Help Please! Replaced Hard Drive - Computer Won't Turn On

Hi there, I'm hoping to get some advice on how to proceed. I have searched threads however have not been able to find this exact scenario. Please bear with the long story! Thanks!

I got my 13" refurbished macbook in December of 2006 and have loved it ever since.

About 6 months ago, my startup disk got so full that it would not boot anymore. I would turn it on and get a blue screen with a file and a ? in the middle of the screen. I was told this was because the startup disk was full.

I took it to the Apple store and they told me I'd have to replace my hard drive or recover the old one. It was going to be too expensive to pay someone to do it so I left it and have been using my desktop ever since.

I pulled out my old hard drive (60Gb) using this guide and purchased the BlacX SATA drive to download all my old information on to my desktop.

Well now I'm getting around to replacing the hard drive in my macbook. I just purchased a 320Gb SATA hard drive and the brand is WD. I got the Torx T8 screwdriver and uninstalled/installed everything myself using this guide. I was so excited to have everything installed myself and then it turns out that my battery is completely dead! So I ended up purchasing a replacement battery online and I installed it and it works!

I borrowed the Leopard OSX install disc from a friend. I planned on turning on my macbook with the new hard drive and new battery and getting some sort of screen telling me to insert the install disc, but I get NOTHING. Just a black screen, my computer won't turn on.

Could I have installed the hard drive incorrectly? Doesn't it only go in one way? Do I need to replace my RAM? Do I need to take it to the local store here called Connecting Point and just pay someone to fix it? I'm getting really frustrated at this point...

Thanks to anyone who can help!!!

Veronica

I hope I posted this in the appropriate forum... This is a hard drive issue more than an OS install issue... Thanks in advance for any help!

I borrowed the Leopard OSX install disc from a friend. I planned on turning on my macbook with the new hard drive and new battery and getting some sort of screen telling me to insert the install disc, but I get NOTHING. Just a black screen, my computer won't turn on.

Click to expand...

OS X install disks are specific for each model of Mac unless the disk you borrowed was a black retail disk. If you borrowed a disk specific for another model Mac (gray - silver in color) it won't work on yours.

Check the install disk and be sure to buy your own. OS X is licensed to be installed on only one Mac unless the family pack was purchased.

Regards.

Are you sure you installed the hard drive correctly? I agree with Chscag about the Leopard DVD, but the screen should still light up. Have you tried going back in and checking to be sure the cable is plugged in correctly and did not get pinched or something like that?

If you do get it to light you will need either the DVD that came with your Macbook or a black retail install DVD.

I'm trying to understand why you would need a Torx #8 to change the HD on a Macbook. The original (pre-unibody) class of Macbooks barely required a phillips, much less a Torx.

I was hoping for responses that would be able to help me diagnose my problem or at least narrow it down. Does anyone have any ideas?

chscag said:

OS X install disks are specific for each model of Mac unless the disk you borrowed was a black retail disk. If you borrowed a disk specific for another model Mac (gray - silver in color) it won't work on yours.

Check the install disk and be sure to buy your own. OS X is licensed to be installed on only one Mac unless the family pack was purchased.

Regards.

Click to expand...

I did borrow the black disc. He used to work at the apple store and when I asked him for help, this was the disc he provided me. I haven't even been able to put the disc in yet since the computer won't turn on.

dtravis7 said:

Are you sure you installed the hard drive correctly? I agree with Chscag about the Leopard DVD, but the screen should still light up. Have you tried going back in and checking to be sure the cable is plugged in correctly and did not get pinched or something like that?

If you do get it to light you will need either the DVD that came with your Macbook or a black retail install DVD.

Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply. I did take everything out and put it back in again, with the same result. The only thing I can think of is the L shaped plate that screws back in which covers the HD and the RAM... the padding stuff on the back of the L shaped piece that goes in front of the RAM (sorry this is as technical as I get lol) doesn't fit back in all the way but it's still screwed in place.

chas_m said:

I'm trying to understand why you would need a Torx #8 to change the HD on a Macbook. The original (pre-unibody) class of Macbooks barely required a phillips, much less a Torx.

Click to expand...

The T8 screwdriver was the tool that was necessary to take the silver plate (not sure the proper name for it) off of the old hard drive and put it onto the new hard drive. Nothing else would fit properly. Not sure how this relates to my issue though.



Does anyone have any ideas of what it could be, or do I just need to pay someone to fix it? Thanks in advance..

As dtravis7 pointed out, the machine should at least turn on and the screen light up even if the HDD was inserted the wrong way. There's something else amiss here.

According to the way I understood your first post, after you changed the battery and before swapping the hard drive, the machine booted and worked OK? Can you confirm that?

And that it was only after you swapped the old hard drive with the new one that the machine won't turn on?

Let us know.

Regards.

chscag said:

As dtravis7 pointed out, the machine should at least turn on and the screen light up even if the HDD was inserted the wrong way. There's something else amiss here.

