Hard Drive and HDD Cable Issues- Please Help :)

[Stumpa]

I have a mid-2012 MacBook Pro that is having what appears to be hard drive issues. The original hard drive failed about 2 years ago so I replaced it with a SSD. About a month ago, my MacBook started acting funny (restarting randomly, applications randomly shutting down) and then one day it wouldn’t boot up. Every time I tried to boot up, it would either show a prohibitory sign or a folder with a question mark on it. The Geek Squad diagnosed it as a hard drive failure so I replaced the hard drive. However, this did not fix the problem because the MacBook still didn’t recognize the hard drive. I then replaced the HDD cable but the MacBook still isn’t recognizing the hard drive. It’s not showing up when I try to restore a Time Machine backup from my external hard drive, and it’s not showing up in disk utility.

I really don’t know what else could be wrong or what else to try. I’m in graduate school and have been without my computer for a month, so I really need a fix here. Does anyone have any ideas? Anything would be much appreciated! Thanks!

 

[keysofanxiety]

Ah the ol' 13" 2012s.

The failure rate on the SATA cables are ubiquitous. Even if you replaced the cable it may be DOA if it was a refurb.

Good news is that Apple have a silent repair program for this, so if you pop into an Apple Store they will be able to sort this out for you by replacing the cable again, free of charge. Certainly if you take your SSD along they will know it's not the drive.

 

[Stumpa]

I bought the cable new on Amazon so I’m a little confused why it wouldn’t work. Would it be advantageous to buy one from a different company and try again?

As for the Apple store, I had taken it in this weekend and they said they were 90% sure it was the cable. They said the part would cost $15 but the labor would be about $80, which is why I bought the part and replaced it myself. Is there something special I need to tell them to get this silent repair program? Also, an Apple tech support guy said that if I replaced the part myself with a non-Apple product, I would forfeit the right to have Apple work on it.

 

[keysofanxiety]

I bought the cable new on Amazon so I’m a little confused why it wouldn’t work. Would it be advantageous to buy one from a different company and try again?

As for the Apple store, I had taken it in this weekend and they said they were 90% sure it was the cable. They said the part would cost $15 but the labor would be about $80, which is why I bought the part and replaced it myself. Is there something special I need to tell them to get this silent repair program? Also, an Apple tech support guy said that if I replaced the part myself with a non-Apple product, I would forfeit the right to have Apple work on it.

Very disappointing, they shouldn't be charging you for that... there's definitely a silent repair program for the cable. The failure rate on them is very high. Plus $80 for labour on a 1 minute job? What an absolute rip.

I guess you could try go into the Apple Store again and possibly politely escalate with a manager. I promise I'm not telling porkies on this one.

With regards to a different brand of cable... iFixit's prices are through the roof. Which one did you buy from Amazon please?

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

I buy my 13" 2012 cables off eBay, haven't had a bad one yet but we'll see.
[doublepost=1511975445][/doublepost]Have you tested the drive in a usb enclosure? Surefire way to see if you've gotta bad cable.

 

[Stumpa]

Very disappointing, they shouldn't be charging you for that... there's definitely a silent repair program for the cable. The failure rate on them is very high. Plus $80 for labour on a 1 minute job? What an absolute rip.

I guess you could try go into the Apple Store again and possibly politely escalate with a manager. I promise I'm not telling porkies on this one.

With regards to a different brand of cable... iFixit's prices are through the roof. Which one did you buy from Amazon please?

I purchased this one:
JANRI 923-0741 923-0104 Hard Drvie Cable with bracket 821-1480-A for MacBook Pro Unibody 13 A1278 2012 MD101 MD102

Is there any possibiity that I damaged it while I was installing it? I had some trouble screwing in the tiny screws and had to play with it a bit but I’m not sure if that would have done anything.

I’ll try to contact Apple again and see what they have to say. Seeing as it is such a big problem for so many people, it seems like they should fix it for free.
[doublepost=1511978368][/doublepost]

I buy my 13" 2012 cables off eBay, haven't had a bad one yet but we'll see.
[doublepost=1511975445][/doublepost]Have you tested the drive in a usb enclosure? Surefire way to see if you've gotta bad cable.

Great, I’ll take a look at those cables.

I have been wanting to test it with a usb enclosure but don’t currently own one. That might be my next step because I really want to know what the issue is. If it’s not the hard drive and not the cable, is there anything else it could be?

 

[treekram]

It appears that the Apple silent repair program for the SATA cable has ended - there have been reports from other people that Apple no longer repairs/replaces it for free.

