Thanks for takin' the time to check this out folks...
tl;dr: HDD irreparably crashed, SSD replacement successfully boots from USB but not internally. When installed internally, something a lot like this happens.
I've been mucking with this laptop for over a month now and I'm ready to rip open my skull to pull out those last hidden strands of hair I couldn't find over the last few weeks. I'm working an early 2011 13" Macbook Pro (a1278) running Mountain Lion.
2 months ago, my computer started gumming up and slapping me with the rainbow wheel of death for 2-20 minutes at a time, triggering me to force shutdown the computer just to proceed. Eventually, the computer degraded to a place where it prompted me to force restart. Shortly after, the computer wouldn't even boot--it got stuck with the Apple which then turned into a prohibitory sign.
Diagnostic told me it was a hard drive error, so I ordered a Samsung 840 SSD. Upon attaching this SSD externally, the computer suddenly worked! Magic, y'all. Of course this led my friend who thinks he's a computer expert to say 'it must be RAM, get new RAM' so I did. I upgraded to 8gb of Kingston goodness, and with the HDD and the new RAM my computer worked.
For 2 weeks.
Today the buddy died. HDD failure, irreparable.
I restored my computer to the SSD attached externally, and the install went great and now the SSD will boot my computer, but only externally. When I install the SSD internally, something like this happens.
I have no idea what's happening. Maybe cable? Maybe the logic board? It's working like a charm when I attach it through a USB, but internally it's complete muck.
Thanks for your time!
tl;dr: HDD irreparably crashed, SSD replacement successfully boots from USB but not internally. When installed internally, something a lot like this happens.
I've been mucking with this laptop for over a month now and I'm ready to rip open my skull to pull out those last hidden strands of hair I couldn't find over the last few weeks. I'm working an early 2011 13" Macbook Pro (a1278) running Mountain Lion.
2 months ago, my computer started gumming up and slapping me with the rainbow wheel of death for 2-20 minutes at a time, triggering me to force shutdown the computer just to proceed. Eventually, the computer degraded to a place where it prompted me to force restart. Shortly after, the computer wouldn't even boot--it got stuck with the Apple which then turned into a prohibitory sign.
Diagnostic told me it was a hard drive error, so I ordered a Samsung 840 SSD. Upon attaching this SSD externally, the computer suddenly worked! Magic, y'all. Of course this led my friend who thinks he's a computer expert to say 'it must be RAM, get new RAM' so I did. I upgraded to 8gb of Kingston goodness, and with the HDD and the new RAM my computer worked.
For 2 weeks.
Today the buddy died. HDD failure, irreparable.
I restored my computer to the SSD attached externally, and the install went great and now the SSD will boot my computer, but only externally. When I install the SSD internally, something like this happens.
I have no idea what's happening. Maybe cable? Maybe the logic board? It's working like a charm when I attach it through a USB, but internally it's complete muck.
Thanks for your time!