Mysterious HDD/SSD Problems

Hi Community,
I have a problem, I can't explain:
I have a 2009 unibody MacBook Pro (A1286). I have replaced my optical drive with the original HDD and installed a SSD in the HDD slot. Everything worked fine for half a year. Yesterday I wasn't able to start my Mac. The blinking folder with a question mark showed up. So I started the Mac with the C key and started the disc manager. Only the HDD was displayed. So I put the HDD in the first slot and the SSD in the second slot. The Mac started without any problems from the SSD and the HDD was also displayed in Finder. I could access the data from both the SSD and the HDD. I switched back to the old setup (SSD in slot one and HDD in slot two). When I wanted to start the Mac the blinking question mark folder shows up again. Also the SSD isn't displayed in the Disc Manager. How is that possible?
Thanks in advance!

2009 models are notorious for having bad SATA cables in the HD bay - sounds as if yours simply failed.
And I don't doubt that the SSD wouldn't show up when installed in the optical bay - some SATA connectors for the optibay just won't support a SSD.
I would suggest that you visit www.ifixt.com and search for the Apple part number for your main SATA cable. Armed with the part number you can probably find a replacement cable on eBay.
I'm 99% certain that there's a fault - just now failing - with the SATA cable.
Clinton

Similar Messages

Qosmio X770-13E - can I built it second internal HDD/SSD?

Hello from the snowy mountains of Savoy !
My computer is a Qosmio X770-13E.
I am disappointed because it runs very slowly (I have the "windows 7 explorer green bar problem" ...)
I have extended the RAM to 8 Go : no real speed change.
In this computer there is only one hard drive (750 Go, 5400 turns/minute).
The windows hard disk access evaluation is only 5.9 !
There is an empty place near the hard drive, so I wonder if it is possible or not to add a second internal hard drive or even a SSD.
I have searched for this in the user's manual : no answer !
And on the web, I have also found no answer.
Perhaps on this forum ?
Thanks, and excuse me for my "amateur english" (I am french !)
Jerome.

Generally speaking it is not easy to discuss about notebook performance. Every of us uses notebook with specific configuration and preinstalled applications that may run in the background and slow down notebooks reaction.
All I can say is that you should check OS configuration and disable some useless applications to start with Windows. Disable also automatic Windows update installation. This can also slow down notebook operations.
HDD/SSD
I dont have this Qosmio notebook but what will be interesting to know is follow: when you remove this cover and check empty place is HDD/SSD connector available or not?

Cant access to BIOS aftre HDD/SSD password!

Hello,
Today I set a HDD/SSD password to my Tecra A-11 (updated BIOS) and I am verry happy with that pas,but I cant enter to the BIOS after I enter my HDD/SSD passwor - I press F2,but the screen just go dark for a second or two and the system acts like just being restarted - starting Windows 7 Ultimate.
Please advice what have to be done so I can enter my BIOS again.
Thanks in advance

If it thinks it has a BIOS or HDD password, there's no way to remove that without servicing. It sounds like it likely got damaged in the drop.
- Peter

Can i use hdd + SSD in my macbook pro 2011 ?

can i use hdd + SSD in my macbook pro 2011 ?
cause i already had 750GB and now i am palnnin gto buy SSD to install my system on it and keep the 750Gb as a storge can i ?

Go see Bmer here
http://macosg.com/
He's knowledgable about exactly what your wanting to do.
Some drawbacks, you can't boot from any OS (OS X or Windows) installer disk from a external optical drive the Superdrive goes into when you install the kit.

How can reinstall hp software on new hdd ssd more small?

how can reinstall all software hp on new hdd ssd if the new hdd is more small and don 't can use hp recovery media or recovery dvd make with recovery manager?