If the cable doesn't work initially, check the connection to the logic board to make sure it's been properly seated (don't apply too much force). It appears that the JANRI cable has a 3 month warranty so you should be able to either return it to Amazon or the manufacturer. It is possible that you damaged the cable when handling it but careful handling should not result in damage if the cable is new (older cables may get brittle). If it's not the cable or the drive, I have not seen any reports of logic board issues in the context of the SATA connection failing. But it's possible that you damaged the logic board connector if you exerted too much force in either removing the old cable or seating the new cable - but it doesn't appear that this is a common occurrence.

 

[Stumpa]

If the cable doesn't work initially, check the connection to the logic board to make sure it's been properly seated (don't apply too much force). It appears that the JANRI cable has a 3 month warranty so you should be able to either return it to Amazon or the manufacturer. It is possible that you damaged the cable when handling it but careful handling should not result in damage if the cable is new (older cables may get brittle). If it's not the cable or the drive, I have not seen any reports of logic board issues in the context of the SATA connection failing. But it's possible that you damaged the logic board connector if you exerted too much force in either removing the old cable or seating the new cable - but it doesn't appear that this is a common occurrence.

That’s great to know about the warranty. After hearing what you all have to say, here is my game plan:
1. Recheck all of the connections with the hard drive and cable.
2. If it still doesn’t work after that, I’ll get a USB enclosure to confirm that it’s the cable
3. If it is indeed the cable, I’ll return the JANRI one and try a different kind
4. If none of that works, maybe a new computer is in order?

Does that sound like a good plan?
Also, thanks to everyone for your help, I really appreciate it!

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

If none of it works, then it could be a board issue. I will be really surprised if it doesn't work in the enclosure, but if it does there and then DOESN'T with a different HDD cable, it could be your board. If it is, note that you can replace your DVD drive with a hard drive.
[doublepost=1511983179][/doublepost]I was about to buy some of these on the weekend, but import duty to Canada was too steep: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/HDD-Hard-Dr...527351?hash=item3ac541ce37:g:Fq8AAOSwySlaFSUg

 

[Stumpa]

If none of it works, then it could be a board issue. I will be really surprised if it doesn't work in the enclosure, but if it does there and then DOESN'T with a different HDD cable, it could be your board. If it is, note that you can replace your DVD drive with a hard drive.
[doublepost=1511983179][/doublepost]I was about to buy some of these on the weekend, but import duty to Canada was too steep: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/HDD-Hard-Dr...527351?hash=item3ac541ce37:g:Fq8AAOSwySlaFSUg

Sorry, you’ll have to forgive my lack of computer knowledge, but what do you mean by replace the DVD drive with a hard drive? If I’m understanding correctly, would I put my hard drive into where the DVD drive is and then have an empty spot where the hard drive used to be?

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

Yup: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing+MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Mid+2012+Dual+Hard+Drive/13787

 

[Stumpa]

Awesome, that’s great to know I have that as a last resort.

As far as testing the hard drive with a USB enclosure goes, how exactly would I do that?
I was looking at getting this one: https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Tool...-3&keywords=usb+ssd+enclosure#customerReviews

I understand that I would put my hard drive in and plug it into the USB but then what do I do after that when I turn it on?

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

Yup that's what you want. Install SSD/HD in it then boot up the Mac while holding option. You should see Macintosh HD as a yellow external drive icon; hit enter to boot off it.

 

[treekram]

All of this presumes that there is a workable OS on your new HDD. If you can't boot from a USB enclosure using the instructions in post #13, you should try macOS Recovery over the Internet and go into Disk Utility there to see if it finds your HDD.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314

It would be very unlikely that one SATA controller would fail and not the other since the controller for both is on the same chip. It's much more likely that there's a connector issue. To test the optical SATA port, if your optical drive works, then the optical SATA port is working. If your optical drive works and your HDD works in the USB enclosure and a replacement cable properly seated doesn't work and if you can do without the optical drive then you can use the HDD in optical bay with a bracket (which has a connector and some electronics) as mentioned in post #9. But beware - some people have had issues with cheaper brackets - the issue is the connector electronics, not the bracket itself.

 

[Stumpa]

All of this presumes that there is a workable OS on your new HDD. If you can't boot from a USB enclosure using the instructions in post #13, you should try macOS Recovery over the Internet and go into Disk Utility there to see if it finds your HDD.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314

It’s a brand new hard drive so I would just go to disk utility then right?

Also, how would I know if the optical drive works or not?

[doublepost=1511989518][/doublepost]I should add that both the Geek Squad and the Genius Bar used the MRI diagnostic software on it and said the logic board was fine. Does that provide any additional information?

 

[treekram]

If the HDD is empty (you or the Geek Squad did not install the OS), then the instructions in #13 will not work. And yes, when going into Internet macOS recovery, you would go into Disk Utility. Try formatting the disk (again, presuming it's empty). If it can format, chances are the HDD is OK. You can then exit Disk Utility and see if you can install the OS to the HDD.

