Trouble with HD Upgrade

Jimbob74 · Jan 27, 2010, 11:07 AM

Hi,
So I've been up all night trying to install a new HD in our Macbook. I was able to get the new drive cloned and even booted to the new drive while it was connected externally. However, once I installed the HD into the Macbook it would not boot or allow me to select the drive to boot to. All I got was a blank white screen. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I've got the old drive reinstalled and everything works fine. Just doesn't work when I install the new drive.

The HD is a 500gig drive. So that's one of my concerns, is this size of drive compatible?

Sorry for this being my first post on the forum. I hope to get more involved here as we a slowly turning on PC home in to a Mac home (it's still a bit mixed at the moment)

Thanks in advance

NewMacbookPlz · Jan 27, 2010, 11:12 AM

First off, make sure the new drive is seated correctly on the connector. A lot of new drives have tight connections and people think it's in all the way, but it's not (quite a few threads on here resulted in that being the issue). Give is a good push and make sure it's completely connected.

After that, when you boot for the first time, hold down the option key during the boot sequence and see if that will let you choose the newly installed hard drive as the boot device. After booting, you can go to Disk Utility then and make sure the new HDD is selected as the default boot device.

One other thing I just thought of...before you cloned your data, did you reformat the new drive as HFS+Journaled with GUID Partition table (In the advanced options of disk utility)? If you didn't do the last part, you cannot use the drive as a boot drive with an Intel-based Mac.

Jimbob74 · Jan 27, 2010, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewMacbookPlz

First off, make sure the new drive is seated correctly on the connector. A lot of new drives have tight connections and people think it's in all the way, but it's not (quite a few threads on here resulted in that being the issue). Give is a good push and make sure it's completely connected.

After that, when you boot for the first time, hold down the option key during the boot sequence and see if that will let you choose the newly installed hard drive as the boot device. After booting, you can go to Disk Utility then and make sure the new HDD is selected as the default boot device.

One other thing I just thought of...before you cloned your data, did you reformat the new drive as HFS+Journaled with GUID Partition table (In the advanced options of disk utility)? If you didn't do the last part, you cannot use the drive as a boot drive with an Intel-based Mac.

I did almost everything you mentioned above with the possible exception of the GUID Partition table. I just got off the phone with Apple and they said that the 500gig drive should not be an issue. The suggested that I install the new drive and connect the old drive externally, boot the computer to the old drive, and use disk utility to evaluation the new one.

I'll get the partition added and will give it a shot. The interesting thing to me is that it did boot when I had the new drive connected externally. And when i did install the new drive which I did on several occasions last night, I did ensure that it was seated properly.

Thanks for the help and I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Alx9876 · Jan 27, 2010, 01:46 PM

What brand hard drive did you buy?

So I don't buy the one you have.

Alx9876 · 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewMacbookPlz

First off, make sure the new drive is seated correctly on the connector. A lot of new drives have tight connections and people think it's in all the way, but it's not (quite a few threads on here resulted in that being the issue). Give is a good push and make sure it's completely connected.

After that, when you boot for the first time, hold down the option key during the boot sequence and see if that will let you choose the newly installed hard drive as the boot device. After booting, you can go to Disk Utility then and make sure the new HDD is selected as the default boot device.

One other thing I just thought of...before you cloned your data, did you reformat the new drive as HFS+Journaled with GUID Partition table (In the advanced options of disk utility)? If you didn't do the last part, you cannot use the drive as a boot drive with an Intel-based Mac.

Awesome post.

Funny how no one has ever mentioned this one time in all of the threads I've seen about Macbook hard drive upgrades.

People and Youtube simply say "install new hard drive" and you are good to go. Turn it back on and you are set.

Thank you for posting the missing link in information for some of us that Have never done this before.

I will format *my new hard drive prior to installing it.

NewMacbookPlz · Jan 27, 2010, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alx9876

Awesome post.

Funny how no one has ever mentioned this one time in all of the threads I've seen about Macbook hard drive upgrades.

People and Youtube simply say "install new hard drive" and you are good to go. Turn it back on and you are set.

Thank you for posting the missing link in information for some of us that Have never done this before.

I will format the my new hard drive prior to installing it.

The bit about holding down the option key usually isn't needed, but sometimes the computer will still look for the old drive, especially since he cloned the entire drive first as opposed to installing the OS clean on the new drive and then cloning just the data over.

Jimbob74 · Jan 27, 2010, 03:54 PM

So I reformatted the HD and followed the instructions in this blog to the letter

http://obscuredclarity.blogspot.com/...grade-for.html

And still no success...

I partitioned the HD first and then ran Shirt Pocket to clone the drive. I installed the HD and got the flashing folder or a white screen when I hold the Alt button when booting.

