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No hdd's showing in disk utility

A

antdawe

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 14, 2010
212
1
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I purchased a new hdd today. Connected it all up and attempted a back up from a saved time machine off a USB hdd. That failed and upon restart it won't detect my hdd in disk utility. I've tried 3 different hdd's and none of them are detected. They get detected fine in a USB enclosure.

There is power going to them as I can hear them spin.

It's a MacBook pro mid 2009
 
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That's not possible as they are not showing in disk utility. However I did do it through USB to no avail
 
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Adamantoise said:
Have you tried formatting the new HDD as journal+?
Click to expand...

No. How would I do that?
 
The OP cannot see the Hard Drive in disk utility there for he CANNOT format, erase partition etc...
 
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Prodo123 said:
Maybe it's a problem with your SATA controller?
Click to expand...

Anything I can do to test?
 
antdawe said:
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Anything I can do to test?
Click to expand...

If you can get your hands on a working Mac, stick one of your empty HDDs in there and install Mac OS X on it. After installing, stick the HDD back into your Mac and see if it boots into OS X. If it doesn't, then it's definitely the SATA controller.
Sadly, the logic board replacement costs $699.
 
I have already tried that but sadly it didn't boot.

Lots of talk on various forums saying the hdd cable can fail
 
antdawe said:
I have already tried that but sadly it didn't boot.

Lots of talk on various forums saying the hdd cable can fail
Click to expand...

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1509

Follow this to do the Apple Hardware Test using your OS X DVD. It will determine whether it's the SATA controller or the cable that's causing this issue.

If the SATA controller comes up as fine, then you've dodged a gigantic bullet. Cable replacement costs less than $40, and you can buy them from iFixit. They have detailed guides on how to replace them. :)

If it doesn't, then your only option is a full logic board replacement by Apple. :(
 
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Quick test logic board is fine. Extended test running now. Cross your fingers for me :)
 
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Ok full test showed no problems found. System profiler says unable to communicate with sata. Cable is my next option then, is that wise?
 
antdawe said:
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Ok full test showed no problems found. System profiler says unable to communicate with sata. Cable is my next option then, is that wise?
Click to expand...

Unable to communicate with SATA or no SATA devices found?

I would recommend taking it to a Genius to be sure.
 
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There was an error while scanning for serial ata devices

Tried everything. It's out of warranty so will genius charge for diagnosing?
 
antdawe said:
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There was an error while scanning for serial ata devices

Tried everything. It's out of warranty so will genius charge for diagnosing?
Click to expand...

The Genius will not charge as long as he doesn't have to open it up, which he probably will need to do. Many Geniuses are nice and may let you go for free. :)
But man, that logic board replacement is a worst case scenario. If that's needed, you might be better off buying a new Mac. Let's hope that doesn't happen.
 
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One last thing will apple sell me a sata cable?
 
antdawe said:
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One last thing will apple sell me a sata cable?
Click to expand...

This is not a cable problem, sorry.
 
Thanks for letting us know

By the way, how does a SATA cable fail? Isn't it just a cable? What happens?
 
Cable fail?

The only way I know that a cable can fail is if the copper/metal/gold anodizes and the connection is lost, or if it is pushed in too far/ not enough or if the internal connections are pushed back and contact is not made. Did the OP remove the SATA cable a few times?
 
jimbo1mcm said:
The only way I know that a cable can fail is if the copper/metal/gold anodizes and the connection is lost, or if it is pushed in too far/ not enough or if the internal connections are pushed back and contact is not made. Did the OP remove the SATA cable a few times?
Click to expand...

Yes I did remove it several times. Looking on Internet and speaking to genius guy it's the most common component to fail on the mid 2009 until they updated the cable
 
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