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Is hard drive my dead?!

RZetlin

RZetlin

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 9, 2007
146
0
About a week ago my hard drive overheated and my Macbook froze up.

Now my Mac OS does not start up.

I had the Macbook for a few years now.

When I run the Leopard Install CD->Disk Utilities, the Mac Hard drive is not displayed.

1) Is there anyway to get repair my hard drive?
2) Should I buy a new notebook hard drive and replace it myself?
3) Should I get the Apple repair to fix at it?
 
I bought my Macbook in 2007.

1) Am I still under warranty?

2) How much would the Apple Store charge me to repair it?

3) The current hard drive is Segate. What is a good recommendation for a notebook hard drive?
 
I don't know if Maxtor still makes bare drives, but I've had horrendous experiences with their external drives.
 
RZetlin said:
I don't trust Apple to repair my Macbook since I don't know which hard drive brand they going to use to replace it.

I have been thinking about getting my own replacement:

Western Digital Scorpio Black (WD3200BJKT)

Any known issues with this drive?
Click to expand...

Apple will just put the stock drive with your machine inside. They would look up which model went in, and then replace it with that.

That's what they've done for me on the two occasions I had to get it replaced. If you are out of Apple Care, do it yourself and choose whichever drive you want. The one you have is a very good model.

alphaod said:
They do, but it's for their "solutions".
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. I had a slight feeling they were still around, just not in full force.
 
Some seagate HDs on older versions of MacBooks have been known to fail well before it expected lifespan. It may be possible that that has happened to you. As for investing in a new HD, they are relatively cheap, especially capacities less than 100, an 80GB HD could probably be picked up for around $30.

Good Luck
 
What about an SSD? They have really come down in price and there performance has gone up a lot. If you have the money then I would give it a shot. I'll be installing one as soon as Snow Leopard is released.
 
I own 3 WD drives, and none of them have put a foot wrong. They are all quick and quiet, exactly how I want them.

Chase R said:
What about an SSD? They have really come down in price and there performance has gone up a lot. If you have the money then I would give it a shot. I'll be installing one as soon as Snow Leopard is released.
Click to expand...

They are still significantly more expensive per gig than normal HDDs. Most consumers are focusing on capacity rather than performance.
 
RZetlin said:
I don't trust Apple to repair my Macbook since I don't know which hard drive brand they going to use to replace it.

I have been thinking about getting my own replacement:

Western Digital Scorpio Black (WD3200BJKT)

Any known issues with this drive?
Click to expand...

You probably want the model w/o the drop sensor - WD3200BEKT. There is a conflict between the drive's sensor and the built-in SMS (Sudden Motion Sensor), causing kernel panics.

This might have been corrected in the UB models, as my 17" came with the "FFS" Fujitsu drive. But, since I hadn't read any reports one way or the other, I replaced it (just last night) with the -BEKT (no drop sensor) model. It's moot when installed in a MacBook, anyway.

btw: The WD drive is virtually silent, especially when compared with the 5400 RPM Fujitsu the UB shipped with. It [the Fujitsu] wasn't "loud", but did have very noticeable head seeking sounds. Spindle noise levels are about the same - which says a lot for the WD spinning at 7200 vs 5400 RPM.

(note: The retail box WD3200KTRTL contains the BEKT drive)
 
Chase R said:
Very true... however, they are more reliable than standard HDDs.
Click to expand...

Yes, just as long as you avoid RiDATA and Trascend.

And avoid the drives with JMicron controllers (since their performance is horrid.)

And I'd only really say the SLC drives are more reliable -- MLC ones don't have that great of an MTBF...
 
gr8tfly said:
You probably want the model w/o the drop sensor - WD3200BEKT. There is a conflict between the drive's sensor and the built-in SMS (Sudden Motion Sensor), causing kernel panics.

This might have been corrected in the UB models, as my 17" came with the "FFS" Fujitsu drive. But, since I hadn't read any reports one way or the other, I replaced it (just last night) with the -BEKT (no drop sensor) model. It's moot when installed in a MacBook, anyway.

btw: The WD drive is virtually silent, especially when compared with the 5400 RPM Fujitsu the UB shipped with. It [the Fujitsu] wasn't "loud", but did have very noticeable head seeking sounds. Spindle noise levels are about the same - which says a lot for the WD spinning at 7200 vs 5400 RPM.

(note: The retail box WD3200KTRTL contains the BEKT drive)
Click to expand...

That's strange, the Seagate Hard Drive (Momentus 5400.3) that is in my Macbook now, has a built in-sensor and that doesn't interfere with my Macbook.

Isn't the motion sensor on the Hard Drive not on the Mac OS itself?
 
RZetlin said:
That's strange, the Seagate Hard Drive (Momentus 5400.3) that is in my Macbook now, has a built in-sensor and that doesn't interfere with my Macbook.

Isn't the motion sensor on the Hard Drive not on the Mac OS itself?
Click to expand...

It can be both, but there are sensors in the MB & MBPs http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1935

It might have been one particular firmware version or an issue with how the WD reports its sensor. (In other words, unique to WD drives with drop sensors)
 
gr8tfly said:
It can be both, but there are sensors in the MB & MBPs http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1935

It might have been one particular firmware version or an issue with how the WD reports its sensor. (In other words, unique to WD drives with drop sensors)
Click to expand...

From what I read the Sudden Motion Sensor can be disabled.

Is it a good idea to buy a WD hard drive with motion sensor and then disable the Sudden Motion Sensor?
 
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