According to the way I understood your first post, after you changed the battery and before swapping the hard drive, the machine booted and worked OK? Can you confirm that?

And that it was only after you swapped the old hard drive with the new one that the machine won't turn on?

Let us know.

Regards.

Click to expand...

Thank you for you quick reply.

The way things happened is:
1. Hard drive failed so I swapped hard drive first (but it has been 6 months)
2. Hard drive installed, won't turn on, diagnosed as dead battery (since I haven't used this computer in 6+ months)
3. Installed new battery, battery has charge, screen still black, therefore haven't been able to insert install disc yet.

Hope this helps some!

Edit: The last time the machine turned on was 6 months ago before I took out the hard drive. I took the hard drive out about 4 or 5 months ago so it hasn't turned on since then.

Did the screen light with the old drive installed? Do you still have the old hard drive?

OK, thanks for posting back. I think what we may have here is either a power adapter failure, bad battery, or possibly the input DC board. If I remember correctly, you purchased the machine refurbished in Dec 2006 so it's almost 4 years old.

See if you can borrow another AC adapter so we can eliminate that as the culprit. If the battery was an exact replacement and was fully charged, the machine should at least turn on. I always get a bit concerned about replacement batteries for Apple notebooks. Many replacement batteries sold on eBay or by other on line merchants are usually inferior to the original Apple supplied battery and may not work as they're supposed to.

I'm not saying you bought an inferior battery, however, it's something to take into consideration. I mentioned the DC input power board. If that's somehow defective, the machine will not turn on. I'm beginning to suspect that the hard drive you installed is OK and that the problem is somehow related to the input power.

Let us know.

Regards.

dtravis7 said:

Did the screen light with the old drive installed? Do you still have the old hard drive?

Click to expand...

Yes, when the old hard drive was installed, I got a light blue screen with a picture of a file folder with a question mark.

Yes, I still have the old hard drive. It has been uninstalled for about 5 months now, since I tried using the BlacX to recover my old files.

chscag said:

OK, thanks for posting back. I think what we may have here is either a power adapter failure, bad battery, or possibly the input DC board. If I remember correctly, you purchased the machine refurbished in Dec 2006 so it's almost 4 years old.

See if you can borrow another AC adapter so we can eliminate that as the culprit. If the battery was an exact replacement and was fully charged, the machine should at least turn on. I always get a bit concerned about replacement batteries for Apple notebooks. Many replacement batteries sold on eBay or by other on line merchants are usually inferior to the original Apple supplied battery and may not work as they're supposed to.

I'm not saying you bought an inferior battery, however, it's something to take into consideration. I mentioned the DC input power board. If that's somehow defective, the machine will not turn on. I'm beginning to suspect that the hard drive you installed is OK and that the problem is somehow related to the input power.

Let us know.

Regards.

Click to expand...

Yes I did purchase the battery from a 3rd party source - from Buy.com - Computers, Electronics, Digital Cameras, Books, DVDs, Music, Games, Software, Toys, Sports since it was significantly less expensive. It lights up like it is charged so I am assuming it is working properly.

I guess the only other thing I can do is meet with my friend who has the same laptop and try using her battery and her AC adapter? Then, if I'm having the same issue... it is most likely the DC input power board?

Thanks again for the responses!

Yes I did purchase the battery from a 3rd party source - from Buy.com - Computers, Electronics, Digital Cameras, Books, DVDs, Music, Games, Software, Toys, Sports since it was significantly less expensive. It lights up like it is charged so I am assuming it is working properly.

I guess the only other thing I can do is meet with my friend who has the same laptop and try using her battery and her AC adapter? Then, if I'm having the same issue... it is most likely the DC input power board?

Click to expand...

That's a good idea. Also, if your friend is willing, you might try to attach your machine to hers in what's called "Target Disk Mode". That would be from firewire port to firewire port. Read this Apple KB article to learn how. LINK Of course, your machine will have to be able to turn on first.

Something else you could try.... remove the hard drive you replaced and see if the machine will turn on without any hard drive installed. Hopefully your DC input board is OK.

Regards.

chscag said:

Something else you could try.... remove the hard drive you replaced and see if the machine will turn on without any hard drive installed. Hopefully your DC input board is OK.

Click to expand...

So what you're saying here is that if my machine turns on without any hard drive installed... the DC input board is OK, and then I will need to look for a different source for my problem?

caribbeanblue said:

So what you're saying here is that if my machine turns on without any hard drive installed... the DC input board is OK, and then I will need to look for a different source for my problem?

Click to expand...

Yes. Let us know.

BTW, swapping out the hard drive in your model MB is really very easy. Not much can go wrong, but you know Murphy's Law.... ;D

Regards.

Sigh. Maybe I should just buy a new one

I will report back once I have done some experimentation! Thanks again!