Is my SATA cable bad? HELP! Cannot partition new HD after crash... !!!

[PLUSH]

My HD crashed (I think) and I got the flashing question mark envelope over the weekend on my 2012 MPB 13".

I rebooted the computer with CMD+R held and eventually got to Disk Utility The HD would not show up in the left column.

I bought a new internal Western Digital HD replacement (500GB) from Best Buy and replaced it. Again I restarted the computer and got to Disk Utility. The HD shows up, but when I go to give it 1 partition it says it cannot partition the HD.

Once I get the failure message, a partition shows up with a generic name. I can't erase the partition, either. I get multiple error messages.

I ended up pulling the 80GB HD my wife's old Macbook and installing it in my unibody mac. Still get the flashing folder, so I went back into Disk Utility. That hard drive doesn't show up at all.

My question is: Could this be the sign of a failing SATA cable that will not let me format/partition the HD, and is now not showing this newly installed HD?

I'm desperate for a working machine. Help? Please and thank you

 

[pigoo3]

The Recovery Partiton (Command + r) is located in the hard drive. If the SATA cable was 100% bad...you wouldn't be able to access the Recovery Parition.

As far as the 80gig drive from the other computer. We don't know the specs on both computers to know if the OS on the MacBook is compatible with the "Unibody Mac".

Lastly. If you think that the SATA cable is bad...get a replacement & swap it out. Then you will know for sure.

- Nick

 

[PLUSH]

The Recovery Partiton (Command + r) is located in the hard drive. If the SATA cable was 100% bad...you wouldn't be able to access the Recovery Parition.

As far as the 80gig drive from the other computer. We don't know the specs on both computers to know if the OS on the MacBook is compatible with the "Unibody Mac".

Lastly. If you think that the SATA cable is bad...get a replacement & swap it out. Then you will know for sure.

- Nick

Thank you!

Good point on the 80 gig. I have no idea what OS that was running.. whatever was in use back in 2006

I'll grab a new SATA cable. I can still get into disk utility and see the new 500gb drive, but perhaps a fault in the cable is making it to where I can't partition? Sorry, my computer knowledge isn't great so I'm fumbling through this a bit.

 

[pigoo3]

A faulty SATA cable can be frustrating. I had one previously...and I spent hours & hours troubleshooting a problem until I figured out that it actually WAS the SATA cable. Thankfully these cables are generally inexpensive & usually fairly easy to replace. Thus a quick troubleshooting step.

- Nick

 

[PLUSH]

A faulty SATA cable can be frustrating. I had one previously...and I spent hours & hours troubleshooting a problem until I figured out that it actually WAS the SATA cable. Thankfully these cables are generally inexpensive & usually fairly easy to replace. Thus a quick troubleshooting step.

- Nick

Where did you buy your cable? I just called my local SimplyMAC store--they can't sell me one directly since they're an authorized Mac store and have to warranty their work (or something), but said it might be covered under a recall since those cables are pretty problematic. Do you know anything about this? The charge otherwise is $70 which is pretty spendy to install a $20 cable in 5 minutes! Thoughts?

 

[pigoo3]

Where did you buy your cable? I just called my local SimplyMAC store--they can't sell me one directly since they're an authorized Mac store and have to warranty their work (or something), but said it might be covered under a recall since those cables are pretty problematic. Do you know anything about this? The charge otherwise is $70 which is pretty spendy to install a $20 cable in 5 minutes! Thoughts?

My SATA cable was for an iMac with a 3.5" hard drive...so it was a very easy cable to get.

I would suggest trying powerbookmedic.com. I wasn't 100% sure which 2012 MBP model you have. But took a guess...and here's the part:

http://www.powerbookmedic.com/Hard-Drive-Cable-w--IR-Sensor-for-MacBook-Pro-13-Unibody-p-17336.html

About $30 new or $20 used.

Using the part # from powerbookmedic...you could also check ebay.

HTH,

- Nick

 

[ferrarr]

Since you have a 2012 MBP, you could start up to Internet Recovery by holding down "command+option+R". This will use Apple servers to start up from and you will have a Disk Utility option you can try to format and then partition the drive. I didn't see what Mac OS X version you were using when the drive died.