Unable to install OSX 10.6.2 on Seagate ST9500421AS

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Hi Guys,

I have just bought my first mac, a 15" Macbook Pro, i originally ordered the base model 15" with a 500gb 7200 HDD but because i customised the machine apple wanted 2 weeks to deliver it, it was a replacement for a failed laptop so this was unacceptable, after i discovered that apple class the RAM & HDD as user serviceable i decided to just go to our local PC World and buy the base model and install the upgraded drive myself, oh how i am beginning to regret that..

I have over 10 years experience building, upgrading & creating software for PCs for a living so i thought how hard can it be?

I bought a Seagate ST9500421AS, whipped off the case and replaced the drive, booted off the OSX CD and partitioned the drive with the disk utility and began the install, the first time it took about 2 hours to get about half way it said 24 mins remaining for most the way through the install.

The second time i re-formatted the drive and it got to about 20% and said 28 mins, i left it overnight (about 7 hours) and it was still the same in the morning, i put the old drive back in and used SuperDuper! to clone the drive and booted off the new drive (back in the machine), i attempted to install Office 2008 and it started out saying 30 mins remaining, the whole machine crashed after about 10 mins, all i got was a pinwheel and no mater what app i clicked it didn't bring it into focus or change the menu bar title, i powered off the machine (held down the power key)...

I tried again with pretty much the same result, i put the old drive back in and office installed in about 4 mins.. so something definitely not compatible, any ideas??

Please can someone tell me which 500gb 7200rpm drive apple use in the 15" MBP?

Also do apple use their own special firmware in the drive?

Excuse the long post..

Dean.
 

bobtomay

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Your Mac's Specs
15" MBP '06 2.33 C2D 4GB 10.7; 13" MBA '14 1.8 i7 8GB 10.11; 21" iMac '13 2.9 i5 8GB 10.11; 6S
Shouldn't be any issue with that Seagate drive. No, there is no special firmware that allows a drive to work on a Mac vs anyother PC.

Either the drive is bad or it's not set to GUID partition type. (Or possibly not good connections when the drive was installed.)

Try re-booting with your disc again - in Disk Utilties on the Partition tab - hit the Options button at the bottom and select GUID and reformat making sure to use Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
 
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Hi Guys,

Yes its formatted as GUID and Mac OS Extended (Journaled), and i double checked the connections after seeing a post that said exactly that...

Can i install onto the drive in a usb enclosure to try again, i really dont want to have to take out the 16 screws and put em all back again...

Also i noticed that the drive incorporates hardware based Full Disk Encryption, could this have something to do with it?

The drive info is here: Seagate ST9500421AS

Thanks for the pointers so far..

D.
 

CrimsonRequiem


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Your Mac's Specs
MBP 2.3 Ghz 4GB RAM 860 GB SSD, iMac 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 32GB RAM, Fusion Drive 1TB
Sounds like you got a bad HDD, I wouldn't even deal with anymore. Send it back and get your money back or ask for a replacement.
 

bobtomay

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Yes, I would say the security scheme of the drive is the issue.

Per it's documents, it requires a system BIOS that supports ATA security commands.

As a hardware based full disc encryption drive, it only works with a BIOS that supports it's use.


(Sorry, didn't even think of that or look up your drive. We only see about 1 post a year with someone trying to use a hardware based encryption drive. While there may be some, have not seen any of these that will work on a Mac.)
 
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My thoughts exactly, I called Lambda-tek and they said because I've opened the drive and it's technically not faulty they won't take it back at all, pretty much what I expected, I've ordered the ST9500420ASG which I thought was an older model hence why I ordered the ST9500421AS :(

it'll be Monday before it arrives, I'll let you guys know the outcome...

D.
 
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Back to my old 2.2GHz C2D MB after selling my MBP and wondering what my next Mac will be :)
If you only just purchased it, I'd contact them again, trying to speak to someone of higher ranking in the company.
Failing resolution, I'd contact consumer affairs in your area and seek advice.
Regardless of the no refund, no return, no exchange policies that different companies and retailers may try to imply, they are bound by trades practices acts and consumer protection laws.
 
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Its not so bad, my business partners laptop only has an 80gb hard drive which is always full so its in there, otherwise i'd have just put it on eBay.

I think for your consumer rights to apply it has to be in "resaleable" condition, it arrived in a sealed anti static bag, once its been opened and used, its no longer new, i think its probably a bit of a grey area.

The ST9500420ASG has been dispatched for delivery on Monday so hopefully that drive should work without any issues.

D.
 

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