Questions regarding hard disk replacement in MacBook Pro Early 2008 Edition

Hello -
You folks probably get this a lot but I have a MacBook Pro Early 2008 edition and would like to upgrade the base 200 GB 5400 RPM drive to a Seagate Momentus 7200.4 drive. I have a few questions regarding this, and would appreciate any feedback.
1) Does anybody know if installing a new hard drive in a MacBook Pro would cause the warranty to be invalidated? I don't believe a hard drive is considered a user replaceable part, at least from what I read, and I would like to know if replacing it myself would void AppleCare.
2) Does anybody have any experience with the Segate Montentus 7200.4? I'm interested in how reliable the drive is and how much heat it generates. I've quickly discovered that I can use my MacBook Pro as an oven in tight spots and would like to prevent it from cooking its own internals.
3 random) Does anybody know at what temperature the system actually overheats? I'm seeing 171 F and this is with smcFanControl turned up to the Higher RPM mode. I'm a little nervous when I'm running WoW and the system is averaging above 170 with smcFanControl totally cranked up to 6000 rpm.
Thanks everyone!

Thanks for that. I've had mixed results with both Seagate and WD, but less issues historically with WD. My experience with IBM/Hitachi makes is nearly impossible to recommend their products, so based on what I'm seeing the Western Digital Scorpio Black looks like the best bet. Do you happen to know if Apple will do hardware installations outside of warranty repair scenario's? Ripping open my only notebook to perform "involved" hardware maintenance is not something I'd prefer to do, even with my technical background.

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Stop the beeps with the 7200 rpm hard disks of the MacBook Pro

http://www.hardmac.com/news/2009/07/13/stop-the-beeps-with-the-7200-rpm-hard-dis ks-of-the-macbook-pro
Stop the beeps with the 7200 rpm hard disks of the MacBook Pro
from HardMac.com by [email protected] (Lionel)
At the beginning of week, we have spoken about the unpleasant beeps made by the 7200 rpm hard drive proposed as an option in the MacBook Pro 2009.
A solution has been found, the details are given by Rémy.
These tedious beeps occur when the disc is inactive and are caused by a system
to reposition the play-back head carried out in a repetitive way.
In addition to the beeps of the hard drive, Mac OS X displays the pretty multicoloured wheel during some seconds while waiting for hard drive to finish these loadings and unloadings of the play-back head.
The solution comes with a utility of the name hdapm (for Hard Disk Advanced Power Management) which makes it possible to change the level of energy management (APM) of the hard drive.
Hdapm can be downloaded from : http://mckinlay.net.nz/hdapm; hdapm being a command line utility, it is thus necessary to use the Terminal (which is in /Applications/Utilitaires).
After copying hdapm into your user file, the command to enter is:
sudo ~/hdapm disk0 max
disk0 corresponds to the disc to regulate knowing that hdapm should function with any ATA disk supporting APM
max is the level of APM which is a number ranging between 1 and 254 included
the word following are preset and can used in the place a number for the level of APM
max (maximum performance) is the parameter to use to eliminate the “beeps”.
min (maximum economy of energy)
default (returns to the default setting)
The level of APM is a temporary adjustment in the firmware of the hard drive, this adjustment is lost when the disk is powered down and it is thus necessary to redo this at each for each start up.
To install hdapm so it is launched at each start-up, it is necessary to copy hdapm to the hard drive (/usr/local/bin is advised) and to copy the file hdapm.plist in /Library/LaunchDaemons.
It will be can be necessary to you to edit hdapm.plist with the desired parameters; the default settings are: the repertory where hdapm is /usr/local/bin, the hard drive is regulated on the first (disk0) and the level of APM is the maximum.
You can simply copy the file hdapm into /usr/local/bin file if you want to avoid modifying Plist.
Simplest way to reach these files is to use the Go/go to the file and to copy/paste this address before validating.

