dead hard drive, anything else?

[jazzyguy44]

The hard drive on my wife's mid-2007 macbook is dead, but how do I make sure that the hard drive is the only thing that isn't working? I'm not very familiar with macs, and I haven't even been able to find out if it's supposed to be able to boot into a BIOS-type environment (EFI?) without the hard drive, or how to get there.

I've connected the hard drive to a couple other computers and they don't even recognize that anything is there, so I know that the hard drive is dead. I just want to make sure that everything else is still ok before I order a new hard drive.

When I turn on the machine, the screen turns on, and after a couple minutes of white, it displays a blinking folder with a ? in the middle. How do I troubleshoot this? or will I have to take it to an apple service center?

Sorry for my ignorance, and thanks for your help!!

 

[alust2013]

If you've got the install disks that came with the computer or a snow leopard install disk, you can use that to run the hardware test. Most likely just the hard drive is toast, as the folder with the question mark is the classic symptom for a dead hard drive. If it was a dead logic board, it probably wouldn't even get to that.

 

[jazzyguy44]

Awesome, thanks. I don't have the original install disks, but I'm sure I can get one from somewhere. Once I have an install disk, do I just turn it on, pop in the disk and select from some options, or is there a key combo to get to the hardware test area?

 

[alust2013]

Awesome, thanks. I don't have the original install disks, but I'm sure I can get one from somewhere. Once I have an install disk, do I just turn it on, pop in the disk and select from some options, or is there a key combo to get to the hardware test area?

You'll need one that came with your specific model of computer, and you'll need to follow these instructions.

 

[jazzyguy44]

You'll need one that came with your specific model of computer, and you'll need to follow these instructions.

Sorry, I guess this confused me a little. . . in your first post, you said that a snow leopard install disk would work as well. But if I need the install cd's that came with my computer model, do you know why? Do later 32-bit OS X install cd's not have support for older hardware?

 

[iThinkergoiMac]

What alust2013 is referring to is that you can't use OEM install discs that came with other Macs. You need to either use yours (or one that came with the exact same model) or a retail disc. The OEM discs are model-locked.

 

[jazzyguy44]

Ok so I finally got a hold of the install cds and followed the instructions linked by alust 2013. However, after inserting the disk and holding down "D" like it says in the article, several times actually, nothing happens. . . the folder with the question mark doesn't even show up like it did before. I tried it with both the 1st and 2nd install disks. Am I doing something wrong? Is there another key combo to press while the disk is booting? Or is something else dead like the mobo? Thanks!

 

[StockDC2]

Look at the face of the disks. The one that has the hardware diagnostics option is the disk that you should use.

Hold down D and don't let go until the computer boots off of the disk. If this doesn't work, your drive may be bad as well.

Your logic board is fine. The blinking folder means that your HD can't be read.

 

[jazzyguy44]

How long should I expect to hold down "D" before something comes up? Because 15-20 minutes seems kind of ridiculous and yields no results. . . If I connect an external dvd drive via USB, should it be able to boot from there?