoto stopped working, hangs when I watch video streaming, and it started to run really slow. I only use the laptop's basic features- internet, watching movies, editing using iMovies so it's really strange for me that the hard drive failed all of a sudden.
I called Apple support and a kind fellow tried to troubleshoot it, thinking it was only a software problem. In the end, he said I need to bring my macbook to the service center and have the hard drive replaced. I know it will cost a lot so I want to replace the it myself.
Here are my questions:
1) Can this problem really be solved by just replacing the hard drive?
2) Can I use SSD this time so my Macbook can run faster?
3) What SSD is recommended for my late 2011 Macbook 13"?
4) I don't have the installation disk, can I still install the OS X Mountain Lion? How?
I am looking for other sites as well but I hope this community could share some tips too.
Thanks a lot!

I've switched out the hard drive on my Late 2011 model several times and I've never disconnected the battery cable.
In my "Opinion" it is not necessary to do that. Not sure if it is or not recommended by Apple.
EDIT:
I just looked at my User Manual, PDF I downloaded from Apple, and there is no mention of disconnecting the battery.
Here's a link to the manual for my model.
http://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000/MA1602/en_US/macbook_pro_15inch_late_ 2011.pdf

MBP Late-2011 hard drive not recognized

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