Yeah, I don't buy that. I spoke with Seagate a couple of months ago when I was looking for the impossible to find 500 GB 7200 RPM HD and asked them that very thing. They told me it would work fine, but I should disable SMS. Apple told me the same thing. I ultimately waited and got a non G-Force model, but Seagate told me it would work.
I also don't believe that they'd OEM the drive to Apple knowing it wouldn't work. That makes absolutely no sense. If Seagate knew the G-Force drive would not function properly in an Apple MacBook/MacBook Pro, and they OEM'd it to Apple for that purpose anyway, what does that say about Seagate?
I admit it's odd that the used the G-Force model given the presence of SMS, but apparently Seagate has prioritized the manufacturing of the G-Force drives and probably offered it to Apple.

Where could I buy a new hard disk for my macbook pro 15''(MB986CH/A)

Does anyone know where I could buy a new hard disk for my macbook pro 15''(MB986CH/A) (mid 2009)? The hard drives sold in Apple Store are not for macbook pro... Thanks a lot!

At one time Apple use to put an Apple firmware on the drives installed into Mac computer. That is not the case anymore. And even if they did that firmware was just to indentify the drive as an Apple drive. Those same drives would work in any computer and any drive would work in a Mac computer. Same is true today. There are NO Apple Mac drives. Apple uses the exact same drives as any other computer.
Apple uses the exact same hardware as all other computers. Same CPU, GPU, RAM, Drives, DVD drives you name it, it is the same as any PC.
Good Luck but just because you go to a Mac-centric store doesn't mean it is any different then what you would buy some place else, other then it may cost more from one of those Mac-centric places.
Joan_hk wrote:
Thanks. According to my previous experience with an old white macbook, there might exist some compatibility problems for the hardware I bought from computer parts store...That's why I want to find an official retail store or reseller.... Thanks anyway!

Can I upgrade hard disk storage of Macbook pro retina 15inch 2013 late after purchasing?

Can I upgrade hard disk storage of Macbook pro retina 15inch 2013 late after purchasing?
I currently have 256GB.

Actually you can:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/SSDAP12R480/
But installing this will void your warranty!
Ciao.

Does replacing the hard drive in a MacBook Pro early 2011 void AppleCare?

Does replacing the hard drive in a MacBook Pro early 2011, as described in the manual, void AppleCare?

here's one of the provisions....
Warrantors cannot require that only branded parts be used with the product in order to retain the warranty.[2] This is commonly referred to as the "tie-in sales" provisions,[3] and is frequently mentioned in the context of third-party computer parts, such as memory and hard drives.

I need to install on macbook pro (early 2008) one hard disk 1 TB. Is it possible? What kind of HD is it better?

I need to replace the HD of my macbook pro (early 2008) with another one with 1 TB storage capability. Is it possible? What kind of HD is it better?
Thanks
Enrico

Take a look at what is offered by Mac specialists, such as OWC http://www.macsales.com and see what drives they handle. Their drives are all guaranteed to be compatible with Macs. And they have on-line videos that show how to do the installation.
Even if there are problems getting them to deliver where you live, you can get ideas of what works well with your system.

My Macbook pro Early 2008 is randomly slow at starting up and when I am backing up to my time capsule I am receiving the following message 'Time machine could not complete the backup. '' ''The backup disk image ''/Volumes/name time capsule/ my name MacBoo

My Macbook pro Early 2008 is randomly slow at starting up and when I am backing up to my time capsule I am receiving the following message 'Time machine could not complete the backup. '' ''The backup disk image ''/Volumes/name time capsule/ my name MacBook Pro (4).sparsebundle'' could not be accessed (error-1).
Problem started after deleting parrell desktop and window7 ?
Please help?

Look at the more like this column on the right.. this is the most frequently asked question in this discussion area.
Reboot the TC.. restart the whole network if the simple reboot did not work.. start in order. modem.. router/TC.. clients. 2min gap.
Read C12 here. http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

Replace internal hd macbook pro early 2008

is there a video showing how to replace internal hd macbook pro early 2008?
Thank you.

