internal hard drive problem

HI, I have recently upgraded my MBP's (2.4 GH core 2 duo, 2007) internal hard drive into bigger, faster one by myself. However, after installation, the hard driver is not being recognized at all, although I can sense it is spinning. When I put the original hard drive back in, it did not get recognized either. However, both of them work fine as an external source through firewire or e-SATA. Apple technician at the repair depot said that I needed to replace the hard drive because their hard drive worked during the diagnosis, which does not make sense to me. No damages on SATA cables or etc have been made; in fact the Apple technician did not even notice that I opened the laptop myself. Any idea? Many thanks.

It sounds like you have a hardware problem. It's very possible that when you removed the original defective drive or while you were installing the new one, something was damaged. If you're not careful, it's very easy to damage a connector or even dislodge a cable.

I'm sure you're aware that Apple does NOT recommend swapping the hard drive on a MacBook Pro as a do it yourself item since the drive is difficult to get at. You now might have to take your machine on in to Apple and let them repair it. ($$$)

Regards.

Thanks for your reply.. but in fact that's what I have done already (taking to Apple repair) and as I wrote in the original post, Apple said they were able to get their drive work, so there shouldn't be any cable damage etc.. But my original internal drive, let alone the new upgrade, does not work anymore as an internal.

sukimosu said:

Thanks for your reply.. but in fact that's what I have done already (taking to Apple repair) and as I wrote in the original post, Apple said they were able to get their drive work, so there shouldn't be any cable damage etc.. But my original internal drive, let alone the new upgrade, does not work anymore as an internal.

Click to expand...

Something's not right here. If you brought the machine in to Apple to have it looked at, why didn't you have them swap the drive? You say they used their drive and it worked...? If the new drive and the original are not working, then obviously something is wrong either with both drives or the way you've installed them.

I'm sorry if I'm not understanding your post correctly, but about the only thing I can suggest is to take the machine back to Apple again and have them install the drive for you.

Regards.

hard drive not seen after updrade

I am having the exact same issue. After upgrading attempt from Seagate 80GB drive to 500GB Seagate drive on Macbook Pro Core Due 1.83GHZ the original drive is no longer recognized internally but can used extetnally and can boot from the drive it connected using an external drive enclosure and usb connection. I updated to the latest firmware as it appeared there was a fix for this problem but it has not helped. I have ordered OSX 10.5 cd's to see if i can reinstall osx. I was using Super-Duper to clone the drive when all this trouble happened.
I would think Apple knows something of this if I have the exact same issue

I found the fix. Format the hard drive, here's how.

I was having the same problem. The drive is brand new.

The issue for me was that the drive hadn't been formatted yet, so before I could load OSX to the new drive, I had to insert the OSX disc, hit utilities/disc utility, and select the hard drive and then "erase". This formats the disc in Mac Extended Format. I named the drive, and in about 3 minutes, the process completed. I reattempted loading OSX and, magic! The hard drive appeared.

I found this source very helpful after pulling all my hair out. Upgrade Your MacBook Pro's Hard Drive - Finishing Up - How To by ExtremeTech.