I spoke to Apple earlier and they said the memory size doesn't matter (only the physical dimensions...of course) which is contrary to what the link above says. They suggested that this might be a problem with the harddrive but I don't understand how if it would boot when hooked up externally. Is is possible that this HD is not compatible with a Mac? The HD is a Hitachi 500GB SATA 3.0, 5400rpm drive.

I think I'm going to return the HD at this point. Any other recommendations?

Jimbob74 · Jan 27, 2010, 04:18 PM

One difference I noted looking at the old HD and new one (with the new one hooked up via USB) in Disk Utility is that the new HD indicates that S.M.A.R.T. Status: Not Supported and the old HD shows is as "Verified".

Can any of you comment on this and could this be one of the issues?

NewMacbookPlz · Jan 27, 2010, 04:50 PM

Since you have all your data on that other drive...

Can you try this method and see what happens?

-Physically install the new HDD into your MacBook
-Boot up and insert your OS X DVD into the optical drive
-If it doesn't go to the optical drive, power down and reboot while holding the c key.
-Run disk utility and see if you can see the newly installed HDD there.
-Format the drive that way, using HFS+ Journaled with GUID Partition Table.
-When it's complete, install the OS from the DVD as well.

You should be left with a fresh installation of OS X that appears to be factory fresh. You should then be able to clone your data from the other drive via USB to the new HDD.

Jimbob74 · Jan 27, 2010, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewMacbookPlz

Since you have all your data on that other drive...

Can you try this method and see what happens?

-Physically install the new HDD into your MacBook
-Boot up and insert your OS X DVD into the optical drive
-If it doesn't go to the optical drive, power down and reboot while holding the c key.
-Run disk utility and see if you can see the newly installed HDD there.
-Format the drive that way, using HFS+ Journaled with GUID Partition Table.
-When it's complete, install the OS from the DVD as well.

You should be left with a fresh installation of OS X that appears to be factory fresh. You should then be able to clone your data from the other drive via USB to the new HDD.

COOL!!! I'll give it a shot. Thanks so much for your help though out the day!!!

NewMacbookPlz · Jan 27, 2010, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimbob74

COOL!!! I'll give it a shot. Thanks so much for your help though out the day!!!

Just to be more specific about the cloning. At the last step the new drive (500GB) will be internal and your old drive will be in the USB enclosure. Sorry if I was confusing before!

Jimbob74 · Jan 27, 2010, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewMacbookPlz

Just to be more specific about the cloning. At the last step the new drive (500GB) will be internal and your old drive will be in the USB enclosure. Sorry if I was confusing before!

I understood. I just got the new drive installed and with the OS disc in the optical but only have a white screen. I'm giving it a little time before I reboot and try the "C" key option.

DewGuy1999 · Jan 27, 2010, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimbob74

One difference I noted looking at the old HD and new one (with the new one hooked up via USB) in Disk Utility is that the new HD indicates that S.M.A.R.T. Status: Not Supported and the old HD shows is as "Verified".

Can any of you comment on this and could this be one of the issues?

Not an issue. S.M.A.R.T. reporting is not supported on external hard drives. Meaning it just doesn't work on external hard drives. The drive has to be installed internally for S.M.A.R.T. reporting to work. I think it has something to do with the USB or Firewire controllers used in external hard drives.

Jimbob74 · Jan 27, 2010, 05:41 PM

No luck with the OS disc. The optical was running but only got a white screen. I rebooted and pressed the "C" key, the optical ran for a sec, then kicked out the OS disc. I'm trying to boot from the old HD mounted externally just to see if the Mac recognizes the new drive mounted internally. And the result of that is...(post being written while I wait)...The hard drive is not recognized, it doesn't show up in Finder or Disc Utility (I know that's redundant but I just thought I would check) at all.

I'm going to reinstall the old HD and hook the new one up externally and clean it off and return it.

And thanks DewGuy!!! And thank you very much NewMacbookPlz!!!!

DewGuy1999 · Jan 27, 2010, 05:44 PM

Does the new hard drive have the jumpers set in the same position as the old hard drive?

DewGuy1999 · Jan 27, 2010, 05:54 PM

Which MacBook? Which hard drive? Apparently, if it's one of the older MacBooks and a newer hard drive, the MacBook is SATA I and the hard drive is SATA II. The hard drive will apparently need to be jumpered to work at SATA I speed and be useable to the MacBook.

Jimbob74 · Jan 27, 2010, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DewGuy1999

Which MacBook? Which hard drive? Apparently, if it's one of the older MacBooks and a newer hard drive, the MacBook is SATA I and the hard drive is SATA II. The hard drive will apparently need to be jumpered to work at SATA I speed and be useable to the MacBook.

First, there are no noticeable jumpers on the drive that can be changed, that I have found.