Try this support article > How to Troubleshoot iSight

Won't power up -- 17" MacBook Pro Early 2008 2.5GHz MB166LL/A MacBookPro4,1 Apple Model #A1261

I have a 17" MacBook Pro Early 2008 2.5GHz MB166LL/A MacBookPro4,1 Apple Model #A1261. I bought this used last year, and installed one of OWC's 1TB 2.5" Hybrid HD/SSD drives in it last January. No problems whatsoever until the past 2 weeks, when I started having intermittent black screens (NOT display sleep) -- sometimes the black screen would disappear by itself, sometimes I had to (Power button) shut down, and when I restarted, everything was OK. Until yesterday.
First let me note that, because I usually use the MacBook Pro in the same area in my house, I usually leave it plugged into the MagSafe power cube, and often just close the lid and put it to sleep, instead of going through start-up every time I need to access it. BTW, battery (NuPower) shows 5 solid green dots and does not seem to be a problem
Night before last, I shut down the MB Pro, and closed the lid. Yesterday, I opened up the MB Pro, and hit the power button. All I got was a brief, non-pulsing white light on the display-locking/“sleep light” button, and a sort of graunchy whisper from what sounded to me like the optical drive, NO screen activity whatsoever, and the “sleep light” went out within 3 or 4 seconds. Could hear NO HD spin-up sounds.
Tried everything I knew (not much), including disconnecting the MagSafe charger and removing the battery completely, letting it sit a few minutes, replacing battery and charger, and powering up. Same nothing, just another very brief whisper of activity from the optical drive. Being something of an “I’ll try anything, no matter how dumb it seems” idiot, I put a known, working, burned data CD-R in the optical drive. Removed the charger and battery again, waited, put everything back in. Tried to power up. Still nothing, same brief whisper from the optical drive, but the MB Pro would STILL not start up, the CD-R wouldn’t spin up OR eject, and I heard nothing from the hard drive, even with my ear ON the metal right over the drive.
My next “don’t-really-want-to-do-it” step is to remove the 1TB drive, replace it with the original 250GB drive, see if that works, and, as I have a “Newer Technology” Voyager S3 bare drive (works with both 2.5” and 3.5”) USB dock connected to my main Mac (a mid-2011 iMac, 2.7GHz Core i5, OS X 10.9.3), I’ll try using that to check the hybrid drive.
I’ve been a Mac-only user since 1989, and somehow this doesn’t seem like a drive problem. I’ve tried every OS X keyboard shortcut on the “OS X keyboard shortcuts” page, and the “sleep light” always comes on for a couple seconds, then goes out, the screen never even shows a flicker of life, and the HD NEVER spins up.
Can the forum please clue me in with any tricks I haven’t tried yet?
Thanks
Bart Brown

Thanks for the quick response. However, none of the following have worked:
Have you tried SMC and PRAM resets?
As usual, "sleep" light briefly illuminated -- 2-4 seconds -- then went out. No startup, no chime(s), no screen, no keyboard illumination, no HD spin-up.
Also try an Apple Hardware Test.
Same as above. Nada. "Mac NoteBook and Desktop computers shipping with OS X 10.7 or later have a partition on the hard drive or flash storage that contains AHT" -- since I can't get the drive to spin up, I can't access that partition... or anything else.
You may need the #2 installation disk.
Well, there I have TWO problems:
One is that I bought this MBPro on eBay, and received no disks -- it came with OS X 10.9.x installed (and is now at OS X 10.9.3). Is there any way to get “retail” install disks that will work with this MacBook Pro?
Second is that there's a data CD in the optical drive. Because the MBPro won't boot, I can't get the data CD out even if I had the 2nd Install DVD. Any way I can get this data CD out -- hatpin, barbecue skewer, fencing foil, sledgehammer?
I talked with OWC, from whom I bought the hybrid Seagate HDD/SSD 1TB drive last November. We tried a few ideas he had — mostly the same as those suggested by “Oglethorpe” (no relation to “Ogie” Oglethorpe in “Slapshot,” I hope!) — none of which worked, as I’ve already indicated above.
My last-ditch effort-of-desperation is to remove the hybrid Seagate HDD/SSD 1TB drive, and put in the original 250GB drive (never throw away a good drive!), and see if the MBPro returns from the dead. I will also put the hybrid Seagate HDD/SSD 1TB bare drive into my Newer Technologies Voyager S3 bare-drive dock, which takes 2.5” and 3.5” drives, and see if there’s a problem with the hybrid Seagate HDD/SSD 1TB drive. While no longer under warranty with OWC/MacSales, it IS still under a 2-year warranty with Seagate.
Any other suggestions gladly entertained.
Thanks again.
Bart Brown

Macbook Pro Early (2008) will not turn on!