When requesting assistance, please provide the complete model name and product number of the HP computer in question. HP/Compaq makes thousands of models of computers. Without this information it may be difficult or impossible to assist you in resolving your issue.
The above requested information can be found on the bottom of the computer, inside the battery compartment, or on the BIOS startup/setup screen. Please do not include the serial number. Please enter the model/product information into HP's Online Consumer Support page and post it here for our review.
If your computer came with Windows 8, it may be possible to install the SSD and run your HP Recovery Discs successfully. If successful, your SSD will be partitoned with an OS partition and other partition. If this doesn't work you may be able to download Windows 8 OEM and install that, however your computer will have no HP customization and you won't be able to install any HP value-added software.
If your computer came with Windows 7, it is unlikely that your will be able to run your HP Recovery Discs successfully on the SSD. You may be able to download and install Windows 7, however your computer will have no HP customization and you won't be able to install any HP value-added software.
In both cases you may be able to "clone" the factory hard drive to the SSD.
If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
Please click the white KUDOS star to show your appreciation
Frank
{------------ Please click the "White Kudos" Thumbs Up to say THANKS for helping.
Please click the "Accept As Solution" on my post, if my assistance has solved your issue. ------------V
This is a user supported forum. I am a volunteer and I don't work for HP.
HP 15t-j100 (on loan from HP)
HP 13 Split x2 (on loan from HP)
HP Slate8 Pro (on loan from HP)
HP a1632x - Windows 7, 4GB RAM, AMD Radeon HD 6450
HP p6130y - Windows 7, 8GB RAM, AMD Radeon HD 6450
HP p6320y - Windows 7, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GT 240
HP p7-1026 - Windows 7, 6GB RAM, AMD Radeon HD 6450
HP p6787c - Windows 7, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GT 240

Second HDD/SSD Bay

Does anyone know if HP offers an Optional Second HDD/SSD bay for the Elitebook 2560P? I would like to replace the DVD with a second hard drive.

rotoruda wrote:
Does anyone know if HP offers an Optional Second HDD/SSD bay for the Elitebook 2560P? I would like to replace the DVD with a second hard drive.
Hi,
There are plenty of them on ebay..
Dv6-7000 /Full HD/Core i5-3360M/GF 650M/Corsair 8GB/Intel 7260AC/Samsung Pro 256GB
Testing - HP 15-p000
HP Touchpad provided by HP
Currently on Debian Wheeze
*Please, help other users with the same issue by marking your solved topics as "Accept as Solution"*

Does Satellite P70-A-129 support the second HDD/SSD

I recently bought this model P70-A-129 from Greece, and i am wondering if it accepts a second HDD / SSD drive.
I opened the underneath cover and there is a second connector but i don't know if it is connected to the Main-board.
Can you assist me by telling me if this model can manage a second drive?
Thanks

Hi
Its easy to test this
You can try to connect the HDD placed in the first HDD bay to the 2nd HDD controller in the 2nd HDD bay. In case the BIOS would recognize the HDD properly, the upgrade should be possible.
Please check also this Toshiba Satellite P70 / Qosmio X70 HDD replacement procedure.
http://aps2.toshiba-tro.de/kb0/CRU3903II0000R01.htm
It shows you step by step instruction how to remove the HDD

IMac i7 SSD+HDD Boot Problem

I've just bought a 27" iMac with the SSD and 1TB drive. The problem is that when i boot the machine it asks if i want to from Macintosh HD or Recovery HD. Ideas? Thanks.

Boot from the Recovery artition & use Disk Utility from there to Repair the Disk, if that fails use the Recovery Partitionto Install the OS again.

[ThinkPad Edge S430 ] Problem between HDD, SSD, mSSD

Hello everyone, I wanna buy a S430 with 16GB mSSD.
I wanna ask, where is the windows installed? In the mSSD or HDD?
If it is installed in the mSSD, does it means that if I replace the HDD with a SSD, I will not lose the windows with lenovo features like EE3.0 but only the data stores in the pre-installed HDD?
Thanks a lot!!

Windows is installed on the HDD. The mSATA is used for caching purposes with software called ExpressCache. It makes the HDD performance faster.
If you intend to replace the HDD with SSD, then there is no purpose to buy the 16GB mSATA. The mSATA cache will not make a SSD faster.

New MBP and SSD problems?

Ok, so I installed an Intel SSD in my new MBP( I am eventually getting the MCE OptiBay to put my regular HDD back in. Here's the thing...Every time I run Boot Camp Assistant, and click to install Windows...it restarts...grey screen, then...flashing folder with question mark. Any ideas?? I've reinstalled OSX on this drive twice now. There seems to be nothing wrong with the drive because OSX installed and runs fine on it. What's going on? Do the new MBP's need a new Boot Camp update, or something?

