Hard Drive Not Registering

[taz001103]

Hello everyone, I am at a loss right now and could use some help.

I have a mid 2010 MacBook Pro, 13 in. It was given to me in a non-working state. When I try to boot, it chimes like normal and just sits on the white screen for a little bit and then there is a flashing folder with a question mark. I have replaced the hard drive ribbon, but in the process I broke the part that connects to the light. Even with the new cable, it still does not recognize the drive. The drive has power (I can feel it spinning), so I guess the cable is okay.

Upon attempting to boot, if I hold the option key it will not list any drives unless they are connected through USB.

I recently got an SSD for my other MacBook pro, so I tried using the old HDD. The same issue occurs.

I have a USB-SATA cable that I can hook up to the hard drive. When I hold option on startup, the drive that is connected via USB is listed and the computer can boot from it. This works with both hard drives.

My next thought was to replace the disk drive with a hard drive caddy. It still will not boot up and drives do not show up when I hold the option key.

I am at a loss, so if anyone can help please let me know.

 

[ferrarr]

The issue is internal, either the cable, or the port on the board? You could get an adapter, and put the hard drive in the adapter, in the optical drive bay?

 

[taz001103]

I tried replacing the optical drive with the adapter, but the HDD still does not register. I can try again and report back.

 

[harryb2448]

Do not spend any money on it. Sounds like internal SATA cable. They do get brittle from heat and age and coming up t0 ninth birthday!