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Trouble with HD Upgrade

J

Jimbob74

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 27, 2010
12
0
Hi,
So I've been up all night trying to install a new HD in our Macbook. I was able to get the new drive cloned and even booted to the new drive while it was connected externally. However, once I installed the HD into the Macbook it would not boot or allow me to select the drive to boot to. All I got was a blank white screen. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I've got the old drive reinstalled and everything works fine. Just doesn't work when I install the new drive.

The HD is a 500gig drive. So that's one of my concerns, is this size of drive compatible?

Sorry for this being my first post on the forum. I hope to get more involved here as we a slowly turning on PC home in to a Mac home (it's still a bit mixed at the moment)

Thanks in advance
 
First off, make sure the new drive is seated correctly on the connector. A lot of new drives have tight connections and people think it's in all the way, but it's not (quite a few threads on here resulted in that being the issue). Give is a good push and make sure it's completely connected.

After that, when you boot for the first time, hold down the option key during the boot sequence and see if that will let you choose the newly installed hard drive as the boot device. After booting, you can go to Disk Utility then and make sure the new HDD is selected as the default boot device.

One other thing I just thought of...before you cloned your data, did you reformat the new drive as HFS+Journaled with GUID Partition table (In the advanced options of disk utility)? If you didn't do the last part, you cannot use the drive as a boot drive with an Intel-based Mac.
 
NewMacbookPlz said:
First off, make sure the new drive is seated correctly on the connector. A lot of new drives have tight connections and people think it's in all the way, but it's not (quite a few threads on here resulted in that being the issue). Give is a good push and make sure it's completely connected.

After that, when you boot for the first time, hold down the option key during the boot sequence and see if that will let you choose the newly installed hard drive as the boot device. After booting, you can go to Disk Utility then and make sure the new HDD is selected as the default boot device.

One other thing I just thought of...before you cloned your data, did you reformat the new drive as HFS+Journaled with GUID Partition table (In the advanced options of disk utility)? If you didn't do the last part, you cannot use the drive as a boot drive with an Intel-based Mac.
Click to expand...

I did almost everything you mentioned above with the possible exception of the GUID Partition table. I just got off the phone with Apple and they said that the 500gig drive should not be an issue. The suggested that I install the new drive and connect the old drive externally, boot the computer to the old drive, and use disk utility to evaluation the new one.

I'll get the partition added and will give it a shot. The interesting thing to me is that it did boot when I had the new drive connected externally. And when i did install the new drive which I did on several occasions last night, I did ensure that it was seated properly.

Thanks for the help and I'll keep you posted on how it goes.
 
NewMacbookPlz said:
First off, make sure the new drive is seated correctly on the connector. A lot of new drives have tight connections and people think it's in all the way, but it's not (quite a few threads on here resulted in that being the issue). Give is a good push and make sure it's completely connected.

After that, when you boot for the first time, hold down the option key during the boot sequence and see if that will let you choose the newly installed hard drive as the boot device. After booting, you can go to Disk Utility then and make sure the new HDD is selected as the default boot device.

One other thing I just thought of...before you cloned your data, did you reformat the new drive as HFS+Journaled with GUID Partition table (In the advanced options of disk utility)? If you didn't do the last part, you cannot use the drive as a boot drive with an Intel-based Mac.
Click to expand...


Awesome post.

Funny how no one has ever mentioned this one time in all of the threads I've seen about Macbook hard drive upgrades.

People and Youtube simply say "install new hard drive" and you are good to go. Turn it back on and you are set.

Thank you for posting the missing link in information for some of us that Have never done this before. :)

I will format *my new hard drive prior to installing it.
 
Alx9876 said:
Awesome post.

Funny how no one has ever mentioned this one time in all of the threads I've seen about Macbook hard drive upgrades.

People and Youtube simply say "install new hard drive" and you are good to go. Turn it back on and you are set.

Thank you for posting the missing link in information for some of us that Have never done this before. :)

I will format the my new hard drive prior to installing it.
Click to expand...

The bit about holding down the option key usually isn't needed, but sometimes the computer will still look for the old drive, especially since he cloned the entire drive first as opposed to installing the OS clean on the new drive and then cloning just the data over.
 
So I reformatted the HD and followed the instructions in this blog to the letter

http://obscuredclarity.blogspot.com/2008/10/500gb-macbook-harddrive-upgrade-for.html

And still no success...

I partitioned the HD first and then ran Shirt Pocket to clone the drive. I installed the HD and got the flashing folder or a white screen when I hold the Alt button when booting.

I spoke to Apple earlier and they said the memory size doesn't matter (only the physical dimensions...of course) which is contrary to what the link above says. They suggested that this might be a problem with the harddrive but I don't understand how if it would boot when hooked up externally. Is is possible that this HD is not compatible with a Mac? The HD is a Hitachi 500GB SATA 3.0, 5400rpm drive.

I think I'm going to return the HD at this point. Any other recommendations?
 
One difference I noted looking at the old HD and new one (with the new one hooked up via USB) in Disk Utility is that the new HD indicates that S.M.A.R.T. Status: Not Supported and the old HD shows is as "Verified".

Can any of you comment on this and could this be one of the issues?
 
Since you have all your data on that other drive...

Can you try this method and see what happens?

-Physically install the new HDD into your MacBook
-Boot up and insert your OS X DVD into the optical drive
-If it doesn't go to the optical drive, power down and reboot while holding the c key.
-Run disk utility and see if you can see the newly installed HDD there.
-Format the drive that way, using HFS+ Journaled with GUID Partition Table.
-When it's complete, install the OS from the DVD as well.


You should be left with a fresh installation of OS X that appears to be factory fresh. You should then be able to clone your data from the other drive via USB to the new HDD.
 
