11-30-2010, 02:19 AM

Hi everyone. I'm new here and this is my first post. I've been using my MacBook 13.3 1.83 ghz intel core duo mac for about three years now and love it. Lately I've been interested in some of the other cool Mac stuff like AirTunes and Time Capsule, but haven't moved in that direction yet. After last week, the Time Capsule would have saved me big headaches had I not procrastinated.

Here's my story:

Several weeks ago my wife bought me a new ipod Touch to replace my recently dead ipod mini that had lasted for years. I found I couldn't use it without upgrading itunes; and I couldn't do that until I upgraded my OS. I thought I'd better back everything up before I installed Snow Leopard, just to be safe. I couldn't make the free trial of Carbonite work, and found that many of the Mac-compatible external drives required a newer OS than what I have. Catch 22 and I did nothing for too long.

Last week I was browsing the Internet when my computer froze. When it looked like nothing was going to work, I held the power button and restarted it. It didn't start and instead gave me the file folder with the question mark on a grey screen. After some research, I gathered that I needed a new hard drive. My original 80gb drive seemed to be toast (it was close to full), and I noticed a faint clicking throughout the process of trying to revive things. I figured I'd save the old drive and try to recover the data someday when I got smart enough to do it, or could afford to have it done, and for now I just needed a working computer and ordered a Seagate Momentus 320gb 5400rpm bare drive and put it in.

Using the OSX disc that came with my computer (10.4), I couldn't make the installer find the hard drive. Disk Utility only showed the DVD and didn't give me a choice to format or partition or erase the new drive. And here I sit...

Am I missing something obvious? Does anyone have any suggestions? Why can't my new hard drive be seen? Also, should I go straight to my new $29 Snow leopard OS upgrade instead of messing with the OS disc that came with the computer? is this where I should start? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

11-30-2010, 03:10 AM

You need to format the drive before installing OSX on it.

Boot from your disc.

Select ‘Use English for the main language.' ..when this option appears, then click the arrow button.

After selecting language....Select 'Disk Utility' from the Utilities menu.

Your new hard drive should be showing in the left column of disk utility. Select it there.

Choose the "erase" tab.

In the Volume Format drop-down menu, select "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)"

Name the Drive

You can choose "don't erase data" It will speed up the process and there is no data there to erase anyway.

Confirm the erase

Now you can go back to the initial install screen and install OSX on your new disk.

11-30-2010, 08:02 AM

You might check the jumpers on the drive - momentus install pdf

11-30-2010, 05:04 PM

Brairden has it right, you're doing fine. Pop the disc in and boot holding C, then Utilities> Disk Utility - you'll be able to format it.

I have no idea what he's talking about with the "don't erase data" box, since "formatting" a drive 0s out (erases) all of the data. That's what formatting it is, that and giving it the correct hierarchies and such. It won't take more than 5 seconds anyway, so just format it to OS X Extended (Journaled) and go from there. You could also just use a new snow leopard disc and use that, if you were upgrading to SL anyway. Save yourself some time!

11-30-2010, 06:37 PM

And from what you describe the HDD may well be on the way out. Try booting from your operating system disc, and go to Utilities in the Menu Bar and select Disk utility and run Repair Disk from there and see what is reported.

12-01-2010, 01:14 AM

Originally Posted by brairden

You need to format the drive before installing OSX on it.

Boot from your disc.

Select ‘Use English for the main language.' ..when this option appears, then click the arrow button.

After selecting language....Select 'Disk Utility' from the Utilities menu.

Your new hard drive should be showing in the left column of disk utility. Select it there...

Here's where I'm losing it. The only thing showing up in the left pane is

MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-857
Mac OS X Install DVD

Where do I trouble shoot now? I guess it's some sort of a physical thing with the HD, right?

12-01-2010, 02:37 AM

Originally Posted by coop923

Here's where I'm losing it. The only thing showing up in the left pane is

MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-857
Mac OS X Install DVD

Where do I trouble shoot now? I guess it's some sort of a physical thing with the HD, right?

I just read your first post. You should have been able to "see" the new hard drive when it was connected regardless if it was formatted or not.

Open your MacBook back up and slide the new Seagate drive out. Look to see if the rubber insulator guides (there are two) on the sides of the cavity where the hard drive fits are in place. If those guides have moved out of place or are missing, the drive will not work (it will misalign to the connector) and Disk Utility will fail to see it. (you may need a flashlight to look inside the cavity)

If the guides are in place and appear to be OK, it's possible the connector that the drive fits to is damaged or the ribbon cable from the connector to the logic board is bad. The HD ribbon cables are very fragile and over time may dry out and split because of the heat build up.

12-01-2010, 02:38 AM

Woo hoo! Looks like I got it figured out! Rookie move: Rubber HD bumper came loose and was preventing the HD from seating properly. Hard drive showed up in Disk utilities like brairden said it would, I followed your instructions, and it looks like I'll be up and running in "about 28 minutes". Thanks to all of you for your help.
-Mark

12-01-2010, 02:40 AM

Looks like I was right about the rubber guides. Glad you got it figured out by yourself. You missed my first post by one minute.

12-01-2010, 02:44 AM

Originally Posted by chscag

I just read your first post. You should have been able to "see" the new hard drive when it was connected regardless if it was formatted or not.

Open your MacBook back up and slide the new Seagate drive out. Look to see if the rubber insulator guides (there are two) on the sides of the cavity where the hard drive fits are in place. If those guides have moved out of place or are missing, the drive will not work (it will misalign to the connector) and Disk Utility will fail to see it. (you may need a flashlight to look inside the cavity)

If the guides are in place and appear to be OK, it's possible the connector that the drive fits to is damaged or the ribbon cable from the connector to the logic board is bad. The HD ribbon cables are very fragile and over time may dry out and split because of the heat build up.

Wow! you called it exactly! Bumper pulled out and one of the little flat springs was pulled out of the recession that keeps it lined up right. It's a tricky look with a flashlight; had to use a dental mirror Thanks again!

12-01-2010, 02:45 AM

-and again! Guess I need to learn to type faster!