MacBook HD and Optical Drive down for the count

[ibook30]

Yikes!

One of our MacBooks had an optical drive failure (system can't find the disk and as it spins it makes unpleasant noises) and before I could get it fixed,,,, the Hard Drive went down! At start up we see the folder with a question mark. Applecare expired a couple of months ago!

Here's what I tried:
Used Target Disk Mode to access the HD - it can not be found (does not appear in Finder)

Took the HD out- then popped it back in to see if it had become unseated. No luck.

Next Steps?
It looks like I am going to get a new HD, then have a local shop replace the optical drive.

Here's where I can use some advice / experience:

Will the shop have any problem with the hardware install on a machine with a clean (non formatted) HD? I imagine not, but curious.

Can I format the HD and load OS X before popping it in? That way I can drop off a working machine at the repair place!

Once I remove old HD- are there some simple data recovery options, places to start? (this data recovery stuff is a new problem for me! All the other machines are backed up, 'cept this one!)

Any experience with this stuff will be appreciated, and richly rewarded with many thank you's and internet peanut brittle!

 

[ftaok]

Which Macbook do you have? Seeing as how Applecare expired, I'm guessing you have one of the older white MBs (or perhaps the 13" unibody Macbook).

Here's what I would do.

1. Pull out the old HDD and put it into a 2.5" USB/FW SATA external case (I recommend the Macally PHR-S250U). Plug that into one of your other Macs to see if you can get it to mount. If it doesn't mount right away, open Disk Utility to see if you can even see the drive.

1a. If that don't work, you might have to look into a data recovery service ($$$)

2. Install a new HDD into the MB and load OS X onto it. If you can get the old drive to work, you can download SuperDuper to clone the old drive onto the new one. This will save you from installing from scratch.

3. Buy and install the SuperDrive yourself. It's not that difficult. I upgraded my old SingleLayer Superdrive to a DualLayer one after the original died. Took about 2 hours. The drive cost me $150.

And next time, make sure you back everything up on a regular basis. That reminds me, I better back up my gear tonight 😉

ft

 

[ibook30]

Good stuff!

The MacBook is over 3 years old, getting close to 4, one of the early Intel MBs. (the model that had the chipping problems with the body!)

I'm going to look into installing the Optical Drive myself- you've inspired me. And thanks for the HD enclosure suggestion and the work flow!

I was extremely happy with how easy it is to get to the HD. Points for the engineers.

EDIT: Got another question- sorry to be needy!

Where / How should I go about getting a new superdrive?

Found a few sites, including:
PowerBookMedic
But I was told I need to be "serial number specific" when purchasing an apple optical drive. In other words I was told each model had it's own unique optical drive requiring it to be ordered with a serial number. Is that true?

I'm looking forward to trying this out!

 

[ftaok]

Where / How should I go about getting a new superdrive?

Found a few sites, including:
PowerBookMedic
But I was told I need to be "serial number specific" when purchasing an apple optical drive. In other words I was told each model had it's own unique optical drive requiring it to be ordered with a serial number. Is that true?

I'm looking forward to trying this out!

That was the exact SuperDrive that I bought. I wanted the 8x, Dual Layer drive. I figured if I was going through the process of opening up the MB, I might as well get the best drive possible.

I think the verbiage about serial numbers is so that you (the buyer) doesn't end up with the wrong drive. Suppose you wanted the standard Single Layer drive. I think they're all UJ-857 models, but there are certain additional numbers.

I think the one I bought was the UJ-857-C ... but I'm not 100% sure.

Just follow the iFixit guide and you'll be fine, as long as you're reasonably handy. Don't pull too hard on anything (don't ask why) and you should be fine.

 

[ibook30]

Lookin' Good!

Thanks ftaok!

I've got the new HD in there, OS is up and running, and the machine is back to functioning!(loaded the OS via firewire in target disk mode, since the optical drive is still busted)

I still need to put the old HD in an enclosure and see what I can salvage. Your advice was helpful. I'm gonna order that optical drive and install it soon.

Update:
Put the old HD in a FW enclosure. I can find it in Disk Utility, but all it will let me do is erase it. Gotta keep working on it! Next up- New Optical Drive. I also found some exterior models that could work if all else fails.

I'd say this ends on a happy note! The machine works, the data might be salvageable, and I learned a few things.