I have same problem with my macbook pro early (2008)
I think is unfair to have this problems in the "perfect world notebook"
I hope you can help me on this
Regars,
Carlos.
---- MrAngel Discussion-----
Ok. It looks like does not matter what model is but anyway here is my specs:
Macbook Pro 15'
Model: A1260,
2.5 Ghz Core2Duo/2Gb/512 Mb Vram/250 GB 540RPM
I would like you review the following posts:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=10071744&#10071744
My macbook pro won't turn on. I press the power button and the little light on the bottom goes white only while I hold it down, the second i don't it goes off. When I do hold it down for a few seconds first it will be solid for like 3 seconds then start flickering
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=10115278&#10115278
When i tried to turn on my mbp today it only turned on for like a second and then shuts off. The light on the front turns on and the battery is fully charged, but it just turns off in a second
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=10285598&#10285598
Hi, I have an Early 2008 Macbook Pro and I used it this morning but two hours later, I found it off. When I push the power button, the white light briefly comes on but it doesn't sound like it's starting up. When I hold the power button down, the white light comes on solid for about 5 seconds, then flashes rapidly. During this time I can hear the DVD drive and other components kick on, but once the rapid flashing stops, all power is lost again
The problem: Mac will not turn on.
1. If I hit the power button it is trying to start working (white light is blinking, HDD rotating, CD noise and so on), but gets shutdown as soon as I release my finger from the power button.
2. The maximum "Working" time is about 5 secs. During this time fans are working, white light is lighting, HDD working, CD does its usual noise. At the last two seconds white light starts flickering.
3. If I remove all memory slots it is working as usual!!!, I mean working without pressing a powerbutton constantly... and asking for a memory of course.
How it happened: well, it is usual thing then you are in hurry. Accidentally I hit restart. I didnt want mac to load again, so I did a force shutdown (5 secs an a power button). Thats it.
What I tried to do: I did all those "shaman" hotkeys to restart SMC. I spent a day!!! by driving around my city and asking Apple providers to fix it with no luck.
What I am planing to do:
1. I have an Apple service center here in the Tallinn who are ready to do some diagnostics. The only thing is - I dont trust them my HDD. So I am gonna clone my hard drive data somethere before they get my mac in their hands.
2. As soon as diagnistics is done I will get a price offer to fix it. It definitely wont be a cheap, since my mac is year and two months old (funny, two months and you are screwed).
3. If it will be too expencive I gonna do DIY repair.
What I would like to say to the Apple: please investigate that problem. The motherboard is definitely working. I can not fix it myself with no necessary equipments here, so I have to do expensive motherboard logic purchase.
Aleks

since my mac is year and two months old (funny, two months and you are screwed).
Not if you had of purchased Apple Care. You would have been covered for 3 years.
What I would like to say to the Apple:
This is not the place as Apple does not come to these forums.
These are user-to-user forums where everyday folk post "technical" questions and offer answers to each other voluntarily. No one here works for Apple nor does Apple get involved in responding. Not even sure if they "lurk."
"Say" it here -
Product Feedback

Skin for macbook pro early 2008

hi everybody
quick question.
i would like to buy a hard case shell or skins for my macbook pro early 2008. but i cannot find anything like this anymore on the internet.
does somebody know a company (best here in the UK) who sales them??
thank you for your help
deepmaster1

Why? That Mac is now 4 years old.
No I'm not from the UK so I don't know of any that Sales them.