The HD is a Hitachi, 500GB, SATA 3.0, 5400rpm

The MacBook is a new one using the Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz

Jimbob74 · Jan 27, 2010, 10:09 PM

So returned the HD, and got a 320GB WesternDig SATA. And the laptop still won't recognize the drive. Thanks so much for everyones help. I'll keep working on it and once I find the resolution I'll let you know.

DewGuy1999 · Jan 28, 2010, 07:25 AM

Sorry to hear that you're not having any luck with this upgrade. Since you also can't get it to boot from the SuperDrive I'm thinking that maybe something isn't connected properly.

Jimbob74 · Jan 28, 2010, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DewGuy1999

Sorry to hear that you're not having any luck with this upgrade. Since you also can't get it to boot from the SuperDrive I'm thinking that maybe something isn't connected properly.

I've considered that, and have tried to ensure that the new drive is seated securely. When I get the old drive reinstalled it works great. NewMacbookPlz suggested just installing a clean version of the OS onto the drive and then "clone" all the files and settings. That might be my next approach.

Or I may just take it into a Apple Store or Mac "workshop" and drop the cash and have them do it....I don't want to give up yet though

while frustrating it's kind of a fun problem to try and fix.

DewGuy1999 · Jan 28, 2010, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimbob74

I've considered that, and have tried to ensure that the new drive is seated securely. When I get the old drive reinstalled it works great. NewMacbookPlz suggested just installing a clean version of the OS onto the drive and then "clone" all the files and settings. That might be my next approach.

Or I may just take it into a Apple Store or Mac "workshop" and drop the cash and have them do it....I don't want to give up yet though

while frustrating it's kind of a fun problem to try and fix.

Yeah, that's why I frequent these forums, I think it's fun to help people with their problems. I agree with NewMacBookPlz, you should be able to install the new hard drive, boot from the OS X CD/DVD, erase/format the new hard drive and then boot from the old hard drive in the external and clone it back to the new internal. That should work.

Jimbob74 · Jan 28, 2010, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DewGuy1999

Yeah, that's why I frequent these forums, I think it's fun to help people with their problems. I agree with NewMacBookPlz, you should be able to install the new hard drive, boot from the OS X CD/DVD, erase/format the new hard drive and then boot from the old hard drive in the external and clone it back to the new internal. That should work.

I will try that again. The first time I did that I either got a blank white screen or it kicked the OS disc out (the second happed after pushing the "C" key it kicked the disc out after about a minute).

DewGuy1999 · Jan 28, 2010, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimbob74

I will try that again. The first time I did that I either got a blank white screen or it kicked the OS disc out (the second happed after pushing the "C" key it kicked the disc out after about a minute).

With the old hard drive installed will it boot from the OS disc?

Jimbob74 · Jan 28, 2010, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DewGuy1999

With the old hard drive installed will it boot from the OS disc?

I have not tried that. I'll add it to the list of things to do.

Jan 27, 2010, 11:07 AM	#1
Jimbob74 macrumors newbie Join Date: Jan 2010	Trouble with HD Upgrade Hi, So I've been up all night trying to install a new HD in our Macbook. I was able to get the new drive cloned and even booted to the new drive while it was connected externally. However, once I installed the HD into the Macbook it would not boot or allow me to select the drive to boot to. All I got was a blank white screen. Does anyone have any suggestions? I've got the old drive reinstalled and everything works fine. Just doesn't work when I install the new drive. The HD is a 500gig drive. So that's one of my concerns, is this size of drive compatible? Sorry for this being my first post on the forum. I hope to get more involved here as we a slowly turning on PC home in to a Mac home (it's still a bit mixed at the moment) Thanks in advance
	0

Jan 27, 2010, 11:12 AM	#2
NewMacbookPlz macrumors 68040 Join Date: Sep 2008	First off, make sure the new drive is seated correctly on the connector. A lot of new drives have tight connections and people think it's in all the way, but it's not (quite a few threads on here resulted in that being the issue). Give is a good push and make sure it's completely connected. After that, when you boot for the first time, hold down the option key during the boot sequence and see if that will let you choose the newly installed hard drive as the boot device. After booting, you can go to Disk Utility then and make sure the new HDD is selected as the default boot device. One other thing I just thought of...before you cloned your data, did you reformat the new drive as HFS+Journaled with GUID Partition table (In the advanced options of disk utility)? If you didn't do the last part, you cannot use the drive as a boot drive with an Intel-based Mac. __________________ Collector's Edition 2.0ghz Aluminum MacBook, 8 GB iPhone EDGE, Canon 450D/50mm f1.8
	0

