Macbook Pro Hard Drive - Replacement Won't Format

THB · THB #1 (**permalink**)

10-16-2010, 06:17 PM

Today I tried to upgrade my MacBook Pro (15", 2007 Core 2 Duo) hard drive and ran into a wrinkle. The replacement hard drive I'm using is:

Western Digital AV-25 WD5000BUDT 500GB 5400 RPM 32MB Cache
Newegg.com - Western Digital AV-25 WD5000BUDT 500GB 5400 RPM 32MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal AV Hard Drive -

The physical installation went fine, and the machine rebooted from my Leopard installation disk as expected. The problem started when trying to format the HD using Apple's disk utility. There are two problems here:

1) The utility recognizes the drive with the proper hardware name, but says it is a 3.6TB drive. Clearly this is wrong.

2) Every time I try to format the drive, I get an "input/output" error. This happens almost immediately when I hit the erase button. I've tried multiple partitions, different drive formats, mix/matched in every way I can think of and still get the same, immediate error.

Before I send this back for a replacement, I wanted to reach out for any suggestions you guys may have. I'm assuming this is either a busted drive, a poor connection (which I've checked and still gotten the same error), hardware incompatibility (will an AV drive not work in a laptop?), or something to do with the Advanced Formatting on this WD drive.

The last thing I want to do is send this back and have the same problem next week. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

-THB

harryb2448 · harryb2448 #2 (**permalink**)

10-16-2010, 07:07 PM

Have you set the drive up as GUID under Options in the Partition window and then tried formatting Mac OS Extended (Journalled)?

It is always possible the drive has failed even new out of the box.

THB · THB #3 (**permalink**)

10-16-2010, 07:27 PM

Yes, I selected the GUID option and still got the same error.

chscag · chscag #4 (**permalink**)

10-16-2010, 08:40 PM

@THB

Send it back. An AV drive is probably not compatible for use in your MacBook Pro. You bought the wrong drive. That drive is specifically designed to work with a DVR or other video surveillance equipment.

This is what you need. LINK

harryb2448 #2 (permalink)
Member Since: Nov 28, 2007 Location: Nambucca Heads Australia Posts: 14,065 Mac Specs: iMac i5 2.7GHz OS X.8.3	10-16-2010, 07:07 PM Have you set the drive up as GUID under Options in the Partition window and then tried formatting Mac OS Extended (Journalled)? It is always possible the drive has failed even new out of the box. Last edited by harryb2448; 10-16-2010 at 07:13 PM.
	QUOTE Thanks

chscag #4 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 23, 2008 Location: Fort Worth, Texas Posts: 31,974 Mac Specs: 21.5" iMac 2.5 GHz i5, iPad 3rd Gen., 3 iPods	10-16-2010, 08:40 PM @THB Send it back. An AV drive is probably not compatible for use in your MacBook Pro. You bought the wrong drive. That drive is specifically designed to work with a DVR or other video surveillance equipment. This is what you need. LINK Community Guidelines
	QUOTE Thanks

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Macbook Pro Hard Drive - Replacement Won't Format

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THB #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Oct 16, 2010 Posts: 2	10-16-2010, 06:17 PM Today I tried to upgrade my MacBook Pro (15", 2007 Core 2 Duo) hard drive and ran into a wrinkle. The replacement hard drive I'm using is: Western Digital AV-25 WD5000BUDT 500GB 5400 RPM 32MB Cache Newegg.com - Western Digital AV-25 WD5000BUDT 500GB 5400 RPM 32MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal AV Hard Drive - The physical installation went fine, and the machine rebooted from my Leopard installation disk as expected. The problem started when trying to format the HD using Apple's disk utility. There are two problems here: 1) The utility recognizes the drive with the proper hardware name, but says it is a 3.6TB drive. Clearly this is wrong. 2) Every time I try to format the drive, I get an "input/output" error. This happens almost immediately when I hit the erase button. I've tried multiple partitions, different drive formats, mix/matched in every way I can think of and still get the same, immediate error. Before I send this back for a replacement, I wanted to reach out for any suggestions you guys may have. I'm assuming this is either a busted drive, a poor connection (which I've checked and still gotten the same error), hardware incompatibility (will an AV drive not work in a laptop?), or something to do with the Advanced Formatting on this WD drive. The last thing I want to do is send this back and have the same problem next week. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks! -THB
	QUOTE Thanks

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