Macbook pro early 2008 freezing only in OSX

Hi everyone,
My macbook pro early 2008 (last model before the unibodies), 2.4 Ghz, 4Gb, 8600GT freezes only in OSX.
I'm typing this message right now on the same computer, but on windows 7, bootcamp.
Whenever I boot up OSX the system freezes every few seconds for a minute, only to resume work a few seconds before freezing again.
I know it isn´t a harware fault, since I can still boot up in windows 7 and use the snow leopard CD, which brings me to the next point.
I´ve allready used the disk verifty (which pointed out errors) and the disk repair (which was succesful).
I´ve also verified permissions and repaired them successfully.
What I´ve also done is turn off the sudden motion sensor.
The last thing I´ve tried is running the software update, making sure the system is up to date.
The battery is a few months old (new one) and the power cable works as well.
All of which did not work. I really don´t want to do a complete disk wipe since the backing up is horrendous.
I´ve read a lot on the subject, but since I don´t use an external monitor or have the unibody one the supposed solutions do not apply to me.
Thanks for you help!

Thonz wrote:
No other replies than the standard ones? This cannot be an uncommon problem I'm facing.
Please help me out!
You have already tried the "standard" troubleshooting solutions. Most times an issue cannot be diagnosed unless the computer is physically examined by a repair tech.
How large is your hard drive and how much hard drive space do you have left? Not enough space can cause the issues you are having as well as a failing hard drive -
Common symptoms of a dying hard drive are the following:
Hard drive is making a clicking, whirring, grinding, ping pong ball noise or any other type of unusual noises.
Hard drive is not spinning.
Computer is not recognizing the hard drive.
Sluggish loading of applications.
System freezes and hangs.
If you have Apple Care, give them a call. Otherwise, take the computer to an Apple store or an AASP for a proper diagnoses.

My Macbook Pro (early 2008) won't boot, then booted, now won't boot again.

Hey all,
Summary:
My GF's Macbook Pro (Early 2008, non-unibody I believe) "died" earlier this year without notice or a cause for why, then it worked months later, then it didn't again.
Symptoms:
It stopped booting, with the only signs of life are:
The annoying boot sound that you hear right-away, like a winding sound. "Weeeeah woooo"
A fan turns on immediately after the sound.
The front light (on the open button) is solid.
The battery will light up and show how much juice is left.
The only thing to do from here is to hold down the power for 10 seconds.
Don't worry, my story gets more interesting...
Now, I had another computer and my GF didn't need her macbook seriously for a while, so I didn't research the problem or how to fix it, until last week. Perusing the various help forums and communities, I came across the reset SMC suggestion, so I decided to try a few things on Apple's SMC reset page.
I tried a couple things, including taking the battery out, and LOW AND BEHOLD: IT CAME ON, like nothing happened! The screen was fine, the performance was fine, it updated (to the new Safari and iTunes, as an example) fine, and it restarted fine multiple times. One of the main reasons I wanted to get it working was to save some family pictures we had saved, so I started uploading the images to an image cloud site. I'm sending them at full-res so it takes a while and I go to sleep around 2 am so I'm not too late into the office in the morn. When I wake up, I go to check the image upload progress and the laptop is Off. I figure it just went into standby after finishing, so I hit the power button...
And it doesn't boot again. It's back to the same issue as before. I try doing what I did last time, then resetting the SMC, but nothing has worked this time.
Any ideas? It's out of warranty of course, which is why I'm here.
Thanks in advance!

Since no one else is answering, I’ll jump in.
Your story is interesting indeed. I’m not sure I can help you fix the Mac but it sounds like there is a reasonable chance of recovering the data.
I assume it came with installation disks. Will it boot from them? If so run Disk Utility from there and try to repair the system disk.
For the hardware problems on your Mac it is time to take it to Genius Bar at an Apple store for a free diagnosis and estimate of repairs.
Genius reservation http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/ .
It could be your disk failing but it sounds more like flakey electronics in the system. Let’s assume is is the system board until a Genius tells you otherwise. If so, you can simply put the working system disk in an external enclosure, mount that on your other Mac and copy the data. Here is a source for the inexpensive hardware you would need:
Toolkit: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TOOLKITMHD/
SATA enclosure: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/ES2.5BPU2W/
There are multiple directions to go from here. Let me know what happens when you try theses first options.