Intel 2G SSD? Did you remove the 'mechanical' drive for now?
There were problems in the past with Intel and with 3rd party SSDs.
What I would like you to try doing is use the mechanical drive for now for OS X if possible, and disconnect it, and with just the SSD in there (pretty hard I guess???) forget using BCA, and boot Windows 7 DVD and have at it.
Firmware on Mac's, firmware on Intel SSD...
I assume holding Option/Alt on startup doesn't work either.
10.6.6 did a couple things, still no idea why:
Wants to download drivers to CD (broken);
Takes longer to boot back to OS X (no idea);
OS X reports to be running slower than before.
OS X still lacks TRIM for SSD and OS X suffers (still faster but not what it should be).
Oh, what version of Windows? you may need Windows 7, and if you bought it from school or electronic download, did you have to burn ISO to disc? That can act or behave in odd ways like this.

Mystery with SSD - How long will it work for?

This is weird. I am writing this on my new MBP, i7, early 2011, model 8,3. Last Saturday I installed an OWC 480 GB 6G Pro SSD in it and it worked grand, I built Lion onto it and used Migration Assistant to build my account. I used it that afternoon and evening and was delighted.
On Sunday it took an AGE to boot. It ran in fits and starts - stutters - and so I bought up Activity Monitor and set it to Disk Activity and then used DiskSpeedTest to keep on hammering the drive at full speed. About every minute the disk activity graph would flat-line and the system would freeze. CPU activity remained normal, the rest of the Activity Monitor screen updated, but nothing worked, spinning beachball and all was locked up. Then it would start up and run happily for a minute, two minutes, a few seconds, and repeat the process. Each time the disk activity would slam down to zero and if I tried anything the beachball would come up and nothing worked. Then - off it would go. But, even so, I could not use it.
I popped in the original HDD late Sunday and did another Migration Assistant run, and then simply used the machine normally. On Monday I called Apple and told then what was happening and they said bring it in to the geniae at a Macstore with the SSD inside, they want to see it. So on Tuesday, today, I reinstalled the SSD and let it run, noting that it seemed to be doing the flat-line less, and as the day wore on, less and less, until about three this afternoon it seemed solid. So I moved out my old MBP, did a targeted update using a FW 800 and brought over the files I had changed, then moved the new MBP with the SSD into prime position, and here it is working fine.
Why!?
Is it possible there is some sort of burn-in? Why is it working - and not suddenly like - but gradually? Any ideas?
I know time will tell but I need to decide if I should return this SSD and go with a SATA2 OWC SSD which I have read does not have any problem, but right now - whoopee, it is faster than blazes.
Does anyone have any experience with this stuff that might explain it or tell me if I am just waiting to get thoroughly burnt?
Thanks - Lawrence

I confess I am still puzzled by what is happening during this re-indexing of which you speak. I cannot see why this would cause the whole machine to come to a grinding halt for sometimes minutes at a time, and it has not been reported on the 13" or 15" machines on which the 6G SSDs work fine. Anyway, I have indeed left the machine on for a day and it has made no difference, it will lock up for anything from a second to a minute or two every - well - few seconds or minutes. Sometimes it goes for ten minutes with no problem, then it will have nothing but stutterings for ten minutes at a time.
I went to the local genius bar last night and they hemmed and hawed and went through the startup software. I told them the system had run fine with the identical software on the HDD it came with, and I told them that the drive worked fine in the eSata dock and that the 6G SDD is known to work in the 13" and 15" MBPs, but they would not own any problem. The said it could be the drive and they had no reported problems and it was not a drive they supported, he told me in fact this was the first system he had seen so equipped and he had never heard of a problem such as this. Bottom line is I need to get another drive and show it failing in my 17" MBP, then show the same drive working in a 15" or 13" - which is not going to happen for obvious reasons.
So I gave up this afternoon, this is not a battle I have the resources to win. OWC is a first rate company and made no bones about a return and full refund and I have a 3G SSD arriving tomorrow. This is still far ahead of the HDD in performance.
I could also return the MBP and wait for some unspecified time for a new model that has this problem fixed, but I think not. I shall no longer be the speediest bloke on the block, but I shall be pretty good. Although - wait - I SHALL be the speediest bloke on the block even so!
Thanks for your help. I will monitor OWC's site as they seem to be tracking the MBPs as they come out of Apple and we'll see what happens in the future. It may be there will be a fix I can implement and I can sell the 3G and go get another 6G. But probably not.
Cheers - Lawrence

SSD-problem with MacBook Pro 13" (Early 2011)