Jan 27, 2010, 04:50 PM	#9
NewMacbookPlz macrumors 68040 Join Date: Sep 2008	Since you have all your data on that other drive... Can you try this method and see what happens? -Physically install the new HDD into your MacBook -Boot up and insert your OS X DVD into the optical drive -If it doesn't go to the optical drive, power down and reboot while holding the c key. -Run disk utility and see if you can see the newly installed HDD there. -Format the drive that way, using HFS+ Journaled with GUID Partition Table. -When it's complete, install the OS from the DVD as well. You should be left with a fresh installation of OS X that appears to be factory fresh. You should then be able to clone your data from the other drive via USB to the new HDD. __________________ Collector's Edition 2.0ghz Aluminum MacBook, 8 GB iPhone EDGE, Canon 450D/50mm f1.8
	0

Jan 27, 2010, 05:44 PM	#15
DewGuy1999 macrumors 68040 Join Date: Jan 2009	Does the new hard drive have the jumpers set in the same position as the old hard drive? __________________ 13.3" MacBook Pro/i5 2.3GHz/4GB RAM/320GB HD/Super Drive/OS X 10.6.8 17" iMac/G4 1GHz/768MB RAM/80GB HD/Super Drive/OS X 10.4.11
	0

Jan 27, 2010, 05:54 PM	#16
DewGuy1999 macrumors 68040 Join Date: Jan 2009	Which MacBook? Which hard drive? Apparently, if it's one of the older MacBooks and a newer hard drive, the MacBook is SATA I and the hard drive is SATA II. The hard drive will apparently need to be jumpered to work at SATA I speed and be useable to the MacBook. __________________ 13.3" MacBook Pro/i5 2.3GHz/4GB RAM/320GB HD/Super Drive/OS X 10.6.8 17" iMac/G4 1GHz/768MB RAM/80GB HD/Super Drive/OS X 10.4.11
	0

Jan 27, 2010, 01:46 PM	#4
Alx9876 macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Cupertino, Ca	What brand hard drive did you buy? So I don't buy the one you have.
	0

Jan 27, 2010, 03:54 PM	#7
Jimbob74 Thread Starter macrumors newbie Join Date: Jan 2010	So I reformatted the HD and followed the instructions in this blog to the letter http://obscuredclarity.blogspot.com/...grade-for.html And still no success... I partitioned the HD first and then ran Shirt Pocket to clone the drive. I installed the HD and got the flashing folder or a white screen when I hold the Alt button when booting. I spoke to Apple earlier and they said the memory size doesn't matter (only the physical dimensions...of course) which is contrary to what the link above says. They suggested that this might be a problem with the harddrive but I don't understand how if it would boot when hooked up externally. Is is possible that this HD is not compatible with a Mac? The HD is a Hitachi 500GB SATA 3.0, 5400rpm drive. I think I'm going to return the HD at this point. Any other recommendations?
	0

Jan 27, 2010, 04:18 PM	#8
Jimbob74 Thread Starter macrumors newbie Join Date: Jan 2010	One difference I noted looking at the old HD and new one (with the new one hooked up via USB) in Disk Utility is that the new HD indicates that S.M.A.R.T. Status: Not Supported and the old HD shows is as "Verified". Can any of you comment on this and could this be one of the issues?
	0

Jan 27, 2010, 05:41 PM	#14
Jimbob74 Thread Starter macrumors newbie Join Date: Jan 2010	No luck with the OS disc. The optical was running but only got a white screen. I rebooted and pressed the "C" key, the optical ran for a sec, then kicked out the OS disc. I'm trying to boot from the old HD mounted externally just to see if the Mac recognizes the new drive mounted internally. And the result of that is...(post being written while I wait)...The hard drive is not recognized, it doesn't show up in Finder or Disc Utility (I know that's redundant but I just thought I would check) at all. I'm going to reinstall the old HD and hook the new one up externally and clean it off and return it. And thanks DewGuy!!! And thank you very much NewMacbookPlz!!!!
	0

Jan 27, 2010, 10:09 PM	#18
Jimbob74 Thread Starter macrumors newbie Join Date: Jan 2010	So returned the HD, and got a 320GB WesternDig SATA. And the laptop still won't recognize the drive. Thanks so much for everyones help. I'll keep working on it and once I find the resolution I'll let you know.
	0

Jan 28, 2010, 07:25 AM	#19
DewGuy1999 macrumors 68040 Join Date: Jan 2009	Sorry to hear that you're not having any luck with this upgrade. Since you also can't get it to boot from the SuperDrive I'm thinking that maybe something isn't connected properly. __________________ 13.3" MacBook Pro/i5 2.3GHz/4GB RAM/320GB HD/Super Drive/OS X 10.6.8 17" iMac/G4 1GHz/768MB RAM/80GB HD/Super Drive/OS X 10.4.11
	0

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