Black Screen on MacBook Pro Early 2008

Hey guys,
i have a problem. My MacBook Pro Early 2008 doesnt boot anymore. If i press the power button the screen remains black and the hdd spins a few seconds and you can hear the superdrive make a short noise. But nothing more happens.
I know from the nVidia 8600m GT issue and i even have the modelnumber A1260 but the apple reseller told me that if there comes no start sound , it is not that problem. My question is: is it possible that the (probably) defect 8600m gt chip on my logicboard has caused a defect of the whole logicboard ? I heard from a guy whos board was repaired for free but its PowerManagment Unit on the logicboard was defect but the Technical guy told him , that it was caused by the nvdia chip and so it was repaired for free. How can i find out if my chip was the reason for the defect ?
Iam not a native speaker and i hope you can understand what iam trying to say iam happy for every correction and help.
greets
max

"How can i find out if my chip was the reason for the defect ?"
By having it examined by a certified Apple technician. If necessary, show the tech the KB Article: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377 MacBook Pro: Distorted video or no video issues
"apple reseller told me that if there comes *no start sound* , it is not that problem."
You do not have a start sound?
Have you tried starting up from your install DVD?
If you have AppleCare, strongly suggest that you contact them first.
!http://i45.tinypic.com/jl0z95.jpg!

Macbook Pro Early 2008 running slow, hot even with upgrades - what to do?

Hello!
Specs:
I have a Macbook Pro Early 2008 (Model A1260). I have upgraded both the RAM (from 2GB to 4GB DDR2 667) and the HDD (from the factory installed 200GB 5400 to a 750GB 5400).
Previous to this, I was running Leopard, and upgraded to Snow Leopard then Lion as my specs match the requirements. On the old/original HDD and RAM, All was good for about 3 months, and in the past month or two, I began to have performance issues, so after trying everything (including a clean wipe & reinstall using Lion Recovery) and doing a lot of reading in these forums and others, I decided/hoped the problem would be remedied with some upgrades (hence the new HDD & RAM upgrades).
This has helped to the point where I can now run safari without having to force reload or having the whole computer freeze (although that has now happened once), but I wasn't even able to load a youtube video.
CPU Usage:
I checked the activity monitor and I'm getting a pretty constant CPU usage of about 50% (even with no other apps running):
(The above is with just Safari, Dropbox, smcFanControl & Activity monitor)
My fans are engaged constantly (smcFanControl has my computer at 75º-80ºC at any given time that it's on).
The CPU usage & temps seems high - but I am not sure haven't found very good answers online.
Things I've Tried (Post RAM & HDD Upgrades):
I tried to perform a hardware test (holding D before the gray screen) - and both times I tried it, it did not work, as in Lion just loaded as normal.
Ran repair permissions - and some things were repaired.
Tried to run Verify Disk - no dice - the computer froze and I had to use the power button to shut it off & restart
Reset the SMC per apple support instructions - had no effect on the fans or heat (though I'm still not sure if this is a real problem or not!)
What I'm looking for :
Any ideas on what could be going on - is this just par for the course on older models running lion, or is there something more to be done?
I am really hoping to squeeze a few more years of service out of this machine! Thanks for any advice you can give me!

Incase you are using your MBP like a laptop (which it is NOT)...................
According to the user manual it states in part:
"Do not operate your MacBook Pro on a pillow or other soft material, as the material can block the airflow vents. Never place anything over the keyboard when operating your MacBook Pro. Never push objects into the ventilation openings."
MacBook Pro: Care, Use, and Safety Information
"Do not place your MacBook Pro on your lap or other body surface for extended periods of time. Prolonged body contact can cause discomfort and potentially a burn."

Questions regarding hard disk replacement in MacBook Pro Early 2008 Edition

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