2009 macbook pro doesnt detect certain hard drives.

[Dan_J]

Hey guys,

I recently got a MacBook pro (a1278)that the customer wanted the drive replace in because it was apparently dropped. He wanted an upgraded drive as a replacement to the current hitachi 250gb. After installing the new HDD (western digital black 750GB) and installing the OS. The system ran perfectly fine for about 1 week before it experienced frequent freezes and eventually became non bootable.

After the unit was brought back in for service I tested the drive. All tested fine with the HDD on a different unit. The other machine detects the drive without issue.

If I plug the previous drive that was replaced in (250gb hitachi) the machine detects it without issue.

I went to my supplier and purchased a replacement drive. I also had some other western digital blacks of varying sizes. I tested all of them. The only drive from the group it detected was an older western digital blue series drive.

Am I going crazy here or is this logic board a write off.

Thanks again for any input.

Dan

 

[JustInspired]

We've had some with major issues with the sata cables. Is this one with the flat ribbon cable?

 

[14049752]

That's definitely the cable. It's a very common issue. Make sure you get the right one, there are a couple of different lengths of cable.

 

[Markverhyden]

The cable can be an issue. If I remember correctly the sleep sensor is part of the assembly. When I was researching a repair for a black macbook, forgot the year, also ran into a bunch posts about people having similar issues as being described by the OP. Turns out they could disable the accelerometer which seemed to solve the problem.

 

[anonymous Mac Tech]

Just like others have stated, it's the cable. Got a machine in here now with a cable issue. They already had the machine to the campus shop that just pulled the drive and sent them our way. Always keep a few of those cables in stock because the problem is just as likely the cable as it is the drive with these models.