A1226 Macbook Pro Hard drive compatiablility

[mr. feeny]

I have currently a 15 inch Macbook pro core 2 duo 2.2 mhz, 120gb hard drive, 2gb ram. I NEED more hard drive space and i do not want an external. I looked for upgrades and found this on new egg, they said it was compatible with my computer, i currently have the same drive but in 120gb. I properly installed the drive and its not being recognized. Could it be a faulty drive, or incompatibility even though they said it would work? Ill leave it to you guys to help me out.

Here is the drive i bought that they said was compatible

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822116172

 

[Takashi]

I have currently a 15 inch Macbook pro core 2 duo 2.2 mhz, 120gb hard drive, 2gb ram. I NEED more hard drive space and i do not want an external. I looked for upgrades and found this on new egg, they said it was compatible with my computer, i currently have the same drive but in 120gb. I properly installed the drive and its not being recognized. Could it be a faulty drive, or incompatibility even though they said it would work? Ill leave it to you guys to help me out.

Here is the drive i bought that they said was compatible

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822116172

Do you have a SATA / USB adaptor that you can use to test your new Hard Drive? Perhaps you can use that to see if it is an issue with a faulty drive.

Did you double check to make sure all the cables are connected properly?

But wait... what do you mean it' not being recognized? can you be more specific?

 

[mr. feeny]

yes, sorry for not being more specific just wanted to get this up quick. I redid the install twice and got the same results; popped in my old one using the same steps and it worked. To be more specific When I boot up holding the option key you're supposed to see the Apple Hard Drive Logo and the Install disk (Im doing a fresh install with tiger then using my supplied Leapoard upgrade disk). I only see the Install Disk a this point, and if i click the install disk it brings me to the setup installer and asks where i want to save my stuff to (chose which drive) and it is blank showing no drives so i cannot select and continue.... I do not have a SATA/UBSB cable, i wish i did to test it out would make things a lot easier and it would tell me if my HDD was compatible or not even though they said it was. I may pick one up before ruling out the fact that its faulty especialy since its a pain in the butt to exchange out through mailorder

 

[Takashi]

yes, sorry for not being more specific just wanted to get this up quick. I redid the install twice and got the same results; popped in my old one using the same steps and it worked. To be more specific When I boot up holding the option key you're supposed to see the Apple Hard Drive Logo and the Install disk (Im doing a fresh install with tiger then using my supplied Leapoard upgrade disk). I only see the Install Disk a this point, and if i click the install disk it brings me to the setup installer and asks where i want to save my stuff to (chose which drive) and it is blank showing no drives so i cannot select and continue.... I do not have a SATA/UBSB cable, i wish i did to test it out would make things a lot easier and it would tell me if my HDD was compatible or not even though they said it was. I may pick one up before ruling out the fact that its faulty especialy since its a pain in the butt to exchange out through mailorder

Hm... It's not easy to check unless you have a SATA => USB adaptor. Let's see if other people in the forum can help you out.

 

[Bill Gates]

Edit: Did you launch Disk Utility from the OS X install disc? A quick re-read of your post leads to me to believe it's a matter of not having initialized and formatted the drive. If that's not the case, then read the following information:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but your MBP has a 1.5 Gbit/sec SATA controller, right? It's relatively uncommon but not unheard of for some 3.0 Gbit/sec drives to have incompatibilities with 1.5 Gbit/sec SATA controllers. Some manufacturers offer utilities capable of switching their drives to 1.5 Gbit/sec for legacy applications. A quick look on Toshiba's website (they bought Fujitsu's HDD division) did not yield any results, but it'd be worth you time to personally taking a look as well. If your search yields no results, you will need to test the drive in another computer or enclosure to determine whether it's an incompatibility or a faulty drive. If you lack the resources to do so, I would exchange it for a different drive that others can attest to being compatible.

 

[mr. feeny]

I am properly booting the OSX install disk, this isnt the first time ive done this before, which is the reason why im concerned. My brother has a Aluminum Macbook i can try the install on; ill have to convince him to let me take it apart

I will also try and pick up a USB/SATA cable to see if this turns results as well.

 

[Bill Gates]

I am properly booting the OSX install disk, this isnt the first time ive done this before, which is the reason why im concerned. My brother has a Aluminum Macbook i can try the install on; ill have to convince him to let me take it apart

I will also try and pick up a USB/SATA cable to see if this turns results as well.

If you say so, but you should also know that you won't see the Apple logo when holding the option key unless OS X is installed on your computer, which would not be the case on a brand new drive.

 

[mr. feeny]

when i hit the power button i push in the disk immediately while holding the option key the entire time, it brings me to this menu but there is no hard drive icon

And there is nothing to select from at this window.. its all blank and i cannot click continue (obviously)

Images from IFIXIT.com for reference

 

[mr. feeny]

anyone else have iunput?

 

[rockstarjoe]

Did you format the drive HFS and select GUID Partition table before you installed?

 

[kernguru]

I have the same issue here is the 411:

Same thing. What i can add about the problem, with the USB/IDE cable, The drive works. infact i was able to install 10.6.3 retail onto it, Used a DL PC DVD laptop drive since my MAcBook Pro 1,1 (late 2008 model) 2Ghz is not DL and the Install CD was. The Computer did not detect the new 500GB Drive when connected through the onboard controller. it also did not read the PC 250Gb Drive.

FYI: This is a Intel Mac, is will detect all drives regardless of windows or Mac use, it just will not mount NTFS without other tools kext or drivers.

I believe the firmware was the issue but the Macbook seems to have lastest firmware EFI and SMC.

Tried two different internal cables and two different Sata drives, one 500GB and one 250GB. Either the drives were both 3Gb SATA Drives and not 1.5Gbs like the motherboard's onboard controller (as stated above) or the controller is Disabled or Shot. I reccomend getting a 2.5" SATA External Enclusure, Spend the Money on a good quality one that will protect your drive good, and leave you internal slot empty, remove the cable.

Used your enclosure to make your Drive external and use it as a startup drive.

Good Luck.