To test the optical drive, put a CD or DVD that has some content on it and see if it can be read. If you have not used the optical drive before and are not the original owner of the MBP, there are some things to be aware of:
1) There may be no optical drive.
2) The optical drive may not be working - the quality of these drives wasn't that good to begin with.
3) Push the CD/DVD partially in the slot - if it's working, it should pull in the disk. If it doesn't get pulled in after pushing it about half-way, don't push it in any further.
4) Typically, whatever is on the CD/DVD will start playing. If it doesn't, look for the CD/DVD icon on the Desktop.
5) If it plays or even if the icon appears, the optical drive is working. To eject it, press the button at the top right of the keyboard, the one with the upward-facing arrow.

As I mentioned, SATA controller chip failure is pretty rare and diagnostic software would not be able to detect the most likely causes of why your HDD (presuming the HDD is fine) isn't being recognized - a bad or improperly connected cable, or a damaged connector. Although as I think about it, there could be another cause for this - not enough power being delivered to the HDD although that's another problem that would be very rare to come across.

 

[Stumpa]

I double checked the hard drive cable connections and everything looked normal but the computer still isn’t recognizing the hard drive. I’ll order the USB enclosure tonight and hopefully get it in a couple days.

I just put a CD in and the computer accepted it, but I’m not sure how to tell if anything is on there since I can’t boot up past the flashing folder with a question mark.

In regard to your point about the power, when they used the diagnostic software they said my battery showed a yellow light so they said it probably is underperforming and could be replaced soon. Would that make any difference?

 

[treekram]

My bad ... right now you can't boot from the computer so you just can't put in a CD/DVD in there and have it play. But using the Disk Utility from macOS Recovery, it should show information about the disk if it's in there and if it does show, there's a good chance that the SATA controller is OK. If your battery is under-performing, you should be doing all of this with the AC cable plugged in.

 

[Stumpa]

Okay, I tried putting the CD in and it showed up in the disk utility.

I guess all I can do now is wait for the USB enclosure and see what happens then.

Again, thank you so much for everyone’s help. This has been such a frustrating process and I really appreciate the great advice!

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

It's possible the replacement cable you bought was defective. Only a possibility.

I concur with others who suggest you take the MacBook to an Apple Store and this time request the manager regarding the "silent replacement program" for the ribbon cable.

It was a good move to get the external USB3 enclosure. Tracking down a problem like this can be vexing, because multiple factors may be involved.

Do you still have the ORIGINAL HDD that came with the MacBook?
Have you tried installing that with the NEW ribbon cable (instead of the SSD)?
Can you get booted that way?

If not, I would try this next:
1. Get the external USB3 enclosure
2. Put the SSD into it
3. Connect to MacBook
4. Reboot and hold down option key to invoke startup manager
5. Select external drive and hit return.

Do you get "a good boot" this way?
If you DON'T... it could be something with the SSD.
In that case... again... try the old HDD as well.

 

[Stumpa]

OP:

I concur with others who suggest you take the MacBook to an Apple Store and this time request the manager regarding the "silent replacement program" for the ribbon cable.

Do you still have the ORIGINAL HDD that came with the MacBook?
Have you tried installing that with the NEW ribbon cable (instead of the SSD)?
Can you get booted that way?

Unfortunately, the original HDD that came with the MacBook failed about 2 years ago so I replaced it with a SSD. When I started having these issues a month ago, the Geek Squad diagnosed it as a hard drive failure so I sent the SSD back to Sandisk for a replacement because it was under warranty. So currently I only have the dead original HDD and the brand new SSD.

If it turns out the USB enclosure experiment indicates a cable problem I’ll consider going to the Apple store, but I just don’t know how willing they’ll be to help me if that program has ended. Also, I don’t know if they will work on my computer now that I’ve installed a third party part.

 

[Stumpa]

Okay, just wanted to post an update. The hard drive works in the USB enclosure so I can conclude that 1. The replacement cable was defective, 2. I somehow damaged the cable during installation, or 3. It’s the connection to the logic board that’s bad. I sent the cable back for a refund and bought one of the cables from eBay that Mr_Brightside_@ recommended. When I get that cable, I’ll have the Geek Squad install it for me so I can eliminate the variable of me installing it. Hopefully that’s the fix!

 

[Stumpa]

The computer is fixed! I bought the cable on eBay that Mr_Brightside_@ recommended and it worked! Still not sure if the cable I got from Amazon was defective or if I botched the installation, but I’m just so happy my computer works! Thanks again to everyone for your help and advice!