New HDD only bootable via USB

Hey guys, my apologies if this was posted already, but I can't find anything with a search on here or google.

I just upgraded my HDD with a 1TB SSHD. I confirmed it was bootable after cloning the HD in Disk Utilities. I was able to boot from the device via USB. However, when I moved the new drive into the internal slot, it wasn't recognized.

Fearful that I'd busted the delicate SATA cable, I quickly replaced the drive with the old drive and it booted right up. I swapped them back and forth several times, but the new drive only every showed up as bootable if it was plugged into the USB slot.

Did I do something wrong? Help!

Fearful that I'd busted the delicate SATA cable, I quickly replaced the drive with the old drive and it booted right up. I swapped them back and forth several times, but the new drive only every showed up as bootable if it was plugged into the USB slot.

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You didn't mention the drive make and model, however, we had someone else not too long ago who ran into the same exact problem as you're having. His SSD booted from USB but not when installed. It was resolved by exchanging the drive for another make and model. It seems the one he bought was not compatible. It sounds like you may be having the same difficulty.

Well, I'd seen reviews on amazon saying they had used it. It seems odd it would work via usb and not SATA. Anyway, here goes:

Seagate ST1000LM014

That drive is not a pure SSD, it's a hybrid drive.

Amazon says:

Seagate 1TB Solid State Hybrid Drive SATA 6Gbps 64MB Cache 2.5-Inch ST1000LM014

I would RMA it back to Amazon and ask them to send you another if you can't get it to work.

Well, I bought it NIB (sealed) from a guy I work with at Microsoft.

I'm still not really convinced it's the drive, though, since it is bootable. I was wondering if maybe there's some minute step I'm missing or something in the imaging process, or if there could be some hardware issue on my end that's keeping me from booting this on the inside of the machine.

I dunno. I've never imaged a disk for a mac before, so I don't know if there is anything any different. I'm using the disk right now, but I have it plugged into my usb slot.

The way you did it, it should have worked. I've done the exact same thing as you did when installing a new hard drive in my MacBook and it worked. I didn't use a hybrid drive but the method is the same.

I just looked over your first post again. Even though it doesn't show up as bootable, can it be seen by Disk Utility at all?

BTW double check both ends of the cable. I put an SSD in my 2008 MB Pro recently and got behavior similar to yours. The SSD worked for about a day then stopped. Swapping back to the hard drive worked fine but no luck with the SSD. Long story short the cable had slipped off the logic board connector slightly and was working intermittently. Don't rely on a visual inspection. Check it.

Good thing to check, Sly. That'll be my next thing to check for sure.

As far as disk utility, just like with booting, it only shows up on USB.

I wish I was more familiar with mac hardware. I'm a systems analyst at MS, so I know my way around a regular pc easily, but I don't know the architectural what's-its with mac to know if there's anything special I should be doing. lol

Edit: So that didn't work...

Now, I'm wondering if maybe the ribbon SATA is faulty. I reseated it and it still won't work for the new drive. I'm almost on the verge of going to the genius bar and let somebody else handle it, but I had to budget just to get the SSHD.

I don't have anything else to suggest. But like I stated previously, the other fellow who had the same exact problem as you resolved it by buying a different SSD. However, the difference with his drive is that it was a pure SSD not a hybrid. Not sure if that makes a difference.

You mentioned the genius bar but I don't know if they would install a hard drive for you that wasn't purchased from them. You might check on that first before making an appointment.

Well, guys, I appreciate the help anyway. I just did a fresh install of the OS, but I'm not sure that'll make a difference. I'm going to reinstall the SSHD later, and see what happens. If nothing, I'm going to call seagate support and see what they say, and if not that, then I'll probably call the genius bar and see what they have to say about it.

Keep us posted on what happens. Hope you can get it going.....

So, I think I may have narrowed the issue down.

The drive is a SATA III drive. Now, the 2009 Macbooks are obviously not compatible with SATA III, however, the drive should be backward compatible, but doesn't seem to be automatically changing the speed.

I saw something along the lines of some people upgrading their 2008 and 2009 SATA cables to the SATA II cables from a 2010 MBP to get compatibility with newer drives.

Any input/experience on this?

Here's what I managed to find.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3857094?start=45&tstart=0

Basically the drive should automatically run at SATA speeds, and it doesn't. According to system profiler, I'm running at 1.5gb, vs 3gb speeds the controller is capable of, which indicates to me that I'm using a SATA cable on a SATA II controller, and attempting to use a SATA III drive.

So, I now have to figure out if I want to shell out an additional 30 dollars for the new cable, or if I want to sell the drive I got a good deal on and just order something else that will "just work."

So, I now have to figure out if I want to shell out an additional 30 dollars for the new cable, or if I want to sell the drive I got a good deal on and just order something else that will "just work."

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Like you said above, it should be backward compatible. Spending another $30 for a cable that you can't really be sure is going to solve the problem until you try it, is of course up to you. If you can sell that drive without losing money, then you can buy something else that will work and just be out some time and frustration.

I have seen some SSHDs where the management tool was Windows-only and consequently couldn't be used on a Mac, but a quick double-check on the model SCP got is definitely Mac-compatible so I'd second the recommendation to RMA it.

PS. I'm seeing this drive selling on Amazon et al for $90ish, maybe your friend offered it to you at a much better price but even a replacement is dirt cheap given what it will do for an older Mac laptop IMO.

So, I discussed my plan of action with my wife a little last night. She brought up the valid point that if I buy the cable, at the very least I'll be increasing my throughput to 3Gbps from 1.5Gbps, regardless. So if I get that and it works with the hard drive, then I don't have to go through the imaging process again.

And if it doesn't work, no harm. Just RMA the SSHD, and then whatever drive I buy will run at SATA II speeds, anyway.

So, I think that's what I'll do.

And once I've done it, which will probably be a week or so down the road, I'll update this thread, just in case anybody else comes across this issue and it may help them.

Whilst the drive SHOULD be backwards compatible, this is not always the case. Don;t know if simply changing the cable will make it compatible or speed things up.

Well, currently I have a SATA cable on a SATA II controller. Apparently, the drive is only backwards compatible with SATA II and the SATA cable can't handle the overload.

I dunno. I'll give it a whirl and see what happens, anyway. At the very least, should see a speed increase on the SATA controller after replacing the cable, as it will allow 3Gbps throughput.

When you formatted the SSD, did you use the GUID partition table?