Macbook Pro has gone Bonkers

[dw3bb10]

I have a cMBP 2012. This thing has run like a champ since August 2012 when I got it, Ive NEVER had an issue with it, ever. Ive also had a Samsung 830 and 8GB of RAM installed since practically Day 1 as well. Two days ago, I had tons of tabs open in Chrome, doing my thing as usual, and my computer crashed. Got the rainbow ball, and proceeded to manually power down and restart the computer with the power button. It cut back on, no Apple logo appeared, it would NOT BOOT.

I was able to boot into the diagnostic, though it started and hung 12sec in, at the memory test, every time. When holding the option key during boot, the drive was not there. I was able to boot into disk utility, wipe the drive (it showed there), but when I go to install Mac OS, it doesnt detect the drive, in fact it hangs when the computer is detecting drives to install to. Tried to reset PRAM and SMC, nothing. Took out the SSD, put in the stock 500GB drive, same thing. Took it to Apple, the young lady was of some help but wasn't very techie. She was able to run their diagnostic, and detected no problem from any of my components. She was also able to get the OS to install over the network. Long story short, it was able to install, but performance is unbearable. Takes forever to boot, Nothing is open and takes Safari 7-10 seconds to open, it stutters when switching between tabs (3 are open), mind you this is a machine with a quad i7 and 8GB of ram. Even when pressing the keyboard or display lights it takes a second for the icons to pop up on the display. Tried resetting pRAM and SMC again, nothing. Whats wrong with my Macbook PRO?!

 

[T5BRICK]

Whats wrong with my Macbook PRO?!

My first guess is the SATA cable for your HDD/SSD. This isn't typically a problem in the 15" models though.

 

[snaky69]

I have a cMBP 2012. This thing has run like a champ since August 2012 when I got it, Ive NEVER had an issue with it, ever. Ive also had a Samsung 830 and 8GB of RAM installed since practically Day 1 as well. Two days ago, I had tons of tabs open in Chrome, doing my thing as usual, and my computer crashed. Got the rainbow ball, and proceeded to manually power down and restart the computer with the power button. It cut back on, no Apple logo appeared, it would NOT BOOT.

I was able to boot into the diagnostic, though it started and hung 12sec in, at the memory test, every time. When holding the option key during boot, the drive was not there. I was able to boot into disk utility, wipe the drive (it showed there), but when I go to install Mac OS, it doesnt detect the drive, in fact it hangs when the computer is detecting drives to install to. Tried to reset PRAM and SMC, nothing. Took out the SSD, put in the stock 500GB drive, same thing. Took it to Apple, the young lady was of some help but wasn't very techie. She was able to run their diagnostic, and detected no problem from any of my components. She was also able to get the OS to install over the network. Long story short, it was able to install, but performance is unbearable. Takes forever to boot, Nothing is open and takes Safari 7-10 seconds to open, it stutters when switching between tabs (3 are open), mind you this is a machine with a quad i7 and 8GB of ram. Even when pressing the keyboard or display lights it takes a second for the icons to pop up on the display. Tried resetting pRAM and SMC again, nothing. Whats wrong with my Macbook PRO?!

You went from the speed of the SSD to a spinner. My guess is that's what makes you think something's wrong. 7-10 seconds to open safari is normal on a platter hard drive. Having an i7 and 8GB RAM will not change that. The hard drive needs to put the app into RAM, and it cannot go any faster than what the hard drive is capable of.

 

[CoastalOR]

Since it behaved the same with the SSD & the original HDD, I would suspect the drive ribbon cable. Do you still have the HDD installed?
A good test would be to get an external drive enclosure, install the drive that is currently not installed (HDD or SSD), install OS (if needed), boot from the external and see how things work. The good news if it is the internal drive, the cable only costs about $30 and is not that hard to replace.

EDIT: I need to type faster. T5BRICK beat me to a reply while I was typing.

 

[dw3bb10]

Snaky69, I know the obvious benefits of an SSD which is why I installed it to begin with. Aside from adjusting to the 5400RPM speeds, there was an obivous reduction in system performance.

Thanks everyone for your input. Currently running my El Capitan install from my SSD through my USB 3.0 exclosure and its running like a charm. The Sata cable definitely went bad. Thanks everyone for your input.