Booting off old hard drive.

[Miker2112]

Hi everyone. I have a question for anyone willing to listen.
I used to have a mid 2010 MacBook Pro i7 gloss screen with the nvidia 330 gt bootcamped with windows 7.

long story short it broke and I removed the hard drive and ram.

this was ten years ago. Cue to now and I’ve bought a used and functioning mid 2010 pro with the glare proof screen, i7 2.66(can’t remember the old ones ghz) and no 330gt.

ive installed the old hard drive and ram(not that this should matter) and am trying to access it the same way as I used to.

I can still prompt the disk choice by holding alt at startup.

all I can get is the Apple logo with a loading circle when I boot with the max partition.

the windows partition gives me the “windows detected a problem” black screen and prompts for a safe boot or normal boot.
It tries to load files but then goes back to the safe boot prompt.

any suggestions? I am kicking myself because I forgot to get a laptop with the 330gt but was hoping it wouldn’t matter but I fear that or the possible cpu discrepancy may.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Miker2112]

So for some reason after trying to boot with the old 500gb drive and going back to the 256 ssd the computer now says it has the 330 gt???
I’m not sure why it would not report this earlier in the about section. Please help!

 

[pigoo3]

Just so it's 100% clear to all of us. After reading post #1...it was not clear or mentioned...that this newly purchased MacBook Pro was working at all.

Post #2 seems to indicate that you were able to successfully boot the computer with a different drive.

Can you please verify that this MacBook Pro actually functions 100%...when using a drive with no issues?

Thanks,

Nick

p.s. Welcome to Mac-Forums!

 

[Miker2112]

Just so it's 100% clear to all of us. After reading post #1...it was not clear or mentioned...that this newly purchased MacBook Pro was working at all.

Post #2 seems to indicate that you were able to successfully boot the computer with a different drive.

Can you please verify that this MacBook Pro actually functions 100%...when using a drive with no issues?

Thanks,

Nick

p.s. Welcome to Mac-Forums!

Yes it boots with a 250 gig ssd just fine and functions fine.
It’s weird because after I tried to get it to boot with the old hdd that was in a MacBook Pro with the nvidia gt 330, the laptop reported it as having that graphics card after I installed the 250 gb ssd. The. After sleeping and using it the next day it was gone again.
I don’t know if the laptop was trying to configure itself to function with the old hard drive.
I don’t know if I need to give it more time or if will Even work at all.

but yes the laptop function fine.

Im also wondering if the high sierra OS changes the firmware and that’s giving it some trouble as the old HDD likely has snow leopard or something from 2012.

Thanks for responding.

 

[pigoo3]

Yes it boots with a 250 gig ssd just fine and functions fine.

but yes the laptop function fine.

Good to hear all is good with a different HD/SSD. Good to know it works...and it's just something to do with the old HD.

As far as the specs of the computer...there really shouldn't be any confusing regarding video hardware of the computer.

I'm assuming it's a 2010 MacBook Pro 2.66Ghz (15" or 17"). Every single 15" or 17" 2010 MacBook Pro model came with dual graphics hardware (integrated & dedicated)...and the dedicated video hardware in all of them was a GT330.

No 15" or 17" 2010 MacBook Pro model came without GT330 video hardware.

Im also wondering if the high sierra OS changes the firmware and that’s giving it some trouble as the old HDD likely has snow leopard or something from 2012.

This is always a VERY important detail to include...the macOS versions we're talking about. Sounds like the old HD has Snow Leopard on it...and the newer SSD has High Sierra on it. This in and of itself shouldn't be an issue....but good to know.

One important thing to be aware of. Minimum macOS for a 2010 MacBook Pro was Snow Leopard 10.6.3. If this old hard drive has a version of Snow Leopard on it older than 10.6.3 (10.6.0, 10.6.1, or 10.6.2)...then it won't boot (macOS version is too old).

If this old HD was the original HD from the previous 2010 MacBook Pro (and the previous 2010 MBP was running fine with the older HD))...then this shouldn't be an issue. But just wanted to mention this macOS detail just in case.

When High Sierra is installed the first time...you do get a message that a "firmware update is required"...but I don't think this prevents the computer from using older macOS versions (such as Snow Leopard)...but I'm not 100% on this.

I have a bunch of older Mac's that I use regularly...some running El Capitan & some running High Sierra. Don't think I've tried booting any of the one's running High Sierra with a hard drive running Snow Leopard.

There is/was...as firmware update for 2010 MacBook Pro's (released in 2012). Again I don't think it would prevent you from booting into Snow Leopard (the firmware update has something to do with a Recovery Partition for macOS 10.7 Lion).

MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 2.6 - Apple Support

This update enables Lion Recovery from an Internet connection on MacBook Pro (Mid 2010) models.

support.apple.com

Some details to consider.