Hi there,
I've tried to use two different SSDs in my MacBook Pro 13" (early 2011). The first one (Samsung 840 Series, 500GB) crashed after two days: the beachball appeared and after a restart there was this question mark-symbol on my screen: no system found. Had to send this SSD back to Amazon. A few days later I've bought a new one, a SanDisk Extreme with 450GB. I've used it for two days, then my system crashed again and after a restart of my Mac I couldn't get any further than to the grey apple-symbol. Even the recovery partition didn't work anymore. Does anyone of you have the same problem with his (or her) MacBook Pro 13" (early 2011) - and any ideas for a solution?
Thanks for your answers!
Torsten

can you confirm if this is ok to buy:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/New-HDD-Hard-Drvie-Cable-for-13-MacBook-Pro-A1278-MD101-M D102-821-1480-A-2012-/181269577616?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a34823f90&_u h b=1
or
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/NEW-MacBook-Pro-Unibody-13-A1278-2012-md101-102-HDD-Hard- Drvie-Cable-821-1480-A-/121183868039?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c371f1487& _ uhb=1
or this one..??
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/for-APPLE-MacBook-Pro-13-A1278-HDD-Hard-Drvie-Cable-MD101 -MD102-821-1480-A-2012-/331060187298?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d14b990a2& _ uhb=1
i guess i aint gotta buy those brackets again..?
Thanks
Anjillan

UPGRADE PROBOOK 6470b HDD - SSD

Hello All,
Unfortunately I am getting persistent HDD problems/errors on my ProBook 6470b (warranty has expired).
I would like to replace the HDD with a SSD for better performance.
Now, although I have the experience and skills to carry out this procedure I would like some recommendations on a new SSD.
Basically, which SSDs will be compatible with the ProBook 6470b?
I have read that some are not recognised in the BIOS and some couldn't install an O/S.
Thank you in advance.

Samsung 840 Evo will work fine, as will the newer 850. Stay clear of the Crucial MX100 series. Other than that you can use just about any SSD on the market in the 2.5 inch SATA form factor.

Western Digital HDD spindown problem

Hy all!
I've got a Western Digital Scorpio Blue 250GB laptop hdd. I want to use it as a file storage drive, because i have an ssd in my system, for the OS.
My problem is, that i can't really set the spindown time to my drive. When i use hdparm -B 127 or less, my hdd spin down after 8 sec (the head parking time is also 8 sec for this drive btw), no matter what the value of the -S in hdparm. When I set the -B value more than 127, my hdd never spin down.
hdparm -I output:
/dev/sdb:
ATA device, with non-removable media
Model Number: WDC WD2500BEVS-75UST0
Serial Number: WD-WXE308EC0938
Firmware Revision: 01.01A01
Standards:
Supported: 8 7 6 5
Likely used: 8
Configuration:
Logical max current
cylinders 16383 16383
heads 16 16
sectors/track 63 63
CHS current addressable sectors: 16514064
LBA user addressable sectors: 268435455
LBA48 user addressable sectors: 488397168
Logical/Physical Sector size: 512 bytes
device size with M = 1024*1024: 238475 MBytes
device size with M = 1000*1000: 250059 MBytes (250 GB)
cache/buffer size = 8192 KBytes
Capabilities:
LBA, IORDY(can be disabled)
Queue depth: 32
Standby timer values: spec'd by Standard, with device specific minimum
R/W multiple sector transfer: Max = 16 Current = 8
Advanced power management level: 126
Recommended acoustic management value: 128, current value: 254
DMA: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2 udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 *udma5 udma6
Cycle time: min=120ns recommended=120ns
PIO: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
Cycle time: no flow control=120ns IORDY flow control=120ns
Commands/features:
Enabled Supported:
* SMART feature set
Security Mode feature set
* Power Management feature set
* Write cache
* Look-ahead
* Host Protected Area feature set
* WRITE_BUFFER command
* READ_BUFFER command
* NOP cmd
* DOWNLOAD_MICROCODE
* Advanced Power Management feature set
SET_MAX security extension
* Automatic Acoustic Management feature set
* 48-bit Address feature set
* Device Configuration Overlay feature set
* Mandatory FLUSH_CACHE
* FLUSH_CACHE_EXT
* SMART error logging
* SMART self-test
* General Purpose Logging feature set
* WRITE_{DMA|MULTIPLE}_FUA_EXT
* 64-bit World wide name
* IDLE_IMMEDIATE with UNLOAD
* Segmented DOWNLOAD_MICROCODE
* Gen1 signaling speed (1.5Gb/s)
* Native Command Queueing (NCQ)
* Host-initiated interface power management
* Phy event counters
DMA Setup Auto-Activate optimization
Device-initiated interface power management
* Software settings preservation
* SMART Command Transport (SCT) feature set
* SCT Read/Write Long (AC1), obsolete
* SCT Write Same (AC2)
* SCT Error Recovery Control (AC3)
* SCT Features Control (AC4)
* SCT Data Tables (AC5)
unknown 206[12] (vendor specific)
unknown 206[13] (vendor specific)
Security:
Master password revision code = 65534
supported
not enabled
not locked
frozen
not expired: security count
not supported: enhanced erase
88min for SECURITY ERASE UNIT.
Logical Unit WWN Device Identifier: 50014ee2014374d9
NAA : 5
IEEE OUI : 0014ee
Unique ID : 2014374d9
Checksum: correct
I really don't know what is the problem here, please help me.