NewMacbookPlz said:
Since you have all your data on that other drive...

Can you try this method and see what happens?

-Physically install the new HDD into your MacBook
-Boot up and insert your OS X DVD into the optical drive
-If it doesn't go to the optical drive, power down and reboot while holding the c key.
-Run disk utility and see if you can see the newly installed HDD there.
-Format the drive that way, using HFS+ Journaled with GUID Partition Table.
-When it's complete, install the OS from the DVD as well.


You should be left with a fresh installation of OS X that appears to be factory fresh. You should then be able to clone your data from the other drive via USB to the new HDD.
Click to expand...

COOL!!! I'll give it a shot. Thanks so much for your help though out the day!!!
 
Jimbob74 said:
COOL!!! I'll give it a shot. Thanks so much for your help though out the day!!!
Click to expand...

Just to be more specific about the cloning. At the last step the new drive (500GB) will be internal and your old drive will be in the USB enclosure. Sorry if I was confusing before!
 
NewMacbookPlz said:
Just to be more specific about the cloning. At the last step the new drive (500GB) will be internal and your old drive will be in the USB enclosure. Sorry if I was confusing before!
Click to expand...

I understood. I just got the new drive installed and with the OS disc in the optical but only have a white screen. I'm giving it a little time before I reboot and try the "C" key option.
 
Jimbob74 said:
One difference I noted looking at the old HD and new one (with the new one hooked up via USB) in Disk Utility is that the new HD indicates that S.M.A.R.T. Status: Not Supported and the old HD shows is as "Verified".

Can any of you comment on this and could this be one of the issues?
Click to expand...

Not an issue. S.M.A.R.T. reporting is not supported on external hard drives. Meaning it just doesn't work on external hard drives. The drive has to be installed internally for S.M.A.R.T. reporting to work. I think it has something to do with the USB or Firewire controllers used in external hard drives.
 
No luck with the OS disc. The optical was running but only got a white screen. I rebooted and pressed the "C" key, the optical ran for a sec, then kicked out the OS disc. I'm trying to boot from the old HD mounted externally just to see if the Mac recognizes the new drive mounted internally. And the result of that is...(post being written while I wait)...The hard drive is not recognized, it doesn't show up in Finder or Disc Utility (I know that's redundant but I just thought I would check) at all.

I'm going to reinstall the old HD and hook the new one up externally and clean it off and return it.

And thanks DewGuy!!! And thank you very much NewMacbookPlz!!!!
 
Does the new hard drive have the jumpers set in the same position as the old hard drive?
 
Which MacBook? Which hard drive? Apparently, if it's one of the older MacBooks and a newer hard drive, the MacBook is SATA I and the hard drive is SATA II. The hard drive will apparently need to be jumpered to work at SATA I speed and be useable to the MacBook.
 
DewGuy1999 said:
Which MacBook? Which hard drive? Apparently, if it's one of the older MacBooks and a newer hard drive, the MacBook is SATA I and the hard drive is SATA II. The hard drive will apparently need to be jumpered to work at SATA I speed and be useable to the MacBook.
Click to expand...

First, there are no noticeable jumpers on the drive that can be changed, that I have found.

The HD is a Hitachi, 500GB, SATA 3.0, 5400rpm

The MacBook is a new one using the Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz
 
So returned the HD, and got a 320GB WesternDig SATA. And the laptop still won't recognize the drive. Thanks so much for everyones help. I'll keep working on it and once I find the resolution I'll let you know.
 
Sorry to hear that you're not having any luck with this upgrade. Since you also can't get it to boot from the SuperDrive I'm thinking that maybe something isn't connected properly.
 
DewGuy1999 said:
Sorry to hear that you're not having any luck with this upgrade. Since you also can't get it to boot from the SuperDrive I'm thinking that maybe something isn't connected properly.
Click to expand...

I've considered that, and have tried to ensure that the new drive is seated securely. When I get the old drive reinstalled it works great. NewMacbookPlz suggested just installing a clean version of the OS onto the drive and then "clone" all the files and settings. That might be my next approach.

Or I may just take it into a Apple Store or Mac "workshop" and drop the cash and have them do it....I don't want to give up yet though ;) while frustrating it's kind of a fun problem to try and fix.
 
Jimbob74 said:
I've considered that, and have tried to ensure that the new drive is seated securely. When I get the old drive reinstalled it works great. NewMacbookPlz suggested just installing a clean version of the OS onto the drive and then "clone" all the files and settings. That might be my next approach.

Or I may just take it into a Apple Store or Mac "workshop" and drop the cash and have them do it....I don't want to give up yet though ;) while frustrating it's kind of a fun problem to try and fix.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's why I frequent these forums, I think it's fun to help people with their problems. I agree with NewMacBookPlz, you should be able to install the new hard drive, boot from the OS X CD/DVD, erase/format the new hard drive and then boot from the old hard drive in the external and clone it back to the new internal. That should work.
 
DewGuy1999 said:
Yeah, that's why I frequent these forums, I think it's fun to help people with their problems. I agree with NewMacBookPlz, you should be able to install the new hard drive, boot from the OS X CD/DVD, erase/format the new hard drive and then boot from the old hard drive in the external and clone it back to the new internal. That should work.
Click to expand...

I will try that again. The first time I did that I either got a blank white screen or it kicked the OS disc out (the second happed after pushing the "C" key it kicked the disc out after about a minute).
 
Jimbob74 said:
I will try that again. The first time I did that I either got a blank white screen or it kicked the OS disc out (the second happed after pushing the "C" key it kicked the disc out after about a minute).
Click to expand...

With the old hard drive installed will it boot from the OS disc?
 
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