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Trying to clone hard drive, but new internal hard drive not recognized

S

seeweed

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 1, 2013
8
0
Hi,

I'm in the process of upgrading my 160 GB internal hard drive to a new 500 GB internal hard drive. First, I'm trying to clone my old hard drive to the new hard drive, before I actually crack open the laptop and switch the two. I've got a Macbook Pro 13", late-2009, running on Snow Leopard.

This is what I've done so far:

- I bought a compatible hard drive (Western Digital Scorpio Blue, 500 GB, 2.5 SATA).
- I bought a SATA/IDE to USB 2.0 adapter (the company is Vantec, if it matters).
- I downloaded the Super Duper cloning software.
- I used the adapter to connect my new internal hard drive to the laptop.

This is the point where the new hard drive should appear as an icon on the desktop, right?

It doesn't seem to be recognized, though. Nothing happens. I went to Disk Utility and it doesn't show up there either.

What should I do?

Just in case it's a problem with the USB adapter cable (maybe the wrong kind), I'm including a picture of how it's set up: http://imgur.com/K5Q09Dv

Any help will be appreciated.
 
S

seeweed

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 1, 2013
8
0
This is actually a powered adapter - I just didn't know it had to be powered in order to work, so I tossed aside the power adapter that came in the box.

Now I have the adapter connected to the power, but the hard drive is still not showing up.
 
S

siestaguy

macrumors newbie
Sep 14, 2007
3
0
Instead of that SATA to USB adapter, you would be better off with a hard drive enclosure. That way, you could continue to use the old drive for backup purposes and probably wouldn't be struggling to get that adapter working. If you aren't already aware of iFixit.com, you owe it to yourself to check out the step-by-step instructions that will help you open up your MacBook Pro and swap out the hard drive.
 
Last edited:
Fishrrman

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
28,318
12,440
After you connected the new drive with the USB/SATA adapter, did you initialize it with Disk Utility before doing anything else?

Be sure to choose GUID (as the partition map), and journaling should be enabled.
 
S

seeweed

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 1, 2013
8
0
Fishrrman said:
After you connected the new drive with the USB/SATA adapter, did you initialize it with Disk Utility before doing anything else?

Be sure to choose GUID (as the partition map), and journaling should be enabled.
Click to expand...

Here's a screenshot of Disk Utility as it appears when the new hard drive is (and isn't) connected by USB: http://imgur.com/Q02rZI6
 
Knoodles

Knoodles

macrumors 6502
Feb 2, 2003
430
1
Gone to the Beach
Give this a try.
Unplug the USB adapter power supply from the wall. Shut down the MacBook. Check all cables and connections on the USB adapter. Plug in the power for the USB adapter. Let the HD spin up. You should be able to hear it. Restart your MacBook.
Does the HD mount on the desktop now?
 
S

seeweed

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 1, 2013
8
0
Knoodles said:
Give this a try.
Unplug the USB adapter power supply from the wall. Shut down the MacBook. Check all cables and connections on the USB adapter. Plug in the power for the USB adapter. Let the HD spin up. You should be able to hear it. Restart your MacBook.
Does the HD mount on the desktop now?
Click to expand...

Ah! It worked!

But I'm unsure about the next steps...

Do I need to name and erase the hard drive? See: http://imgur.com/Y7fflTt
What do I have to do with regards to partitioning? See: http://imgur.com/VkCXOOw
 
Knoodles

Knoodles

macrumors 6502
Feb 2, 2003
430
1
Gone to the Beach
Good to hear that worked.
You can name the new HD if you want. Maybe New Macintosh HD?
You can partition it if you want. Depends on what you plan on doing with it.
Make sure to click the "Options" button and choose GUID partition table. Then format OS extended journaled and erase. On new hard drives I like to erase writing zeros to the disk but it's not necessary.
 
monokakata

monokakata

macrumors 68020
May 8, 2008
2,035
582
Ithaca, NY
Just use Disk Utility to create a single partition (unless for some reason you want two).

Make sure it's GUID bootable.

You don't need to erase anything, because it's a new drive anyway.

After the partition's all created, exit Disk Utility.

Start up SuperDuper! and have the current drive copied to the new one.

That should do it, except that it would be good to check that you can boot from the new drive when it's still external. If you can boot from it, then open up that MBP and get going on the exchange.

Oh, and take that advice about iFixit. Their guides are amazingly helpful. And before you start, make sure you have a set of small Torx drivers. You can't make the swap without them. They aren't too hard to find -- even Home Depot has them.
 
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