DeadDingo wrote:
So you have a separate ssd and hdd? That the operating system chooses randomly? I am not sure what you mean. Give more info on your disk setup and I may be able to help you better.
We are using rc.local becauase the terminal commands won't stick between reboots.
Try the following line and then append this to your /etc/pm/sleep.d/50-hdparm_pm
#!/bin/sh
if [ -n "$1" ] && ([ "$1" = "resume" ] || [ "$1" = "thaw" ]); then
hdparm -B 127 /dev/disk/by-uuid/148a880c-b413-4748-b4a8-ddff5a9254d3 > /dev/null
fi
then
chmod +x /etc/pm/sleep.d/50-hdparm_pm
Hope that helps.
So, I have a laptop (Dell Inspiron 1525) with separate SSD and HDD.
SSD (OS) --->in the original hdd slot
HDD ---> in the ODD slot with caddy
Yes, the OS chooses randomly who become the sda and sdb, that's why i use uuid-s.
I know what is the rc.local, but i don't want to apply my changes every reboot yet, i'm just TESTING. Also, it's not important to keep my changes between sleep states yet because the same reason. I don't know why is this important right now.
Let's be my HDD the sda. I execute theese two commans by order:
sudo hdparm -B 127 /dev/sda
It's allow the spindown for the hdd, because the value less than 128. It seems it's working fine.
sudo hdparm -S 36 /dev/sda
It's set the spindown time to 36*5=180 sec, but in my case, no matter what the value is, the real spindown time is always 8 sec (if allowed by the hdparm -B). So this is my REAL problem.
R00KIE: Why the id better than uuid? I tought they're just symlinks.
Yesterday I tried with Fedora LiveUSB but the effect was just the same.
Last edited by dx21 (2013-01-29 14:31:41)

Z60T + INTEL SSD problem!

Hi,
I want to chance the old HAD from a Z60T to a Intel SSD.
Notebook type: 2511-EJG
SSD Model: SSDSA2M160G2GC
I had cloned the dates from the old HDD with Acronis True Image Home 2010 to the Intel SSD.
But after installing the SSD into the laptop the OS do not boot. I had contacted the lenovo telephone support but they can't help me to find the reason.
After checking some theadsof this forum I have the idée it can bee a problem with the SATA1/ SATA2 respectively 1.5 Gb/sec / 3 Gb/sec media transfer rat compatibility.
Is that the problem? And how can I fix it?
Tanks and sorry for my bad English skills. I hope you still understand me.

admindrey, welcome to the forum,
please try cloning again, but this time with the SSD inserted in the primary hdd slot in your Z60. The original drive in an usb external enclosure and boot from an Acronis rescue cd you can create with Acronis.
Let us know how you get on.
Andy ______________________________________
Please remember to come back and mark the post that you feel solved your question as the solution, it earns the member + points
Did you find a post helpfull? You can thank the member by clicking on the star to the left awarding them Kudos Please add your type, model number and OS to your signature, it helps to help you. Forum Search Option T430 2347-G7U W8 x64, Yoga 10 HD+, Tablet 1838-2BG, T61p 6460-67G W7 x64, T43p 2668-G2G XP, T23 2647-9LG XP, plus a few more. FYI Unsolicited Personal Messages will be ignored.
Deutsche Community Comunidad en Español English Community Русскоязычное Сообщество
PepperonI blog

Mysterious HDD/SSD Problems

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for