Resolved Crucial M4 drive failed and want to replace?

[Sgt93]

Hello everyone. I am not that techy, so I apologize in advance. I have searched and have not had any luck.

I have a mid 09 13" MacBook Pro that I replaced the hard drive with a Crucial M4 years ago. The drive failed on me and cannot be recognized. I want to get the MacBook Pro working again but am wondering how I am going to do it.

Do I just order another HD (looking at a Crucial MX300 SSD), along with a Mac OS Sierra disc, put it into the machine and then insert disco to load and get working again, or is there something else I need to do?

I would like to try to recover data from the M4 as well. Any good recommendations on companies to send it into?

Thank you.

 

[chscag]

Take a look at the SSDs sold by OWC (www.macsales.com) before ordering a new SSD. As far as trying to recover data from your Crucial SSD goes... sending it to a data recovery service will wind up costing more than your MacBook Pro and a new drive are worth. Very expensive for that kind of recovery.

I guess we should ask... do you have a backup? Time Machine, CCC, etc. ?

 

[Sgt93]

Take a look at the SSDs sold by OWC (www.macsales.com) before ordering a new SSD. As far as trying to recover data from your Crucial SSD goes... sending it to a data recovery service will wind up costing more than your MacBook Pro and a new drive are worth. Very expensive for that kind of recovery.

I guess we should ask... do you have a backup? Time Machine, CCC, etc. ?

Like an idiot, I don't have a backup. I was using my MobileMe back in the day and am hopeful some documents were stored in the transfer to iCloud, but I can't see anything when logging into my iCloud account. I think I am screwed there.

Essentially I need to know what I need to get the new SD working once I get it into the MacBook Pro. Do I need an install disc or a USB of the OS? I believe I had Lion in it when it failed. can I use the new Sierra in it? Thank you for helping me.

 

[DeltaMac]

You could easily have a faulty SATA cable. Did you try removing the M4, and test it in an external case?
A 2009 MBPro is going to be too old for the usual recovery tools.
Apple does not support your mid-2009 MBPro on Sierra.
El Capitan is the latest version that will natively install.

Original (shipping) system would be OS X 10.5.7, if you still have the original restore DVD.
Apple still sells OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard installer DVDs. You can format/reinstall from Snow Leopard. Use your AppleID to set up the system, and Lion, if that is the last system that you had, should be available in your Purchases in the App Store. Anything after Snow Leopard is a download through the App Store, although you CAN find USB sticks for sale through eBay or even Amazon with OS X installers for just about any OS X version (I can't vouch for the safety of using ANY installer that you don't get from Apple, however. That would be at your own risk, I suppose)

 

[Sgt93]

You could easily have a faulty SATA cable. Did you try removing the M4, and test it in an external case?
A 2009 MBPro is going to be too old for the usual recovery tools.
Apple does not support your mid-2009 MBPro on Sierra.
El Capitan is the latest version that will natively install.

Original (shipping) system would be OS X 10.5.7, if you still have the original restore DVD.
Apple still sells OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard installer DVDs. You can format/reinstall from Snow Leopard. Use your AppleID to set up the system, and Lion, if that is the last system that you had, should be available in your Purchases in the App Store. Anything after Snow Leopard is a download through the App Store, although you CAN find USB sticks for sale through eBay or even Amazon with OS X installers for just about any OS X version (I can't vouch for the safety of using ANY installer that you don't get from Apple, however. That would be at your own risk, I suppose)

Thank you for the info on OS DeltaMac. I did try using an external enclosure and the SDD was still not readable. I would love to recover data from that drive if possible as I have a ton of family photos and documents on there. I'm such a knucklehead for not using a backup device. Never again. Lesson learned the hard way I suppose.

I do have the original install disc though. So I should be able to just order a new drive, install the drive and boot up using that CD to get the new drive setup? I really want to get it going for my 10 year old, so he has a computer to get to know before buying him something better.

 

[DeltaMac]

Yes, that's pretty much it. Install the new drive, boot from the installer DVD, then install the system. You will need to erase the drive, using Disk Utility from the menus, as the installer won't see the drive until you have it formatted as a Mac format disk. After formatting, the new drive would appear as a choice for the install destination.
There's no good (read: low cost) options to recover data from an SSD that is no longer recognized.

 

[Sgt93]

Yes, that's pretty much it. Install the new drive, boot from the installer DVD, then install the system. You will need to erase the drive, using Disk Utility from the menus, as the installer won't see the drive until you have it formatted as a Mac format disk. After formatting, the new drive would appear as a choice for the install destination.
There's no good (read: low cost) options to recover data from an SSD that is no longer recognized.

That's a bummer on the recovery costs, but I would like that info back. I will buy an SSD and do what you said then. Thank you for the help everyone. I will post an update on here after I get the new SSD in.

 

[Sgt93]

I received the new drive, installed it and the Mac will not let me format it no matter what I do. I tried partitioning, and even running Terminal with manual inputs via some threads I found. I keep getting POSIX errors, and from further research, it sounds like my HD to motherboard cable may indeed be the culprit (even though new HD shows up). Does this sound right?

 

[chscag]

It's always a good idea to replace the SATA cable on a machine as old as yours is whenever you replace the hard drive or SSD. I would go ahead and try a new cable which you can get off eBay or from ifixit.

 

[Sgt93]

It's always a good idea to replace the SATA cable on a machine as old as yours is whenever you replace the hard drive or SSD. I would go ahead and try a new cable which you can get off eBay or from ifixit.

The cable was $12 on Amazon so worth giving it a try. I'm hoping that if this is the issue, my M4 SSD will be ok and I will still have all of my photos and files. That would make for a great ending to this story. Will update after I install. Thanks everyone for the help.

 

[Sgt93]

I ordered the Hd cable without the attached bracket... big mistake! I imagine that trying to install a little thin ribbon into a small port was like performing cardiovascular surgery when not properly trained.

I ordered another cable with a bracket and BAM! I'm up and running with my old Crucial M4 Drive! I'm beyond excited to have my files and photos back.

Thank you everyone for the assistance.