Nick

 

[krs]

I would agree with Nick, I don't think the problem has anything to do with the graphics hardware.
However I'm not so sure that the issue is not related to the firmware update.
(As an aside, I'm looking at the F/W update because it is an issue using a standard SSD with an adapter ard in a 2017 MacBook Air and is not just related to internet recovery).
I think it's perfectly logical that when the F/W update was applied, that update broke the capability of booting from a hard drive with Snow Leopard - after all, who would want to go backwards - Apple sure doesn't.
The other possibility is that after 10 years part of the hard drive is corrupted.
On very old drives I occasionally have one or two old files that an't be read.

Can I ask why you want to actually boot from that drive?
It won't be very reliable.
I would just put the drive into an enclosure to see if I can access the content, and if not try to repair the drive.

 

[Miker2112]

I would agree with Nick, I don't think the problem has anything to do with the graphics hardware.
However I'm not so sure that the issue is not related to the firmware update.
(As an aside, I'm looking at the F/W update because it is an issue using a standard SSD with an adapter ard in a 2017 MacBook Air and is not just related to internet recovery).
I think it's perfectly logical that when the F/W update was applied, that update broke the capability of booting from a hard drive with Snow Leopard - after all, who would want to go backwards - Apple sure doesn't.
The other possibility is that after 10 years part of the hard drive is corrupted.
On very old drives I occasionally have one or two old files that an't be read.

Can I ask why you want to actually boot from that drive?
It won't be very reliable.
I would just put the drive into an enclosure to see if I can access the content, and if not try to repair the drive.

it’s got old pictures on it, and it’s sort of like a time capsule.

the hard drive did sound like it was acting like a broken record of sorts.

Making the same mechanical noises a few times in a row.
They would change. It just sounded like it wasn’t working properly.

The Hdd was indeed the original from the 2010 mbp.
I’m wondering if I just let it sit for a few hours at the Apple screen with the loading icon if it will figure itself out.

I understand computers but I am not an expert by any means.

sometimes they just need some cajoling but I’m not sure if this can be cajoled hence the thread.

 

[Miker2112]

Good to hear all is good with a different HD/SSD. Good to know it works...and it's just something to do with the old HD.

As far as the specs of the computer...there really shouldn't be any confusing regarding video hardware of the computer.

I'm assuming it's a 2010 MacBook Pro 2.66Ghz (15" or 17"). Every single 15" or 17" 2010 MacBook Pro model came with dual graphics hardware (integrated & dedicated)...and the dedicated video hardware in all of them was a GT330.

No 15" or 17" 2010 MacBook Pro model came without GT330 video hardware.


This is always a VERY important detail to include...the macOS versions we're talking about. Sounds like the old HD has Snow Leopard on it...and the newer SSD has High Sierra on it. This in and of itself shouldn't be an issue....but good to know.

One important thing to be aware of. Minimum macOS for a 2010 MacBook Pro was Snow Leopard 10.6.3. If this old hard drive has a version of Snow Leopard on it older than 10.6.3 (10.6.0, 10.6.1, or 10.6.2)...then it won't boot (macOS version is too old).

If this old HD was the original HD from the previous 2010 MacBook Pro (and the previous 2010 MBP was running fine with the older HD))...then this shouldn't be an issue. But just wanted to mention this macOS detail just in case.

When High Sierra is installed the first time...you do get a message that a "firmware update is required"...but I don't think this prevents the computer from using older macOS versions (such as Snow Leopard)...but I'm not 100% on this.

I have a bunch of older Mac's that I use regularly...some running El Capitan & some running High Sierra. Don't think I've tried booting any of the one's running High Sierra with a hard drive running Snow Leopard.

There is/was...as firmware update for 2010 MacBook Pro's (released in 2012). Again I don't think it would prevent you from booting into Snow Leopard (the firmware update has something to do with a Recovery Partition for macOS 10.7 Lion).

MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 2.6 - Apple Support

This update enables Lion Recovery from an Internet connection on MacBook Pro (Mid 2010) models.

support.apple.com

Some details to consider.

Nick

Is it possible to install that firmware update onto the old drive via a recovery reboot? It allows me to select a WiFi source when I prompt the Partition selection.

 

[krs]

Is it possible to install that firmware update onto the old drive via a recovery reboot? It allows me to select a WiFi source when I prompt the Partition selection.

I can't answer your last question, but if this drive is "flaky"in any way (and it seems to be from your description), I would get all the data off it asap before it dies completely and forget trying to get it to boot.
After you have secured the data, then you can try other things to get it to boot, but doing that right now you run a real chance that you end up with nothing recoverable (at reasonable cost). The drive is 10 years old - drives don't fix themselves.

 

[pigoo3]

it’s got old pictures on it, and it’s sort of like a time capsule.

If the main goal with this old hard drive is to gain access to some old files. Install it in an external HD case...and plug it in externally as an external HD. Hopefully the files are on the macOS partition...if so...should be no problems accessing the files.

the hard drive did sound like it was acting like a broken record of sorts.

Making the same mechanical noises a few times in a row.

This doesn't sound good...hopefully not a sign of age...and the drive failing.

If the drive is fine (mechanical health-wise)...if plugged in as an external drive & it mounts on the desktop just fine...maybe it was "noises of confusion". If the drive doesn't mount on the desktop easily as an external drive...you may be looking at a mechanical failure issue.

Nick